Introduction
The University of Rhode Island Watershed Watch Program (URIWW) is a statewide volunteer monitoring program. It focuses on providing current information on the water quality of surface water resources throughout Rhode Island, including lakes, ponds, reservoirs, rivers, streams and the marine environment.

The heart of the program consists of weekly measurements taken by numerous trained volunteer monitors. The program emphasizes watershed scale monitoring because the water quality of a given body of water is a reflection of the activities in the lands and waters that surround it and lie upstream.

The program is intended to encourage communities and shoreline residents to understand the need to cooperatively manage and improve the water quality of all the water bodies within a watershed. In this way we can ensure that Rhode Island's bays, estuaries, and freshwater resources remain one of the state's great assets.

Goals

• To promote active citizen participation in water quality protection.
• To educate the public about water quality issues.
• To obtain multi-year surface water quality information in order to ascertain current conditions and to detect trends.
• To encourage sound management programs based upon water quality information.

What's Involved in Being a URIWW Volunteer Monitor

Water Quality Analyses