Environmental monitoring and decision-making

This paper combines insights from public administration and statistics to discuss the place of water quality monitoring in the decision making process. It uses measured data obtained from the monitoring of the River Elbe in the Federal Republic of Germany to illustrate the statistical argument. It is further based on my experience as a board member of a Water Authority and as a governor of the Municipality of Delft. The literature is overviewed by a quick scan on the Internet and by using insights obtained from the Global Environmental Monitoring Network, GEMS.