Citizen water monitoring builds awareness of pollution problems
"[The] EPA... supports volunteer monitoring because of its many benefits. Volunteer monitors build awareness of pollution problems, become trained in pollution 1) prevention, help clean up problem sites, provide data for waters that may otherwise be unassessed, and increase the amount of water quality information available to decision makers at all levels of government."Environmental Protection Agency. EPA's Volunteer Monitoring Program. 2012. (1)
"There are programs in 30 U.S states registered in the EPA's National Directory of Volunteer Monitoring Programs."Environmental Protection Agency. National Directory of Volunteer Monitoring Programs. 2013. (2)
"A total of 338,959 participants.. from 77 countries reported World Water Monitoring Day data in 2011."World Water Monitoring Day. Year in Review. 2011. (3)
1 Environmental Protection Agency. Monitoring and Assessing Water Quality - Volunteer Monitoring. 2012. http://water.epa.gov/type/rsl/datait/waters/georef/epasvmp.cfm
2 Environmental Protection Agency. National Directory of Volunteer Monitoring Programs. 2013. http://yosemite.epa.gov/water/volmon.nsf/VST?openview
3 World Water Monitoring Day. Year in Review (2011): 3. http://monitorwater.org/uploadedfiles/reports/2011/index.html
[verified 4/17/14]