Background

Surface water quality is important to maintain a healthy habitat for many aquatic organisms, wildlife, and humans. Water quality can provide insights into overall system productivity, can shift species abundances and distributions, and alter nutrients cycles. Water quality parameters such as pH, specific conductance, dissolved oxygen, and temperature are good measurements that provide an overview of water quality. Water quality monitoring is required to comply with relevant environmental legislation and NPS mandates and to evaluate potential stressors in NCRN waters.

The Water Resources Specialist collects data once a month at every perennial wadeable stream in the parks for temperature, dissolved oxygen, specific conductance, pH, acid neutralizing capacity, and nutrients (ammonia, nitrate, and total phosphorus). These parameters provide information that characterize a waterbody or stream segment, are fundamental components of monitoring and regulatory programs, and are relatively easy to measure with multiparameter probes or Hach test kits. Sites will be photographed during each sampling visit to provide a visual record of existing conditions.

Objectives

• Identify long-term water quality trends and assess the variance in temperature, specific conductance, dissolved oxygen, pH and acid neutralizing capacity for the parks of the National Capital Region Network.
• Identify the key sources of pollution to NCRN streams.
• Determine if the acid neutralizing capacity of the streams is sufficient to withstand the regional acidity inputs.
• Assess stream condition by identifying single parameters with values out of bounds (a) biologically (determined through literature search), (b) according to drinking water standards, (c) according to EPA and State designated use standards, or (d) of previous variability. Provide information for Resource Stewardship Strategies and Annual GPRA reporting.

Status

Water chemistry monitoring was implemented by the NCRN Water Resources Specialist in May 2005 in the following parks: ANTI, CATO, GWMP, HAFE, MANA, MONO, NACE, PRWI, ROCR, and WOTR.

Due to logistic difficulties of monitoring water quality along the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal NHP ( CHOH), data collected by other agencies will be summarized for the park.

Water Chemistry Metrics


Links
Reports
Contacts
Marian Norris
NCRN Water Resources Specialist
202.342.1443 ext. 206