Engagement of citizen/community science represents an important opportunity to expand our regional data collection capacity and address pressing water quality challenges. However, these groups have typically developed in response to hyper-local management needs, resulting in a fragmented regional landscape that approaches data collection, management, and use protocols on a watershed-by-watershed basis. As a result, it is difficult for State, Federal, Academic and Industry actors to leverage the full scope of Lake Erie’s existing citizen science movement to address their most pressing research, decision-making and management needs.

To address this gap, Cleveland Water Alliance (CWA) is leading development of a set of standards for the collection, management, and use of Lake Erie citizen science data. These standards will formalize standard operating procedures and best available technology into an accessible framework for elevating the credibility and consistency, and compatibility of community science data. This framework will support a truly regional volunteer monitoring network, with new participants joining established programs to drive collective impact for our common goal of clean and accessible water for all Lake Erie Basin communities.

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