Watching Over Water: Researchers Pool Resources

Citizen and university researchers involved in monitoring water quality at 54 sites on the upper Ohio River basin will gather for a first-of-its kind conference on Monday, Aug. 11, at Duquesne University.

The West Virginia Water Resources Institute at West Virginia University is partnering with Duquesne and Wheeling Jesuit universities and the Iron Furnace chapter of Trout Unlimited in a water monitoring project. Organizers say the project is one of the largest of its kind, covering a broad geographical area, collecting consistent, high-quality data, over a significant amount of time.

Every two weeks since January 2013, professors and students, local groups and individual citizen researchers collect samples from 54 sites on waterways of all sizes throughout the upper Ohio River basin. Their samples are then analyzed to provide more data and insight to help complete a picture of the basin’s overall health.
 
Convergence at the Confluence is the name of the day-long conference set to discuss findings as well as the continuation water monitoring. The event will feature presentations based on the data as well as breakout sessions on data collection and interpretation.