United States      _4Jfrice of Research an
     Environmental Protection  Office of Environmental
     Agency         Washington, DC 20460
                       •T
Delivering Ti
     Environmental
                             September 2001
                             http://www.epa.gov/empact
    The Boulder Area
      formation Networ
Environmental Monitoring for Public Access
         & Community Tracking       ^

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Disclaimer

This document has been reviewed by the U. S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and ap-
proved for publication. Mention of trade names or commercial products does not constitute en-
dorsement or recommendation of their use.

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                                 EPA/625/R-01/010
                                  September 2001
Delivering Timely Environmental
 Information to Your Community

 The Boulder Area Sustainability
   Information  Network (BASIN)
      United States Environmental Protection Agency
         Office of Research and Development
     National Risk Management Research Laboratory
              Cincinnati, OH 45268
                                 Recycled/Recyclable
                                 Printed with vegetable-
                                 based ink on paper that
                                 contains a minimum of 50%
                                 post-consumer fiber content
                                 processed chlorine free

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CONTRIBUTORS

Dr. Dan Petersen of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), National Risk Management
Laboratory, served as principal author of this handbook and managed its development with support of
Pacific Environmental Services, Inc., an EPA contractor. The following contributing authors represent
the BASIN team and provided valuable assistance for the development of the handbook:

BASIN Team
   Larry Barber, United States Geological Survey (USGS), Boulder, Colorado
   Michael Caplan, City of Boulder
   Gene Dilworth, City of Boulder, Colorado
   Tammy Fiebelkorn, City of Boulder, Colorado
   Mark McCaffrey, NOAA
   Sheila Murphy, USGS, Boulder, Colorado
   Chris Rudkin, City of Boulder, Colorado
   Donna Scott, City of Boulder, Colorado
   Jim Waterman, Enfo.com
   Jim Heaney, University of Colorado, Department of Civil, Environmental, and Architectural
       Engineering
The BASIN Team would like to extend a special thanks to the following Boulder Community
Network (BCN) Staff and Volunteers for their efforts in making the BASIN project a success:

BCN Staff
   Brenda Ruth, Jim Harrington, Karen Kos, and Joelle Bonnett

Web Design & Architecture
   Paul von Behren, Phil Nugent, Linda Mark, Bob Echelmeier, Chad Wardrop, Sean McGhie,
   Juditha Ohlmacher, Richard Fozzard, Roy Olsen, Mike Meshek, Irv Stern, and Deb Miller

GIS Group
   Steve Wanner

Resource Discovery Group
   Janne Cookman, Jeff Roush, and Paul Tiger

Outreach
   Alice Gasowski, Brenda Ruth, Michael Benidt, Brad Segal, Michael Caplan, and
   Tom Mayberry

Treasure Map Developer
    Dani Bundy

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CONTENTS
1.      INTRODUCTION                                                          1
       1.1 Background                                                               1
       1.2 EMPACT Overview                                                       3
       1.3 BASIN EMPACT Project                                                   4
       1.4 EMPACT Metropolitan Areas                                                9
2.     HOW TO USE THIS HANDBOOK                                          11
3.     BASIN EMPACT PROJECT                                                 13
       3.1 Boulder Creek Watershed Characteristics                                      13
       3.2 Sustainability                                                             15
       3.3 Timely Environmental Data                                                 19
       3.4 The Boulder Creek Millenium Baseline Study                                  26
4.      COLLECTING, TRANSFERRING, AND MANAGING TIMELY
       ENVIRONMENTAL DATA                                                 29
       4.1 System Overview                                                         29
       4.2 Data Collection                                                          30
       4.3 Data Analysis                                                            32
       4.4 Data Transfer                                                            36
       4.5 Quality Assurance/Quality Control                                          39
5.      DATA PRESENTATION                                                   41
       5.1 What is Data Presentation?                                                 41
       5.2 BASIN Spatial Data Catalog                                                42
       5.3 Generating Data Presentations                                              45
       5.4 Water Quality Index (WQI) Computation and Display                           50
       5.5 Conclusions                                                              51
6.      COMMUNICATING TIMELY ENVIRONMENTAL INFORMATION        53
       6.1 Developing an Outreach Plan for Disseminating Timely Environmental
          Monitoring Data                                                          53
       6.2 Elements of the BASIN Project's Outreach Program                            60
       6.3 Resources for Presenting Environmental Information to the Public                66
       6.4 Success Stories                                                           73
       6.5 Most Frequently Asked Questions and Answers                                75

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CONTENTS (continued)
APPENDIX A                                                 A-l
  Glossary of Terms & Acronym List
APPENDIX B                                                 B-l
  BASIN News Newsletter
APPENDIX C                                                 C-l
  Other Printed Promotional Material for BASIN
IV

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 1.   INTRODUCTION

 1.1   Background

      BASIN, the Boulder Area Sustainability
      Information Network, began as a two
      year pilot project designed to deliver a
 variety of environmental information about the
 Boulder, Colorado area to its inhabitants. As an
 ongoing model for the localization of socio-
 ecological data and information, BASIN seeks
 to improve public access and understanding of
 environmental information by fostering a
 collaborative partnership between researchers,
 data collectors, educators and the general public
 and actively seeks community involvement in
 information development and learning and
 services activities. [Source: http://bcn.boulder.co.us/basin/main/about.html]

 Note!

       The Colorado BASIN  project should not  be confused with  the
       Environmental  Protection Agency's  BASINS (Better Assessment
       Science Integration  Point and  Nonpoint  Sources)  Modeling
       Course.  The BASINS  Modeling Course is a watershed training
       course offered by the EPA's  Office of Wetlands, Oceans, &
       Watershed.    Please   see  http://www.epa.gov/waterscience/
       BASINS/ for more  information about BASINS.

 BASIN project components include:

       •      Data Providers  - agencies who either actively provided data to BASIN
              or had relevant  environmental data available on the  Web.  BASIN
              utilized data collected by the following agencies:

                    City of Boulder, Drinking Water Program
                    City of Boulder, Storm Water Quality Program
                    City of Longmont
                    Colorado Air Pollution Control Division
                    Colorado's River Watch Program
                    SNOwpack TELemetry (SNOTEL)
                    United States Geological Survey (USGS)
INTRODUCTION

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       •      Information Collection, Management and Delivery - a system to
              maintain   environmental  data  and  to  establish  and  maintain
              communication links. The key agencies responsible for this effort are
              as follows:

                     City of Boulder
                     enfo.com, Colorado

       •      Communications  - led by the Communications Coordinator, this
              component of BASIN served to communicate information about
              environmental  conditions and  to facilitate community and  school-
              based participation  in  new and existing  environmental programs.
              General content and background materials on the BASIN Web  site, the
              BASIN Newsletter, BASIN Television and CD-ROM programs, and
              other education  and outreach  materials  were developed  through
              BASIN Communications. The following agencies were responsible for
              developing the ECOSOURCE material:

                     City of Boulder
                     Boulder Community Network
                     Boulder Valley School District
                     Community Access TV

For the purposes of this Environmental Monitoring for Public Access and Community
Tracking (EMPACT) project, the "Boulder area" is defined as the St. Vrain Watershed,
a 993 square mile region that extends from the Continental Divide to the High Plains
and  includes  over  285,000 people   [Source: http://www.bococivicforum.org/
indicators/people/OS.html].
        Figure 1.1 St. Vrain Watershed.
        Source: http://bcn.boulder.co.us/basin/watershed/address.html
                                                                 CHAPTER 1

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The BASIN project was one  of eight  EMPACT projects funded  by the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA's)  Office of Research and Development
(ORD) in 1998.  The EMPACT program was created to introduce new technologies
that make it possible to provide timely environmental information to the public.


1.2  EMPACT Overview


This handbook offers step-by-step instructions about how to provide a variety of timely
environmental information including water quality data to your community. It was
developed by the EPA's EMPACT program. EMPACT is working with the 150 largest
metropolitan areas and Native American Tribes in the country to help communities in
these areas:

       •      Collect,  manage, and distribute timely environmental information.

       •      Provide residents with easy-to-understand information they can use
              in making informed, day-to-day decisions.

To make  this  and other EMPACT projects  more effective, partnerships with the
National Oceanic and  Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the USGS were
developed. EPA works closely with these federal agencies  to help achieve nationwide
consistency in measuring environmental data, managing the  information, and delivering
it to the public.

To date, environmental information projects have been  initiated in 84 of the 150
EMPACT- designated metropolitan areas and Native American Tribes. These projects
cover a wide range of environmental  issues, including water quality, groundwater
contamination, smog, ultraviolet radiation, and overall  ecosystem quality.  Some of
these projects were initiated directly by EPA, while others were launched by EMPACT
communities themselves.   Local governments from  any of the 150  EMPACT
metropolitan areas and  Native American Tribes are eligible to apply for EPA-funded
Metro  Grants  to develop their  own  EMPACT projects.  The 150  EMPACT
metropolitan areas and Native American Tribes are listed in the table at the end of this
chapter.

Communities selected for Metro Grant awards are responsible for building their own
timely environmental monitoring and information delivery systems. To find out how to
apply for a Metro Grant, visit the EMPACT Web site at http://www.epa.gov/empact/
apply.htm.

One such Metro Grant recipient is the BASIN Project. The project provides the public
with a variety of timely environmental information about  the Boulder area including
weather, stream flow, water quality, snow pack, and toxic release data, as well  as an
extensive compilation of supplemental information to provide interpretive context for
the environmental data.
INTRODUCTION

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               1.3   BASIN  EMPACT Project

               1.3.1  Overview/Approach

               The primary goal of BASIN was  to help Boulder area residents make meaningful
               connections  between environmental  data  and  their daily  activities  and  enable
               involvement in the development of public policy, especially as it relates to the local
               environment. The BASIN project focused on critical local and regional environmental
               issues that pertained to the Boulder Creek Watershed.

               The data provided on the BASIN Web  site were selected by the BASIN Project team
               based on the following criteria:

                      •      Significance of the data  to the local community/environment,
                      •      Availability of the data,
                      •      Interest to the local community,
                      •      Feasibility for putting the data on the Web site, and
                      •      Sensitivity of the data (e.g., controversial data)

               There are three classifications of data available on the BASIN Web site.

                      •      Data links to other Web sites (e.g., SNOTEL, weather, toxic releases,
                             and stream flow) where BASIN did not have any principal relations
                             with the data providers and had no influence on the collection, analysis,
                             or quality control of the data.

                      •      Acquired data, where BASIN dealt with the data providers but had no
                             direct influence on the data collection or quality control of the data (e.g.,
                             River Watch data and City of Longmont).

                      •      Direct data, where BASIN had an interactive relationship with the data
                             provider and had input  on the data format, collection protocols, and
                             QA/QC (i.e., City of Boulder's drinking water and storm water data and
                             USGS data).

               The  BASIN  approach  emphasizes  "timely" information  over "real-time" data.
               Acquiring and delivering "real-time" data involves a high frequency of data sampling,
               transmission, and display. Costs are proportionately higher and tend to reduce other
               aspects of a project accordingly. Therefore, high frequency data presentation should
               only  be incorporated when it is essential to the  usefulness  of the  data.   In many
               applications, "timely" data may provide  the same desirable features as "real-time" data.
               For the BASIN project, "timely" means the most current available data set, presented
               with  the appropriate supporting contextual information.  This approach avoids the
               problems associated with static data sets that quickly become outdated, but avoids the
               higher maintenance costs associated with "real-time" data delivery.
4                                                                                CHAPTER 1

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 1.3.2 BASIN EMPACT Project Team

The BASIN Project team consists of both principal and collaborative partners. The
principal BASIN partners are as follows:  [http://bcn.boulder.co.us/basin/adm/
contributors.html]

       •      City of Boulder - provided overall project coordination as well as
              drinking water and storm water monitoring data.

       •      enfo.com. - directed design and development of the BASIN
              InformationManagement System and provided technical
              coordination of Web site designand development (see http://
              www.enfo.com).

       •      Mark McCaffrey - Communications Coordinator for the BASIN
              Project. As an environmental educator and co-founder of the
              Boulder Creek Watershed Initiative, Mark was involved with
              developing the original BASIN EMPACT proposal and, as
              Communications Coordinator, assisted in establishing the network of
              both principal and collaborative partners for the BASIN project.

       •      University of Colorado Department of Civil Engineering and
              Architectural Engineering - served as one of the initial EMPACT
              grant writers; developed  data collection and interpretation strategies
              for the integrated water quality component; and studied residential
              water use.

       •      USGS/Dr. Larry Barber - provided data collection, analysis and
              interpretation guidance and participated in the development of the
              Boulder Creek Millennium Baseline data collection program.

       •      Michael Caplan - Community liaison and team facilitation.

Collaborative Partners include the following:

       •      Boulder Community Network.
       •      Boulder County Healthy Communities Initiative.
       •      Boulder County Health Department.
       •      Boulder Creek Watershed Initiative.
       •      Boulder Valley School District.
       •      Colorado Division of Wildlife-River Watch Network.
       •      Community Access Television.
       •      United States Geological Survey
INTRODUCTION

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1.3.3 Project Costs

Overall - The costs to conduct a monitoring project similar to the BASIN Project can
vary significantly. Factors affecting the cost include, but are not limited to, the size and
location  of your  study area, the  types of  information  available from potential
collaborative partners, the number and types of parameters you want to measure, the
number of personnel needed to collect and analyze the data, the number of samples to
collect, the amount of new equipment which will need to be purchased, etc. For the
BASIN project, the BASIN team purchased a Sun SPARC Database Server Platform
for $10,000.

