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Clear Waters, Clear Future: World Water Monitoring Day!


Kayaking at Hirundo

Picture this: decades ago, the Penobscot River and its tributaries—including Pushaw Stream at Hirundo—were places where the smell of pollution was all too common. Fish were scarce; plants struggled; swimming or fishing felt risky, if not outright unsafe. Those who have lived along these waterways for many years still remember when visibility in the water was poor, when rocks underfoot were hidden in murky brown, and when wildlife barely stirred.


Now fast forward from the 1960s to today. I, like many others, am lucky enough to enjoy paddling down the Penobscot and its surrounding waterways, including time on Pushaw Stream at Hirundo. In exploring these streams, rivers, and estuaries now you’ll experience something many back then probably never thought would be possible. You’ll see clear waters, healthy schools of fish, aquatic plants waving in the current, eagles and cormorants hovering overhead. The river is very much alive again, thanks to many people's efforts. 


I had the opportunity to assist in a guided paddle with the Penobscot River Keepers and a local high school class and hear their personal accounts of the drastic changes in the river over time. It reminded me of just how lucky a lot of us are to benefit from the work of others in the past to make it that way. But what exactly did they do to achieve this?



How Did This Change Come About?

When I recently got the opportunity to paddle with the Penobscot River Keepers and a local high school class, I heard firsthand stories about how the river has changed. Not long ago, stretches of the Penobscot were choked with pollution—oxygen-depleted, murky, and carrying wastes from mills and towns. Today, fish runs are returning, paddling is popular, and the water is much cleaner overall. 


But this transformation didn’t happen by chance—it took decades of work:


  • Stronger laws and enforcement–The Clean Water Act (1972) and Maine’s water classification system forced industries and municipalities to clean up their discharges, investing in treatment plants and pollution controls.

  • Upgrades to wastewater systems–Paper mills, towns, and cities along the Penobscot built secondary treatment facilities, cutting down on waste and improving dissolved oxygen for fish.

  • Tribal leadership and advocacy–The Penobscot Nation set their own water quality standards (2014), protecting cultural uses like fishing and ceremonies and holding agencies accountable.

  • Dam removals and fish passage–The Penobscot River Restoration Project (2012–2016) removed the Great Works and Veazie dams and built a natural bypass at Howland, reconnecting nearly 2,000 miles of habitat for salmon, shad, alewives, and eels.

  • & more! 


Measuring the Change

Personal experience and anecdotes about seeing the water clear up, hearing of returning fish, paddling without concern is really powerful. However, data collected from scientific monitoring  of metrics like dissolved oxygen, pH, turbidity, temperature, and biological indicators (like aquatic insects or fish diversity), etc. are crucial to helping us keep a close eye on the health of waterways. With monitoring efforts, we can stay informed on the state of our rivers and streams and be much quicker to react if something is off. 


This is where community science programs and watershed monitoring come in. They help track health over time, detect threats early, and validate the stories of change we tell.

catch and report them.


What Is World Water Monitoring Day?

While monitoring and protection of our water is a year round effort we can be reminded of it’s importance as we come up to World Water Monitoring Day (WWMD), which is on September 18th. WWMD is an international outreach program observed annually starting September 18, sometimes extending through early October. Since its inception in 2002, more than 80,000 people across 50+ countries have participated, conducting water quality tests, sharing data, and working to protect local water bodies. 


Participants use simple test kits to measure things like turbidity, pH, temperature, and dissolved oxygen. The goal is to raise awareness, collect baseline data, and empower individuals and communities to protect their local waterways. 


Local Efforts & How You Can Help

World Water Monitoring Day is not the only way people can help protect our watersheds. Here in Maine, there are several excellent community science programs doing monitoring and education work as well as other ways you can contribute: 


  • Join a local monitoring program like Lake Stewards of Maine and become certified to assess water quality, identify and remove aquatic invasive species, and perform watershed assessment. Or join Maine Audubon’s Marsh & Stream Explorers efforts and survey streams for aquatic insects, which are water quality indicators. 

  • Support organizations and groups doing this work—financially, via volunteering, or by helping spread the word. 

  • Use your voices/platform: advocate for the continuation and strengthening of protections. You can even do this by supporting others voices like the Penobscot Nation’s, who have relied upon the Penobscot waters from time immemorial and have always been leaders and incredible advocates for the protection of these waters.


Campers at water station

Hirundo & You: What’s Next

At Hirundo, we are thrilled to be able to support these efforts and connect people with the importance of our waterways. With the integration of Stream Bioblitzes, paddles, and more into our kids camps, not only do campers gain a closer connection with Pushaw Stream itself but the waterways as a whole. On the guided paddles we offer participants not only fun recreation opportunities but personal encounters with local wildlife and beautiful nature views of the surrounding stream. We work in many ways aim to create lifelong water stewards and conservation advocates of individuals in our community through education and meaningful experiences. We want to help make these experiences more common, and make sure the improvements hold for generations.


So this September, in honor of World Water Monitoring Day (Sept 18), we invite you to:



By working together, we can ensure that rivers once harmed remain vibrant spaces filled with life and beauty.



Citations: 


EarthEcho Water Challenge. (2024, September 16). How much do you know about water quality? MonitorWater.


Maine Audubon. (n.d.). Stream Explorers. Maine Audubon. Retrieved September 15, 2025, from https://maineaudubon.org/projects/stream-explorers


Penobscot Nation. (2014, September 5). Penobscot Nation Water Quality Standards. Penobscot Nation Department of Natural Resources.


 
 
 

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