We’ve found that sampling recreational water has a special power to connect and protect. Recreational water is important for humans and non-humans alike. By testing for recreational waters, we can work with communities on monitoring work that gives them the knowledge they need to know when and where they can access the water. At the same time, this work also protects the waters they swim in for our non-human counterparts.

The toolkit is a catalyst for building capacity. For many groups, a recreational water monitoring program is just the start. As a result of regular monitoring, groups using the toolkit have become incubators for environmental advocacy and additional monitoring efforts that reflect the community’s unique concerns about localized water quality issues. Attention leads to devotion, and by getting people to the water’s edge, the toolkit helps grow the number of people devoted to protecting their waters and noticing the changes in their environment.

The toolkit is the centre of a collaborative network. The toolkit couldn’t have been developed without partners providing feedback, sharing best practices, and collaborating. By using the toolkit, you’re entering an ecosystem of groups who are working together to strengthen the field of community-based water monitoring and community science that are all working with shared materials.