Streamwatch history
Streamwatch started with a trial of 15 schools in 1990. Streamwatch became a project of the Special Environment Levy Trust with funding guaranteed from 1991 to 1994. Sydney Water responsible was implementing the NSW Government’s Special Environment Levy, which was a $80 annual levy on Sydney Water ratepayers to fund special environmental projects. Streamwatch was designed to use an action research methodology and have a focus on curriculum implementation in secondary schools.
At that time, other NSW agencies were also interested in participating in the program. The former NSW Department of Water Resources initiated Streamwatch in regional NSW. The former NSW Department of Conservation and Land Management and the former NSW Department of Public Works then followed with their support.
The Hawkesbury-Nepean Catchment Management Trust (HNCMT), the Upper Parramatta River Trust (UPRCT) and the Hunter Catchment Management Trust (HCMT) were all key players in the development and delivery of Streamwatch in NSW.
On a larger scale, similar programs were emerging in other states, notably Ribbons of Blue in Victoria and Western Australia. The famous Round Table conference in Cobram, Victoria, led to cooperation in developing community water quality monitoring programs. This led to Waterwatch Australia being established as the umbrella coordinating group for developing community water monitoring.
Waterwatch provided funding directly to developing groups at that time. Later, as more money became available, funding was also provided to support the appointment of regional coordinators and state coordinators. Waterwatch funding later became amalgamated with Landcare funding under the one-stop-shop funding program - the Natural Heritage Trust (NHT).
In 2000, Streamwatch was renamed as Waterwatch for all areas outside of Sydney Water’s area of operation.
Since it began, there have been over 1,100 Streamwatch groups who have monitored water quality at over 1,000 sites, and have contributed almost 22,000 data sets to the online database. These groups have been spread across greater Sydney, the Blue Mountains, Illawarra and Southern Highlands regions.