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.

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                         ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Coastal  2000  Design -  Mexico
                   Veracruz
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                           eracruz
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                             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.

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