Charles River Watershed Association: Explore the data and stay healthy!

Wednesday, September 5, 2012

Explore the data and stay healthy!

Recent blooms of Cyanobacteria in the Charles River keep me hesitant to getting in a boat, let alone swim in the Charles. This fear, however, can stem from a lack of knowledge about the quality of the water. While swimming near Boston might not be the best idea, areas upriver might be acceptable.

Here is how you can figure out how the Chuck is doing.

First, go to our website and click on Projects>Volunteer Monthly Water Quality Monitoring and scroll down to Bacteria Results.

Under this heading, you can view the data through two different ways. the first is a static map of the Charles River Watershed. The second option is through Google Earth. This requires you to download this software (if you haven't already) but allows you to get interactive with the data!

Although there have been major improvements to the Charles' health throughout the years, there is still work that needs to be done to make it clean and healthy for every living creature. If you have questions or want to get involved, contact us!

No comments:

Post a Comment

Welcome to the Charles River Watershed Association's Intern Blog

CRWA's mission is to use science, advocacy and the law to protect, preserve and enhance the Charles River and its watershed.

One of the country's oldest watershed organizations, Charles River Watershed Association (CRWA) was formed in 1965 in response to public concern about the declining condition of the Charles. Since its earliest days of advocacy, CRWA has figured prominently in major clean-up and watershed protection efforts, working with government officials and citizen groups from 35 Massachusetts watershed towns from Hopkinton to Boston. Initiatives over the last four decades have dramatically improved the quality of water in the watershed and fundamentally changed approaches to water resource management.

While CRWA’s mission focuses on the Charles River, the implications and applicability of our science-based work go far beyond the watershed’s boundaries. Much of CRWA’s work is cutting edge and therein lies our unique strength and effectiveness: we use our scientific knowledge of the Charles to develop innovative, workable solutions to watershed problems. This knowledge allows CRWA not only to advocate persuasively for outcomes, but also to partner with government agencies and other environmental groups to protect the natural environment and to promote sustainable ecosystem policies and practices.