The role of Waterwatch on the Central Coast is to assist local schools, community volunteers, groups and land managers such as farmers, with a means by which they can learn more about the health of their rivers and identify problems. A qualified coordinator provides groups with the training and equipment necessary to conduct a number of biological and habitat assessments plus physical and chemical water tests at their site once a month. Results are uploaded to the Waterwatch website (temporarily unavailable) which then becomes available to the public for viewing. The coordinator verifies results and will follow up on any abnormal results that may need to be reported to council. With the data they collect communities can influence agencies and authorities in the management of their local waterways and take direct action. There are many more sites on the Central Coast that are not being monitored so we welcome new volunteers. Anyone can join, no previous experience is necessary, we work with schools, community groups, rural landholders and individuals. We also run other community education events such as catchment crawls, World Wetlands day breakfast with the birds, Phosphorus awareness week, QA Day (quality assurance for volunteers), water bug surveys and school environment days. Funding comes from the Hawkesbury Nepean and Hunter Central Rivers Catchment Management Authorities, Gosford and Wyong Councils Water Authority and Wyong Council.
