Global Water Watch’s 2024 Impact

by | Feb 4, 2025 | WRC Blog

Written By: Sergio Ruiz Cordova, AUWRC

Global Water Watch had an impactful year in 2024, with trips to Peru and Chile. Learn about the work being done over the past year.  

What is Global Water Watch?

Global Water Watch is a voluntary network of affiliated community-based water monitoring groups across the world. The goal of GWW, much like Alabama Water Watch, is to foster watershed stewardship through citizen volunteer monitoring of surface waters to improve water quality and public health. 

Although GWW has representatives all over the globe, it is housed in part in the Auburn University Water Resources Center. You can find their newest blog posts here. Sergio Ruiz-Cordova is the Associate Director of Global Water Watch, you can find his information here. 

Example of stream bank erosion

Sergio Ruiz-Cordova and Global Water Watch partners in Chile trained 100 water monitors over the course of 2 years. Photo credit: Felipe Zanotti.

Global Water Watch in Peru

In May of 2024, GWW friends gathered in Peru. On May 21st, GWW-Mexico representative Arlette Fuentes met Sergio in Lima to fly together to Cuzco. There they attended a series of activities with Peruvian environmental vigilantes and monitors.  

Cuzco Water Monitoring Session 

While in Cuzco, Arlette and Sergio led a community-based water monitoring session as part of the “School of Environmental Monitors”, “Pachamama Amachayta Awasun (Weaving Protection for Mother Earth). This school strives to strengthen the capacities of female community members of Cusco and Apurímac. They gather to share and receive theoretical and practical modules related to community-based environmental monitoring and surveillance. It is remarkable to witness that locals from the native communities possess an unsurmountable ancestral knowledge about their territory and their communities, while describing what they know or have seen, unfolding every detail of almost everything within their territories. Furthermore, it is important to strengthen the capabilities of the population, especially women who stay in their territories and guarantee food for families despite any adversity they may encounter.  

Example of stream bank erosion

Sergio speaking at the School of Environmental Monitors, Pachamama Amachayta Awasun (Weaving Protection for Mother Earth) in Cuzco, Peru. Photo credit: Photo credit: Arlette Fuentes. 

 Espinar Water Monitoring Session 

Two days after Cuzco the GWW team traveled to Espinar, a town at about 3,900 meters (13,000 feet) above sea level, to conduct bacteriological monitoring, water chemistry monitoring, and biomonitoring certifications for locals. Local community members have committed to becoming environmental monitors and keep track of the well-being of the environment, as well as the dissemination of results from their water monitoring. For the last forty years they have lived with mining activities and their consequences; therefore, they promote dialogue among local actors to keep peace in their territories, and the need for the implementation of more environmentally friendly mining activities. 

Example of stream bank erosion

Community members becoming water monitors in Espinar, Apurimac, Peru. Photo credit: Arlette Fuentes.

Puno Water Monitoring Sessions 

 The GWW team then traveled to Coata in the Puno region where they conducted certifications and recertifications in all three types of GWW water monitoring for students and other volunteers. The next day, GWW-Chile representatives joined the gathering, as well as representatives from a Bolivian organization interested in implementing GWW water monitoring in their country.

The larger GWW team traveled to the city of Chucuito where the V National Meeting of Environmental Vigilantes and Monitors was held. At this event, representatives from Puno, Cusco, Apurímac, Cajamarca, La Libertad, Ayacucho and Lima provinces gathered to reflect and encourage action in the face of the current environmental and political challenges. With the slogan, “our water and our lives have more value than minerals”, the meeting started on May 29 with an analysis of the current situation of community environmental surveillance and monitoring, highlighting the imposition of the energy transition fueled by the mining of the Global South countries. These activities have a negative impact on health and territories, due to extractive activities that do not respect human rights or the environment.  

Example of stream bank erosion

Community members becoming water monitors in Coata, Puno, Peru. Photo credit: Arlette Fuentes.

Example of stream bank erosion

Learning and sharing about local watersheds in Chucuito, Puno, Peru. Photo credit: Arlette Fuentes

Global Water Watch in Chile

Laja 

In October 2024, GWW returned to Chile to help GWW expand to more regions in the country.  Chilean GWW trainers Débora, Esteban, and Oscar traveled with Sergio to conduct a classroom session with questions and answers about the three types of water monitoring that GWW promotes. The team recertified a dozen students, a teacher, and several community members who have been actively monitoring three locations in Laja.   

Tomé 

After Laja, the team traveled to Tomé.  The Municipality of Tomé has been a model collaborator and sponsor of GWW trainings; from the first certification training in 2022 GWW-Chile 2022, to the  GWW-Chile 2023 when municipality employees and local teachers completed certifications in water monitoring.  

On Sunday, October 13, 2024 about 30 more monitors from other locations in Chile joined the gathering in what was considered the first annual meeting of GWW-Chile, attended by almost 90 participants.  

While in Chile, GWW also participated in the IV Meeting of Protected Areas and Gateway Communities, which are all those localities, physically or culturally, close to a protected area. Today about one third of Chile’s surface is protected under some form of land and/or marine protection. About 200 attendees participated in the event held at La Moneda Palace, a historical building that houses the president of the Republic of Chile and other ministries.  

Example of stream bank erosion
Example of stream bank erosion

Global Water Watch returned to Chile in 2023 to train monitors in three locations. Photo credit: Google Maps adapted by Laura Cooley

Students collect macroinvertebrates from stream to assess water quality by the type and quantity of macroinvertebrates present. Photo credit: Felipe Zanotti.

Sergio Ruiz-Cordova works with students to assess the types of macroinvertebrates present and what they can indicate about water quality. Photo credit: Felipe Zanotti. 

Looking Forward to 2025

GWW monitors and volunteers in Chile, Mexico, Peru, the US states of Mississippi and Washington and other places will continue gathering bacteriological, chemical and macroinvertebrate monitoring data on specific waterbodies across their countries. Their goal is to collect and establish baseline data of water quality observations within all possible watersheds to determine if they can provide clean water for the forests, its ecosystems, as well as the public—thereby, get better informed about land management and land use decisions. Stay up to date about Global Water Watch activities by visiting their blog

 

Contact

Auburn University Water Resources Center
ALFA Agricultural Services and Research Building
961 S Donahue Drive
Auburn, AL 36840

1-888-844-4785