Welcome to ACT Waterwatch
What is Waterwatch?
Upper Murrumbidgee Waterwatch is part of a national community water quality monitoring program that brings people together from all parts of the community to raise awareness, educate, monitor, restore and protect our precious waterways.
Who is Waterwatch?
Waterwatch involves local community catchment groups, Landcare, as well as residents, schools, utilities and landowners to regularly monitor the water quality of local creeks, wetlands, lake, rivers and stormwater drains.
Why Waterwatch?
Healthy catchments indicate healthy ecosystems with thriving fish, frogs, birds, plants and people. Waterwatch raises awareness of water quality issues by engaging the whole community in promoting change and stewardship of our waterways.
Waterwatchers Make a Difference
Water quality information collected throughout the catchment provides a picture of the health in a waterway. Waterwatch groups have initiated numerous positive community based conservation activities such as creek restoration, willow removal, litter clean-ups, weed eradication, habitat development and reduced use of pesticides and fertilisers.
Want to Become a Waterwatcher?
Anyone who cares about our local waterways can become a Waterwatcher. Waterwatchers work out in the bush or in their own neighbourhoods a few hours a month, or a few hours a year. Waterwatch provides all the training and equipment you need to do physical and chemical analysis, macro-invertebrate surveys, riparian assessments, and frog censuses. Join as a group, a family, or an individual by contacting your local Waterwatch Coordinator.
To Report a Pollution Incident or Illegal Dumping call 13 22 81
Call 131 444 for Non-emergency Police Attendance
What's Happening?
BOTTLES FROM THE BASIN
On 8 December 2009 the National Museum of Australia will launch a major international exhibition called Water: H20 = Life. The National Museum of Australia is undertaking a number of public events and programs. One of these, in partnership with ACT Waterwatch, is an exciting outreach project that invites members of communities along the Murray Darling Basin (MDB) to contribute a water sample from their local river, lake, wetlands or other source together with a water analysis and accompanying words and images.
The Museum and ACT Waterwatch with assistance from community members will coordinate Bottles from the Basin and together we will invite people to participate, send out information and instructions, collate all the information and upload the information that participants provide.
If you decide you want to be part of this project then you will receive a 100ml plastic bottle with a unique serial number and a return stamped addressed envelope. We ask you to:
1 Take a water sample from your local water resource (eg river, creek, wetlands, lake)
2 Undertake an analysis of the water sample and document the results
3 Take a digital photo of the place where the sample was taken
4 Take a digital photo of the person who took the sample holding the bottle
5 Answer the questions on the attached questionnaire
6 Return the bottle to us in the stamped/addressed envelope
7 Email the digital photos and the questionnaire to the email address on the questionnaire
We hope to receive replies from many people along the length of the MDB. The information we receive will be plotted on a map of the MDB on the Museum’s website. This map will show comparisons of water quality across the MDB and the people and places who took part in the project. The aim of the map is to show that despite state borders, local government jurisdictions and local authorities, the MDB is a natural resource in crisis that needs to be treated as a whole water system.
We also aim to display the bottles themselves at the National Museum in the main Hall during the Summer school holidays so that children in particular who visit the Museum can see the results.
To contact the project coordinators:
Adam Blackshaw (National Museum of Australia)
Tanya Rucosky – Noakes (Waterwatch ACT).
Ph: 02 6208 5230
Email: bottles@nma.gov.au
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