Your Link to Muskoka's Water!

Monitoring

Monitoring involves collecting and analyzing information on the state of our water and land in order to identify changes and trends over time. It is also a means of verifying whether policies and programs are effective in protecting Muskoka's environment.

Long-term records of water quality data document changes and helps distinguish between a waterbody's natural variability and the impacts of human activity. In general, a long-term commitment for a modest sampling program is better than an extensive program which cannot be sustained because of a lack of funds or volunteers.

More formally, water quality monitoring is a scientifically designed system of long-term, standardized measurement, systematic observation, evaluation and reporting of water quality in order to define status and/or trends.The quality of water is determined by its physical, chemical and biological characteristics. These characteristics are measured in either a laboratory setting or on site in the field.