ABOUT THE CITIZEN MONITORING PROGRAM

The Inland Bays Citizen Monitoring Program was established in 1991 – in support of the goals of the newly created Delaware Inland Bays National Estuary Program – to collect verifiable water quality data to support public policy decisions and to increase public participation and support for the management and protection of the bays. The program has expanded in geography and scope since then, and the new name - The University of Delaware Citizen Monitoring Program - reflects those changes.  In addition to the Inland Bays Citizen Monitoring Program, the program includes the Broadkill River Monitoring Program, the Harmful Algae Monitoring Program, and the Bacteria Monitoring Program.

The program is managed by the University of Delaware Sea Grant Marine Advisory Service at the College of Marine and Earth Studies in Lewes. Funding support initially came through the National Estuary Program, but since 1994 the Citizen Monitoring Program has received an appropriation from the Delaware General Assembly through a Memorandum of Agreement with the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control (DNREC). Additional support comes from many supporters including: Sea Grant; DNREC; the Center for the Inland Bays; U.S. Environmental Protection Agency; the Delaware Estuary Program; the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation and local communities.

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