Putting Community Science Data to Work
October 1, 2015
Riverkeeper Team
Last week Riverkeeper submitted Enterococcus data collected in partnership with community scientists to NYS DEC’s Division of Water, as part of the state’s biennial statewide waterbody assessment process. In most of the places we monitor, our data is the sole publicly available source of fecal contamination information, the most important parameter for determining a waterway's fitness for recreation.
The data we submitted cover a large geographic area and a solid stretch of time, but a more impressive aspect of the submission was that it highlighted our broad and committed group of partners throughout the Hudson Valley--19 partner organizations and counting. We submitted data from samples collected by community scientists in the Catskill, Esopus, Rondout and Sparkill Creeks, and the Pocantico and Wallkill Rivers, and processed in our onboard lab.
Our partners in the Quassaick Creek Watershed Alliance also submitted Entero data to DEC, and our partners at the New York City Water Trail Association and The River Project will soon submit select results. The Wallkill River Watershed Alliance submitted information about algal blooms.
The data we submitted will be used to update the state’s Waterbody Inventory and Priority Waterbodies Lists. This has several regulatory and funding implications:
- When fecal contamination is noted in the waterbody inventory, it triggers a multiplier effect in the scoring system used to award money to communities applying for most state wastewater improvement grants and loans.
- In 2017, DEC’s routine monitoring program will be working in the Hudson River Estuary watershed. This happens once every five years. In our submission, we asked DEC to target the creeks and rivers we sample with community partners for in-depth water quality testing, including pathogen testing, and we asked them to solicit input from Riverkeeper and our partners when selecting waterbodies for testing.
- Although this data review process is used to identify impaired waterways, which would trigger additional actions to study and remove sources of pollution, our submission will not result in direct listing as impaired under the Clean Water Act because of strict requirements for data acceptance. However, it will highlight places where verification of our results is most needed.
This is just one significant way that work done by community scientists can influence decisions that ultimately lead to cleaner water. To our partners, thank you for your efforts!
Read the submission, and check out the water quality monitoring results in your local creek or river here.
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