Determining Status of Surface Water Quality in Parks and Inventory and Monitoring Networks
Project ID: P22AC02406
Federal Agency: National Park Service
Partner Institution: Oregon State University
Fiscal Year: 2022
Initial Funding: $79,196
Total Funding: $199,060
Project Type: Research
Project Disciplines: Biological
National Park: Klamath Network Inventory & Monitoring
Principal Investigator: Segura, Catalina
Agreement Technical Representative: Dinger, Eric
Abstract: The Inventory and Monitoring Networks (I&M networks) of the NPS were created to evaluate the status and trends of Vital Signs, these being indicators of ecological condition throughout the parks that are analogous to ‘vital signs’ of human health (e.g., blood pressure). Many I&M networks of the NPS have selected water quality (either separately or integrated with other Vital Signs) as one of their priority Vital Signs. In addition to the networks, many individual parks participate in form of water quality monitoring.
The goals of the project are twofold: 1) to track the status of and identify potential impairment to water quality in parks, and 2) to provide OSU students with opportunities to learn, perform, and evaluate water chemistry analyses on surface water samples from national parks (with technical oversight from OSU laboratory staff and faculty). OSU undergraduate and graduate students may also have the opportunity to participate in data summary, data analysis, and technical report writing. Expected products include technical reports on water quality from selected waterbodies within Interior Region 8, 9, 10, and 12 (legacy Pacific West Region, hereafter referred to as “PWR”) parks, and other regions as needed.