Citizen science with an impact

IF you’ve ever wondered what types of insects live in the waterways near you, staff at the Corangamite Catchment Management Authority would love your help.

Citizen science project officer Kristen Lees is seeking the support of community volunteers who can assist the authority to test and monitor the water health of a local lake, river, creek, or wetland.

“We empower the community to collect water quality data, which goes onto a big public portal, and gets used by waterway managers, like the City of Ballarat, and others, to basically assess the health of a particular waterway,” Ms Lees said.

“We’ll be training people in water testing, and how water bugs are an indicator of waterway health. Some bugs are very sensitive, and will get a high signal score, and some are more tolerant and will get a low score.

“We have multiple testing sites along the Yarrowee and Leigh rivers, and Lake Wendouree and Lake Esmond.”

The Corangamite CMA currently has 126 volunteers working across 130 water watch sites, including 10 estuaries.

The project has been running for 30 years and has seen 680 volunteers working across 800 sites.

“The program connects people with the waterway and likeminded people,” Ms Lees said. “The community have a lot of local knowledge, so they are our eyes on the ground.

“They’re doing citizen science that has a real impact. The data is used and it’s credible, after 30 years.

“Our data has been used to assess waterways before and after the Scotsburn fires, for example. There are a number of stories that data can tell about a system.”

Corangamite CMA provides all the equipment and training. The Ballarat East Neighbourhood House will have a water testing kit accessible. Visit bit.ly/3QIYB1M to register.