All News Releases By Date

 

EPA Administrator Mike Leavitt Celebrates World Water Monitoring Day at the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center

Release Date: 10/18/2004
Contact Information:

(10/18/04) Today is World Water Monitoring Day, culminating a month of water quality monitoring activities in which educators, families, volunteer water monitoring organizations and government professionals have been taking water quality samples, sharing data, and educating their communities about water quality.

This is also the 32nd anniversary of the Clean Water Act. "Our national goal is clean and safe water for every American," said Administrator Mike Leavitt. "On the commemoration of landmark clean water legislation and a global effort to monitor water quality, let's remember and reaffirm our commitment to protect and restore watersheds, coasts and oceans."

Mike Leavitt joined officials from National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of State and America's Clean Water Foundation, as one of the featured speakers at the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center facility on the Chesapeake Bay, in Edgewater, Md. The speeches were followed by a cruise on the Rhode River on one of the Smithsonian's research vessels where the event participants collected water, fish and invertebrates samples.

World Water Monitoring Day affords youth and their families the opportunity to get involved and learn about the health of their local watersheds by participating in water monitoring activities. Between Sept. 18, and Oct. 18, 2004, citizens around the world visited their local streams, rivers, lakes or wetlands to test for a few basic indicators of health such as dissolved oxygen, temperature, clarity and pH. The results can be posted on America's Clean Water Foundation Website where they provide a snapshot of global water quality that may help to illustrate long-term water quality trends.

The first World Water Monitoring Day in 2003 included 4,800 sites in the United States and 433 sites in 23 other countries. This year, participants from all 50 states and 35 countries have registered to take part in various events. More information about World Water Monitoring Day is at: http://www.worldwatermonitoringday.org . Information about EPA's monitoring activities is at: https://www.epa.gov/owow/monitoring .