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Ecology-Puget Sound Assessment and Monitoring Program Partnership for Marine Sediment Monitoring

Welcome to the Washington State Department of Ecology’s Marine Sediment Monitoring website. On this site, you will find descriptions of our sediment monitoring program, a summary of findings, links to reports and data, and staff contact information.

Environmental Management Application

As part of the Puget Sound Assessment and Monitoring Program (PSAMP), Ecology’s Marine Sediment Monitoring Team conducts annual monitoring of Puget Sound sediments. This program provides regional and ecosystem-wide information on Puget Sound sediment quality, which can be used by environmental managers and decision-makers to:

 

1. Evaluate the overall condition of Puget Sound sediments.
2. Assess effectiveness of environmental action over time.
3. Place sediment conditions at local sites into a larger comparative perspective.

Background

Ecology staff began monitoring marine sediments in 1989 as part of the legislatively-mandated Puget Sound Assessment and Monitoring Program (PSAMP) (formerly know as the Puget Sound Ambient Monitoring Program). The PSAMP is a multi-agency partnership program administered through the Puget Sound Partnership (formerly administered through the Puget Sound Action Team).

Puget Sound Assessment and Monitoring Program Goals

The following goals were set by the PSAMP Steering and Management Committees in 1997 for all PSAMP components:

1. Assess the health of Puget Sound and its resources as well as document geographic patterns in the condition of the Sound and its resources.
2. Document natural and human-caused changes over time in the ecological components of Puget Sound.
3. Through ongoing monitoring programs, identify existing environmental problems and, where possible, identify the reasons for these problems.
4. Provide data and other information to assist the Puget Sound Partnership and others in measuring the success of environmental programs.
5. Support research activities by making available scientifically valid data.

Sampling Design

Since its inception, the PSAMP Sediment Component goals, objectives, and sampling design have evolved to meet the needs of environmental managers and to incorporate lessons learned from past sampling efforts. This evolution has resulted in the implementation of four programs and two focus studies.  These are described on the following web sites:

• Historical Program (1989-1995)
• NOAA partnership (1997-1999)
• Long Term/Temporal Monitoring (1989 - present)
• Spatial/Temporal Monitoring (2002-present)
• Hood Canal Focus Study

 

Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs)

Standard operating procedures for the collection and processing of sediment samples can be viewed and downloaded. In progress.

Puget Sound Protocols

Most PSAMP sediment component sample collection and analyses follow the Puget Sound Protocols.  These protocols for measuring selected environmental variables in Puget Sound can be viewed and downloaded.

Publications

A list of all PSAMP Sediment Component publications can be viewed and downloaded.

Photo Gallery

Photographs from various sediment monitoring cruises can be viewed.

Related Links
Links related to Puget Sound monitoring programs can be found here.

 

Hood Canal Dissolved Oxygen Program

Environmental Assessment Program, Marine Water Quality Monitoring

NOAA National Status and Trends Program

Puget Sound Ambient Monitoring Program (PSAMP)

Toxics Cleanup Program, Aquatic Lands Cleanup (formerly Sediment Management Unit)

U.S. EPA National Coastal Assessment

U.S. EPA National Estuary Program

 

Contacts

 

Carol Maloy Unit Supervisor	Sandra Aasen Field Logistics, Database Management, Data Analysis	Margaret Dutch Data Analysis and Report Writing
360.407.6742	360.407.6980	360.407.6021

Valerie Partridge Statistician, Data Analysis	Kathy Welch Taxonomy Coordinator
360.407.7217	360.407.6035

R. Eugene Ruff Annelid Taxonomy	Edward Long Data Analysis and Report Writing
253.770.7007	503.763.0263