United States Environmental Protection Agency Office of Research and Development Washington DC 20460 EPA/620/R-02/001C May, 2002 Coastal Communications Halves ton Bay, Texas National Estuary Program ORD/OW/Region 6/GBNEP/TPWD Galveston Bay, Texas National Estuary Program 2001 Intensive Sampling Design Background The U.S. EPA's National Coastal Assessment (NCA) is a multi-year partnership among EPA's Office of Research and Development (ORD), EPA's Office of Water (OW), EPA's Regional Offices, all coastal states, and selected territories. The effort described here is conducted in special partnership with the Salveston Bay National Estuary Program (SBNEP). This joint effort will evaluate the changing condition of tributaries to and coastal areas of the SBNEP. Information will also be shared with Texas Parks and Wildlife Division (TPWD) and EPA Region 6, and contribute to state and regional assessments. The effort is being coordinated by the ORD National Health and Environmental Effects Research Laboratory's Sulf Ecology Division in Sulf Breeze, Florida. National Coastal Assessment Strategy The National Coastal Assessment is a strategic partnership between EPA and the coastal states and other federal agencies. Each state or NEP uses a compatible probabilistic design and a common set of environmental indicators (see Table below) to survey its coastal resources and assess their condition. These estimates can then be aggregated to assess conditions at the EPA regional, biogeographical, and national levels. All data will be made available for public access on the Internet. The map shows the coastal areas included in the 2001 survey and the number of sampling sites in estuarine waters of the (Salveston Bay NEP. Legend I Site Locations Estuaries | Water 1:8QO,QOO Water Quality Dissolved oxygen Salinity, temperature, depth pH Nutrients Chlorophyll Sediment Quality Srain size Total organic carbon Sediment chemistry Benthic community structure Sediment toxicity Biota Benthic community structure Fish community structure Fish external pathology Fish tissue chemical analyses Further Information For further information, please contact Jim Simons at the TPWD at (512) 912-7034 or james.simons@tpwd.state.tx.us; or Steven Johnston at the Salveston Bay NEP at (281) 316-3005 or sjohnsto@tnrcc.state.tx.us; or Bill Walker at the ORD National Health and Environmental Effects Laboratory's Sulf Ecology Division at (850) 934-9247 or walker.bill@epa.gov. Visit the coastal communications web site at http://www.epa.gov/ged/crc.htm. ------- |