Checking In: @waterkeepermark checks in with the Swim Guide Affiliates program
For the Checking In series, Mark Mattson checks in with the Swim Guide Affiliates program. Swim Guide helps Affiliates share water quality data with millions of people around the world. Check Swim Guide for up-to-date information about which beaches are open and for more information about how to use public beaches responsibly during COVID-19.
Q: First of all, what is Swim Guide?
A: First and foremost it is a free website and app that is the most popular beach information service in the world, with a growing community of over 4.5 million users.
Swim Guide began as a tool created by Lake Ontario Waterkeeper to connect people to beaches on Lake Ontario. More importantly, however, it has grown into a movement of recreational water users, public health experts, and local water quality monitoring hubs working together for swimmable, drinkable, fishable water.
Q: What is a Swim Guide Affiliate?
A: Swim Guide Affiliates include non-profit organizations, public health authorities, conservation groups, educational institutions, community associations, as well as dedicated individuals. Affiliates share local recreational water quality data on Swim Guide. 92% of these Affiliates run their own water quality monitoring programs and share their results on Swim Guide. These Affiliate-led programs contribute meaningfully to citizen science water quality monitoring in their local communities, providing or supplementing an important body of recreational water quality data.
Q: How many Swim Guide Affiliates are there?
A: There are 100 Swim Guide affiliates, including Swim Drink Fish’s own initiatives Lake Ontario Waterkeeper, Fraser Riverkeeper, and North Saskatchewan Riverkeeper. This summer, Swim Guide will have its largest-ever Affiliates team for the beach monitoring season. We will have more recreational water quality data than ever before.
Thanks to the incredible Swim Guide Affiliates, Swim Guide shares beach water quality information for over 8,000 beaches in 11 countries.
Swim Guide is thrilled to welcome several new Swim Guide Affiliates in 2020: Yadkin Riverkeeper, Cape Fear River Watch, WWALS - Suwannee Riverkeeper, Wildlife Conservation Association, Friends of Deckers Creek, and Fraser Basin Council.
Q: What is the best part of Swim Guide?
A: There are so many best parts. But people working on the ground in their community and connecting through the use of technology is what makes Swim Guide unique. It sits at the intersection of people, water, and technology.
My 5 top things about Swim Guide are:
Swim Guide uses technology to support the Swim Drink Fish movement. Sharing recreational water data on a transparent and public platform is powerful. People’s connections to water often start with a connection through recreational water activities and emerge as a powerful and informed community of voices.
Swim Guide helps inform people’s decisions about where and when to swim or recreate on the water. Swim Guide makes it easy to find water to enjoy, while helping to prevent waterborne illnesses. Beaches that meet local recreational water quality standards are marked with a green icon, and those that fail to meet those standards are marked with a red icon.
Swim Guide helps people understand when their water is threatened by bacterial contamination that can cause illness, and when it is clean for swimming. With the hard work of the growing community of Affiliates, Swim Guide is able to connect even more people to water and identify more sources of pollution, growing a movement of people working to restore and maintain swimmable, drinkable, fishable waters across the globe.
Swim Guide technology helps people connect with water and nature and promote mental health. By encouraging people to visit the water's edge more often, we nurture healthier relationships with friends, family, community, and the natural world.
Swim Guide ensures communities balance safety and access to the water. This is more important now than ever, in light of the COVID-19 pandemic
Q: Who are the 2020 Swim Guide Affiliates?
