This application is the result of several years of work dedicated to creating a tool that facilitates participatory monitoring of environmental health in waterways (Urtado, 2021). The process to achieve this objective involved adapting a visual protocol (Bjorkland, 2001) to the conditions of the country's ecosystems. This protocol was applied to 144 sites located in the country's various priority watersheds (Río Negro, Río de la Plata, Santa Lucía, Río Uruguay, among others). This monitoring information was compared with water quality data to determine how representative the information generated with the protocol was. A significant correlation was found between these two approaches, leading to the conclusion that the visual protocol is representative of water quality.
The protocol incorporates 10 analytical metrics, where the combination of their different expressions or variations indicates environmental quality. Visual protocols are simple, educational local assessment tools that help obtain basic information on the environmental conditions of streams and gullies without requiring significant time and money. Their main objective is to encourage citizen participation in the assessment process, creating the necessary conditions for integrating various stakeholders into participatory monitoring of the environmental health of waterways.