Use of EMAP Freshwater and Marine Data in EPA Region 10

Abstract

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) designed the Environmental Monitoring and Assessment Program (EMAP) to provide tools to monitor and assess the condition of the nation’s ecological resources. Since 1993, EPA Region 10 has worked with the States in our region to demonstrate the application of the ecological indicators and statistical designs developed by EMAP to freshwater and marine assessments. To illustrate the types of assessment questions that can be addressed with EMAP data, we present an example study of the Western Cascades Ecoregion of Oregon and Washington. In 1999-2000, Washington Department of Ecology (DOE) and Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ), with assistance from EPA Region 10, collected biological, physical habitat, and selected water column chemistry parameters in small streams of the Ecoregion. An overall assessment of the streams in this region using in-stream biological, physical and chemical data will be presented. In addition, a discussion of how these results might better inform Clean Water Act decisions will be presented. As a second example, the estuaries of Oregon and Washington will be examined using EMAP Coastal data. Washington DOE and ODEQ, with assistance from National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) and EPA Region 10, collected water column chemistry, sediment characteristics, and chemistry, benthic organisms and fish trawl data. A discussion of how this data relates to EPA Regional reporting will be presented.

Parent Publication

• Monitoring Science and Technology Symposium: Unifying Knowledge for Sustainability in the Western Hemisphere

Citation

Hayslip, Gretchen A.; Edmond, C. Lorraine; Herger, Lillian G. 2006. Use of EMAP Freshwater and Marine Data in EPA Region 10. In: Aguirre-Bravo, C.; Pellicane, Patrick J.; Burns, Denver P.; and Draggan, Sidney, Eds. 2006. Monitoring Science and Technology Symposium: Unifying Knowledge for Sustainability in the Western Hemisphere Proceedings RMRS-P-42CD. Fort Collins, CO: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station. p. 312-318