Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources, University of Vermont, 81 Carrigan Dr, Burlington, VT, 05405, USA.
Department of Planning and Landscape Architecture, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Old Music Hall, 925 Bascom Mall, Madison, WI, 53706, USA.
Environ Manage. 2018 Jan;61(1):46-57. doi: 10.1007/s00267-017-0956-7. Epub 2017 Nov 20.
A survey of 345 volunteer water monitoring programs in the United States was conducted to document their characteristics, and perceived level of support for data to inform natural resource management or policy decisions. The response rate of 86% provided information from 46 states. Programs represented a range of ages, budgets, objectives, scopes, and level of quality assurance, which influenced data uses and perceived support by sponsoring agency administrators and external decision makers. Most programs focused on rivers, streams, and lakes. Programs had not made substantial progress to develop EPA or state-approved quality assurance plans since 1998, with only 48% reporting such plans. Program coordinators reported feeling slightly more support for data to be used for management as compared to policy decisions. Programs with smaller budgets may be at particular risk of being perceived to lack credibility due to failure to develop quality assurance plans. Over half of programs identified as collaborative, in that volunteers assisted scientists in program design, data analysis and/or dissemination of results. Just under a third were contributory, in which volunteers primarily collected data in a scientist-defined program. Recommendations to improve perceived data credibility, and to augment limited budgets include developing quality assurance plans and gaining agency approval, and developing partnerships with other organizations conducting monitoring in the area to share resources and knowledge. Funding agencies should support development of quality assurance plans to help ensure data credibility. Service providers can aid in plan development by providing training to program staff over time to address high staff turnover rates.
对美国 345 个志愿者水质监测项目进行了调查，以记录其特征，以及感知到的数据对自然资源管理或政策决策的支持程度。86%的回应率提供了来自 46 个州的信息。这些项目代表了不同的年龄、预算、目标、范围和质量保证水平，这影响了赞助机构管理员和外部决策者对数据用途和感知支持的看法。大多数项目都集中在河流、溪流和湖泊上。自 1998 年以来，这些项目在制定美国环保署或州批准的质量保证计划方面没有取得实质性进展，只有 48%的项目报告了此类计划。项目协调员报告说，与政策决策相比，他们对数据用于管理的支持略感增加。预算较小的项目可能由于未能制定质量保证计划而特别面临缺乏可信度的风险。超过一半的项目被认为是合作的，因为志愿者协助科学家进行项目设计、数据分析和/或结果传播。略低于三分之一的项目是贡献性的，志愿者主要在科学家定义的项目中收集数据。提高数据可信度和增加有限预算的建议包括制定质量保证计划并获得机构批准，以及与该地区其他进行监测的组织建立伙伴关系，以共享资源和知识。资助机构应支持制定质量保证计划，以帮助确保数据的可信度。服务提供商可以通过随着时间的推移为项目工作人员提供培训来协助计划的制定，以解决工作人员高流动率的问题。
