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DELIVERING TIMELY WATER QUALITY INFORMATION TO YOUR COMMUNITY: THE CHESAPEAKE BAY/NATIONAL AQUARIUM IN BALTIMORE EMPACT PROJECTS
Citation:
Pacific Environmental Services (PES). DELIVERING TIMELY WATER QUALITY INFORMATION TO YOUR COMMUNITY: THE CHESAPEAKE BAY/NATIONAL AQUARIUM IN BALTIMORE EMPACT PROJECTS. EPA/625/R-02/018 & 625/C-02/01, 2002.
Impact/Purpose:
information
Description:
The TTSD in conjunction with a multi-agency Chesapeake Bay Project team, has developed this handbook to provide state and local governments and others "How-to" steps needed to design, employ, and maintain water quality monitoring, data management/delivery, and communications systems. The handbook is based on the Chesapeake Bay Environmental Monitoring for Public Access and Community Tracting (EMPACT) and Fort McHenry Tidal Wetland Restoration projects. It also includes information about lessons-learned and success stories associated with similar projects, and sections on interpreting and communicating the significance of the resultant water quality and restoration data.
Overall Chesapeake Bay EMPACT project objectives include:
- Record chemical and physical data that will provide an understanding of the environmental factors that contribute to the occurrence of harmful algal blooms and low dissolved oxygen occurrences in the Chesapeake and Coastal Bays.
- Provide in-situ timely data to the Maryland DNR that supplements state efforts for Pfiesteria surveillance monitoring and Submerged Aquatic Vegetation (SAV) restoration.
- Utilize high-frequency timely data along with weekly measurements to classify physical conditions and time frames over which physical processes occur. Identification of recurring events and their associated physical conditions could then be used as a basis for the development of future monitoring schemes to optimize recognition of any signals, impacts or events in the tributaries.
- Provide comprehensive assessments of technical environmental data in an easy to understand format that will increase the public's understanding of factors contributing to the frequency of toxic outbreaks of Pfiesteria and Pfiesteria-like organisms, fish kills, low dissolved oxygen and the loss of SAV habitat.