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Please contact Dave Hallock for more information. Our Focus Sheet gives a quick over-view of the program.
Many entities collect surface water quality data in Washington State. These include state and federal agencies, counties, conservation districts, tribes, consultants, schools, and volunteer organizations. Although much of the monitoring is conducted under formal Quality Control Project Plans, there is still a potential for bias between sampling methods and laboratories. Even within a single program, issues of method bias can arise whenever changes are made to sample collection, processing, or analytical procedures. This program is intended to allow multiple entities to sample at a common location and time so that they can compare their data to data collected by others.
Besides being a useful quality control element for participating organizations, results can be used by data analysis projects that need to combine datasets to ensure that results are comparable.
Responsibilities of the participants
Participants are asked to sample quarterly at one of more than 60 stations located around the state and provide the results to us so we can post them on the web. We anticipate that each participant will want to confirm that their own data are consistent with others' data. While Ecology doesn't plan to do any formal review of the results (except for the comparability of our own data!), if a participant finds some inconsistencies in their data, we may be able to provide limited assistance to help identify the problem.
Responsibilities of the Department of Ecology
Ecology's ambient monitoring program administers the program, collates the data submitted to us, and reports results to the web.
Water quality indicators
We routinely measure the indicators of water quality listed below:
| ammonia | nitrogen, total | phosphorus, total |
| conductivity | oxygen | suspended solids |
| fecal coliform bacteria | pH | temperature |
| flow* | phosphorus, soluble reactive | turbidity |
| nitrate plus nitrite |
* Flow measurements are done by a different group in Ecology. Contact Dave Hallock if you are interested in flow.
Participants may sample any combination of these. In addition, we sample TOC, hardness, and total and dissolved metals at a few stations. If you are interested in comparing results with us for these constituents, contact us.
Anyone is welcome: the more participants, the more useful the results. It's simple! To participate, you need only do three things:
(1) Fill out and submit an on-line questionnaire. Or, if you prefer, you can use the Excel version of the questionnaire. Right-click the "Excel Version" link and select "save target as" to save the Excel file to your local computer. Make your edits, save them, then email the file to the address in the top left corner of the questionnaire.
(2) Collect samples with us (see the next section).
(3) Email us your data in one of the specified formats.
Locations
We have
identified 13 preferred stations around the state for inclusion in this program. We
prefer that participants sample at one of these stations because the more participants
that sample at the same time and place, the easier it will be to interpret
the data. However, if a preferred station is inconvenient for you, you can
sample with us at any of our long-term stations (they are the blue squares on the map here), or even at one of our temporary basin stations. For
a current list of temporary stations, contact Dave
Hallock.
We are sometimes asked to sample at one of a participant's own stations. We are hoping to eventually have dozens of participants and it would be impossible for us to sample at everyone else's stations. Also, it would be contrary to the purpose of the program, which is to have as many participants as possible sampling at the same place, not just two of us. Finally, the point of the program is not to collect additional water quality data. Think of the samples as a type of reference standard--at concentrations of interest and complete with real-world interfering matrix effects.
Our preferred stations are shown in the table, below. Click the station ID to open the data page for that station, which includes directions, links to maps, etc. Preferred stations and other long-term monitoring stations are also shown on the map, below. Basin stations are not shown, but they are listed under the "sampling schedule" link in the next section.
| Station ID | Station Name | Station ID | Station Name |
| 01A050 | Nooksack R @ Brennan | 34B110 | SF Palouse R @ Pullman |
| 03B050 | Samish R nr Burlington | 37A090 | Yakima R @ Kiona |
| 07C070 | Skykomish R @ Monroe | 45A070 | Wenatchee R @ Wenatchee |
| 09A080 | Green R @ Tukwila | 49B070 | Similkameen R @ Oroville |
| 11A070 | Nisqually R @ Nisqually | 56A070 | Hangman Cr @ Mouth |
| 22A070 | Humptulips R nr Humptulips | 60A070 | Kettle R nr Barstow |
| 27D090 | EF Lewis R nr Dollar Corner |
Sampling Schedule
We prefer that participants
sample with us in March, June, September, and December.
Although we sample each station every month, the point is
to get as many people sampling together as possible. However, if you are unable
to sample with us on a preferred month or if you want to co-sample
with us more frequently than quarterly, you are welcome to sample with us on "off"
months.
Ecology samplers try to sample at regular pre-set times in order to ensure data consistency. However, numerous events can interrupt a schedule. We recommend you contact the Ecology sampler the week before so he knows you are coming. Ideally, your samples and our samples will be collected concurrently, but even if we don't sample at exactly the same time, results for most constituents will be comparable.
You can get sampling times and contact information from the link, below:
| sampling schedule |
Participants who have elected to remain anonymous will not be listed, though the "Access the data" section will still display their data under their organization ID.
| view metadata about participants |
| view results |
[THIS SECTION IS UNDER DEVELOPMENT. Eventually, it will show you something like monthly box plots with the specified year marked with a '*' and various descriptive statistics for the last complete 10-year period.]
If you have questions about the program or a particular monitoring station, check out the river and stream monitoring home page, or you can contact one of the scientists below. (We try to respond to all requests within five working days.)
| Coordinator | Central Washington | Eastern Washington |
Northwest Washington |
Southwest Washington |
Olympic Peninsula |
| Dave Hallock | Dan Dugger | Dan Sherratt | Bill Ward | Bill Ward | Troy Warnick |
| 360.407.6681 | 509.454.4183 | 509.329.3420 | 360.407.6621 | 360.407.6621 | 360.407.0294 |
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Copyright © Washington State Department of Ecology. See http://www.ecy.wa.gov/copyright.html.
