Citizen science in Australia’s waterways: investigating linkages with catchment decision-making

ABSTRACT Citizen science can be a viable mechanism to foster productive linkages between community and government for sustainable water resource management. In Australia, this potential has longstanding policy support but research into program extent, characteristics or impact on decision-making processes has been lacking. This article draws on a temporal analysis of data records from two citizen science programs and a nationwide survey of 47 program coordinators representing 43 freshwater and estuarine citizen science programs to examine these knowledge shortfalls. Results indicate that program activity has contracted in Victoria but increased in the ACT, with additional evidence indicating a nationwide contraction. Survey results revealed programs operating nationwide and largely implemented as a community-government partnership, combining data and educative priorities. Despite 70 per cent of programs having goals to inform catchment decision-making, data use was verified for less than half of programs. Program coordinators reported several social, organisational and technical barriers that limit this uptake. In highlighting these issues, we make three recommendations for enhancing linkages between citizen science and catchment decision-making: (1) increasing institutional support; (2) improving coordination and embracing new possibilities for collaboration; and (3) demonstrating and communicating program achievements.