A general description of the effort is described below. Contact Rick Hoffman at VA-DEQ (fahoffman@deq.virginia.gov) or Dr. Ken Moore at VIMS (moore@vims.edu) if interested in results, products, data, or integrating your activities with this project.
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Objectives of Project:
- Collect data to be used in assessing and diagnosing water quality criteria for Dissolved Oxygen, Water Clarity, and Chlorophyll.
- Collect data to improve overall understanding and modeling of processes influencing these water quality criteria.
- Collect data for refining our knowledge of processed influencing water quality conditions in the tidal James.
- Provide calibration data for refined water quality model and watershed model simulations of sediment transport, water clarity, phytoplankton, dissolved oxygen and submerged aquatic vegetation.
This project will perform monitoring within the tidal James River system, including the Appomattox and Chickahominy tributaries. Collection of data from 0.25-0.5m below the surface will be performed monthly using a “DATAFLOW” system. This system allows the continuous measurement while underway in a small boat of dissolved oxygen, chlorophyll, turbidity, salinity, specific conductivity, temperature, and pH. The data collected in any one day can then be interpolated to provide a complete surface “map” of water quality conditions throughout the segment that can then be compared against water quality criteria or other environmental conditions. The DATAFLOW collection will occur monthly during March through November for polyhaline areas and April through October for all other areas.
There will also be 7 fixed sites located throughout the system where the same parameters are collected at a depth of 1 meter above sediment surface and continuously through time (i.e. every 15 minutes). Data at these fixed sites are used to 1) Evaluate attainment of the short term (i.e. weekly and instantaneous) dissolved oxygen water quality criteria, and 2) Adjust the DATFLOW data for temporal changes that can occur over the 6-8 hour time periods during which the mapping data is collected.
Concomitant data on nutrients and suspended sediment conditions are collected at single point sites during DATFLOW mapping cruises and when the fixed-stations sondes are exchanged for maintenance. These data will include: dissolved inorganic nitrogen (which includes nitrite, nitrate, and ammonia), dissolved inorganic phosphorus, chlorophyll and pheophytin, total suspended solids, volatile suspended solids, total phosphorus, particulate inorganic phosphorus dissolved oxygen by Winkler titration, secchi depth, and vertical profiles of photosynthetically available radiation and temperature, dissolved oxygen, salinity, specific conductivity, and pH. For the fixed stations this data will include: chlorophyll and pheophytin, total suspended solids, volatile suspended solids, dissolved oxygen by Winkler titration, secchi depth, as well as a vertical profile for temperature, dissolved oxygen, salinity and pH.
Science Behind the News: Beaches and Bacteria. Virginia Water Central. August 2004 (no. 31) edition. (PDF Document) (Developed by Jackie McGeehan and Alan Raflo with Virginia Water Resources Research Center)
Virginia’s Environmental Laboratory Certification Program Proposed Regulations—Frequently Asked Questions (MS Word Document) (PDF Document) (Developed by VWMC, June 2005)
Environmental Laboratory Certification Program: Proposed Regulations and the Their Potential Impact on Citizen Monitoring (MS Word Document) (PDF Document) (Developed by VWMC, June 2005)
Virginia Environmental Laboratory Certificate Program overview (MS Word Document) (Developed by Nancy Saylor with DCLS, March 2005)
Proposed (as of October 20, 2004): CERTIFICATION FOR NONCOMMERCIAL ENVIRONMENTAL LABORATORIES (1 VAC 30 CHAPTER 45) (MS Word Document) or (PDF Document )
Proposed (as of October 20, 2004): ACCREDITATION FOR COMMERCIAL ENVIRONMENTAL LABORATORIES (1 VAC 30 CHAPTER 46) (MS Word Document) or (PDF Document )
Teaching materials (Provides descriptions of curriculum, publications, programs, bibliographies and resource guides). Compiled by Barry W. Fox, Extension Specialist, 4-H Marine/Aquatic Education, Box 9081, Virginia State University, Petersburg, VA 23806, 804-524-5848, FAX: 804-524-5057, bfox@vsu.edu(PDF Format).
* Disclaimer: The material on this website is provided for information purposes only. The mention of commercial products, trade names, manufacturers, or services does not constitute an endorsement or recommendation by the PPWH or its members.