The  BASIN  team originally submitted  an  EMPACT Metro  Grant Application/
Proposal for $600,000.   However, due to limited EMPACT resources, the BASIN
project was funded the reduced budget of $400,000 for two years beginning in January
1999. Provided below is brief discussion of the primary project  components of the
BASIN project.   Figure 1.2 provides the budget  expenditures for the BASIN's
monitoring project. [Source: BASIN Project 2000 Annual Report, dated January 30,
2001]
                            ^40,000
                                                            $103,000
          • IMS             • Communications    QDaia AnsJyas
          D Urbifl Stem Runoff • Proiect Management
           Figure 1.2 Budget Expenditures for the BASIN Project.

Information Management System (IMS) - effort included developing data provider
partnerships, identifying  IMS  software requirements,  implementing IMS  system,
development of the bibliographic database and supporting user interface, development
of an event calendar database and user interface, development of a photograph database
and user interface, maintenance  of timely data acquisition  and display protocols,
providing e-mail forum support, and general maintenance of the BASIN Web site. This
effort comprised approximately 26 percent of the $400,000 project budget.
                                                                 CHAPTER 1

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Communications - effort included Web site design; assistance in the development of
video productions about BASIN and Boulder Creek, publishing the bi-monthly BASIN
NEWS newsletter, hosting on-line discussion regarding drought, fires, and floods, and
developing specific learning activities and promoting BASIN in local schools.  This
effort comprised approximately 24 percent of the $400,000 project budget.

Data Analysis -  effort included collecting, compiling, and analyzing existing water
quality data, as well as developing a protocol to transmit the QA/QC validated data to
the Web site.  Monthly data for 17 parameters measured along Boulder creeks were
made available on the BASIN Web site.  This effort also included the compilation of a
450-item Boulder Creek Watershed Bibliography which can be queried via the BASIN
Web site (see IMS) and the development of an extensive list of household hazards and
environmentally benign alternatives. This effort comprised approximately 17 percent
of the $400,000 project budget.

Urban Storm Runoff - effort included developing a better understanding of micro-
scale runoff relationships at a small-scale urban site, developing an overall water balance
model of a small urban site,  and developing a process  level understanding of the
residential water use.  This  effort comprised approximately 23 percent of the $400,000
project budget.

Project Management -  effort  included maintaining communications with  grant
agency, project  managers, and  all BASIN  participants, administering grant and
subcontractor contracts and  correspondence, maintaining EPA  approved  Grant
Management Filing System, serving as a liaison between granting agency and city;
providing oversite of the Environmental Index development process, and producing
the BASIN NEWS newsletter. This effort comprised approximately 10 percent of the
$400,000 project budget.

1.3.4 EMPACT Project Objectives

Overall BASIN project objectives include the following:

       •      Improve existing environmental monitoring to provide credible, timely
              and usable information about the watershed to the public.

       •      Create a state-of-the-art information management and public  access
              infrastructure using advanced, web-based computer technologies.

       •      Build strong partnerships and  an ongoing alliance of governmental,
              educational, non-profit and private entities involved in watershed moni-
              toring, management, and education.
INTRODUCTION

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                     •     Develop education and communication programs to effectively utilize
                           watershed information in the public media and schools and facilitate
                           greater public involvement in public policy formation.

              1.3.5 Technology Transfer Handbook

              The Technology Transfer and Support Division of the EPA's ORD National Risk
              Management Research Laboratory initiated development of this handbook to help
              interested communities learn more about the BASIN Project.  The handbook also
              provides technical information communities need to develop and manage their own
              timely watershed monitoring, data visualization,  and information dissemination pro-
              grams.  ORD, workingwith the BASIN Project team, produced this handbook to lever-
              age EMPACTs investment in the project and minimize the resources needed to imple-
              ment similar projects in other communities.

              Both print and CD_ROM versions  of the handbook are available for direct on_line
              ordering from EPA's ORD  Technology Transfer Web  site at http://www.epa.gov/
              ttbnrmrl. You can also order a copy of the handbook (print or CD-ROM version) by
              contacting ORD Publications by telephone or by mail at:

                           EPA ORD Publications
                           USEPA-NCEPI
                           P.O. Box 42419
                           Cincinnati, OH 45242
                           Phone: (800) 490-9198 or (513) 489-8190

                     Note!

                     Please make sure that you  include the  title of the handbook and the EPA
                     document number in your request.

              We hope you find the handbook worthwhile, informative, and easy to use. We wel-
              come your comments, and you can send them by e-mail from EMPACT's Web site at
              http://www.epa.gov/empact/comment.htm.
8                                                                            CHAPTER 1

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 1.4   EMPACT  Metropolitan Areas
   Albany-Schenectady-Troy, NY
   Albuquerque, NM
   AUentown-Bethlehem-Easton, PA
   Anchorage, AK
   Appleton-Oshkosh-Neenah, WI
   Atlanta, GA
   Augusta-Aiken, GA-SC
   Austin-San Marcos, TX
   Bakersfield, CA
   Baton Rouge, LA
   Beaumont-Port Arthur, TX
   Billings, MT
   Biloxi-Gulfport-Pascagoula, MS
   Binghamton, NY
   Birmingham, AL
   Boise City, ID
   Boston-Worcester-Lawrence-MA-NH-
   ME-CT

   Brownsville-Harlingen-San Benito, TX
   Buffalo-Niagara Falls, NY
   Burlington, VT
   Canton-Massillon, OH
   Charleston-North Charleston, SC
   Charleston, WV
   Charlotte-Gastonia-Rock Hill, NC-SC
   Chattanooga, TN-GA
   Cheyenne, WY
   Chicago-Gary-Kenosha, IL-IN-WI
   Cincinnati-Hamilton, OH-KY-IN
   Cleveland, Akron, OH
   Colorado Springs, CO
   Columbia, SC
   Columbus, GA-AL
   Columbus, OH
   Corpus, Christie, TX
   Dallas-Fort Worth, TX
   Davenport-Moline-Rock Island, IA-IL
   Dayton-Springfield, OH
   Daytona Beach, FL
   Denver-Boulder-Greeley CO
   Des Moines, IA
   Detroit-Ann Arbor-Flint, MI
   Duluth-Superior, MN-WI
   El Paso, TX
   Erie, PA
   Eugene-Springfield, OR
   Evansville-Henderson, IN-KY
   Fargo-Moorhead, ND-MN
   Fayetteville, NC
   FayetteviUe-Springfield-Rogers, AR
   Fort Collins-Loveland, CO
   Fort Myers-Cape Coral, FL
   Fort Fierce-Port St. Lucie, FL
   Fort Wayne, IN
   Fresno, CA
   Grand Rapids-Muskegon-Holland, MI
Greensboro-Winston-Salem-High Point,
NC
Greenville-Spartanburg-Anderson, SC
Harrisburg-Lebanon-Carlisle, PA
Hartford, CT
Hickory-Morganton-Lenoir, NC
Honolulu, HI
Houston-Galveston-Brazoria, TX
Huntington-Ashland, WV-KY-OH
Huntsville, AL
Indianapolis, IN
Jackson, MS
Jacksonville, FL
Johnson City-Kingsport-Bristol, TN-VA
Johnston, PA
Kalamazoo-Batde Creek, MI
Kansas City, MO-KS
Killeen-Temple, TX
Knoxville, TN
Lafayette, LA
Lakeland-Winter Haven, FL
Lancaster, PA
Lansing- East Lansing, MI
Las Vegas, NV-AZ
Lexington, KY
Lincoln, NE
Little Rock-North Little Rock, AR
Los Angeles-Riverside-Orange County,
CA
Louisville, KY-IN
Lubbock, TX
Macon, GA
Madison, WI
McAUen-Edinburg-Mission, TX
Melbourne-Titusville-Palm Bay, FL
Memphis, TN-AR-MS
Miami-Fort Lauderdale, FL
Milwaukee-Racine, WT
Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN-WI
Mobile, AL
Modesto, CA
Montgomery, AL
Nashville, TN
New London-Norwich, CT-RI
New Orleans, LA
New York-Northern New Jersey-Long
Island, NY-NJ-CT-PA
Norfolk-Virginia Beach-Newport News,
VA-NC
Ocala, FL
Odessa-Midland,  TX Oklahoma City, OK
Omaha, NE-IA
Orlando, FL
Pensacola, FL
Peoria-Pekin, IL
Philadelphia-Wilmington-Atlantic City,
PA-NJ-DE-MD
Phoenix-Mesa, AZ
Pittsburgh, PA
Portland, ME
Pordand-Salem, OR-WA
Providence-Fall River-Warwick, RI-MA
Provo-Orem, UT
Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill, NC
Reading, PA
Reno, NV
Richmond-Petersburg, VA
Roanoke, VA
Rochester, NY
Rockford, IL
Sacramento-Yolo, CA
Saginaw-Bay City-Midland, MI
St. Louis, MO-IL
Salinas, CA
Salt Lake City-Ogden, UT
San Antonio, TX
San Diego, CA
San Francisco-Oakland-San Jose, CA
San Juan-Caguas-Arecibo, PR
San Luis Obispo-Atascadero-Paso Robles,
CA
Santa Barbara-Santa Maria-Lompoc, CA
Sarasota-Bradenton, FL
Savannah, GA
Scranton-Wilkes Barre-Hazleton, PA
Seatde-Tacoma-Bremerton, WA
Shreveport-Bossier City, LA
Sioux Falls,  SD
South Bend, IN
Spokane, WA
Springfield,  MA
Springfield,  MO
Stockton-Lodi, CA
Syracuse, NY
Tallahassee, FL
Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL
Toledo, OH
Tucson, AZ
Tulsa, OK Visalia-Tulare-Porterville, CA
Utica-Rome, NY
Washington-Baltimore, DC-MD-VA-WV
West Palm Beach-Boca Raton, FL
Wichita, KS
York, PA
Youngstown-Warren, OH

Federally recognized Native
American  Tribes
INTRODUCTION

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2.   HOW TO USE  THIS  HANDBOOK

       The remainder of this handbook provides you with step-by-step information
       on how to develop a program to provide timely environmental data to your
       community using the BASIN Project in the Boulder, Colorado area as a model.
It contains detailed guidance on how to:
 Establish
 stakeholders and
 data collection
 organizations
 and collect
 supporting
 information sources.
Prototype data
management
procedures and
data presentation
standards while
formalizing data
sharing partne
                                               Present prototype
community
stakeholders and
gather feedback.
Revise and update
system to reflect
feedback while
expanding both
data sharing
                       and public oui
              Chapter 3 provides information about gathering environmental moni-
              toring data.  The chapter begins with an overview of the BASIN water-
              shed and discusses the importance of sustainability. The chapter then
              focuses on the types of data provided on the BASIN Web site and the
              environmental parameters that are monitored in the BASIN watershed.

              Chapter 4 provides information on how to collect, transfer, and man-
              age timely environmental data. This chapter discusses the sources of
              the timely environmental data (i.e., who or which organization collects
              the data for the BASIN project) and the data transfer and management
              process. In particular, this chapter provides detailed information on
              collecting, transferring, and managing the data.

              Chapter 5 provides information about using data presentation tools to
              graphically depict the timely environmental monitoring data you have
              gathered.  The chapter begins with a brief overview of data presenta-
              tion.  It then provides a more detailed introduction  to selected data
              presentation tools utilized by the BASIN team.  You might want to use
              these software tools to help analyze your data and in your efforts to
              provide timely environmental  information to your community.

              Chapter 6 outlines the steps involved in developing an  outreach plan to
              communicate information about  environmental data in your commu-
              nity. It also provides information about the BASIN Project's outreach
              efforts. The chapter includes  a list of resources to help you develop
              easily understandable materials to communicate information about your
              timely environmental monitoring program to a variety of audiences.
 HOW TO USE THIS HANDBOOK
                                                              11

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             This handbook is designed for decision-makers considering whether to implement a
             timely environmental monitoring program in their communities and for technicians
             responsible for implementing these programs. Managers and decision_makers likely
             will find the initial sections of ,  and most helpful. The latter sections of these chapters
             are targeted primarily at professionals and technicians and provide detailed "how to"
             information.  Chapter 6 is designed for managers and communication specialists.

             The handbook also refers  you to supplementary sources of information, such as Web
             sites and guidance documents, where you can find additional guidance with a greater
             level of  technical detail. The handbook also describes some of the lessons learned by
             the BASIN team in developing and implementing its timely environmental monitor-
             ing, data management, and outreach program.
12                                                                           CHAPTER 2

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3. BASIN  EMPACT  PROJECT

      This chapter provides information about the BASIN watershed area,  the
      importance of "sustainability," and important parameters for measuring the
      health of a watershed.  Understanding your area and knowing what it must
provide is the first step in the process of generating timely environmental information
and making it available to residents in your area.

The  chapter  begins with a broad overview of the "Boulder Area" watershed
characteristics and discusses why sustainability is important. The chapter then discusses
the various parameters which are monitored to measure the condition of the watershed.

