Marine Sediment Monitoring | Environmental Assessment Program | Washington State Department of Ecology

Washington State Department of Ecology

Regional and Urban Bays

Puget Sound Marine Sediment Indicators

We use Puget Sound Sediment Quality Indicators to communicate the current condition and changes in sediment quality to the interested public, decision makers, scientists and others. These indicators are a useful tool for the development of strategies to protect Puget Sound for this and future generations.

Marine Sediment Monitoring Programs

We examine Puget Sound sediments on different geographic and time scales. Click on the tabs and maps below to explore sediment quality in regions, urban bays, and at long-term monitoring stations to look for changes over time. Included are descriptions of our sediment monitoring programs, a summary of findings, and links to reports and data.

Regional
Urban Bays
Long-Term
EPA Joint Monitoring

Regional Sediment Monitoring

The Regional Program assesses sediment over time in eight geographical areas. To explore the sediment quality of these geographic regions, click on the region in the map below.

Sample Design and Methods

8 Monitoring Regions and Puget Sound as a Whole
Puget Sound Eastern Strait of Juan De Fuca Whidbey Basin Hood Canal Admiralty Inlet South Sound

Strait of Georgia

Central Sound

San Juan Islands

Urban Bays

Ecology's Urban Bay Program assesses sediment quality over time in six urban bays. To explore the sediment quality of these urban bays, click on the bay name in the map below.

Sample Design and Methods

Commencement Bay

Everett Harbor and Port Gardner

Budd Inlet

Elliott Bay

Bainbridge Basin

Bellingham Bay

Long Term Sediment Monitoring

The Long-Term Program has monitored 10 Puget Sound stations annually since 1989. Stations were chosen for their unique assemblages of benthic invertebrates and for their relationship with Puget Sound fish and water quality monitoring programs.

Sample Design and Methods

Location of 10 long-term sediment monitoring stations in Puget Sound.

Data Summaries, Findings, Publications

EPA Joint Monitoring

Ecology partnered with EPA and other natural resource agencies from California, Oregon, Alaska, and Hawaii to conduct the National Coastal Condition Assessment Program, formerly known as Western Coastal Environmental Monitoring and Assessment Program (EMAP). This efforts answers broad scale questions on environmental conditions of the United States coast. Program goals, study design, and methods are summarized here.

Ecological health indicators monitored included:

water quality
habitat condition
sediment quality
benthic community condition
fish-tissue contaminants

Sampling in Washington State included:

1999 – Grays Harbor, Willapa Bay, and other coastal estuaries, Lower Columbia River
2000 – Puget Sound
2002 – Puget Sound and coastal estuary intertidal zones
2003 – Pacific Ocean Coast - offshore
2004 – Puget Sound and coastal estuaries
2010 – Puget Sound and coastal estuaries

Publications
Ecology 1999 WA Statistical Summary 2000-2003 WA Statistical Summary	EPA National Coastal Condition Reports

Puget Sound Vital Signs

Puget Sound Indicators

Sediment Sampling