Integrating a Continuous Water Quality Monitoring Network into

Integrating a Continuous Water Quality Monitoring Network into Texas’ Surface Water Quality Monitoring Program Jill D. Csekitz, Aquatic Scientist Texas Commission on Environmental Quality Austin Texas

Disclaimer n The use of firm, trade, or brand names is for identification purposes only and does not constitute endorsement by the TCEQ.

What is Continuous Monitoring? n. A device that makes repeated measurements over time n Deployed over an extended length of time n Samples at high frequencies to identify trends or events n Data is usually available in real-time over the internet

© 1998 -2005 Texas and The Territories, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Total Area: 268, 581 sq. miles Water Area: 6, 784 sq. miles France: 211, 209 sq. miles 1754 Active Routine Surface Water Quality Monitoring Stations 23 Continuous Water Quality Monitoring Stations

The TCEQ Continuous Water Quality Initiative Downstream drinking water -Lake Waco -Taste and odor -City of Waco -People Population: 117, 464 Upstream Dairies -Erath County -Cow Population: 50, 000 -North Bosque River impaired -phosphorus -excessive algae TCEQ adds continuous monitoring in Bosque watershed to track improvements in water quality

TCEQ’s Existing Program n 23 stations in TX n n 2 stations deployed in 2001 4. 4 stations each year since 2001 Partnerships with local, state and federal entities Parameters monitored n n n Physical parameters Nutrients – nitrate, ammonia, and total reactive phosphorus Depth profiling in reservoirs

Deployed Stations

Equipment

Costs of Establishing and Maintaining a Monitoring Site

How Does TCEQ Mitigate Cost of Network? n Form partnerships with local, state, and federal entities n 12 participating entities n Share resource burden n Use existing infrastructure (USGS) n Host data

Data Record Produced Grab vs. Continuous: Why Compare? -Different monitoring objectives -Based on different scale of sampling Wow… 525, 600 data points! What do we do with them?

Uses of Continuous Monitoring n Yield high resolution data n Public display of data n Identify seasonal trends and daily variation n Assess point and non-point impacts n Assess improvement after BMPs are in place

General Quality Assurance Continuous monitoring network - specific QAPP n SOPs written for site deployment, equipment operation and maintenance, and data validation n Technical Systems Audits n Pre-processed automatic validation n Suspicious values Instrument limits Database automatically “grades” multiprobe data according to calibration verification results n Data Validator manually validates all data n Only data that passes validation is publicly displayed n

How Do We Get the Most Out of Our Continuous Data? Variety of Data Users n Identify data quality – let users decide what they need n

Multiprobe Calibration Verification

Aqualab QC n Daily calibration of Physicals and TRP n On-board laboratory control standards (ammonia, nitrate, and TRP) n Dynamic calibration of ammonia and nitrate (every measurement) n On-board standards are made and certified by a contract lab n Output of all calibration data

Aqualab Conductivity QC

Aqualab NO 3 and NH 3 Diagnostics Shows sensor response to on-board standards

Aqualab Automated QC Actual LCS Concentrations -155 ppb - 40 ppb Instrument blanks

TCEQ’s Uses of Continuous Monitoring Data n n n n Water diversion from drinking water supplies Characterizing golden algae blooms Targeting field investigations BMP effectiveness Effectiveness of salt cedar eradication Trend analysis of specific conductance, p. H and DO 305 b reporting

Available Data n Parameters n n n DO* p. H* Temp* Conductivity* Turbidity Chlorophyll Nitrate Ammonia Total Reactive Phosphorus Flow Not all parameters available at every station Most Stations: only field parameters are measured

Data on the Web http: //www. tceq. state. tx. us/compliance/monitoring/water/quality/data/wqm/swqm_realtime_swf. html Or… Search “continuous water data” on TCEQ home Page: www. tceq. state. tx. us

Questions? Jill Csekitz jcsekitz@tceq. state. tx. us 512. 239. 3136 Texas Commission on Environmental Quality MC – 165 PO Box 13087 Austin, TX 78711 – 3087 www. tceq. state. tx. us