San Francisco Estuary National Water Quality Monitoring Network Pilot Study Report

The National Water Quality Monitoring Council draft National Water Quality Monitoring Network for U.S. Coastal Waters and their Tributaries: Results of Pilot Studies report is now available. This report summarizes the results and conclusions of three Pilot Studies undertaken during 2007 to test the concepts of the National Water Quality Monitoring Network for U.S. Coastal Waters and their Tributaries. Further information about the Network, its design, and the three pilot efforts can be found here.

The San Francisco Estuary National Water Quality Monitoring Network Pilot Study Report is also available here. This report represents the culmination of the National Water Quality Monitoring Network San Francisco Estuary Pilot Study. This effort identified 47 significant monitoring programs overseen by 22 organizations in the San Francisco Estuary pilot region.

The pilot study assessed the following:

1. Inventory of monitoring programs
   Generate an inventory of current ongoing environmental monitoring programs within the study area that collect data at a scale similar to that proposed in the Network design. The inventory should include information about locations of monitoring sites, frequency of monitoring, parameters measured (or derived), and institutional responsibilities. (Section 3)
2. Data Management Issues
   Investigate data comparability and data sharing issues in the study area and recommend procedures for their resolution. Typical challenges arise from metadata comparisons, sharing data among existing programs within the study area, and linking to State and/or National data management and data access services. (Section 4)
3. Gap Analysis
   Identify gaps between existing monitoring and that recommended by the Network design. (Section 5)
4. Management Issues
   Identify management issues in the study area that would be better addressed if the monitoring gaps noted in item 3 above were closed and data were more comparable and accessible. Examples of such management issues could include habitat impairment, limits on existing uses of the water body, loss of wetlands, or excess nutrients. (Sections 2 and 6 address management issues and how the Network would address these issues, respectively)
5. Cost Estimate
   Estimate costs of on-going monitoring and costs to fill identified gaps. (Section 8)