I hope All of you had a wonderful 2022 and a joyful end of the year festivities! 

It is already mid-January, so I decided to send this quick note to thank you for all that was possible for GWW (Global Water Watch) this past year on this amazing journey of encouraging water monitoring and living as a role model for watershed stewardship. The results of GWW activities I personally witnessed in the past year have been nothing short of ASTOUNDING. As for GWW, the year 2022 confidently was a wonderful one. 

It is a joy to read emails, Facebook posts or WhatsApp messages from people who have had amazing breakthroughs with their water monitoring or other environmental stewardship experiences; and of course, much more from other personal accomplishments or situations. 

It is your commitment to become a reliable monitor, to make changes and live a life more in harmony with the environment, enjoying and respecting nature and the outdoors that makes what we do possible, and we are incredibly grateful for that. We are happy for those new people that decide to re-integrate the rivers into their lifestyle. After the traveling hiatus due to Covid, 2022 gave GWW the opportunity to get back on the road.  

This past year has been quite a ride, starting with a May trip to Mexico to attend and present at the VIII Mexican Congress of Ecology that over 1,000 people attended! Which what followed by a series of field sessions conducting stream biomonitoring along with personnel from the Mexico Water Commission –CONAGUA. In addition, we ended up assisting at a laboratory on the preparation of all the reagents used for water chemistry monitoring, which are extremely expensive and almost impossible to find in our closest neighboring country. 

In September, we got the opportunity to share experiences and expand what GWW does for watershed stewardship, with a wonderful audience in the southern hemisphere, in the province of Concepcion in Chile. A selected group of 36 citizens successfully completed certifications in bacteriological monitoring, water chemistry monitoring, and stream biomonitoring. 

Finally, after about ten years absence, in November GWW got us back to the shores and watersheds of the Titicaca Lake in Peru. About 50 new water monitors completed trainings in the Cuzco and Puno departments. GWW participation in Peru included presenting at an Andean Forum, a press conference; a radio broadcast and many other meetings. Highlight of the trip is the beginning of an incredibly positive interaction with Bolivian partners concerned about the potential opening of a new mining operation in a watershed shared by communities in both countries. 

Additional GWW monitoring activities, environmental education activities and trainings in 2022 took place in Costa Rica plus the US states of Mississippi and Washington. 

GWW has been also attending virtual meetings of the, now a year-old organization, RED CAMCPA. This is a network of people working or interested in working on community-based, participatory water monitoring in the American continent, with representation of many Latin-American countries. The RED CAMCPA is a regional reference platform that is trying to unite social actors to conserve and restore the rivers of the American Continent through participatory community water monitoring. The network plans to have their first in-person meeting in 2023 in Chile. 

It is difficult to express my gratitude through these few lines for all this work and to every one of you out there reading this, monitoring and growing with us as better watershed stewards… 

So, all I can say is thank you! Keep monitoring. It is fun, it is entertaining, it is enriching. And never forget that your monitoring data is useful; it may not work miracles, but it will work wonders. During the beginning of 2023, chose to be a better watershed steward, monitor as much as you did in 2022; or more, if you think you fell short on your monitoring goal last year. Choose to let go of old excuses and commit to making time to go out once every month and monitor, with enthusiasm, with hope, with love, and with passion. 

Until next time… Happy and Prosperous 2023 filled with health, happiness, patience, and perseverance … and Keep Monitoring!