A: There are more people and community groups joining all the time but here is a list of many of our affiliates:
*Alabama Water Watch
*Amigos para la Conservación de Cabo Pulmo
*Anacostia Riverkeeper
*The Environmental Centre at Anne Arundel Community College
*Arundel Rivers Federation
*Assateague Coastal Trust
*Australian Capital Territory Government
*Blue Water Baltimore
*Broad Riverkeeper
*Buffalo Niagara Waterkeeper
*Cahaba Riverkeeper
*Cape Fear River Watch
*Catawba Riverkeeper Foundation
*Charleston Waterkeeper
*Chattahoochee Riverkeeper
*Chattahoochee River Conservancy
*Choctawhatchee Riverkeeper
Claire Lawson
*Columbia Riverkeeper
*Coosa Riverkeeper
*Cork Harbour Waterkeeper
Emerald Coastkeeper
*Flathead Lake Open Water (FLOW) Swimmers
*Fraser Riverkeeper
Fraser Basin Council
*French Broad Riverkeeper
*Friends of the Cheat
*Friends of Deckers Creek
*Friends of Turkey Creek Nature Preserve
Fundy Baykeeper
*Galveston Bay Foundation
Grand Riverkeeper Labrador
*Green Riverkeeper
*Haw River Assembly
*Hudson Riverkeeper
*Humboldt Baykeeper
*Inland Empire Waterkeeper
*James River Association
*Kenya Lake Victoria Waterkeeper
*King County Department of Natural Resources and Parks
*Red de Observadores Ciudadanos
*Lake Ontario Waterkeeper
*Lake Pontchartrain Basin Foundation
*Lake Pend Oreille Waterkeeper
*Land AIr Water Aotearoa (LAWA)
*Lesser Slave Watershed Council (LSWC)
*Little River Waterkeeper
*Loreto Coastkeeper
*Los Angeles Waterkeeper
*Los Cabos Coastkeeper
*Magdelena Baykeeper
*Miami Waterkeeper
*Milwaukee Riverkeeper
*Mobile Baykeeper
*Mountain True
*National Capital Authority - Australian Government
*New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services
*Niagara Coastal Community Collaborative/Swim Drink Fish Niagara Hub
*North Saskatchewan Riverkeeper
*NY/NJ Baykeeper
*Ontario Parks
*Orange County Coastkeeper
*Ottawa Riverkeeper
*Pearl Riverkeeper
*Petitcodiac Watershed Alliance
*Potomac Riverkeeper
*Proyecto Fronterizo de Educación Ambiental AC/Tijuana Waterkeeper
Puget Soundkeeper Alliance
Re-Imagining Atlantic Harbours for 2050
*Rogue Riverkeeper
*Russian Riverkeeper
*Salmon Drift Creek Watershed Council
*San Diego Coastkeeper
*Santa Barbara Channelkeeper
*Satilla Riverkeeper
*Savannah Riverkeeper
Shawn Mosey
*Shenandoah Riverkeeper
*ShoreRivers
*Snake River Waterkeeper
*Sound Rivers
*South Yuba River Citizens League
*Suncoast Waterkeeper
*Surfrider Foundation Europe
*Surfrider Foundation’s Eastern Long Island
*Surfrider Foundation Miami
*Surfrider Foundation Kauai
*Surfrider Foundation Rincon, PR
*Surfrider Foundation Vancouver Island, BC
*Tampa Bay Waterkeeper
*Save The River - Upper St. Lawrence Riverkeeper
*University of Wisconsin - Oshkosh
*Watauga Riverkeeper
*Waterkeeper Bahamas
*Wildlife Conservation Association
*White River Waterkeeper
*WWALS Watershed Coalition (Suwannee Riverkeeper)
*Youghiogheny Riverkeeper
*Zhiibaahaasing First Nation
*Yadkin Riverkeeper
*Leads their own water quality monitoring program
Q: What else do you need to know about Swim Guide?
A: Here are some quick facts about Swim Guide:
Swim Guide was launched by Lake Ontario Waterkeeper in 2011.
Swim Guide is available in English, French, and Spanish.
Swim Guide’s mobile application is available for iOS and Android.
Swim Guide’s water quality information comes from public health, government, and nonprofit monitoring programs.
Swim Guide beach pages share recreational water quality results, beach amenities, current weather from The Weather Network, directions, and other important news and information.
Click here to learn more about how to become a Swim Guide Affiliate.
You can also Download Swim Guide on the App Store and Google Play.