Readers  primarily  interested  in  learning  about watersheds and  environmental
sustainability should read Sections 3.1 and  3.2.   Readers primarily interested in an
overview of the types of environmental data that are available for a community should
read Section 3.3.
3.1  Boulder Creek Watershed Characteristics

A watershed is the entire drainage area or basin feeding a stream or river. It includes
surface water, groundwater, vegetation, and human structures. Watersheds vary in size
from just a few acres to hundreds of square miles - and everyone lives in one. One of
the main functions of a watershed is to temporarily store and transport water from the
land surface to a water body (e.g., stream or river) and ultimately (for most watersheds)
onward to the ocean.  In addition to moving the water, watersheds and their water
bodies also transport sediment and other materials (including pollutants), energy, and
many types of organisms. Watersheds also recharge drinkingwater reservoirs within the
watershed.  [Source: http://www.epa.gov/owow/watershed/wacademy/acad2000/
ecology/ecologylS.html]

Boulder Creek is a small watershed located in the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains,
east of the  Continental Divide in central Colorado.  Boulder  Creek  is part of the
Mississippi River Basin, and reaches the Mississippi River byway of the St. Vrain, South
Platte, Platte, and Missouri Rivers.  The watershed encompasses about 1100 km2 (440
sq. mi.) and consists of two physiographic provinces. The upper basin, defined on the
west by the Continental Divide, is part of the Southern Rocky Mountain Province. The
lower basin, defined on the west by the foothills of the Rocky Mountains, is part of the
Colorado Piedmont Section  of the Great Plains Province.  These regions  differ
significantly in topography, geology, and hydrology.  The upper basin is composed
primarily of Pre-Cambrian Age metamorphic and granitic rocks, which are very weather
resistant, while the lower basin is dominated by sedimentary rocks, which are more
easily eroded.  In addition to the physiographic province delineations, land use has
imprinted such a strong signal on the watershed that it can be further divided into five


 BASIN EMPACT PROJECT                                                            13

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             regions:  mountains,  transportation  corridor, urban, wastewater-dominated,  and
             agricultural (Source: S.F. Murphy, P.L. Verplanck, and L.B. Barber, "Chemical Data for
             Water Samples Collected from Boulder Creek, Colorado, During High-Flow and Low-
             Flow Conditions, 2000," to be submitted as a USGS Open File Report).
                           Figure 3.1. Schematic of a Watershed.
                           [Source: http://www.epa.gov/OWOW/win/what.htrnl]

             For the purposes of the EMPACT project, the "Boulder Area" is  the  St. Vrain
             Watershed. It encompasses a 993 square mile region that extends from the Continental
             Divide to the High Plains and includes approximately 285,000 people. The City of
             Boulder is the largest metropolitan area within the Boulder Creek Watershed.  Other
             communities  in  the Boulder  Creek  Watershed include Nederland,  Longmont,
             Louisville, and Lafayette.

             West of Boulder there are prime snowmelt water supplies adjacent to abandoned and
             active mines, recreation areas, growing mountain communities and forest fire zones.
             Steep  canyons above Boulder make it one of the state's primary flood areas.  Runoff
             from these canyons causes erosion and transports pollutants into Boulder's creeks. East
             of the City, the land topography changes to a plains  environment where  there are
             dramatic changes in the water flow patterns and ecosystem.  At this point, Boulder
             Creek becomes heavily impacted by the city's Wastewater Treatment Plant.  [Source:
             1998 EMPACT Grant Application]
14
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Several creeks and tributaries exist in the Boulder Creek Watershed.  These include
Boulder Creek, St. Vrain Creek, Rock Creek, Coal Creek, Four Mile Creek, Sunshine
Creek, Goose Creek, and Lefthand Creek.

The Boulder area, particularly the eastern portion of Boulder, are "semi-arid" plains
while the mountains to the west are wetter and receive most of their precipitation in the
form of snow during the late spring months.  However, after the snow has melted and
the summer rains have come and gone, even the mountains can become parched and
dry, becoming ripe for forest fires.

Through extensive waterworks, such as a complex systems of ditches, reservoirs,
pipelines and dams, the Boulder area has to some extent buffered itself from the
seasonal flux of the water cycle.  Nevertheless, the area is still vulnerable to droughts,
flashfloods, forest fires, pollution and breakdown of the infrastructure that delivers
water and removes waste.
[Source:  http://bcn.boulder.co.us/basin/main/whywater.html]
3.2 Sustainability

The key word in the BASIN acronym is "sustainability." The term "sustainability" is
derived from the word "sustainable" which means to maintain or prolong necessities or
nourishment. When it comes to the sustainability of the environment, as well as the
communities that are a part of that environment, many people agree that providing
citizens with relevant  environmental information  that will allow them  to make
appropriate personal actions and help determine present and future public policy is of
paramount importance.  The "sustainability" of future communities will be, in part,
determined by the actions of citizens today. [Source: http://bcn.boulder.co.us/basin/
main/about.html#Sustain]

Since 1960  the Boulder  area has  quadrupled in population, outpacing the global
population explosion with high-impact development and growth. To support such a
substantial growth in population and industry, more water was needed for the Boulder
area. As a result, the Boulder area implemented  large-scale water projects, such as the
Colorado Big Thompson and Windy Gap projects, which imported water from the
other side of the Continental Divide.   According to the Boulder County  Health
Communities Indicator Report of 1998, on average some 67,000 acre feet of water per
year enters Boulder County from the Colorado Big Thompson project, a Federal "trans-
basin" project begun in the  1950s.

Even with today's  relatively  high  compliance  standards, this tremendous growth
impacts the  quality of the water in the region.  For example, waste from municipal
sewage and individual septic systems  impacts the waterways, air pollution from cars
transports into the high mountain lakes and streams, and ground water is contaminated
by leaking underground storage tanks. Aside from environmental impacts, rivers are

 BASIN EMPACT PROJECT                                                              15

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             sometimes literally drained dry due to Colorado's prior appropriations doctrine which
             historically has not supported leaving water in the river to support the aquatic habitat.

             Although  the issues are complex and the  solutions are difficult,  there are signs of
             progress in the Boulder area. For example, the City of Boulder has implemented a
             practice called "in-stream flow" which  leaves some water in Boulder Creek at certain
             times during the year to protect the fish and macro invertebrates.  Also, water-
             conserving landscape  design is becoming more popular in the  region  and water
             education  is becoming an integral part of children's school curriculum.

             However,  the question remains: Can a community be sustainable?  One step towards
             addressing sustainability is to monitor the community's impact (or ecological footprint)
             on the environment to reveal the difficult questions and tough choices it must face to
             minimize its impact on the environment.  By focusing initially on water in the Boulder
             area, the BASIN project provided timely  monitoring data, as well as background
             information and links to other resources that enabled the inhabitants of the region to
             better understand and to take steps to protect the Boulder area environment. [Source:
             http://bcn.boulder.co.us/basin/main/sustain.html]  For more on sustainability, see
             "Toward a Stewardship of the Global Commons: Engaging "My Neighbor" in the Issue
             of Sustainability: http://bcn.boulder.co.us/basin/local/sustaininO.html. The Web site
             of the EPA Office of Water (http://www.epa.gov/owow/monitoring) is a good source
             of background information on water quality monitoring.
             3.2.1        Establishing Community Partnerships

             BASIN seeks to communicate the significance of timely environmental data to the
             general public. To maximize the effective communication of existing environmental
             information and improve the public relevance of ongoing data monitoring programs,
             BASIN established partnerships with environmental researchers currently collecting
             data in the watershed and solicited the active participation of the public in the design and
             development of BASIN's data management system and presentation of information.
             To develop these partnerships BASIN proceeded as follows:

             •      sought community input on both community information needs and outreach
                    program design,

             •      established partnerships for both data access and community outreach,

             •      gathered references to existing environmental data,

             •      gathered access to supporting  environmental information,

             •      established data management procedures in consultation with existing and new
                    data collection programs,

16                                                                            CHAPTER 3

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•      established prototype Web site design and development procedures,

•      evaluated  data  and  designed  outreach   channels,  particularly  for  data
       presentation,

•      developed data interpretation and supporting materials,

•      released the initial Web site prototype within the first year,

•      actively gathered partner, stakeholder and public feedback on the Web site
       prototype,

•      continued to revise and update Web site during the second year, and

•      established procedures to continue data updates and solicit additional data and
       information sources.

BASIN found that an iterative design process  with  active involvement  of the
community is essential to insure that data presentations are effective and relevant and
that sufficient contextual information is provided to make these data meaningful to the
general public.


3.2.2        Water Quality Monitoring: An Overview

Water quality monitoring provides information about the condition of streams, lakes,
ponds, estuaries, and  coastal waters.  It can also tell us if these waters are safe for
swimming, fishing, or drinking.  Water quality monitoring can consist of the following
types of measurements:

       •      Chemical measurements of constituents such as dissolved oxygen,
              nutrients, metals, and oils in water, sediment, or fish tissue.

       •      Physical measurements of general conditions such as temperature,
              conductivity/salinity, current speed/direction, water level, water
              clarity.

       •      biological measurements of the abundance, variety, and growth rates
              of aquatic plant and animal life in a water body or the ability of
              aquatic organisms to survive in a water sample.

You can conduct several different types of water quality monitoring projects.  For
example water quality monitoring can be conducted as follows:
 BASIN EMPACT PROJECT                                                                1 7

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                    •      at fixed locations on a continuous basis,

                    •      at selected locations on an as-needed basis or to answer specific
                           questions,

                    •      on a temporary or seasonal basis (such as during the summer at
                           swimming beaches), or

                    •      on an emergency basis (such as after a spill).

             Many agencies and organizations  conduct water quality monitoring including  state
             pollution control agencies, tribal governments, city and county environmental offices,
             the EPA and other federal agencies, and private entities, such as universities, watershed
             organizations, environmental groups, and industries. Volunteer monitors  - private
             citizens who voluntarily collect and analyze water quality samples, conduct visual
             assessments of physical conditions, and measure the biological health of waters - also
             provide increasingly important water quality information. The EPA provides specific
             information about volunteer monitoring at http://www.epa.gov/owow/monitoring/
             vol.html.

                    Water quality monitoring is conducted for many reasons, including

                    •      characterizing waters and identifying trends or changes in water
                           quality over time;

                    •      identifying existing or emerging water quality problems;

                    •      gathering information for the design of pollution prevention or
                           restoration programs;

                    •      determining if the goals of specific programs are being met;

                    •      complying with local, state, and Federal regulations; and

                    •      responding to emergencies such as spills or floods.

             EPA helps  administer grants for  water  quality monitoring projects and  provides
             technical guidance on how to monitor and report monitoring results. You can find a
             number of EPA's water quality monitoring technical guidance documents on the Web
             at: http://www.epa.gov/owow/monitoring/techmon.html.   The EPA's Office  of
             Water has developed a Watershed Distance Learning Program called the "Watershed
             Academy Web."  This program, which offers a certificate upon completion, is a series
             of self-paced training  modules that  covers  topics such  as  watershed  ecology,
             management practices, and analysis and planning.  More information about the
             Watershed Academy  Web  can be found  on  the  Web at:  http://www.epa.gov/


18                                                                            CHAPTERS

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watertrain/. The EPA also has a Web site entitled "Surf Your Watershed" which can
be used to locate, use, and share environmental information on watersheds. For more
information about the resources available on Surf Your Watershed, please see the
following Web  site: http://www.epa.gov/surf3. The EPA also has a collection  of
watershed tools available on the Web at: http://www.epa.gov/OWOW/watershed/
tools/.  The watershed  tools available on the Web deal with topics such as data
collection, management and assessment, outreach and education, and modeling.

In addition to the EPA resources listed above, you can obtain information about lake
and reservoir water quality monitoring from the North American Lake Management
Society (NALMS).  NALMS has published many technical documents,  including a
guidance manual entitled Monitoring Lake and Reservoir Restoration. For more information,
visit the NALMS Web site at http://www.nalms.org. State and local agencies also
publish and recommend documents  to help organizations and communities conduct
and understand water quality monitoring. For example, the Gulf of Mexico Program
maintains a Web site (http://www.gmpo.gov/mmrc/mmrc.html) that lists resources
for water quality monitoring and  management.  State and local  organizations in your
community might maintain similar listings.

In some cases, special water quality monitoring methods, such as remote monitoring, or
special types of water quality data, such as timely data, are needed to meet a water quality
monitoring  program's objectives.   Timely environmental data are collected and
communicated to the public in a time frame that is useful to their day-to-day decision-
making about their health and the environment, and relevant to the temporal variability
of the parameter measured. Monitoring is called remote when the operator can collect
and analyze data from a site other than the monitoring location itself.
3.3 Timely Environmental  Data

When deciding what data to make available to communities in the Boulder area, the
BASIN team considered several factors.  These factors included the following:

       •      significance of the data to the local community/environment,
       •      availability of the data,
       •      the public's ability to interpret the data,
       •      the various methods to allow the public to view the data in perspective,
       •      interest to the local community,
       •      feasibility of putting the data on the Web  site, and
       •      sensitivity of the data (e.g., controversial data).

Since the focus of the BASIN EMPACT project was to provide data about the Boulder
Creek Watershed, the BASIN team decided thatwater quality data was significant to the
Boulder area. The City of Boulder already conducted two water monitoring programs
 BASIN EMPACT PROJECT                                                               19

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              (drinking water and storm water) which measured a variety of water quality parameters
              so there was data readily available. This program included an existing collaboration
              between the City of Boulder and the USGS, to provide an integrated data set on total
              organic carbon (TOG).  The team also searched for other sources of data that was
              available for distribution to the public. Such sources included USGS, the Colorado Air
              Pollution Control Division, and SNOTEL. The team also considered the feasibility of
              putting the data on the BASIN Web  site (e.g., was the  data in a format that could be
              displayed easily?).

