Assessment of estuarine water and sediment quality at Cumberland Island National Seashore: 2017-2018 data summary
Starkey EN , Wright W , Cooper S . 2019. Assessment of estuarine water and sediment quality at Cumberland Island National Seashore: 2017-2018 data summary. Natural Resource Data Series. NPS/SECN/NRDS—2019/1223. National Park Service. Fort Collins, Colorado. https://doi.org/10.36967/2260279
In August 2017 the Southeast Coast Network conducted an assessment of water quality at Cumberland Island National Seashore as part of the National Park Service Vital Signs Monitoring Program. Monitoring was conducted following methods developed by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as part of the National Coastal Assessment Program (EPA 2009). Laboratory analysis measured chlorophyll a and total and dissolved concentrations of nitrogen and phosphorous. Field measurements included water temperature, pH, dissolved oxygen, and salinity. Water clarity, which requires a Secchi depth measurement, was calculated when possible. All measured parameters were rated as good, fair, or poor based on thresholds set by the EPA (2012). • Water clarity was rated good at all thirty sites. • Chlorophyll a concentration was rated good at eleven sites (37%) and fair at nineteen sites (63%) sampled in 2017. • Dissolved inorganic nitrogen concentration was good at fourteen sites (47%), and fair at the remaining eleven sites (53%). • Dissolved inorganic phosphorus concentration was fair at all thirty sites. • Dissolved oxygen concentration was rated good at twenty-three sites (77%) and fair at seven (23%). • A water-quality condition summary index was calculated for each site sampled in Cumberland National Seashore based on the categorical assessments of chlorophyll a, DIN and DIP concentrations, and dissolved oxygen. This summary index indicated fair water-quality conditions at all thirty sites. • Based on the summary water-quality index rating for the monument, overall water-quality conditions at Cumberland Island National Seashore in 2017 were fair. • For sediment, ecological condition was ranked as good at tweny-nine sites (97%) and fair at one site (3%). As a result, no adverse impacts to benthic organisms due to sediment contamination are anticipated at any of the thirty sample sites. These rankings were assigned according to the 2010 Environmental Protection Agency, National Coastal Condition Assessment (NCCA) thresholds for sediment chemistry.
- Type
- Published Report
- Authors
- Starkey, Eric; Wright, Wendy; Cooper, Stephen
- Date of Issue
- 2019-05
- Publisher
- National Park Service
- DOI
- 10.36967/2260279
- Units
- CUIS , NRSS , SECN