Tuesday, June 5, 2007
405

A.R.M. Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge Enhanced Water Quality Program: Data Collection Procedures

Tiffany Trent and Angela Markovich. A.R.M. Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge, 10216 Lee Rd., Boynton Beach, FL 33437

In 2004 Congress authorized funding to the Arthur R. Marshall Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge to establish an Enhanced Water Quality Monitoring and Modeling Program.  Primary objectives of this program include: monitoring and understanding relationships between structure operations and water movement into and out of the perimeter canal, extent of water movement into the interior of the marsh, and relationships between canal/marsh water movement and the water quality in the marsh interior. Over 40 established water quality sampling sites are continuously monitored for conductivity and water levels.  Monthly grab samples from sites are analyzed for as many as 32 parameters including total phosphorus, chloride, and sulfate.  As phosphorus levels are considered high when they are greater than 10 ppb, extreme care and specific procedures must be used when deploying instruments and collecting surface water samples to ensure the quality of collected data.  Standard operating procedures (SOPs) for field instrument calibration/deployment and surface water sample collection/processing have been developed with the collective effort of water quality team members.  Use of these SOPs provides credible and accurate data that support the creation of water quality models that assist in making critical management decisions related to water control operations, water supply, and water quality.