The Collaboration and Outreach workgroup strives to build partnerships that foster collaboration and communication within the water-quality monitoring community. Read more in our fact sheet "Accomplishing More Together"...

• Newsletter: National Water Monitoring News: The Council’s bi-annual, online newsletter highlights activities of the national Council and those of state, regional, and tribal councils, watershed partnerships, and volunteer monitoring groups. Articles include monitoring success stories and other relevant topics on monitoring designs and assessments; related upcoming events, conferences, and links.



• National conferences: One of the main drivers for Council activities and centerpiece forum for communication and collaboration among the monitoring community is the Council’s biennial national conference. In April 2010, the 7th biennial national monitoring conference, held in Denver, CO, provided a national forum for more than 950 monitoring practitioners from all backgrounds to present improved strategies for water quality monitoring, assessment, and reporting, as well as to foster collaboration and coordination among governmental organizations, volunteers, academia, watershed and environmental groups, and the private sector. A top priority of the workgroup is to plan and host the 8th national conference (TBA).



• Support for state and regional councils: Continued improvements occur to our “How-to Tool Kit” for initiating and maintaining successful councils, and to create communication forums for sharing successes and challenges among the different state and regional councils across the U.S. (currently around 17). Communication forums include, for example, the web, cyber seminars, articles in the Council newsletter, and national conferences.