Watertown Woman Honored for Her 17 Years of Monitoring the Charles River

For the past 17 years, Watertown's Kathy Diamond had risen at the break of dawn once a month to take samples of water along the Charles River to help the Charles River Watershed Association monitor the health of the river.

For her work, Diamond received the Ginger Lawrence Volunteer Award for her dedication to taking the samples and other measurements along the Charles, the CWRA announced. She received the award a the CWRA's 47th Annual Meeting held on April 3 at the MIT Faculty Club.

Along with the samples, Diamond and other volunteers measure the depth, tempreature and record river conditions. The samples are analyzed by a lab, and the data goes into the CWRA's water quality database.

"Our volunteer’s are crucial to our work, as the data they collect serves as the backbone for all of CRWA’s programs," said CRWA Senior Scientist Julie Wood.

The database is not only used by the CWRA, but also by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, according to the CWRA.