United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
Office of Research and
Development
Washington DC 20460
EPA/620/R-01/001b
May, 2001
&EFW Coastal Communications
COASTAL 2000 - GULF OF MEXICO
Veracruz Pilot Program
Background
The U.S. EPA's Coastal 2000 Program is a multi-year partnership among EPA's Office of Research and Development, EPA's
Gulf of Mexico Program, and natural resource agencies of the five U.S. Gulf States (FL, AL, MS, LA, TX). This joint
federal-state effort is evaluating the condition of coastal resources along the Northen Gulf of Mexico. In an effort to
fully characterize the condition of the coastal resources of the entire Gulf of Mexico, EPA proposes to collaborate with
Mexican federal, state, university, and private organizations to extend the Coastal 2000 program to include the six Mexico
states that border the Southern Gulf of Mexico.
U.S./Mexico Gulf Strategy
This Gulf of Mexico-wide monitoring effort can only be accomplished
through development of a strategic partnership between U.S. federal
(EPA, NOAA, DOI) and Mexico state and federal officials. Through
such a partnership, we propose to conduct a pilot Coastal 2000
monitoring project in Veracruz, Mexico to evaluate and, if necessary,
modify Coastal 2000 logistics and sampling protocols for efficacy in
assessing the condition of Mexico's coastal resources. With
experience and data from the pilot, a "Framework for and Integrated
and Comprehensive Monitoring Plan for the Coastal Resources of
Mexico" will be developed. It will incorporate a compatible,
probabilistic sampling design and a common set of condition and
exposure indicators to assess the condition of coastal resources for
each Mexican state. Because of the common sampling design and
indicators, the state data can be aggregated to also assess the
condition of the Southern Gulf of Mexico and, combined with
monitoring data from the Northern Gulf of Mexico, can assess the
condition of the coastal resources of the entire Gulf of Mexico. The
map illustrated at right shows the intended number and location of
sampling sites for a pilot survey in Veracruz. Similar designs would be
developed for each of the remaining states. The number of sites in each state would remain constant in future years, but
the sampling locations will change. Please note that the pilot for 2001 will only include Veracruz.
Coastal 2000 Design - Mexico
Veracruz
Coastal Indicators
Water Quality
Dissolved oxygen
Salinity, temperature, depth
pH
Nutrients
Chlorophyll
Sediment Quality
Grain size
Total organic carbon
Sediment chemistry
Benthic community structure
Sediment toxicity
Community structure
External pathology
Tissue analyses
Further Information
For further information, please contact Kevin Summers at the National health and Environmental Effects Laboratory's
Gulf Ecology Division at (850) 934-9244 or at surnrners.kevin@epa.gov. General information on the U.S. EPA EMAP and
Coastal 2000 is available at http://www.epa.gov/ernap.
-------
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Coastal 2000 Design - Mexico
Veracruz
.v
•
MUNICIPIO DE TAMIAHUA|
/
tado De
eracruz
Bahia De Campeche
MUNICIPIO DE VERACRUZ*""
MUNICIPIO DE COATZACOArCOE
Sample Site Symbology
O < 1 SQ. Kilometers
< 10> 1 SQ, Kilometers
< 100 > 10SQ.Kilometers
> 100 SQ.Kilometers
Estuary Classes
SQ.Kilometers
] <10>1 SQ. Kilometers
< 100 > 10 SQ Kilometers
> 100SQ Kilometers
Marine
Land
-200to -1000
-1000(0-2000
-2000 to -3000
-SOOOto-4000
Produced By
National Wetlands Research Center
Quit Breeze Project Office
This map was produced tjy the N WRC/QBPO. This is a 'Working map" and has not been
subjected to formal review procedures NWRC does not accept responsibility for
erroneous data displayed on this map.
------- |