              After considering the various factors  and conducting research to identify the types of
              data that were available in an acceptable format, the team identified three classifications
              of data that it made available on its Web site. These classifications are  as follows:

                     •      data links to other Web sites (e.g., SNOTEL, weather, and stream flow),

                     •      acquired data (e.g., River Watch data and City of Longmont water data),
                            and

                     •      direct data (i.e., City of Boulder's drinking water and storm water data
                            and USGS TOC data).
             3.3.1         Data Links to Other Web sites

             The BASIN team searched the World Wide Web and identified available environmental
             data that would be of interest to the local community. BASIN identified SNOTEL data,
             weather data, toxic releases data, and stream flow data. The BASIN Web site (http://
             www.basin.org) was designed to provide links to these data, which provided the local
             community with centralized access to a wide variety of relevant timely environmental
             monitoring activities.  It is important to  note that BASIN did not have any principal
             relations with the data providers and had no influence on the  collection, analysis, or
             quality control of the data - the data were simply made available on the BASIN Web site.
             A brief description of the external data which the BASIN Web site links to is provided
             below.

             SNOTEL Data.  There are three SNOTEL (for SNOwpack TELemetry)  snowpack
             monitoring sites in the Boulder area watershed. SNOTEL is an extensive, automated
             system  operated and maintained by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Natural
             Resources Conservation Service (NRCS)  to measure snowpack in the mountains of the
             west and forecast the water supply.  Data from the SNOTEL sites are plotted by the
             Western Regional Climate Center. The user can access the SNOTEL data and create
             plots  of the cumulative precipitation, snow  water content, and temperature data.
             [Source: http://bcn.boulder.co.us/basm/data/SNOTEL/SNOTEL.html]
20                                                                             CHAPTER 3

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Weather.   The BASIN Web site has a link to weather data for six locations in the
Boulder area. The weather data are maintained by a variety of government agencies and
private individuals. The user clicks on the "weather" link (http://bcn.boulder.co.us/
basm/data/WEATHER/WEATHER.html) which takes them to a Spatial  Data
Catalog, a BASIN map showing the six weather monitoring sites. The user can select
any of the  monitoring sites and  obtain the near real-time weather at that  site (the
information is updated every five minutes). Such weather data includes temperature,
dewpoint, humidity, barometric pressure, aeronautical pressure, wind speed, peak gust,
wind chill, and wind direction.  In addition to receiving current weather data, the user
can also obtain  minimum and maximum values for each  of the parameters  over the
previous 24-hour period.

Toxic Releases.  The BASIN Web site provides direct access  to the Environmental
Defense  Fund's (EDF) Scorecard Internet site which catalogs 23 facilities in the
Boulder area that release toxic substances  into the environment.  [Source:  http://
bcn.boulder.co.us/basin/data/TRI/TRI.html] The data on the EDF Scorecard is not
"real-time" because it reflects the  environmental releases that each facility reported on
its annual EPA Toxic Release  Inventory forms.  The user can click on the various
facilities highlighted in the Spatial Data Catalog and learn about the toxic chemicals that
each facility is releasing to the environment in the Boulder area.

Stream Flow.  The BASIN Web site has
a link to data collected from 21 stream flow
gauging sites located in the Boulder area.
Shown  here is a  stream  stage  gauge
mounted in the North Boulder Creek
diversion flume. The data from the stream
flow gauging sites are obtained from State
and Federal  (USGS)  sources.  The  user
clicks  on    "stream  flow"    (http://
ben. boulder, co.us/basin/data/
STREAMFLOW/STRE AMFLOW.html)
which takes them to a Spatial Data Catalog,
a map showing the 21 stream flow gauging sites (see discussion of Spatial Data Catalog
in  Chapter  5). The user can obtain the stage (or stream depth) in feet as well as the
stream flow in ft3/sec or cubic feet per second (cfs). Depending upon the site  selected,
the data can be viewed in either a tabular or graphical format.

Air Quality.  The BASIN EMPACT Web site posts the current air quality status for
the Denver-metro area. The information is obtained from the Colorado Air Pollution
Control Division (APCD). The air quality advisories are issued each day at 4 P.M., MST.
The advisories are categorized as either BLUE or RED. If the userwants to know what
action to take based on the advisory, they click on the link which transfers them to an
APCD Web site (http://apcd.state.co.us/psi/o3_advisory.phtml).  This Web site
provides practical suggestions to reduce summertime air pollution.
 BASIN EMPACT PROJECT
21

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             Ultraviolet Exposure Index.  In addition to posting the air quality status, the BASIN
             EMPACT Web  site also posts the current EPA/NOAA ultraviolet (UV) exposure
             index. The index is based on a numerical scale from 0 - 10+, with "0" indicating
             "minimal" exposure and "10+" indicating "very high" exposure. If the user wants to
             know more about the index or what they should do to protect themselves against UV
             exposure they can click on the link which takes them to an EPA "SunWise" Web site
             (http://www.epa.gov/sunwise/uvindex.html).
             3.3.2        Acquired Data

             The BASIN team solicited  data provider partnerships with existing Boulder area
             environmental monitoring programs.  BASIN established successful data provider
             partnerships with the City of Longmont, the Denver Water Board, and the State of
             Colorado's River Watch Program. Data sets (water quality monitoring data) received
             from these data providers were integrated into the BASIN Information Management
             System (IMS) and were used to develop information products currently available on the
             BASIN Web site (http://www.basin.org).  It is important to note that with the data
             provider partnerships, BASIN had no direct influence on the  data collection or quality
             control of the data.  [Source: 2000 Annual Report, BASIN Project, EMPACT Grant,
             January 30, 2001]
             3.3.3        Direct Data

             The BASIN team partnered with the City of Boulder to obtain data collected by its
             Storm Water and Drinking Water Programs. BASIN had an interactive relationship
             with the City of Boulder and had input on the data format, collection protocols, and
             QA/QC. Water quality monitoring data is provided by a cooperative program between
             the City of Boulder's Public Works Department and Dr. Larry Barber of the USGS
             Laboratory located  in Boulder.  Source water quality is monitored by the City of
             Boulder's Drinking Water Monitoring Program at several locations in the headwaters of
             the basin. Stream Water Quality is monitored by the city's Storm Water Monitoring
             Program throughout the lower basin.

             Drinking water quality can only be conserved to  the extent that source  waters are
             protected, water treatment is optimized, and the water quality in the distribution system
             is maintained. Boulder's three watersheds (i.e., North Boulder Creek, Middle Boulder
             Creek/Barker Reservoir, and Boulder Reservoir) are  increasingly vulnerable to point
             and non-point contamination  due to development in the area. Water treatment  is
             subject  to increasing stresses from  pathogens and other contaminants, as well  as to
             increasing public expectations  for drinking water quality.  Distribution system water
             quality is receiving increased public attention as outbreaks of waterborne  disease are
             connected with biofilms, backflow incidents, and other hard-to-quantify contaminant
             vectors. [Source: 1998 EMPACT Grant Application]

22                                                                            CHAPTER 3

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As for storm water, non-point source pollution is a critical environmental issue in the
Boulder Creek Watershed. Pollutant sources include highway runoff, urban drainage,
mining, logging, erosion, and agriculture. The City of Boulder recognizes the need to
protect water  through pollution  abatement  of non-point sources  and through
watershed management.

Monthly readings of 17 primary water quality parameters are accessible through the
BASIN  Water Quality  data access page (http://bcn.boulder.co.us/basin/data/
COBWQ/index.html).  The importance of each of the parameters which can be viewed
at the BASIN Web site is discussed below.

Alkalinity refers to how well awater body can neutralize acids. Alkalinity measures the
amount  of  alkaline  compounds in water, such as carbonate (CO3~2), bicarbonate
(HCO3~), and hydroxide (OH") ions.  These compounds are natural buffers that can
remove excess hydrogen ions  that have been added from sources such as acid rain or
acid mine drainage. Alkalinity mitigates  or relieves metals toxicity by using available
HCO3 and CO3~2 to  take metals out  of  solution, thus making it unavailable to  fish.
Alkalinity is affected by the geology of the watershed; watersheds containing limestone
will have a higher alkalinity than watersheds where granite is predominant.

Ammonia, Nitrate, and Nitrite are  sources of nitrogen. Nitrogen is required by all
organisms for the basic processes of life to  make proteins, to grow, and to reproduce.
Nitrogen is very common and found in  many forms in  the environment.  Inorganic
forms include ammonia (NHj), nitrate (NO3~)and nitrite (NO2~).  Organic nitrogen is
found in the cells of all living things and is a component of proteins, peptides, and amino
acids.  These compounds enter waterways  from lawn fertilizer run-off, leaking septic
tanks, animal wastes, industrial waste waters, sanitary landfills and discharges from car
exhausts.

Excessive concentrations of ammonia, nitrate, or nitrite can be harmful to humans and
wildlife.  Toxic  concentrations of ammonia in humans may cause loss of equilibrium,
convulsions, coma, and death.   Ammonia concentrations can affect  hatching and
growth rates offish and changes may occur during the structural development of tissues
offish gills, liver, and/or kidneys. In humans, nitrate is broken down in the intestines
to become  nitrite.   Nitrite reacts with hemoglobin in human  blood to produce
methemoglobin, which limits the ability of red  blood  cells  to carry  oxygen.  This
condition is called methemoglobinemia or "blue baby" syndrome (because the nose and
tips of the ears  can appear blue from lack of oxygen). High concentrations of nitrate
and/or nitrite produces a similar condition in fish and is referred to as "brown blood
disease."  Nitrite enters the  bloodstream  through the  gills  and turns  the blood a
chocolate-brown color. Brown blood cannot carry sufficient amounts of oxygen, and
affected fish can suffocate despite adequate concentration in the water.  The EPA has
established a maximum contaminant level of 10 mg/1 for nitrate and 1 mg/1 for nitrite.
[Source: http://bcn.boulder.co.us/basin/data/COBWQ/info/NH3.html]


BASIN EMPACT  PROJECT                                                               23

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              Dissolved Oxygen (DO) is the amount of oxygen dissolved in the water. DO is a very
              important indicator of a water body's ability to support aquatic life.  Fish "breathe" by
              absorbing dissolved oxygen through their gills. Oxygen enters the water by absorption
              directly from the atmosphere or by aquatic plant and algae photosynthesis. Oxygen is
              removed from the water by respiration and decomposition of organic matter.  The
              amount of DO in water depends on several factors, including temperature (the colder
              the water, the more oxygen can be dissolved); the volume and velocity of water flowing
              in the water body; and the amount of organisms using oxygen for respiration.  The
              amount of oxygen dissolved in water is expressed as a concentration, in milligrams per
              liter (ing/1)  of water.  Human activities that affect DO levels  include the  removal of
              riparian vegetation, runoff from roads, and sewage discharge.

              Fecal Coliform Bacteria are present in the feces and intestinal tracts of humans and
              otherwarm-blooded animals, and can enterwater bodies from human and animal waste.
              If a large number of fecal coliform bacteria (over 200 colonies/100 ml ofwater sample)
              are found in water, it is possible that pathogenic  (disease- or illness-causing) organisms
              are also present in the water. Pathogens are typically present in such small amounts it
              is impractical to monitor them directly. High concentrations of the bacteria in water
              may be caused by septic tank failure,  poor pasture and animal keeping practices, pet
              waste, and urban runoff.

              Hardness generally refers to the amount of calcium and  magnesium in water. In
              household use, these divalent cations (ions with  a charge greater than + 1) can prevent
              soap  from  sudsing and leave behind  a white scum in bathtubs.  In the aquatic
              environment,  calcium and magnesium help keep fish from absorbing metals, such as
              lead, arsenic, and cadmium,  into their bloodstream through their gills. Therefore, the
              harder the water, the less easy it is for toxic metals to  absorb into their gills.
             pH     measures      hydrogen
             concentration  in  water  and  is
             presented on a scale from 0 to 14.  A
             solution with a pH value of  7  is
             neutral; a solution with a pH value
             less than 7 is acidic; a solution with a
             pH value greater than  7  is basic.
             Natural waters usually have a pH
             between  6  and  9. The  scale  is
             negatively  logarithmic,  so  each
             whole number (reading downward)
             is ten times the preceding one (for
             example, pH 5.5 is 100 times more
             acidic as pH 7.5).  The pH of natural
             waters can be made acidic or basic by
             human activities such  as acid mine
24
                                                                               CHAPTER 3

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drainage and emissions from coal-burning power plants and heavy automobile traffic.
pH can interact with metals and organic chemicals making them more or less toxic
depending on the type of chemical.

Specific Conductance is a measure of how well water can pass an electrical current.
It is an indirect measure of the presence of inorganic dissolved solids, such as chloride,
nitrate, sulfate, phosphate, sodium, magnesium, calcium, and iron.  These substances
conduct electricity because they are negatively or positively charged when dissolved in
water.  The  concentration of dissolved solids, or the conductivity, is affected by the
bedrock and soil in the watershed. It is also affected by human influences. For example,
agricultural runoff can raise conductivity because of the presence of phosphate and
nitrate.

Stream Flowis the volume of water moving past a point in a unit of time. Flow consists
of the volume of water in the stream and the velocity of the water moving past a given
point.  Flow affects the concentration of dissolved oxygen, natural substances, and
pollutants in a water body. Flow is measured in units of cubic feet per second (cfs) or
ftVsec.

Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) refers to matter dissolved in water or wastewater, and
is related to both specific conductance and turbidity. TDS is the portion of total solids
that passes through a filter.  High levels of TDS can cause health problems for aquatic
life.

Total Organic Carbon (TOC) - Organic matter plays a major role in aquatic systems.
It affects biogeochemical  processes,  nutrient  cycling,  biological  availability, and
chemical transport.   It also has direct implications in  the planning  of wastewater
treatment and drinking water treatment. Organic matter content is typically measured
as total organic  carbon and dissolved organic carbon, which are essential components
of the carbon cycle.

