Experts Encourage Public Awareness for World Water Monitoring Day

Pitch

On Sept. 18, thousands of people around the world will take another look at the condition of their local rivers, streams, estuaries and other water bodies in observance of World Water Monitoring Day™. This international outreach program builds public awareness and involvement in protecting water resources around the world.

Experts

Danny Reible, professor and Donovan Maddox Distinguished Engineering Chair, Whitacre College of Engineering, (806) 742-3523 or danny.reible@ttu.edu.

• “World Monitoring Day encourages people everywhere to focus their attention on their water resources and recognize its importance in their daily lives.”
• “Water is often taken for granted in modern society because we are so used to turning a tap and having water in adequate quantity and appropriate quality for our needs. That is not true in much of the world.”
• “The positive aspect of World Monitoring Day or a serious drought is that it forces us to recognize how important it is that we manage our water supplies with care.”

Venki Uddameri, professor and interim director, Water Resources Center, Whitacre College of Engineering, (806) 742-3523 or venki.uddameri@ttu.edu.

• “Our prior understanding and solving water issues comes from monitoring our rivers, lakes, streams and aquifers, with records dating back to 1800s. And as a nation, we used this information to build dams to control floods, manage droughts as well as develop policies for providing clean water to all.”
• “Recent economic downturns have definitely taken a toll on our monitoring activities. This year alone the U.S. Geological Survey plans to discontinue monitoring at 375 sites across the country, and similar cut-backs are also being made by other federal, state and local agencies. The loss of timely information will affect how these systems respond and limit our ability to warn people of flooding and other risks.”
• “Improvements in technology enables lay people to submit data using social media. Even a cell phone picture can be used to assess stream levels and associated flow.”
• “The efforts of the World Water Monitoring Challenge will help us learn more about how the public can be involved in collecting useful hydrologic data.”