Community-Based Monitoring in Response to Local Concerns: Creating Usable Knowledge for Water Management in Rural Land
Abstract
:1. Introduction
2. Materials and Methods
2.1. Study Area
2.2. Data Collection, Validation and Credibility
2.3. Data Analysis
3. Results
3.1. Data Validation
3.2. Water Quality Index
3.3. Physicochemical and Bacterial Analyses
4. Discussion
4.1. Data Responses to Local Concerns about Water Resources
4.2. Community-Based Water Monitoring (CBWM) Generation of Usable Knowledge
- CBWM creates databases about water conditions in socially important sites and, in the absence of long-term data, provides essential information to decision makers [14,19,43]. Citizens, volunteers, and partner institutions are helping to address this issue, not only by generating data but by making it usable for social actors, and at socially important sites [34,47,48].
- Analysis of specific water properties clarifies the relationships among the factors contributing to water quality [49], and the ways in which water is tied to the general management of the basin [50]. For example, within the Monarch butterfly reserve, quantification of turbidity as a proxy for erosion problems has indicated that better management practices are needed at locations higher up the basin; and the E. coli counts indicate fecal matter reaching the water, calling for proper sanitation and better livestock practices.
- Unlike other resource monitoring, CBWM generates data that local communities and other stakeholders can use almost immediately to understand the effects of their activities on their territory [34]. Databases register the long-term behavior and trends, while single monitoring sessions allow CBWM to work as an early-warning system for local and regional stakeholders [25,28].
- CBWM at the monarch reserve has underlined problems related to the effectiveness of current protection policy (e.g., habitat suitability for freshwater biodiversity). Clearly there is a need to revise both the management plan and the regional agreements (i.e., permitted and regulated activities), to reduce the impact of human activities on the water bodies (i.e., the tourism impact on freshwater habitat) thereby achieving a coherent protection policy.
- CBWM usually operates as a collaborative scheme that addresses diverse interests associated with water resources. Given that fluvial systems drain and communicate across the region, they form configuring hydro-social territories shared by ‘ejidos’ and indigenous communities, private owners and protected-land authorities [51,52]. The data generated provide knowledge of water behavior, identify the sources of pollution, and emphasize the spatial connections between regions. Payments for environmental services contracts are of interest in the study region, and it is useful to understand the teleconnections among users and providers involved; and to develop them it is essential to have the data relating to water quality available to ensure effective communication among users and providers in order for all the stakeholders to achieve their own institutional goals [53,54].
- CBWM involves the community in local decisions regarding water, by providing tools to measure and interpret data. Participation can result in new local governance schemes for local to regional decisions. The possession of credible data by means of CBWM is a tool that informs decisions and a new benefit for this region [30].
Author Contributions
Funding
Acknowledgments
Conflicts of Interest
Research Data
References
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Sub-Basin | Ejido or Indigenous Community | ID | Site | Monitoring Reason 1 |
---|---|---|---|---|
San Juan Zitácuaro | Francisco Serrato | 1 | Xorejé | Drink |
Francisco Serrato | 2 | Tamejé | Downstream | |
Carpinteros | 3 | El Aguacate | Drink | |
Carpinteros | 4 | Lomita | Drink | |
Carpinteros | 5 | Agua de Benita | Drink | |
Carpinteros | 6 | La Mina | Drink | |
Donaciano Ojeda | 7 | Manantial 1a Manzana | Drink | |
Donaciano Ojeda | 8 | La Segundita | Downstream | |
Crescencio Morales | 9 | Remunrrejé | Drink | |
Crescencio Morales | 10 | La Entrada | Drink | |
San Juan Zitácuaro community | 11 | Ojo de Agua | Drink | |
Curungueo | 12 | Borbollones | Domestic | |
Curungueo | 13 | La Capilla | Drink | |
Curungueo | 14 | Ojo de Agua 1 | Drink | |
Curungueo | 15 | Ojo de Agua 2 | Drink | |
Curungueo | 16 | Arroyo Casa Grande 1 | Drink | |
Curungueo | 17 | Arroyo Casa Grande 2 | Downstream | |
San Felipe los Alzati | 18 | Ojo de Agua centro | Domestic | |
San Felipe los Alzati | 19 | La Presa | Drink | |
San Felipe los Alzati | 20 | Rio Obscuro | Downstream | |
San Felipe los Alzati | 21 | Palo Amargoso | Domestic | |
Cachiví | Senguio | 22 | El Salto | Domestic |
Senguio | 23 | Agua Caliente—Zapatero | Border | |
Senguio | 24 | Los Filtros | Domestic | |
Chincua | 25 | Los Tubos | Domestic | |
El Calabozo | 26 | Los Ailes—Tejón | Downstream | |
Cerro Prieto | 27 | Villalobos Poza 1 | Biodiversity | |
Cerro Prieto | 28 | Villalobos Poza 8 | Biodiversity | |
Cerro Prieto | 29 | Establo Poza 6 | Biodiversity | |
Cerro Prieto | 30 | Establo Poza 8 | Biodiversity |
Parameter | Units | Precision (%) | Accuracy | Sensitivity | Range |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Water temperature | °C | 80 | ±1.0 | 0.5 | 0–100 |
Air temperature | °C | 80 | ±1.0 | 0.5 | 0–100 |
pH | 80 | ±1.0 | 0.5 | 3.5–10.0 | |
Dissolved oxygen | mg/L | 80 | ±2.0 | 0.2 | 0.0–20.0 |
Total alkalinity | mg/L | 80 | ±10.0 | 5.0 | 0> |
Total hardness | mg/L | 80 | ±20.0 | 10.0 | 0> |
Turbidity | JTU | 80 | ±10.0 | 5.0 | 0–200 |
Escherichia coli | UFC/100 mL | 95 | ±1.0 | 1.0 | 0–200 |
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Flores-Díaz, A.C.; Quevedo Chacón, A.; Páez Bistrain, R.; Ramírez, M.I.; Larrazábal, A. Community-Based Monitoring in Response to Local Concerns: Creating Usable Knowledge for Water Management in Rural Land. Water 2018, 10, 542. https://doi.org/10.3390/w10050542
Flores-Díaz AC, Quevedo Chacón A, Páez Bistrain R, Ramírez MI, Larrazábal A. Community-Based Monitoring in Response to Local Concerns: Creating Usable Knowledge for Water Management in Rural Land. Water. 2018; 10(5):542. https://doi.org/10.3390/w10050542
Chicago/Turabian StyleFlores-Díaz, Adriana C., Alexander Quevedo Chacón, Rosaura Páez Bistrain, M. Isabel Ramírez, and Alejandra Larrazábal. 2018. "Community-Based Monitoring in Response to Local Concerns: Creating Usable Knowledge for Water Management in Rural Land" Water 10, no. 5: 542. https://doi.org/10.3390/w10050542
APA StyleFlores-Díaz, A. C., Quevedo Chacón, A., Páez Bistrain, R., Ramírez, M. I., & Larrazábal, A. (2018). Community-Based Monitoring in Response to Local Concerns: Creating Usable Knowledge for Water Management in Rural Land. Water, 10(5), 542. https://doi.org/10.3390/w10050542