Did you know that Friday is World Water Monitoring Day?  Had you ever heard of it before?

It’s new to me, even though it’s been around for years.  And this year, I’ll be participating…at least vicariously, through students from 30 schools in the Arkhangelsk region of Russia.  They’ll join other students from around the world in testing their local water quality and coming up with plans on how to improve it.  This exercise is particularly relevant to Arkhangelsk because in that region alone there are nearly 350,000 people living without access to clean water.    

This whole thing started when, in 2007, a delegation of young leaders from the region traveled to Cornelius, Oregon for a week-long exchange focused on accountable governance.  One of the activities that struck them most was a visit with representatives from Clean Water Services (CWS), a public utility that provides water resource management for Washington County.  The delegates were thoroughly impressed with the setup and were almost overwhelmed by the fact that CWS provides clean, drinkable water to their constituents, even in rural areas.  The Russian delegates hadn’t previously even considered the possibility of providing actual DRINKING water!  They were just trying to figure out how to provide relatively clean water for everyday usage!

As a result of their interest, the National Peace Foundation worked with the original delegates to organize a second visit to the US 100% dedicated to the issues of water resource management.  After a week in Washington County, Oregon in the fall of 2008, the delegates signed an agreement with their hosts at CWS to keep working together to improve the water situation in Arkhangelsk.  CWS also provided materials and expertise to help teach students and policymakers alike about their responsibility vis-à-vis water problems in their region.  Then they arranged for the donation of 35 water test kits from the Water Environment Federation to allow the students to join the worldwide movement to monitor the world’s water on World Water Monitoring Day.

So that’s World Water Monitoring Day – a day to test the water quality all over the world, think about how to protect and conserve water resources, and appreciate the nice, cold glass of water you drink at the end of a long, hot summer hike.

Jenny

*Jenny has worked with the National Peace Foundation for nearly two years, managing the Open World leadership programs, among other things.  She has a deep passion for Russia, Ukraine and Eurasia, and is fully dedicated to supporting the efforts of individuals to make changes in their own communities and environments.