Press Release
Water Quality
Become a Citizen Scientist by simply clicking through a short survey and snapping photos

PHOENIX (June 14, 2018) – Protecting Arizona waterways is as easy as opening an App on your Smartphone. As the monsoon kicks off, download the Arizona Water Watch Mobile App, recently developed by the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ). Users can easily submit photos and data for any stream, wash, river or lake in the state within a few minutes.

This will be the first monsoon where people can report the status of waterways in Arizona using the Arizona Water Watch App. The information is used by ADEQ scientists to update flow patterns in streams and washes, address water quality issues across the state and identify water bodies for future studies. It is especially important to record when water is observed in normally dry streams and creeks to help ADEQ better understand how water moves through ecosystems.

“Working together, volunteers and state employees can cover more of Arizona, expanding our knowledge of the state’s waterways, especially during the monsoon when desert landscapes are transformed after heavy downpours,” said Meghan Smart, ADEQ Water Quality Scientist. “As information is submitted through the App and our network of Citizen Scientists expands, so does our ability to protect these important natural resources.”

After verification, the submitted information is plotted on an interactive GIS map of the entire state. The Arizona Water Watch Mobile App can be used even when out of range of cell phone service, as is common in the more remote areas of Arizona. Data are sent automatically to ADEQ when the phone returns to a service area.

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Contact

Erin Jordan, ADEQ Public Information Officer | E-mail > | 602-771-2215 desk | 602-540-8072 cell