After you or your watershed group have gathered and analyzed data, it will be important to bring the data and the results to the attention of people or agencies with an interest in water quality issues, or those whose policies and practices are put into question by the data. Your data can be used in dozens of ways by a variety of different organizations and agencies. We highly recommend getting in touch with these groups before you set up a monitoring program for collaborative projects. They may also have valuable suggestions about how the data should be compiled, as well as ways in which you might improve your study design.

Whether you are collecting general data assessing the overall ecological integrity of a stream, or trying to address a specific question in your watershed, biological data is important to agencies like the EPA, the Oregon DEQ, or the Washington DOE. The EPA is increasingly interested in using the data of well-trained volunteers to assess the water quality of streams for listing as "impaired" under rule 303(d) of the Clean Water Act. Your data may be even more important to the state agencies in the Pacific Northwest that don't have the resources to sample all of the streams and watershed they would like to see biological data for. Based on the data they already have, the state agencies have developed or are developing biological criteria for the protection of the biological integrity of stream and rivers. The effective use of those criteria can be further strengthened by volunteer efforts and other contributed data. As long as you follow appropriate protocols to ensure your end data is of high quality, your watershed group can have an important influence on how your local waterways are managed.

For example, if you are working in an urban watershed, show the information to city planners and neighborhood residents. If you've been collecting biological data above and below a point source of pollution, contact the polluter and the municipality to work toward positive, joint solutions. Also, be sure to contact local conservation organizations to see how your data might support their efforts to protect or restore streams and other waterways in the region.

In forested watersheds, biologists from any number of forest management agencies (US Forest Service, state Departments of Forestry, BLM) and industries (Weyerhaeuser, Georgia Pacific, other timber companies large and small) might be interested in the biological information you could collect. Ideally, you could work collaboratively with such agencies and businesses to monitor the effects of management. For example, if the data you collect indicates that a stream is impaired downstream of a clear-cut, the information could be used to influence timber management (riparian buffers, culvert modification, etc.).

The case studies presented in the Background section of this CD-ROM provide some examples of how others have put macroinvertebrate data into action. Your data can also serve as a case study, and as a highly valuable educational tool, to show people living in a watershed the challenges and potential solutions for streams and water quality.

You can find links or contact information for a number of institutions that may be interested in your data under contacts in the Resources section.