One of the main findings of our Water Quality Community Consensus Report was the limited amount of data on the tributaries coming into the Allegheny, Monongahela, and Ohio Rivers. Understanding water quality across these less studied watersheds helps to inform advocates and communities seeking to address point source pollution and general stormwater runoff issues.
To address this, the Pittsburgh Water Collaboratory and Allegheny County Conservation District conducted a countywide Watershed Sampling Day on May 6th, 2023. Through this effort, nearly 40 volunteers were trained to collect water samples at tributaries of interest. These samples were collected, returned to Pitt, and will be processed at the University in the coming weeks. All the data will be published and publicly available later this summer. We hope that this project, while only providing a limited "snapshot" of one day, draws further attention to the need for more water quality monitoring resources in our region.
Thank you to the Hillman Foundation for supporting this effort.