The event seeks to raise public awareness and encourage participation in protecting the water resources we all depend on every day.
With the goal of raising awareness about the importance of waterways and promoting the responsible management of this vital resource, Brenda Torres, Executive Director of the San Juan Bay Estuary (PEBSJ), invites volunteers to participate in the tenth annual Puerto Rico Water Quality Monitoring Day this coming Saturday, April 14. Since 2009, the Estuary has trained and empowered more than 10,000 citizens to monitor waterways near their homes, schools, and recreational areas. This event is the largest citizen science project in Puerto Rico.
“Water Quality Monitoring Day is a great opportunity for citizens to connect with nature by evaluating the bodies of water around them. The act of taking water samples, testing them, and reporting the results becomes an act of civic responsibility and raises awareness about the impact our actions have on each of these bodies of water,” said Brenda Torres. “This year, Monitoring Day is even more important, as the impact on the water after Hurricane Maria was evident, making these water tests a relevant issue for everyone,” she added.
This activity gives citizens the opportunity to conduct tests in bodies of water of their interest and promotes the importance of conserving water sources and the impact of everyday actions on these ecosystems.
As part of the activity, 200 monitoring stations were activated, which will be staffed by leaders and volunteers from the Estuary, to receive approximately 1,000 people on Saturday morning. Half of the open stations will be conducting coliform tests and identifying macroinvertebrates as bioindicators of water quality in the ecosystems.
For more information and registration, you can visit the Facebook page: Estuario San Juan or the website www.estuario.org. You can also write to [email protected].
