Girl Scouts of USA Celebrates World Water Monitoring Day 2007

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

September 18, 2007

CONTACT:
Lori Harrison
WEF
Phone: (703) 684-2480
lharrison@wef.org

Girl Scouts of the USA:
Michelle L. Tompkins
Phone: (212) 852-5074
mtompkins@girlscouts.org

Alexandria, Va. – Girl Scouts of the USA (GSUSA) has joined the Water Environment Federation (WEF), International Water Association (IWA), U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and others to celebrate World Water Monitoring Day 2007 (WWMD) from September 18 through October 18.

WWMD is held annually on these dates and engages communities in monitoring the condition of local rivers, streams, estuaries and other water bodies. Since its inception in 2002, more than 80,000 people have participated in 50 countries. The program's goal is to have one million people in 100 countries participating by 2012.

The Girl Scouts' participation in World Water Monitoring Day is part of the Linking Girls to the Land (LGTTL) program, a partnership between GSUSA's Elliott Wildlife Values Project and federal natural resources agencies such as EPA. LGTTL encourages Girl Scouts to work with agencies to become leaders of national and local projects focused on environmental education, outdoor skills, community service, careers and more.

"During this event, thousands of Girl Scouts worldwide will use scientific monitoring skills to find out just how healthy their local water resources are. Many will take action to foster cleaner waters and ultimately will become the next generation of environmental leaders," said Jodi Stewart Schwarzer, Project Manager, GSUSA's Outdoor and Environmental Program.

World Water Monitoring Day offers an easy-to-use test kit that enables everyone, from children to adults, to sample local water bodies for a core set of water quality parameters including temperature, acidity (pH), clarity (turbidity) and dissolved oxygen (DO). Results are then put into an international database and summarized on the program's Web site.

"The great thing about World Water Monitoring Day is that you don't have to be experienced to take part," said Linda Kelly, Managing Director of Public Communications for WEF. "It's designed to help connect people of all ages and experience levels with their environment and to better understand how their actions impact local water bodies. We are very excited to have the Girl Scouts participating in this worthwhile event."

The program was formally adopted by the Water Environment Federation in 2006 and is supported internationally by the International Water Association. Participating organizations for the September 18 kickoff event included Perkin Elmer Instruments, Smithfield Foods, CH2M Hill, ITT Corporation, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), the Appalachian Trail Conservancy, the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center, the Jewish National Fund, LaMotte Company, the National Association of Clean Water Agencies, the Interstate Commission on the Potomac River Basin and the National Environmental Education Foundation.

For more information, visit www.WorldWaterMonitoringDay.com.

Note to editors:
Media representatives should contact Lori Harrison, WEF Director of Public Information at lharrison@wef.org or 703-684-2480. In addition to coverage opportunities, media are also encouraged to participate in the monitoring activities.

About Girl Scouts
Founded in 1912, Girl Scouts of the USA is the preeminent leadership development organization for girls with 3.6 million girl and adult members worldwide. Girl Scouting is the leading authority on girls' healthy development, and builds girls of courage, confidence and character, who make the world a better place.  The organization serves girls from every corner of the United States and its territories. Girls Scouts of the USA also serves American girls and their classmates attending American or international schools overseas in 90 countries.  For more information on how to join, volunteer, reconnect or donate to Girl Scouts, call (800) GSUSA 4 U (800-478-7248) or visit www.girlscouts.org.

About WEF
Formed in 1928, the Water Environment Federation (WEF) is a not-for-profit technical and educational organization with 32,000 individual members and 80 affiliated Member Associations representing an additional 50,000 water quality professionals throughout the world. WEF and its member associations proudly work to achieve our mission of preserving and enhancing the global water environment.

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