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How do we assess the condition of our Nation's streams, rivers, lakes, estuaries, and coastal waters? How do we collect information to determine if these water resources are safe enough to drink, swim in, eat fish from, or use to irrigate our food crops? Further, how do we tell whether a water body supports a healthy aquatic ecosystem? How do we tell if conditions are worsening, or if our management efforts are making a difference? Watershed monitoring provides this information. Monitoring also has many other valuable uses to government agencies, water quality practitioners, drinking water utilities, industrial dischargers, environmental groups, and ordinary citizens concerned about improving or preserving our water resources.

Welcome to the watershed monitoring module. The information provided in this module serves as a general introduction to monitoring - what it is, why it is needed, and how it can be used to help achieve watershed management objectives. Specifically, the goals of this training module are to:

• Describe monitoring's many roles
• Introduce watershed monitoring
• Highlight water quality monitoring
• Outline monitoring program and sampling design development

If this is your first visit to a Watershed Academy Web module, click on the "How to Navigate" link near the top of your screen for general browsing instructions.