CELEBRATING 30 YEARS OF WATERWAY CITIZEN SCIENCE IN CORANGAMITE

WaterWatch Victoria, a community engagement and water quality monitoring program, celebrated its 30-year anniversary in the Corangamite catchment at Wildlife Wonders, Marengo.

The event recognised citizen scientist volunteers’ significant contributions and dedication to the WaterWatch program.

WaterWatch began in 1993 and EstuaryWatch was established as a sister program in 2006.

The work that EstuaryWatch and WaterWatch volunteers deliver in the Corangamite catchment is invaluable to the region’s long-term management of waterways.

The program currently has 126 active volunteers across the catchment collecting data on water quality from 130 WaterWatch sites and 10 Estuaries. These volunteers are also actively learning about waterway management and educating other community members on the importance of waterway health.

Since the program began in 1993, there has been over 680 volunteers collecting data from over 800 sites across the Corangamite Region.

Regional Citizen Science Project Officer, Kristen Lees, says there are two main benefits to having a thriving EstuaryWatch and WaterWatch program.

“Our volunteers are very committed to gathering high quality data on the health of our waterways. This data is a huge asset for CMAs and environmental authorities as it can help us make informed management decisions,” she said.

“Even more important than that is the connection they provide between community and government.
Citizen scientists are excellent at understanding the work we are doing to help the environment and conveying that to the broader community.”

New citizen scientists are always welcome to join the program and are encouraged to contact the Corangamite Catchment Management Authority to get involved via: https://ccma.vic.gov.au/get-involved/citizen-science/.