NCCN Monitoring Water Quality
Ray A, Lofgren R, Ewen K. NCCN Monitoring Water Quality. 2012. National Park Service
Water quality monitoring in a selection of the most at risk wadeable rivers and streams in the NCCN. The high abundance of rivers and streams is a defining characteristic of the North Coast and Cascades Network (NCCN). Ninety-four percent of NCCN land area is federally-designated wilderness and contains some of the best remaining aquatic habitats in the Pacific Northwest. The prevalence of these resources gives water quality a high ecological, management and legal significance for the network. NCCN aquatic resources support 38 native fish and 17 native amphibian species as well as human uses, including contact and non-contact recreation and water supply. These aquatic systems integrate the physical, chemical, and biological characteristics of the watersheds they drain; this puts them at an increased risk to a variety of environmental stressors including atmospheric pollution, changes in flow regimes due to climate change, and more localized disturbances related to land management activities and recreational use. Purpose: The Water Quality monitoring project employs a cost-efficient, comprehensive approach using multiple indicators representing key physical, chemical, and biological attributes that will serve to address current management issues and identify future emerging threats. Water quality monitoring will assist park managers in complying with the Clean Water Act (CWA) for the sampled waters. Objectives: The Water Resources Division (WRD) of the National Park Service (NPS) has mandated that a set of core water quality parameters. Measured parameters include: temperature, dissolved oxygen, pH, and specific conductance be measured in park aquatic resources. These core parameters will be collected from NCCN water bodies in addition to several other physical, chemical and biological water quality parameters.
- Type
- Project
- Authors
- Ray, Andrew; Lofgren, Rebecca; Ewen, Katie
- Publisher
- National Park Service
- Units
- EBLA , LEWI , MORA , NOCA , OLYM
- Keywords
- Acid Neutralizing Capacity, Amphibian, Atmospheric Deposition, benthic macroinvertebrate, bioassessment, Clean Water Act, Climate Change, Condition, criteria, Dissolved Oxygen, Ebey's Landing National Historical Reserve, EBLA, Fish, Fort Vancouver National Historic Site, FOVA, Habitat, hydroelectric, Impaired, Invasive Species, Land Management, LEWI, Lewis and Clark National Historical Park, Monitoring, MORA, Mount Rainier National Park, NCCN, NOCA, North Cascades National Park Service Complex, North Coast and Cascades Network, OLYM, Olympic National Park, pH, Riparian, Road, specific conductance, Stream, stressor, Temperature, threatened waters, Turbidity, wadeable river, Water Quality, Watershed
- Subjects
- Ecological Framework: Water | Water Quality | Water Chemistry , Ecological Framework: Biological Integrity | Focal Species or Communities | Freshwater Communities , Ecological Framework: Biological Integrity | Focal Species or Communities | Freshwater Invertebrates
Program
Products
- NCCN Water Quality Monitoring Data Package, 2011-2021
- Water quality monitoring in the North Coast and Cascades Network: 2011–2021 data summary
- North Coast and Cascades Network water quality monitoring protocol
- Characterization of North Coast and Cascades Network water quality study sites
- Water quality monitoring of wadeable streams in the North Coast and Cascades Network: 2012-2015 results from Ebey’s Landing National Historical Reserve and Lewis and Clark National Historical Park