Tributary report cards: Collaborating with watershed organizations

1. Tributary report cards: Collaborating with watershed organizations EcoCheck (NOAA CBO-UMCES Partnership)

2. Overview • History of our interactions • Chesapeake Bay report card promoted local interest • Motivation: engage community, policy makers, influence change • Timeline: theory, practice, expansion • Current and future groups • Data collection efforts • Non-uniform: spatial, temporal, parameters • Future directions • Uniformity and validity • Training • New information

3. Watershed organizations • Waterkeepers Alliance • International • Fishable, drinkable, and swimmable water • Advocacy, science, legal rights • 16 Chesapeake Bay Riverkeepers www.waterkeeper.org

4. Watershed organizations

5. Tributary report cards • Promote synergies and uniformity among efforts • Indicators • Monitoring protocol • Aim to make report cards widely used and comparable • Collaborative effort between citizens and government agencies • Promotes adaptive management • Connects with citizens in unique way • Leverages funding, data, and knowledge

6. Collaborating with organizations in the area • Chesapeake Bay Trust • Interested in river report cards • Funds small - medium projects • Funded by Chesapeake Bay license plates • EcoCheck • Interested in regionally specific report cards • Expansion of systems involved • Annual expansion of groups involved

7. Strategy for producing tributary report cards • First year • Initial planning meetings • Determine citizen monitoring capabilities, data, analysis, etc. • EcoCheck fully involved in all analysis, layout and design, production of report card • Watershed organization members take Science Communication Course • Second year • Watershed organization members perform analysis, layout and design, and produce report card • EcoCheck oversees and advises project

8. Examples of tributary report cards • Patuxent River • Riverkeeper, Fred Tutman • Tidal monitoring data from CBP/DNR,etc. • Some citizen monitoring data • Chester River • Chester River Association/Chester Riverkeeper • Some tidal monitoring data from CBP/DNR, etc. • Good citizen monitoring data, both tidal and non-tidal

9. Moving beyond report card production: Data collection • After first year, expanded into new areas • To collaborate and facilitate report cards, started meeting once a month -Tributary report card group • Approx. 15 people • Meeting once a month • First year was about producing tributary report card • Providing science communication course once a year

10. Indicators used for tributary report cards • Variety of agencies/groups collect data using different protocols • Tidal and non-tidal • Collect additional indicators that aren’t in report cards

11. Current directions and goals • Establish core indicators • DO, SAV, Clarity, ChlA, TN, TP • Flows into monitoring protocol workgroup • Establish consistent monitoring techniques • For core indicators • Sampling regime • Training sessions • Monitoring and data analysis (two days) • Science Communication Course (two days)