This manual is designed to help interpret the basic surrogate measures of river health that Waterwatch monitors collect. It explains important steps to making sense of your data, including:

1. What data do I need to answer my question about the health of my waterway?
2. How good are the measures of river health I collect and what are their limitations?
3. How does my result compare to a 'standard' condition and how much variability can I expect?
4. What does a change in value from sample to sample mean?
5. When should I act on my results?
6. How do my measures relate to waterway health?
7. Who can I talk to for more information?

This manual is also designed to avoid making basic errors of interpretation, in particular, leaping to unwarranted conclusions and mistaking association for causation when interpreting results.

Data Interpretation Manual - PART A - The exploration and interpretation of data (pdf, 1.6 MB)

Data Interpretation Manual - PART B - Specific Indicatiors (pdf, 838 KB)

Data Interpretation Manual - PART C - Drawing conclusions (pdf, 242 KB)

Data Interpretation Manual - COVER (pdf, 577 KB)