Massachusetts Water Watch Partnership

Project Leader: Jerome Schoen

General Information

Effective natural resource management policy and practice will always require a sound grasp of scientific principles underlying ecosystem function, access to current and pertinent information on ecosystem health and influencing factors, and an understanding of how to apply this knowledge and information in political, social and individual practices that affect the wellbeing of natural resources. A primary focus of the annual Water Resources Research Center conference is to bring together researchers and practitioners to share their knowledge and perspectives and to explore strategies for the effective translation of scientific knowledge into resource management, protection and restoration programs. This conference will continue to provide such a forum over the next five years.

Much of the decision-making responsibility for water resources and ecosystem protection lies at the local level, with many decisions being made by part-time staff and volunteers serving on local boards. Many protection and restoration strategies rely on voluntary measures by individuals, institutions and businesses whose activities affect these resources. Under these circumstances, an informed and active citizenry is an essential component to effective ecosystem protection, as is sustained, productive interaction between government agencies, industry and environmental and community-oriented nonprofit organizations. Extension staff can extend the University's impact beyond the WRRC annual conference by developing programs that communicate scientific information directly to government and municipal decision makers and to nonprofit organizations that interact with those decision makers, and by aiding these target audiences in acquiring/advancing an understanding of scientific concepts. In addition, the University can produce programs that provide valuable guidance to nonprofit organizations in developing communication and organization skills that facilitate their productive interaction with environmental decision makers.

With regard to water quality and related water resources, there is at present a dearth of credible data on the health of river, stream and coastal systems, and what little data exists is not widely distributed to local level decision makers, nor is such information easily understood by those who do access it. In FY ’07, MassWWP collaborated with staff of the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) to develop and administer a survey of participants of DCR’s Weed Watchers Program. The survey queried program participants to ascertain the success of the program in assisting lake groups to conduct effective monitoring, weed removal and restoration programs; and the continuing effect of program participation on these organizations. DCR personnel are pleased with MassWWP’s work on this project and have expressed interest in similar surveys that would more broadly target volunteer monitoring groups in Massachusetts, to determine their effectiveness in collecting water quality information and using it for public education and resource management and protection programs at the local and state level. Similarly, we have had discussions with MA Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs (EOEEA) personnel about the irregular level of support provided by the MA legislature and by environmental agencies for volunteer water monitoring programs. One concern expressed by EOEEA is a lack of information on outcomes of volunteer monitoring programs. Without evidence of the effectiveness of these citizen programs, it is expected that state support will continue to be uneven, nor is it clear that such support is justified. We propose to address this by developing and administering a survey of MA volunteer water monitoring programs to obtain qualitative and quantitative (where feasible) information on number and duration of programs, water bodies, sites and parameters monitored; reports disseminated, audiences receiving reports, educational outcomes and resulting actions taken by individuals and agencies at local and state level. Survey results will also be shared with volunteer monitoring orgnazations via the MassWWP web site, to aid them in making decisions on future direction of their programs.

We will also continue a longstanding collaboration with other members of the New England Regional Monitoring Collaborative (NERMC); partners from Extension programs in Rhode Island, New Hampshire and from other nonprofits. NERMC will host an environmental monitoring summit in late 2007 or early 2008 that will bring together citizen groups and state, regional and national environmental agencies to explore practices, progress and needs of New England volunteer monitoring organizations, and benefits provided by these organizations to environmental agencies. MassWWP staff will participate in organization of the summit.

Staff understanding of these issues and evaluation of external conditions affecting these issues is based in part on experience in several recent and long term initiatives, including:

• Collaboration with UMass departments and external academic institutions, organizations and government agencies in planning, organizing and conducting the Water Resources Center annual conferences
• Collaboration with the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering to conduct the Blackstone River Assessment of Water Quality, Ecological Health, and Ecological Risk through Data Collection and Modeling project.
• Collaboration with state and federal agencies, other academic institutions and nonprofit foundations and organizations in service to volunteer water monitoring organizations; collaboration with the State of Massachusetts in the Watershed Initiative
• Collaboration with the University of Massachusetts Mechanical and Industrial Engineering Department and the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection to develop the Massachusetts Stormwater Technology Evaluation Project.

Activities

• WRRC Conference, Number planned – 1
• Volunteer Monitoring Survey , Number planned – 1
• NERMC summit, Number planned – 1
• Volunteer Monitoring Survey: Outreach & Education, Number planned – 1

Inputs: Time and Effort

Outcomes:

This Project will document progress towards the following:

• Participants acquire the knowledge, skills and motivation to adopt practices that reduce risk of exotic pests, diseases and invasive species.
• Participants develop the knowledge and skills to minimize the impact of development projects on ecosystems, water and other natural resources
• Participants have the knowledge and skills to effectively address water and other natural resource issues during project review and permitting.

Extension program related to this project: Natural Resources & Environmental Conservation