Total Phosphorus is a nutrient required by all organisms for the basic processes of life.
Phosphorus is  a  natural element found  in rocks, soils and organic material.  Its
concentrations  in clean waters is generally very low; however, phosphorus is used
extensively in fertilizer and other chemicals, so it can be found in higher concentrations
in areas of human activity. Phosphorus  is generally found as phosphate (PO4~3).
Orthophosphorus is a form of inorganic phosphorus and is sometimes referred to as
"reactive phosphorus." Orthophosphate is the most stable form of phosphate, and is
the form used by plants. Orthophosphate is produced by natural processes and is found
in sewage. High levels of Orthophosphate,  along with nitrate, can overstimulate the
growth of aquatic plants and algae, resulting in high dissolved oxygen consumption,
causing death offish and other  aquatic organisms. The primary sources of phosphates
in surface water are detergents, fertilizers, and natural mineral  deposits.
 BASIN EMPACT PROJECT                                                               25

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             Total Suspended Solids (TSS) refers to matter suspended in water or wastewater, and
             is related to both specific conductance and turbidity.  TSS is the portion of total solids
             retained by a filter. High levels of TSS can cause health problems for aquatic life.

             Turbidity is a measure of the cloudiness of water - the cloudier the water, the greater
             the turbidity. Turbidity in water is caused by suspended matter such as clay, silt, and
             organic matter and by plankton and other microscopic organisms that interfere with the
             passage of light through the water. Turbidity is closely related to TSS, but also includes
             plankton and other organisms. Turbidity itself is not a major health concern, but high
             turbidity can interfere with disinfection and provide a medium for microbial growth.  It
             also may indicate the presence of microbes. High turbidity can affect the natural algal
             productivity of the stream and can affect other organisms such as fish and invertebrates
             that use algae as a food source.  High turbidity can be caused by soil erosion, urban
             runoff, and high flow rates.

             Water Temperature is a very important factor for aquatic life. It controls the rate of
             metabolic and reproductive activities.  Most aquatic organisms are "cold-blooded,"
             which means they can not control their own body temperatures (e.g., certain trout and
             salamanders require cold water). Their body temperatures become the temperature of
             the water around them. Cold-blooded organisms are adapted to a specific temperature
             range. If water temperatures vary too much, metabolic activities can malfunction.
             Temperature also affects the concentration of dissolved oxygen and can influence the
             activity of bacteria in a water body.  Too much light caused by reduced stream side
             vegetation can increase the stream temperature. [Source: BASIN Water Quality Terms,
             http://bcn.boulder.co.us/basin/natural/wqterms.html]
             3.4 The Boulder Creek Millennium  Baseline Study

             BASIN served to strengthen an existing collaboration among local USGS water quality
             scientists and the City of Boulder (COB) source and storm water quality monitoring
             programs.  The formal collection  and  public release  of the COB's water quality
             information lead to a more ambitious water quality monitoring effort called the Boulder
             Creek Millennium Baseline Study which was designed to clarify water quality concerns
             in the Boulder Creek Watershed.

             The Boulder Creek Millennium Baseline  Study was performed during the summer and
             fall of the year 2000 as a collaborative effort of the USGS Water Resources Division, the
             City of Boulder, and the BASIN to provide an in-depth analysis of Boulder Creek water
             quality. This study measured several parameters not normally regulated or considered
             to be problematic in Boulder Creek but which would assist in the formulation of a
             conceptual model of the processes at work in the creek system. Detailed synoptic water
             quality sampling of Boulder Creek, including the main stem and major tributaries, allows
             the identification of the sources of chemical constituents.  Boulder Creek offers an
26                                                                           CHAPTER 3

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excellent  opportunity  to  measure  the
impact  of  natural  and  anthropogenic
processes on a small river system because it
flows from pristine source waters, through
an urban corridor, and is transformed into a
sewage-dominated stream below Boulder's
sewage treatment plant (STP) outfall, and
finally  flows  through  agricultural  areas.
Water quality sampling of Boulder Creek
during   high-flow  (June)  and  low-flow
(October) conditions, from upstream of the
town of Eldora to the confluence with the
St.  Vrain  River,  was  carried  out  to
determine  influences on water chemistry.
The relative importance of different sources varies seasonally, and therefore high- and
low-flow sampling is an important step in characterizing the watershed. The study also
provided a baseline data set from which future water quality changes can be observed.
(from S.F. Murphy, P.L. Verplanck, and L.B. Barber, "Chemical  Data for Water
Samples Collected from Boulder Creek, Colorado, During High-Flow and Low-Flow
Conditions, 2000," to be submitted as a USGS Open File Report).
The Millennium Baseline Study
measured additional parameters
including the following:

    •   Major Ions
    •   Metals
    •   Pesticides
    •   Pharmaceuticals
    •   Hormones
    •   Other organic wastewater
       compounds
 BASIN EMPACT PROJECT
                                              27

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4.   COLLECTING, TRANSFERRING,
       AND  MANAGING  TIMELY
A        centralized collection of timely environmental data can be beneficial to your
       community  in  several ways.    Such information raises  the  public's
       awareness of environmental issues that pertain to them, it serves as a valuable
learning tool to increase their understanding of actions that affect their environment,
and it serves as an avenue for them to express their concerns and questions.

Using the BASIN Project as a model, this chapter provides you and your community
with instructions on how to collect and maintain data to post on your Web site. If you
are responsible for or interested in collecting water samples, you should carefully read
the technical information  presented in Section 4.2.  If you are interested in analyzing
water samples, you should read the information presented in the Section 4.3.  This
section provides detailed information on the type of equipment and procedures used to
analyze water  samples. Details on data transfer and management are discussed in
Section 4.4 and quality assurance is discussed in Section 4.5. Readers interested in an
overview of the system should focus primarily on the introductory information in
Section 4.1 below.

4.1   System Overview

The  BASIN project sought to leverage  the activities  of existing  environmental
monitoring programs and develop public environmental information resources derived
from  timely environmental data collection.   BASIN developed partnerships with
various organizations to gather pertinent environmental information about the Boulder
area.  As discussed earlier, the BASIN project provided three types  of data to the
Boulder community:  (1) Web links to external data sources, (2) acquired data, and (3)
direct data (see discussion in Section 3.3). This data can be accessed through links from
the BASIN Web site at http://bcn.boulder.co.us/basin/.

The remainder of this chapter discusses the collection, analysis, transfer and quality
control of the storm water and drinking water quality data (direct data) provided to
BASIN by the City of Boulder.  BASIN interacted closely with the City of Boulder to
develop sample collection protocols, determine data format, and to develop QA/QC
procedures.

As mentioned in Chapter 3, BASIN did not have any contact with the providers of the
SNOTEL, weather, toxic releases, stream flow, air quality, or UV exposure index data
posted on the BASIN Web site.   As a result, this Handbook does not  discuss the
collection, analysis, management, or quality control  of these types of data. If you are
interested in learning more about such topics, please refer to the following Web sites:

COLLECTING, TRANSFERRING, AND MANAGING TIMELY ENVIRONMENTAL DATA     29

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                    •      For SNOTEL data, see http://www.wcc.nrcs.usda.gov/factpub/
                           sntlfctl.html  and http://www.wcc.nrcs.usda.gov/factpub/
                           sect_4b.html

                    •      For weather data, see http://www.atd.ucar.edu/weather.html

                    •      For toxic releases, see http://www.epa.gov/tri/general.htm

                    •      For stream flow data, see http://water.usgs.gov/co/nwis/sw

                    •      For air quality data, see http://apcd.state.co.us/psi/
                           o3_advisory.phtml

                    •      For UV exposure data, see http://www.epa.gov/sunwise/
                           uvindex.html

             Similarly, BASIN did not have any input as to how the data provided by the City of
             Longmont or River Watch (the acquired data) was collected, analyzed or controlled. As
             a result, this Handbook does not discuss the collection, analysis, management, or quality
             control of the City of Longmont or River Watch data.

             4.2  Data  Collection

             BASIN and the City of Boulder collaborated to obtain results from the city's Drinking
             Water and Storm Water Programs. The data collection techniques for each program are
             described below.

             4.2.1    Drinking Water Program

             The Drinking Water Program collects monthly water quality samples from 30 locations
             such as the Lakewood Reservoir, Barker Reservoir, Middle Boulder Creek, and Boulder
             Reservoir. The following procedures are used to prepare sample collection bottles:

                    •      Total Organic Carbon (TOC) bottles are obtained  from the USGS,
                           where the bottles are washed with hot, soapy water, rinsed with tap
                           and distilled water, and heated for 8 hours at 250 degrees C.  For the
                           remaining bottles, each set of sample bottles is cleaned and reused for
                           one particular sample site.

                    •      Sample bottles are rinsed with tap water immediately after the sample
                           has been analyzed.  All sample bottles (except those used for
                           chlorophyll, metals, and bacteria) are soaked for at least one hour in a
                           5% hydrochloric acid (HC1) bath. These bottles are then rinsed twice


30                                                                             CHAPTER 4

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              transported to the field. Clean
              field equipment is used to fill a
              clean churn with  this blank
              water. All field blank bottles are
              then filled from this blank water
              churn.  Shown here is a
              technician obtaining field blank
              samples from the water churn.

[Source: http://bcn.boulder.co.us/basin/data/
COBWQ/SourceWater.html]
4.2.2    Storm Water Program
The   Storm Water Quality Program conducts
monthly water quality monitoring to assess the impacts of point and non-point sources
of pollutants on Boulder Creek and to help develop mitigation measures to reduce these
impacts. The water quality samples are collected from North Boulder Creek at Boulder
Falls to below the confluence  of Boulder Creek with Coal  Creek.  The  following
procedures are used to prepare sample collection bottles as well as collecting samples:

       •      Total Organic Carbon (TOC) bottles are obtained from the USGS,
              where the bottles are washed with hot, soapy water, rinsed with tap and
              distilled water, and heated for 8 hours at 250 degrees C. The remaining
              bottles are cleaned in a dishwasher, which involves a hot water and
              detergent wash, steam cycle, and deionized water rinse. Bottles used for
              metals are also soaked in 3% HNO3, rinsed with deionized water three
              times, and then air-dried.

       •      Sample  are  collected  in accordance with procedures outlined in
              Standard Methods for the Examination of Water and Wastewater, 20th
              Edition (section 1060).

       •      In the field, sample bottles are rinsed two times with water from where
              the  sample will  be collected, unless a preservative or dechlorinating
              agent has been added to the bottle prior to use. Various types of sample
              bottles are used depending  on the pollutant to be analyzed and  the
              method of analysis.

       •      The sample location is either mid-channel of the flow or the area in the
              channel which best represents the flow.  At that point, sample bottles
              are submerged to approximately 60% of the water depth to obtain the
              sample. The sample bottle is capped and shaken.  One to two inches of
COLLECTING, TRANSFERRING, AND MANAGING TIMELY ENVIRONMENTAL DATA     31

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                            head space is left in the sample bottle to allow for thermal expansion
                            (unless sample analysis technique requires that the sample to not have
                            any head space).

                            Sample preservative is added after sample collection as prescribed by
                            each analytical method (unless a preservative or dechlorinating agent
                            has been added to the bottle prior to use).  Samples which will be
                            analyzed for metals are filtered in the laboratory before being acidified.

                            Samples labels are completed and applied to the sample bottles.  The
                            sample bottles are placed in a cooler with blue  ice.  The samples are
                            transported to the laboratory and placed in a refrigerator for storage at
                            4  °C  (39   °F).    [Source:  http://bcn.boulder.co.us/basm/data/
                            COBWQ/StormWater.html]
             4.3   Data Analysis

             4.3.1     Drinking Water Program

             The Drinking Water Program measures some parameters in the field with portable
             meters and other parameters in the laboratory. The following parameters are measured
             in the field:

             Water  temperature is analyzed  with a portable YSI  600 XL multi probe (http://
             www.ysi.com/lifesciences.htm).  The temperature probe is checked annually.

             Dissolved oxygen is analyzed with a portable YSI 600 XL multi probe. Calibrations are
             conducted in the field at the sample site with a moist-air saturated bottle.

             Specific conductance is analyzed with a portable YSI 600 XL multi probe. The probe is
             calibrated in the drinking water laboratory the day of sampling.  A potassium chloride
             solution of 1412 micromhos/cm at 25 °C is used in the calibration. Standards are
             replaced at least monthly.

             The following parameters are measured in the laboratory:

             Nitrate, nitrite, sulfate, orthophosphorus, and total phosphorus are measured using a Genesis
             spectrophotometer. For colorimetric analyses (nitrate + nitrite, sulfate, orthophosphorus, and
             total phosphorus), all collection bottles and spectrophotometer cuvettes are HCL-washed
             and/or cleaned with phosphate-free soap. The instrument is zeroed with the sample or
             with lab millipore water depending on the procedure.  Two standards are run, and
             bracket the sample value. New standards are prepared monthly. New high- and low-
             range 5 point curves are constructed for the spectrophotometer when necessary.


32                                                                               CHAPTER 4

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.Alkalinity  is measured using Standard Method  2320B  (American Public Health
Association, 1998). The sample is stirred, and temperature and pH are monitored, as
0.02N sulfuric acid (H^SO^) is slowly added to the sample.  The amount of acid
necessary to lower the pH to 4.5 is proportional to the total alkalinity in the sample. This
method assumes that the  entire alkalinity consists of bicarbonate, carbonate, and/or
hydroxide.

Ammonia is measured by the wastewater laboratory.  Total ammonia (ammonium ion
(NH4+) plus unionized ammonia gas (NH3)) is often measured in a laboratory by
titration. Ammonia and organic nitrogen compounds are separated by distillation, then
an acid (the titrant) is added to a volume of the ammonia portion. The volume of acid
required to change the color of the sample reflects the ammonia concentration of the
sample. The more acid needed, the more ammonia in the sample. Ammonia is the least
stable form of nitrogen, so it can be difficult to measure accurately. The proportion of
unionized ammonia can be calculated, using formulas that contain factors for pH and
temperature [Source: http://bcn.boulder.co.us/basin/data/COBWQ/info/NH3.html].

