The Water Action Volunteers (WAV) citizen stream monitoring program is an ongoing partnership between the University of Wisconsin--Madison Division of Extension, the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR), and Wisconsin volunteers. The program aims to preserve, protect and restore Wisconsin's 86,000+ miles of streams and rivers by educating and empowering volunteers to (1) gather high-quality stream data useful for decision-making and natural resource management, and (2) share their data and knowledge. Annually, more than 500 volunteers and an estimated 2,000 supervised students monitor 600+ stream locations throughout the state. Visit the Water Action Volunteers website at https://wateractionvolunteers.org.
Data collected by WAV volunteers is submitted to the DNR's SWIMS data repository, but options for retrieving and viewing submitted data from SWIMS are limited. We developed this R Shiny data dashboard to improve the ease of access of WAV water quality data and improve engagement with the program. Those interested in joining WAV and monitoring a local stream or river should visit the program's website and reach out to a local volunteer coordinator for more information.
View the dashboard at https://connect.doit.wisc.edu/wav-dashboard/.