BALTIMORE, MD (September 22, 2010) – Baltimore City students joined Maryland Department of the Environment Deputy Secretary Robert Summers and other MDE staff today for World Water Monitoring Day at the Inner Harbor in Baltimore. Over forty Environmental Science and Advanced Placement Biology students from Digital Harbor High School tested samples along the waterfront and by boat.

"Maryland students sampling in the Inner Harbor and across the State as part of World Water Monitoring Day are getting hands-on experience assessing the condition of our waters," said MDE Deputy Secretary Robert Summers. "As we continue progress in restoring our waterways and meet the new ‘pollution diet’ for the Chesapeake Bay, these basic tests provide some of the information we need to measure our progress. World Water Monitoring Day reminds us all of the role we can play in determining whether our waterways are clean and the need to protect this vital resource."

"It is important to get our students out monitoring water quality, having hands-on experiences and seeing what professionals do," said Beverly Feig, AP biology teacher Digital harbor high school. "It is a great complement to our curriculum."

World Water Monitoring Day is an international education and outreach program that builds public awareness and involvement in protecting water resources around the world by engaging citizens to conduct basic monitoring of their local water bodies. MDE provided simple water quality monitoring kits to gather data on four important measures of water quality – temperature, acidity (pH), clarity (turbidity) and dissolved oxygen. The students will upload their data to www.worldwatermonitoringday.org, and they can compare their findings with those of other students around the globe. Participating in World Water Monitoring Day supports the efforts of Maryland's Partnership for Children in Nature to create an environmental literacy plan for Maryland students, increase opportunities for structured outdoor learning and enhance school and community natural areas to enable more learning outdoors.

World Water Monitoring Day was originally celebrated on October 18 to recognize the anniversary of the U.S. Clean Water Act, which was enacted by the U.S. Congress in 1972 to restore and protect the country’s water resources. The coordinators of WWMD, the Water Environment Federation, and the International Water Association plan to expand participation to one million people in 100 countries by 2012. This is the fourth year Digital Harbor students have participated along side MDE scientists.

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