Watershed Monitoring

[EPA] 2002 Dec 19th. Overview of Watershed Monitoring. EPA Watershed Academy Web. <http://www.epa.gov/watertrain/monitoring/>

This module gives the reader an introduction to watershed monitoring, its purpose, and its role in watershed management. It also outlines strategies for developing a monitoring program and sampling design as well as offers helpful implementation tips. This is a required module in the EPA’s Watershed Academy Certificate Program.

[EPA] 2003 Sept 9. Volunteer Monitoring. Monitoring and Assessing Water Quality. <http://www.epa.gov/owow/monitoring/vol.html>

This website provides monitoring method manuals in PDF format for estuarine waters, lakes, streams, and wetlands. It has links to the national newsletter, The Volunteer Monitor, conferences and events, and fact sheets that overview volunteering monitoring basics and EPA support for such programs.

[EPA] 2003 Oct 21. Stressor Identification Guidance. Biocriteria. <http://www.epa.gov/waterscience/biocriteria/stressors/stressorid.html>

This website allows you to download the EPA’s Stressor Identification Guide in PDF format. The guide is aimed at establishing water quality indicators in watersheds.

[EPA] 2003 Dec 15. STORET Database Access. <http://www.epa.gov/storet/dbtop.html>

STORET is a water quality database maintained by the US Environmental Protection Agency. It contains raw biological, chemical, and physical data collected for surface and ground water by federal, state and local agencies, as well as a suite of other water quality groups. This webpage allows you to access current and archived data for all 50 states, territories and US jurisdictions. It also provides a link to the USGS database for water quality data owned by the USGS.

[EPA] 2003 Dec 3. WATERS: Watershed Assessment, Tracking & Environmental Results< http://www.epa.gov/waters/>

WATERS is an information system that connects several surface water quality databases from the EPA’s Office of Water (OW) into a large framework for a more comprehensive look at the health of watersheds. This website can be used to answer questions such as: “Can I eat the fish in my watershed? Is it safe to swim the water?” This site also provides a download for EnviroMapper for Water, an interactive web-based GIS tool that allows you to customize maps of and display water quality information for waterbodies near you.

[Center for Watershed Protection] Watershed Assessment Tools. <http://www.cwp.org/tools_assessment.htm>

This website provides links and actual documents that overview relatively inexpensive rapid watershed assessment tools. These tools facilitate the collection of useable information in a timely manner. They include vulnerability analysis, retrofit assessment, Rapid Stream Assessment Technique (RSAT), and conservation assessment. This site also provides examples of how an urban/suburban watershed in Maryland incorporated such techniques and a link to the Stormwater Manager’s Resource Center for further stream assessment techniques.