Gulf Coast Network Inventory and Monitoring Water Quality Monitoring Project

Hiatt, Daniel

Documents and data associated with Gulf Coast Network's Water Quality Monitoring Project. The GULN WQMP will adapt the basic program of proven national and state standards of the US Geological Survey (USGS) National Water Quality Assessment (NAWQA) and the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) Clean Rivers Program (CRP). Implementation of the GULN WQMP will rely upon, and fully articulate with, monitoring efforts already in place in Texas , and will, wherever possible, articulate with efforts being performed by other appropriate states and agencies. This strategy will both ensure data are consistent and comparable among our parks and with those obtained by other entities monitoring like resources in the region, and potentially provide significant savings through cost-sharing and leveraging with these other entities. The five inland GULN parks being addressed in the current WQMP constitute a diverse array of monitoring needs and objectives. Park waters are not equally important across all parks, and each park has specific concerns about threats, associated biota, and relative resource value of their waters. For purposes of developing the GULN WQMP, park waters were classified into three categories, which were then used to determine the primary distribution of sampling effort across the 5 inland parks. These categories are as follows: Category One – Water resources are central to park establishment or mission; High amount of recreational use activities; Contains Federally or State Listed Threatened, Endangered or Rare aquatic or dependent species; Known exceedences of key water quality standards or 303d listed waters; High probability of water resource damage with little or no information of fundamental elements of hydrogeology or water quality. Parks in this category: BITH, JELA, GUIS, PAIS, and NATR. Category Two – Water resources, although important with respect to general interpretation or aesthetics, not central to park establishment or mission, with limited or no contact recreational use; Contains no Federally or State Listed Threatened, Endangered or Rare aquatic or dependent species. Park in this category: SAAN. Category Three – Water resources not central or perhaps even mentioned in park establishment or mission; No contact recreational use; Contains no federally or State Listed Threatened, Endangered or Rare aquatic or dependent species. In general, water resources are ancillary in nature and management. Parks in this category: VICK. PAAL will not be included in the routine monitoring program as there are no perenial surface water resources.

Gulf Coast Network Inventory and Monitoring Water Quality Monitoring Project

Program

Products

Collections