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Get Involved - Local Councils

Collectively, local councils are one of the largest spenders on environmental management in Australia with a range of important responsibilities that can affect water quality.

Waterwatch and local councils have a long history of successful partnerships.

Waterwatch can offer local councils:

a proven and scientifically supported water quality testing methodology
access to an active and committed group of community members
a central on-line database that can be used by councils to store their own water quality test results in a publicly accessible water quality database
access to community collected water quality data, used by numerous councils in SoE reports
the strength of a national network of water quality monitoring expertise
a tool to enhance community involvement in Councils environmental management programs.

There are many examples of very successful local government involvement in Waterwatch across Australia including:

sponsoring of equipment for use by local groups
targeted testing by Waterwatch groups linked to council projects
the use of Waterwatch data in State of the Environment Reporting
joint community education programs
joint partnerships in obtaining grant funding
staging of events eg World Environment Day, National Waterweek, and
community participation in local environmental planning.

For more information on partnerships with Waterwatch, contact the Waterwatch NSW Facilitator on 02 9895 7402 or water.watch@dnr.nsw.gov.au.

Make your data publicly accessible, reduce those phone enquiries for information

If your council is collecting water quality data, and you would like to register the information on the Waterwatch web site, the process is simple. After submitting an application to register a site/group, you will be given a training package on the use of the Waterwatch database. Registered groups are given password access to enter water quality data directly on line. Data is stored in a central database which can be interrogated to provide you with data by catchment, date range, full local government area and other selected parameters. All of this information can be downloaded into spreadsheets. An on-line graphing facility can also present the data live on line.

The parameters recorded on the database are:

Temperature
Turbidity
Total Dissolved Solids
Conductivity
pH
Dissolved Oxygen
Biochemical Oxygen Demand
Phosphates
Faecal coliform

These are the most commonly tested parameters used by local councils for recreational water quality monitoring and aquatic ecosystem protection values.

Several councils in NSW use the Waterwatch Premium Testing Kit for their basic testing programs. This kit has been proven to be highly reliable when used appropriately with proper quality assurance procedures. The Waterwatch methodology also provides a low cost option for collecting long term water quality data.

Those councils who have a different testing procedure to the Waterwatch Premium Kit can still use the Waterwatch NSW database, provided the department can be satisfied with the quality of testing equipment and methodologies.

Do you have an information need in your local area?

The Waterwatch program offers a way for you to involve a local school or community group in being part of the data collection process.

Last but not least is National Waterweek. Councils across NSW take part in National Waterweek activities. If you have an idea for an activity and would like to discuss it please give us a call.

For more information on getting involved in Waterwatch, contact water.watch@dnr.nsw.gov.au, or phone 02 9895 7402.