Hardness is measured using Standard Method 2340C. A small amount of dye is added to
the sample, and buffer solution is added until the pH of the sample reaches 10. If
calcium and magnesium are present in the  sample, the  sample  turns  red.
Ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) is then added until the sample turns blue. The
amount of EDTA required to turn the sample blue represents the hardness of the
sample.

Nitrate  +  Nitrite is measured using a  Hach DR2000  spectrophotometer (http://
www.hach.com) and Method 8192 (low range cadmium reduction). Cadmium metal
reduces nitrate present in the sample to nitrite. The nitrite ion reacts in an acidic medium
with sulfanilic acid to form an intermediate diazonium salt which couples to chromatic
acid to form a  pink-colored product.   The  pink color is then  analyzed with a
spectrophotometer; the more intense the pink color, the more nitrate + nitrite is in the
sample.

Total phosphorus is measured using Standard Method 4500-P B.5 and 4500 - PE. In these
methods,  phosphorus present in organic and condensed forms is converted to reactive
orthophosphate before analysis.  Sulfuric acid (H^SO^) and ammonium persulfate
([NH4]2 &2O^) are added to 50 ml of the sample, and the sample is then boiled. The acid
and  heating  causes   hydrolysis of  condensed  phosphorous  to  convert  to
orthophosphates. After boiling down the sample to approximately 10 ml,  the sample
is cooled and phenolphthalein indicator is added. The sample pH is adjusted to 8.3 using
sodium hydroxide (NaOH) and sulfuric  acid. The sample is then brought back up to
volume and analyzed for orthophosphorus as discussed below.
      hosphorus is measured using Standard Method 4500 - PE. Sulfuric acid, potassium
antimonyl tatrate, ammonium molybdate, and ascorbic acid are added to the sample.

COLLECTING, TRANSFERRING, AND MANAGING TIMELY ENVIRONMENTAL DATA     33

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             The potassium antimonyl, tatrate and ammonium molybdate react in the acid with the
             orthophosphate to form phosphomolybdic acid.  The phosphomolybdic acid is then
             reduced to a blue color by the ascorbic acid.  The blue color is then analyzed with a
             spectrophotometer. The darker the blue color, the more orthophosphate in the sample.
             The detection limit for this method is approximately 0.002 mg of orthophosphorus/
             liter.  [Source: http://bcn.boulder.co.us/basin/data/COBWQ/SourceWater.html]
             4.3.2     Storm Water Program

             Similar to the Drinking Water Program, the Storm Water
             Program measures some  parameters in the field with
             portable meters as shown here and other parameters in the
             laboratory.

             Portable  field instruments are used to measure pH and
             DO. The Orion Model 1230 multi-parameter meter has
             ion-selective  probes  which  measure these parameters
             (http://www.thermo.com).  pH is calibrated using pH
             buffers 7 and 10 in the wastewater laboratory before each
             sampling event.  The probe has automatic temperature
             compensation for temperature-corrected buffer values. A
             calibration  sleeve is used to  calibrate DO in the wastewater laboratory before each
             sampling event.   The instrument  automatically measures and  compensates  for
             temperature and total atmospheric pressure.

             The Orion Model 130 conductivity meter is used to measure specific conductance (SC) and
             water temperature  (http://www.thermo.com).  The probe is  calibrated  before each
             sampling event with a potassium chloride (KC1) solution of 1,412 micromhos/cm at 25
             The Orion Model 840 DO meter and the Orion Model 140 conductivity meter (http:/
             /www.thermo.com) are used as backups if a problem with the main meter occurs in the
             field.

             Flow velocity is measured using the Marsh-McBirney Flo-Mate 2000 portable flowmeter
             (http://www.marsh-mcbirney.com/Model%202000.html).     USGS     midsection
             methods, as  described in the Water Measurement Manual, are followed.  Calibration is
             performed at the factory.
34
                                                                               CHAPTER 4

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4.3.3     Laboratory Analysis

Water samples are collected in bottles and taken
to the City of Boulder's laboratory where various
parameters are  measured.    Shown here  are
samples ready for analysis. Alkalinity is measured
using Standard Method 2320B (American Public
Health Association, 1998).  The sample is stirred
and the temperature and pH are monitored as
0.02 N sulfuric acid (H^O^ is slowly added to
the sample. The amount of acid required to lower
the sample pH to 4.5 is proportional to the total alkalinity in the sample. This method
assumes that the entire alkalinity consists of bicarbonate, carbonate, and/or hydroxide.

Ammonia is measured using Standard Methods 4500-NH3B and 4500-NH3 C. Both the
ammonium  ion (NH4+) and unionized  ammonia  (NH3)  are included in  the
measurement.  Sodium borate buffer is added to the sample, and the pH is adjusted to
9.5 with sodium hydroxide (NaOH). The  sample is then distilled into a flask that
contains a boric acid/color indicator solution. The distillation separates ammonia
(which goes into the distillate) from organic nitrogen compounds. The distillate is
titrated with H2SO4 until the solution turns a pale lavender. The volume of acid required
to change the color of the sample reflects the ammonia concentration of the sample.

Hardness is measured using Standard Method 2340C. A small amount of dye is added to
the sample, and buffer solution is added until the pH of the  sample reaches  10.  If
calcium and  magnesium  are  present  in  the  sample, the  sample turns  red.
Ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) is then added until the sample turns blue. The
amount of EDTA required to turn the sample blue represents  the hardness of the
sample.

Nitrate + Nitrite is measured using a Hach DR2000 spectrophotometer, Method 8039
(high range cadmium reduction). Cadmium metal reduces nitrates present in the sample
to nitrite.  The nitrite  ion reacts in an acidic medium with sulfanilic acid to form an
intermediate diazonium salt. This salt then couples to gentisic acid to form an amber-
colored product. The amber color is then analyzed with a spectrophotometer; the more
intense the amber, the more nitrate + nitrite in the sample. The detection limit for this
method is approximately 0.1 mg/liter. The analysis is performed on filtered samples to
eliminate turbidity interferences.

Total phosphorus is measured using a Hach DR4000  spectrophotometer and Method
8190. In this method, phosphorus present in organic and condensed forms is converted
to reactive orthophosphate before analysis.   Sulfuric acid  (H^SO^)  and potassium
persulfate (K2S2O8) are added to the sample, and then the sample is boiled.  The acid,
heating, and persulfate causes organic phosphorous to convert to orthophosphate.
After boiling, the sample is cooled, and sodium hydroxide (NaOH) is added, alongwith

COLLECTING, TRANSFERRING, AND MANAGING TIMELY  ENVIRONMENTAL DATA      35

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             a solution of ascorbic acid and molybdate reagent which turns the sample blue. The
             intensity of the  blue  in the  sample is  proportional  to the  orthophosophate
             concentration.
                   bosphorus is measured using a Hach DR4000 spectrophotometer and Method
             8114. This method is based on Standard Method 4500 - P.C. Molybdovanadate reagent
             is added to the sample.  The molybdate reacts in the acid with the orthophosphate to
             form a  phosphomolybdate complex.    In the presence  of vanadium, yellow
             vanadomolybdophosphoric acid is formed. The yellow color is then analyzed with a
             spectrophotometer; the more intense the yellow, the more  orthophosphate in the
             sample.  The detection limit for this method is approximately 0.09 mg PO4/liter.
             [Source:  http://bcn.boulder.co.us/basin/data/COBWQ/StormWater.html]
             4.4  Data Transfer

             The BASIN IMS is distributed  across two Internet connected  servers: the private
             Environmental Data Network Association (EDNA) database server and the public
             BASIN Web site server.  A SUN E250 Unix Server, which is networked through the
             Boulder  Community Network,  hosts the  private EDNA database server which
             generates and delivers public data products to the BASIN Web server upon receipt of
             updates from the data providers.

             The BASIN IMS has been implemented using the object oriented features of Practical
             Extraction and Report Language (PERL) programming  in a UNIX environment and
             utilizes several  freely available supporting  software  libraries.  The  system  is  a
             combination of independent L modules which access a common set of PERL object
             definitions and operate on a common database structure. Additional programming
             support has been obtained from the extensive resources of CPAN (Comprehensive
             PERL Archive Network). In particular two  primary  graphics libraries - GD  and
             GIFGraph were employed to dynamically construct plot images and merge images with
             background gif map images.

             The EDNA IMS server is configured to receive and process updated data, preprocess
             input data, update the database, and regenerate a static Web-based hierarchy.  The
             EDNA server also provides a  non-public Web  site  for prototyping information
             products  by BASIN content developers.  Figure 4.1 presents the relationship of the
             EDNA database and BASIN information servers.

             Data updates supplied by EDNA data providers are received through e-mail  and are
             preprocessed through a series of routines prior to storage in the EDNA database. Input
             data are received in a variety of provider defined formats and each is submitted to a
             provider specific preprocessor pipeline. These preprocessors execute a variety of unit
             and data format conversions and map each provider's spatial and temporal identifiers
             to the global identifier set.

36                                                                            CHAPTER 4

-------
            EDNA
             Data
           Providers
        Private EDNA
            Website
 BASIN NET
 Information
 Developers
            EDNA
           Database
            Server
 BASIN NET
 Information
    Server
Public BASIN
   Website
Figure 4.1  Database Servers

Once stored in the EDNA database, a series of batch routines are executed to generate
static Web site elements (plot files and per parameter time series, profiles and image
maps).  To  ensure data integrity, EDNA database files are exported read only to the
public Web server. Figure 4.2 presents the general data flow for water quality data sent
by the data providers and principle components of the BASIN IMS.  [Source: BASIN
FINAL Report, February 2001, Section D, 3.1]
The EDNA Database

BASIN information resources are retained on the server as a series of relational database
files. The relationship of database tables and keys is outlined in Figure 4.3.

The BASIN data model handles each data set as a separate entity with a full set of meta-
data properties. Sets are composed of a vector of parameters representing grab samples
measured periodically at a series of stations. In practice, data sets are defined by the data
providing agent or program. Each set is defined by a record in the main catalog table
(catalog/classes.rdb).Each parameter is defined by a set of general characteristics (label,
units, definition) and a set specific meta-data set containing collection and analysis
procedures, detection limits, global maximum scale). Each parameter set is maintained
in a set specific table catalog/SET.rdb.
COLLECTING, TRANSFERRING, AND MANAGING TIMELY ENVIRONMENTAL DATA      37

-------
Data Provider Data Provider
"\^^^^
DIPPD



/ Public \
/ BASIN \
/ Website \
Per Provider Per Provider
Preprocessor Preprocessor

Batch Processor

f~~ ^ f""1 ^"^
Temp File Temp
File 1 Profiles



Per Data Set
Preprocessor
	 time series 	



Forms Interface

Profiles

1

	 Time Series 	


inidg^ iviaps imdgc iviaps
f~~~~ ~~=3\

EDNA Database



Figure 4.2 Data Flow for Water Quality Data.

i
Set Name
i
Agency Table

Mapinl
Mapfile
M
Im
Fi

oct table


b Table Photo Name

i
Photo Table
Name Photofilp Name
ap Photo
age Image
es Files

Set Name
Site T ables p
1

Site Name
Data Tables T-


Paramefr r Name
Parameter Tables

             Figure 4.3 EDNA Database Structure.
38
                                                                       CHAPTER 4

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Each set also defines a series of stations, defined by a set of identification parameters
(labels, photo  index, map index) and physical  characteristics (longitude, latitude,
elevation). Site data are maintained in a site/SET.rdb database table.
Dynamic   image   map
construction is supported by                     TIGER
combining   spatial  data
contained in the database site      -,-   .  ,,  .  ,    ,   , ~        , .  r    ,.
                        ..      Topically Integrated Geographic Encoding
table with a background git                     ,  n  r
                fe      fe                   and  Reterencmg
map image  obtained  from
the Census Bureau's Topically    _.„„..   „      n      ,   ,..,,
                      ,  .     TIGER is the Census Bureau s digital mapping
Integrated    Geographic       ,        , ,      ,          r   .,  —
     ,.           r    •      system used to produce maps tor its Census
Encoding and Referencing               k,
-------
              As for the IMS, BASIN manages the delivery and display of data obtained from existing
              environmental monitoring programs which are subject to their own internal QA/QC
              procedures (i.e.,  the  City of Boulder's Drinking Water and Storm Water Quality
              monitoring).  The BASIN IMS does not generate data and therefore relies  on the
              existing quality control and  quality assurance procedures  of the participating data
              providers.  However, since BASIN combines information from several water quality
              monitoring programs, reformats that information in both graphical and spatial context,
              and subjects raw  data to  scientific interpretation,  it can rapidly  identify  data
              inconsistencies and incompatibility. All BASIN data projects are subject to a three step
              QA/QC process including QA at the data source, during data transfer, and through
              final data analysis. Also, all water quality data QA/QC complies with Standard Methods
              for Analysis of Wastewater and Water and USGS laboratory standards. [Source: BASIN
              Project, 2000 Annual Report]
40                                                                              CHAPTER 4

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5.   DATA PRESENTATION

        Once your environmental monitoring network is in place and you have begun to
        receive  data, you  can begin to provide  your community with  timely
        information using data presentation tools to both graphically  depict this
information and place it in a geographic community context.

