WATERSHED ASSESSMENT
The goals of a Watershed Assessment are to fully understand and quantify:
- The sources and underlying causes of pollution
- The chemical characteristics of the sources and the resulting stream quality
- The state of the biological community and how it is being affected
- The amount of pollution (flow rate) that is being added to the watershed
- The sum of the impacts on the stream
Unlike a Restoration Plan, a Watershed Assessment does not provide options for cleaning up any sources of pollution. However, a good Watershed Assessment provides the basis for good restoration and protection planning.
A Watershed Assessment generally consists of the following steps:
- Compile existing data and identify data gaps
- Conduct a "Stream Walk" to identify possible sources of pollution
- Design a Sampling program to assess chemistry and biology
- Install the necessary flow measurement devices (weirs, flumes, pipes)
- Collect and analyze samples (once a month for a year)
- Prepare watershed map showing sample locations
- Compile data into a final report
Once the Watershed Assessment has been completed, a Restoration Plan is often the next step. Please click HERE to read more about Restoration Plans.
Click HERE to read about one of our watershed assessment projects.
