Citizen science in Lebanon—a case study for groundwater quality monitoring

Abstract

Over the past decade, several citizen science projects have been launched, with a smaller subset addressing citizen scientists' involvement in water quality monitoring. Most of these projects were conducted in developed countries and focused on qualitative assessment and measurements of a limited number of water quality parameters. Moreover, data generated by citizen scientists were mainly for monitoring purposes and rarely resulted in remedial measures. In this work, a collaborative citizen science approach involving local citizens and university researchers was applied to assess the groundwater quality in a Lebanese village. Using a mobile laboratory, winter and summer sampling campaigns were conducted and 12 physical, chemical and biological water quality parameters were tested. Results indicated that the data generated by the citizen scientists were comparable with those generated by university researchers for the majority of physical and chemical water quality parameters. However, the bacteriological test results showed a marked difference and may be attributed to the complexity of the testing procedure and quality of testing material. The collaborative and participatory approach resulted in building local capacity and knowledge and in the formation of a locally elected water committee which will be responsible for continuous monitoring of the groundwater resources.

The benefits and negative impacts of citizen science applications to water as experienced by participants and communities

“…Various examples exist in India (Jadeja et al, 2018) and Ethiopia (Walker, Haile, et al, 2019) of citizen scientists trained in monitoring groundwater levels and rainfall who became recognized in their communities as water experts and were empowered to advise on irrigation, contamination, and well maintenance building human and social capital. Baalbaki et al (2019) presented an empowering groundwater quality monitoring project in Lebanon with villagers trained to utilize a mobile laboratory. A local water committee was formed that continued monitoring beyond the project's lifespan and implemented remedial measures such as replacing contaminated infrastructure and utilizing disinfection treatment.…”

A model-based estimate of the groundwater budget and associated uncertainties in Bengaluru, India

“…A citizen-science -crowdsourcing experiment placed within a participatory groundwater management context should be explored. A recent example on groundwater quality monitoring from Lebanon provides useful insights, albeit at the scale of a village (Baalbaki et al 2019). (2) Model verification will need water quality and chemistry investigation.…”

Maximising the potential for citizen science in New South Wales

“…The importance of meaningful community and partner engagement has been emphasised in other water quality citizen science projects. Both Jollymorea et al 2017and Baalbaki et al (2019) found that the inclusive approach taken by engaging the local community in the science resulted in building local capacity and knowledge resulting in the continuation of the project. Indeed, both studies stressed the need for meaningful engagement which can sustain participants and tap into significant capacity in the community which traditionally has been under-realised (Jollymorea et al 2017).…”