Atlantic Water Network spolight The PRGI monitoring plan for watershed health

Our first #CommunitySpotlight of 2021 is recognizing one of the more frequent users of the New Brunswick Equipment Hub in 2020, Passmaquoddy Recognition Group Inc. PRGI is a not for profit organization representing the interests of the Passmaquoddy People, known in their language as Peskotomuhkati. The traditional territory of the Peskotomuhkati Nation is the watershed of the Skutik (St. Croix) River and watersheds draining into the Passamaquoddy Bay.

The PRGI started monitoring in 2019 through their Coastal Restoration Plan to develop a long-term monitoring plan for watershed health throughout the Peskotomuhkati territory. As part of their ambitious water quality monitoring program, the PRGI team is monitoring over 260 (!!) sites with over 650 points of data collected in 2020 alone! Their team borrowed YSI’s through the NB Equipment Hub, hosted by ACAP Saint John (http://www.acapsj.org/nbequipmenthub). Their Biologist Lita O’Halloran shared that being able to borrow YSI’s from the NB Equipment Hub reduced their field days from 5 down to 2.5! They use their large dataset to address barriers to sea-run fish, their associated habitats, and watershed planning 🐟 🌱

We are so thrilled to see groups like Passmaquoddy Recognition Group Inc. start baseline water monitoring programs and access resources like the NB Equipment Bank to support and expand their work. Check out their extensive dataset on DataStream at https://doi.org/10.25976/4y34-rn27!