Using  data  visualization  tools,  you can  create  graphical  representations  of
environmental data that can be downloaded onto Web sites and/or included in reports
and educational/outreach materials for the community. The types of data visualization
utilized by the BASIN EMPACT team include annotated watershed maps, time series
and profile bar graphs, and a water quality index.

In a similar vein, data presentation must address the overall context which may identify
significant factors impacting  data values. Often variations in data values are most
directly explained by the locationof the monitoring site in the watershed, particularly in
a watershed with significant variation in elevation, climate, geology, and human
activities such as locations found in the Boulder Creek watershed.

Section 5.1 provides a basic introduction and overview to data presentation and is useful
if you are interested in gaining a general understanding of data presentation.  Section 5.2
provides an overview of the BASIN spatial data catalog used to provide an interactive
map-based interface to a variety of Boulder area environmental data. Section 5.3 details
the specific data presentation tools used to organize and present Boulder Creek water
quality data including data visualization procedures used on the BASIN EMPACT
project.  You should consult Section 5.2  and Section 5.3 if you are responsible  for
designing and developing output pages for your environmental data.  Section  5.4
discusses the calculation and presentation  of a Water Quality Index which provides a
quick overview of the health of the Boulder Creek watershed.
5.1   What is Data  Presentation?

Data presentation is the process of converting raw data to images or graphs so that the
data are easier to visualize and understand. Data presentation also includes providing
supporting meta-data and interpretative text to make the data meaningful to the general
population. Displaying data visually enables you to communicate results to a broader
audience, such as residents in your community; while providing data interpretation can
help the  community to understand how it impacts  the health  of  the surrounding
environment.

In addition to offering several data visualization approaches  BASIN stresses the
importance of both explanation and interpretation of environmental data.  Visual
representation of the data is extremely useful to a knowledgeable   professional and

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              helpful to the general public but must be supported by additional explanatory material.
              For instance a time series plot of DO is only slightly more meaningful to the general
              public than a table of DO values; a crucial element is to supplement each data set with
              both general tutorial  material on  each  parameter and  dataset-specific, narrative
              interpretation developed by a qualified analyst.

              In addition, it is important to provide specific details of collection and analysis methods
              for each parameter so that similar values from independent data sets can be compared
              and so that the moresophisticated user can obtain specific details of exactly how the
              parameter is measured; which is often  useful when results  appear to  vary  from
              expectations.

              5.2   BASIN Spatial  Data  Catalog

              BASIN has  sought to  create a general portal site  to water and environmental
              information for the Boulder Creek watershed in an effort to provide a comprehensive
              overview of the watershed. As discussed in Chapter 3, BASIN provides access to data
              from three distinct sources; remote data already available on the Web, data obtained
              from cooperating sources that is collected  independent of the BASIN project and data
              provided by active BASIN partners whose  collection, analysis and management
              procedures are coordinated with BASIN personnel.

              In addition to presenting water quality data provided by active data partners, BASIN
              sought out any Boulder area environmental data available on the Web and cataloged this
              information through a common map-based user interface. Many EMPACT sites will
              find that other government agencies may be collecting and posting data for their local
              area; particularly through national efforts such as the USGS stream gage network and
              the EPA Toxic Release Inventory, each which provides nationwide coverage of their
              monitoring and data maintenance efforts. Other local, state and regional resources may
              be available in a particular area.

              By developing basic meta-data for these resources EMPACT  sites can provide a
              common user interface to these data resources and supplement the data collected by the
              EMPACT team and participants. The  BASIN project located and identified several
              supplemental resources in the Boulder  Creek watershed and assembled URLs,
              geographic coordinates and responsible agency information and stores this meta-data in
              a format common to  that used for internal data resources. This allows BASIN to
              provide users with access to this data through a common map based interface. These
              resources include  USGS stream flow measurements, several local weather stations,
              snow pack monitoring in the higher elevations,  all of the sites listed in the EDF/EPA
              toxic release inventory and a set of online cameras which provide real-time images from
              around the watershed. An example of the BASIN data catalog is shown below in Figure
              5.1 (water quality data).
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                 Data stations currently displayed on map:
                  onthly  water  quality  data
Figure 5.1  Example of BASIN's Spatial Data Catalog

In addition, in several cases data available through existing Web sites was deemed of
significant interest and has been integrated directly into selected BASIN Web pages.
Stream flow is a significant factor in the Boulder Creek watershed, particularly during
early spring and late summer flood hazard seasons.  These values are maintained on
BASIN Web pages by automated processes that periodically obtain the current Web
page from the source site and extracts essential values. For instance, the BASIN home
page is regenerated every 5 minutes to update stream flow, air quality and UV exposure
values.  These automated processes  are implemented in  the PERL programming
language  and periodically executed by native UNIX cron procedures.  When such
external data  is presented within an EMPACT site it is essential that access to the
specific source site be readily apparent to the user, to insure the responsible agency is
identified.

BASIN also includes several data sets provided by independent agencies.  This data has
been made available to the public through the BASIN Web site, but its collection  is
administered independent of the BASIN project. These data sets are accessed through
the common BASIN spatial data catalog and presented in graphical format similar to
those used for BASIN data sets; but collection, analysis and quality control procedures
are not influenced by BASIN standards. These data sets include water quality data for
South Boulder Creek collected by the Denver Water Board; Saint Vrain River water
quality data collected by the City of Longmont and historic Boulder Creek water quality
data collected by local high school students through the State of Colorado River Watch
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              program. While one must exercise care comparing these data sets to those collected by
              cooperating agencies, such integration can enhance the compatibility of these data
              collection programs. For instance, the personnel from the City of Longmont have made
              voluntary efforts to coordinate data collection on the Saint Vrain River with that of the
              City of Boulder, resulting in a more comprehensive view of water quality in the larger
              Saint Vrain system.

              Geographic presentation formats

              In all three of the above data set types BASIN provides a uniform user interface to the
              available data by developing a common set of basic meta data stored in a common
              format such that a common set of processing tools can be employed to generate a user
              interface to all the datasets. BASIN provides access to all these data resources through
              a geographically oriented map interface using Web site image-map standards.

              The most powerful visualization  approaches  to geographic  distributed data are
              developed using formal GIS. However, GIS development is a resource intensive task;
              requiring  sophisticated software applications, powerful computing resources  and
              extensive human resources to develop basic mapping data and to integrate the available
              environmental  data into  the  spatial  data context.  BASIN  sought to  stress  a
              comprehensive data context and concluded the resources required to develop a formal
              GIS exceeded those available to the project.   BASIN is  currently working on an
              integration project with EPA Region 8, the USGS and the Denver Regional Council of
              Governments (DRCOG)  to integrate  formal  GIS data resources with the current
              BASIN system.

              BASIN used an alternative approach to develop procedures to manage and display
              spatial information.  A series  of procedures were developed to programmatically
              annotate static  gif map images  using graphical manipulation  procedures.  BASIN
              combines a  series of publically available graphics libraries available within the PERL
              programming environment with background map images available in the public domain
              from the Census Bureau's TIGER Map Server (http://tiger.census.gov).

              PERL is a widely used interpretative programming language distributed under a general
              public license (GPL) on a wide variety of operating systems. PERL is widely used in the
              Web site development community and extensive PERL programming resources are
              available on the Internet. PERL is particularly powerful due to the extensive set of freely
              available programming libraries (i.e., packages) available through the "Comprehensive
              PERL Archive Network"  (CPAN). CPAN ftp sites  are distributed throughout the
              Internet. PERL's Web site (http://www.perl.com) can provide the most convenient
              site  for your locality.  These  libraries provide  a  rich set of  well documented
              programming libraries  to address a wide range of functionalities.  These libraries are
              distributed in source code so sophisticated developers are  free to  enhance the basic
              procedures.
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BASIN uses numerous CPAN PERL library packages as detailed in Chapter 4. Two
specific PERL packages are used to provide graphics programming support to develop
the BASIN spatial data catalog. The GD package provides standard graphic primitives
(DrawPoint, DrawPolygon FillArea, etc)  to dynamically annotate background GIF
images. The GIFgraph package provides a higher level of abstraction to generate many
standard data plot types including the bar charts used extensively in the BASIN data
catalog. Each of the PERL packages are freely available on any of the CPAN ftp sites.

A set of base Boulder Creek watershed maps have been obtained from the TIGER map
server  and  manually annotated to highlight the specific stream systems of interest.
Geometric  transform procedures have been developed to convert global monitoring
site longitude and  latitude parameters to map specific image  coordinates.  These
procedures, combined with the GD graphics library routines, are used to generate
annotated gif images integrated with HTML image  map code  and JAVA script to
develop interactive Web-based image-maps interfaces.  Users can identify and select
monitoring sites using the mouse through standard Web browsers. These procedures
rely on a small common set of meta data assembled for both local and remote data
resources. Meta-data is maintained on the BASIN server as discussed in Chapter 4; as
additional resources are added to the catalog the data catalog can be quickly regenerated
to update the available resources.
5.3  Generating  Data Presentations

The remote data resources provided through the BASIN Web site are designed and
developed by the providers of those data resources so the format and structure of those
resources are beyond the influence of the BASIN team. Local data resources, including
both data  sets supplied by non partnering agencies and those data sets developed in
cooperation  with the  BASIN  project  are presented  in  formats  designed and
implemented by the BASIN team. The datasets provided by non-partner agencies are
presented as relatively simple graphs based on conversation with the data suppliers. The
remainder of this chapter focuses on the design and development of output pages for
the datasets integral to the BASIN project.

5.3.1   Putting Data And Information In Context

BASIN provides coverage of in-stream water quality for 17 parameters at 19 monitoring
stations throughout the watershed. Water quality parameters represent a complex set of
measurements including interacting constituents. It is essential that the  presentation of
the data provide a comprehensive explanation of each parameter and the influences of
the spatial distribution and seasonal effects of the variation of these parameters.

Each dataset is  supported by  a comprehensive set of meta-data which identify the
collecting agency and describe the specific procedures used to collect the sample and/
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              or analyze each parameter, including analysis detection limits. Each monitoring site is
              further described using photographs of the collection site and a small TIGER map of
              the specific collection site.  Each dataset is linked to extensive general information
              describing the parameter and how it relates to the overall system behavior. A set of data
              set specific interpretive narratives are also provided for each parameter describing how
              the parameter varies across the watershed and over the  course of the seasons. This
              information is maintained by the BASIN IMS as described in Chapter 4.

              The procedures which generate the data presentation pages must integrate all the stored
              meta-data and supporting information into the display outputs.

              5.3.2  Data Visualization Design

              User selection interface

              The BASIN water quality data user interface (http://basin.org/data/COBWQ) allows
              users to select one or more parameters  to be displayed as longitudinal profiles for a
              selected month, a time series for a selected station or an entire years data displayed as
              miniature time series on a watershed map. Users can select stations from a menu or
              directly from a watershed map.

              Page design

              The initial page delivered in response to a user selection provides a summary page of the
              selected parameters including small versions of the selected plots, a block of meta-data
              describing the data set, data set-specific  contextual information, and an  optional data
              table.

              When longitudinal profiles are selected awatershed image map is included which locates
              each of the stations included in the profile. Users may jump to time series display of a
              specific station by selecting a station from the map or by selecting the listed station in
              the data table.

              When  time series data are selected the contextual information includes a small map of
              the region around the monitoring station, specific data about the station, and a link to
              a photograph of the collection point.  Users can jump to monthly longitudinal profiles
              by selecting the month label in the data table.

              In both cases users can traverse to adjacent plots (upstream and downstream in the case
              of time series and preceding and following months in the  case of profiles) through
              navigation links provided on each page.  When users request a subset of the available
              parameters all navigation links retain this selection so users may traverse the data set in
              time and space viewing a specific subset of parameters.
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Further information about each parameter can be obtained by selecting either the
parameter plot or the parameter label in the data table. The resulting page includes a
larger plot and more extensive general information and data set-specific analysis which
seeks to provide users with a definitive explanation of the significance of the parameter,
analysis of how it varies across the watershed and throughout the seasons and specific
details on how the samples are collected and analyzed. Specific contact information is
provided as well as an opportunity to download the data in a portable ASCII text format
suitable for importation into typical spreadsheet and database applications. The user
may also select a full screen plot of the parameter suitable for printing.

Plot elements

When selecting the  formats for displaying the watershed data several considerations
arise. The BASIN water quality data set consists of monthly values of 17 parameters
collected from 19 sites throughout the watershed. Since the resulting 3 dimensional
dataset cannot be easily displayed on two dimensional graphs, BASIN provides 3 views
of the dataset.

Longitudinal  profiles provide plots of the variation of each parameter over selected
stream  channels  for each month of the year.  Since samples  are not collected
simultaneously at all the stations the profiles are represented as bar charts rather than
line plots. Three sizes of plots are generated; one small plot which  is used on multiple
parameter pages; a medium size plot used on a single parameter data page, and a full
screen plot design for printer output.  An example of a longitudinal profile plot for
nitrate and nitrite is shown in Figure 5.2.
                                  NQ3+NQ2  -  May,  2001
      10.0(1
                                      Monitoring Site
Figure 5.2.  Example BASIN Longitudinal Profiles Plot (medium)
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              Annual time series are provided for each month of the year at each station. Time series
              plots are presented as bar charts to reflect the discontinuous nature of monthly data.
              Four sizes of plots are generated; one small plot used on multiple parameter pages; a
              medium size plot used on a single parameter data page, a full screen plot design for a
              printer and a miniature plot for full map displays. An example of a longitudinal profile
              plot for nitrate and nitrite is shown in Figure 5.3.
                                             03+NQ2 Time Series
                 10.00
                                               2001 Calendar Month

              Figure 5.3 Example of BASIN Time Series Plot (medium)

              Map plots summarize the entire annual data set in a single  geographic  display by
              overlaying reduced time series plots on the watershed map. Each miniature time series
              plot is generated when the larger time series plot is generated. The plots are overlaid on
              the map using the  GD plot procedures  discussed  above and annotated with lines
              connecting the miniature time series to an icon at the specific location of the stations.
              The map is supported by a client side image map and Java script code such that mousing
              over the plot or station icon identifies the station and selecting either image will jump to
              the station time series page.  An example of a map plot is shown in Figure  5.4.

