Community-Based Recreational Water Quality Monitoring Toolkit
If you’re looking to safeguard the water bodies that matter to you, this is where to start.
Since 2018, Swim Drink Fish has been working to bring community-based water monitoring to groups across Canada. Here, you can explore the suite of tools we use at our ‘hubs’ across Canada that allow communities to engage in low-cost, easy-to-operate, and reliable water quality monitoring programs. These resources are suitable for groups looking to monitor recreational waters, build capacity for water stewardship in their communities, and foster community at the water’s edge.
Introduction to the Toolkit
The toolkit contains resources for starting a monitoring program representative of your community and site goals.
Connect to protect
Catalyst for building capacity
Centre of a collaborative network
Each site may have different goals and resources thus the toolkit is intended to be structured in a modular fashion making it customizable to the specific site .
After team discussion and preliminary research, begin to create your toolkit. The toolkit will consist of a base module, and then optional modules can be added on to best customize the toolkit to your team’s use. The formula for creating the toolkit is as follows (SOP - Standard Operating Procedures):
SAMPLING SOP MODULE
ADD-ON ENVIRONMENTAL SOP MODULE
LEGAL SOP MODULE (optional)
SITE TOOLKIT
How can the toolkit be used?
The intention of the toolkit is to act as a framework for anyone, anywhere, to adopt our guidelines and standards for starting a low-cost, effective recreational water quality program. The toolkit is flexible. It can be used in the following ways:
As a holistic guide to creating a recreational community-based water monitoring hub. By following the guide from start to finish, you’ll be able to join a standardized approach to recreational water monitoring in your own community.
As a guide to starting a community lead site with a Swim Drink Fish hub. If you want to add a monitoring site to an existing hub’s sites, you can use the documents here to get trained and monitor your local waters.
As a set of standalone documents to help you support a monitoring framework for your own community. Use these documents as a guide and choose tools to help you monitor specific variables, create a water literacy program, or understand how to engage volunteers.
To get trained as a volunteer community scientist. If you’re joining an existing Swim Drink Fish hub in Kingston, Toronto, Vancouver or Edmonton, you’ll be able to use the training section of the toolkit to get prepared for your fieldwork.
The toolkit is publicly available and free for anyone to use. However, If you’re interested in working with Swim Drink Fish for guidance and support in starting a monitoring program, contact gregary@swimdrinkfish.ca to learn how to join the Swim Drink Fish hub network.
Sampling SOP Modules
The Sampling SOP module is the priority of the overall monitoring plan and is the main focus of the toolkit.
Recreational Water Quality (E.Coli)
This SOP outlines the process for monitoring recreational water quality guidelines under the provincial guidelines.
Shellfish Harvesting Water Quality
This SOP outlines the procedure for monitoring water quality intended for the shellfish harvesting.
Add-On Modules
An add-on module is any additional monitoring you would like to do at your site. These add-on modules should be chosen based on your site specifically and your team’s interests. There is no limit to the number of add-ons chosen. However, we recommend that you choose at least one to build a more holistic toolkit.
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Litter Monitoring SOP
Is there a lot of litter at your site? Does the site lack waste disposal infrastructure? Perhaps you want to add on the litter monitoring SOP module. This module outlines the purpose, objectives and steps to monitoring litter. It breaks it down further by categorizing litter observations into whether they are sewage related or non-sewage related. The categories are specific so at the end of your monitoring season, an interesting story can be told.
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Wildlife Monitoring SOP
Is your site flourishing with wildlife presence? is there a certain endangered species present? Consider adding on the wildlife monitoring SOP module. This module outlines the purpose, objectives and steps to monitoring wildlife at the site. You will notice that there are specific categories as well as the option to collect observations on an app or through a paper format.
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Water Rangers SOP
Are there additional water quality parameters that you are curious about for your site? The water rangers module outlines steps for collecting water parameters such as pH, dissolved oxygen, conductivity and more.
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Legal Advocacy SOP
This module should be treated as totally optional and is dependent on the capacity of your site. Are there combined sewer overflow points near your site that are not being monitored? Is your community urging for better swimming/waterfront access? This module acts as a guide to legal advocacy.
Who’s using the toolkit? Explore the Community of Practice