              Some thought should be given to handling missing data, special cases, and the details of
              data presentations.  For instance, in the BASIN data sets  often specific parameter
              measurements fall below the practical detection limits of the analysis procedures. By
              maintaining these detection limits  as part of  the parameter  meta-data the BASIN
              displays  can flag these nondetectable levels as  separate from missing data. Since
              parameters are plotted on a global set of axes, small values may appear missing on data
              plots; however, by specifically noting missing data on the  plots BASIN insures small
              measured values are not overlooked. Alternatively, occasionally values are encountered
              that greatly  exceed  the normal  range  of a particular parameter. Plot  scales  must be
              ascertained  which will provide meaningful display of the bulk of the  data while
              providing a procedure to handle occasional outliers. The actual value of these outlying
              measurements can be obtained from the data tables.
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Figure 5.4 Example of BASIN Map Plot (Nitrate and Nitrite).


5.3.3 Implementation

The data display pages described above are developed through a combination of batch
processing and interactive page generation.  Since data sets are updated monthly but
may be requested more frequently it was determined that better performance would
result from preparing data plots when data sets are updated rather than on request.
When new data is submitted to the system a PERL-based batch processor is executed
and the entire set of annual data  plots regenerated.  Since each update involves 17
parameters, measured at 19 stations and up to 12 months in multiple sizes, each batch
process generates approximately 1600 plots. Manual construction of this many plots
would be infeasible using interactive spreadsheet or plotting applications. An additional
advantage of this batch approach is the rapid regeneration of all plotting output in the
face of data re-submissions or output design modifications.Batch processor routines are
implemented using PERL object  oriented programming techniques as described in
Chapter 4. Upon execution, static database tables are assembled into a complex data
tree which is then used to construct data vectors for each plotting routine. Plots are
generated by GIFgraph library procedures  through  the PERL object interface  and
written into a static Web site directory hierarchy. Batch processors are programmatically
connected with data update and preprocessing procedures such that Web site display
elements are automatically updated upon receipt of data set updates.

Actual page construction occurs when users submit display requests.  Summary pages
are constructed by referencing the stored data plots and dynamically generating the
requested data table.  Similarly, data files are dynamically prepared for downloading
upon user requests.
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              5.4  Water Quality Index (WQI) Computation  and
                     Display

              In addition to the variety  of data  display options described above BASIN  has
              implemented a water quality index which provides a rapid overview of conditions in the
              watershed.  BASIN researched several types of water quality indices and selected an
              index developed by the National Sanitation Foundation (NSF) which is used by many
              communities for characterizing overall water quality.  The BASIN water quality index
              is a modified version of the NSF index, based on seven parameters  (i.e., DO, fecal
              coliform, pH, total phosphate, nitrate, total solids,  and turbidity) measured at the
              sampling sites. On its Web site, BASIN provides a map of the watershed which presents
              the water quality index as calculated at several sites on Boulder Creek (http://basin.org/
              data/WQI/index.html).  The index (or grade)  scale is A through F, with "A"
              representing "Excellent" water quality and "F" representing "Very Bad" water quality.

              Users who want more information on what parameter affects water quality at a specific
              sampling site may select the site grade signpost to view the WQI computation for that
              site. Note while the index provides a quick overview of the water quality throughout the
              watershed, the BASIN Web site provides more detailed analysis of specific Boulder
              Creek water quality data and general discussion of the specific factors that affect water
              quality in Boulder Creek as described in the preceding sections.

              BASIN  computes the  NSF Water  Quality  Index  using computational methods
              described in the book Field Manual for Water Quality Monitoring (Mitchell and Stapp,
              Kendall Hunt Publishing, c 2000). This procedure derives a single metric of stream
              water quality at a monitoring site using 7 water quality measurements (DO % saturation,
              pH, fecal coliform, total phosphates,  nitrate, solids and turbidity).  The computation
              maps the value of each parameter to a theoretically determined "Q value" using graphs
              provided by NSF researchers. These Q values are combined with factors to determine
              a single "Grade" at each site.

              Calculation  of the WQI is automated  and occurs  when data for the 7 required
              parameters are available at a site.  When direct measurement of DO as a percent of
              theoretical saturation is not available at a site, the theoretical saturation is computed for
              the measured temperature and the result is corrected to the site elevation (maintained in
              the database site table).  This derived  DO% value is then used to determine the
              appropriate Q-value as discussed below.

              The  BASIN IMS implements the WQI computational algorithm using a graphical
              lookup procedure. Q-Value plots have been optically scanned and are maintained on the
              EDNA server as monochromatic  image files.  These files are loaded into memory as
              image arrays and Q-values are "read" off the plots for each parameter value using a pixel
              color index test. Once Q values are determined weighting factors are applied and the
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numerical grade is computed. This grade is then converted to a letter grade to assign a
graphical signpost to the site.

BASIN's graphical image annotation procedures are then  executed to generate an
image-map with the NSF WQI Grade signpost at each station in the watershed. Each
site and signpost is linked to an automatically generated HTML spreadsheet detailing
the underlying WQI computations at that station. An example of this output procedure
is shown in Figure 5.5. Other examples of the output of this procedure are available at
http://basin.org/data/WQI/.
Figure 5.5 Water Quality Index
5.5  Conclusions

This chapter has described several of the approaches the BASIN EMPACT project has
taken to present environmental data in a meaningful context to encourage community
understanding of the Boulder Creek Watershed.  While exhaustive detail on these
techniques is beyond the scope of this manual, it is hoped this chapter has provided
some ideas on a variety of data presentation alternatives and the importance of placing
EMPACT data in an overall interpretative context.
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6.  COMMUNICATING TIMELY
      Providing timely environmental information to the community is not simply
      a matter of placing data files on a Web site. Working directly with members
      of the community-at-large, determining user needs and concerns, and going
through an iterative process with key stakeholders will help make your environmental
information more meaningful and accessible to the community you are trying to serve.
This chapter is designed to help you develop an approach for communicating pertinent
environmental information to people in your community, or more specifically, your
target audience.  This chapter provides the following:

      •     the steps involved in developing an outreach plan,
      •     guidelines for effectively communicating information,
      •     resources to assist in promoting community awareness, and
      •     the outreach initiatives implemented by the BASIN team.
6.1  Developing an Outreach Plan for
      Disseminating Timely Environmental
      Monitoring Data

Your outreach program will be most effective if you ask yourself the following
questions:

      •     Who do we want to reach? (i.e., Who is your target audience or
            audiences?)

      •     What information do we want to distribute or communicate?

      •     What are the most effective mechanisms to reach our target
            audience?

      •     How do we involve users or target audiences in usability testing and,
            if possible, program development?

Developing an outreach plan ensures that you have considered all important elements
of an outreach project before you begin. The plan itself provides a blueprint for action.
An outreach plan does not have to be lengthy or complicated. You can develop a plan
simply by documenting your answers to each of the questions discussed below. This will
provide you with a solid foundation for launching an outreach effort.
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              Your outreach plan will be most effective if you involve a variety of people in its
              development. Where possible, consider involving

                     •      a communications specialist or someone who has experience
                            developing and implementing an outreach plan,

                     •      technical experts in the subject matter (both scientific and policy),

                     •      someone who represents the target audience (i.e., the people or
                            groups you want to reach), and

                     •      key individuals who will be involved in implementing the outreach
                            plan.

              As you develop your outreach plan, consider whether you would like to  invite any
              organizations to partner with you in planning or implementing the outreach effort.
              Potential partners might include local businesses, environmental organizations, schools,
              boating associations, local health departments, local planning and zoning authorities,
              and  other  local or state agencies.   Partners can participate in planning, product
              development and review, and distribution.  Partnerships can be valuable mechanisms
              for leveraging resources while enhancing the quality, credibility, and success of outreach
              efforts. Developing an outreach plan is a creative and iterative process involving a
              number of interrelated steps, as described below. As you move through each of these
              steps, you might want to revisit and refine the decisions you made in earlier  steps until
              you have an integrated, comprehensive, and achievable plan.
              6.1.1     What Are Your Outreach Goals?

              Defining your outreach goals is the initial step in developing an outreach plan. Outreach
              goals  should be clear, simple, action-oriented statements about what you hope  to
              accomplish through  outreach.  Once you have established your goals, every other
              element of the plan should relate to those goals. Here were some project goals for the
              BASIN EMPACT project:

                     •      Improve existing environmental monitoring to provide credible, timely
                            and usable information about the watershed to the public.

                     •      Create a state-of-the-art information management and public access
                            infrastructure using advanced, Web-based computer technologies.

                     •      Build strong partnerships  and an ongoing alliance of governmental,
                            educational, non-profit and  private entities involved  in watershed
                            monitoring, management, and education.
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       •      Develop education and communication programs to effectively utilize
              watershed information in the public media and schools and facilitate
              greater public involvement in public policy formation.

       •      Increase public awareness of how the hydrologic cycle effects everyday
              life, where drinking and irrigation water come from, how it is used, and
              what happens downstream.

BASIN's general goals listed above also had specific objectives. For example, BASIN's
specific objective for improving existing environmental monitoring included providing
brochures and posters to all fifth grade teachers and middle school  science teachers in
the Boulder Valley School District.
6.1.2    Whom Are You Trying To Reach?

Identifying Your Audience(s)

The next step in developing an outreach plan is to clearly identify the target audience or
audiences for your outreach effort. As illustrated in the BASIN project goals above,
outreach goals often define their target audiences (e.g., the public and fisheries). You
might want to refine and add to your goals  after you have  defined  your target
audience (s).

Target audiences for a water quality outreach program might include, for example, the
general public, local decision makers  and land management agencies, educators and
students  (high  school  and  college),  special  interest  groups  (e.g.,  homeowner
associations,  fishing  and  boating  organizations,  gardening  clubs,   and  lawn
maintenance/landscape professionals). Some audiences, such as educators and special
interest  groups,  might serve as conduits to  help disseminate information to other
audiences you have identified, such as the general public.

Consider whether you should divide the public into two or more audience categories.
For example: Will you be providing different information to different groups, such as
the citizens vs. businesses?  Does a significant portion of the public you are trying to
reach have a different cultural or linguistic background? If so, it may be more effective
to consider these groups as separate audience categories.

Profiling Your Audience(s)

Once you have identified your audiences, the  next step is to  develop  a profile of their
situations, interests, and concerns.  Outreach will be most effective if the type, content,
and distribution of outreach products are specifically tailored to the characteristics of
your target audiences. Developing a profile will help you  identify the most effective
ways of reaching the audience.  For each target audience, consider the following:

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                     •      What is their current level of knowledge about water quality and general
                            watershed awareness?

                     •      What do you want them to know about water quality? What actions
                            would you like them to take regarding water quality?

                     •      What information is likely to be of greatest interest to the audience?
                            What information will they likely want to know once they develop some
                            awareness of water quality issues?

                     •      How much time are they likely to give to receiving and assimilating the
                            information?

                     •      How does this group generally receive information?

                     •      What professional, recreational, and domestic activities does this group
                            typically engage in that might provide avenues for distributing outreach
                            products? Are there any organizations or centers that represent or serve
                            the audience and might be avenues for disseminating your outreach
                            products?

              Profiling an audience essentially involves  putting yourself "in your audience's shoes."
              Ways to do this include consulting with individuals or organizations who represent or
              are members of  the audience,  consulting with colleagues who have successfully
              developed other outreach products for the audience, and using your imagination.
              6.1.3    What Do You Want To Communicate?

              The next step in planning an outreach program is to think about what you want to
              communicate.  In particular, think about the key points, or "messages," you want to
              communicate. Messages are the "bottom line" information you want your audience to
              walk away with, even if they forget the details.

              A message is usually phrased as a brief (often one-sentence) statement. The
              following are some examples of messages that are posted on the BASIN Web site:

                     •      Real-time Boulder Creek flowrates.

                     •      BASIN now provides a Water Quality Index for the main stem of
                            Boulder Creek along with other water quality information  for the
                            Boulder Creek Watershed.

                     •      Online cameras including Niwot Ridge Tundra Cam.
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Outreach products will often have multiple related messages. Consider what messages
you want to send to each target audience group. You may have different messages for
different audiences.
6.1.4    What Outreach  Products Will You Develop?

The next step in developing an outreach plan is to consider what types of outreach
products will be most effective for reaching each target audience. There are many
different types of outreach: print, audiovisual, electronic, events, and novelty items.

TIP!

       Include representatives of specific user groups when developing outreach
       products.  They have valuable input regarding what the various needs and
       interests of your larger audience.

The audience profile information you assembled earlier will be helpful in selecting
appropriate products. A communications professional can provide valuable guidance
in choosing the most appropriate products to meet your goals within your resources and
time constraints.  Questions to consider when selecting products include:

       •     How much information does your audience really need? How much
             does your audience need to know now?  The simplest, most
             straightforward product generally is most effective.

       •     Is the product likely to appeal to the target audience? How much
             time will it take to interact with the product? Is the audience likely to
             make that time?

       •     How easy and cost-effective will the product be to distribute or, in
             the case of an event, organize?

       •     How many people is this product likely to reach? For an event, how
             many people are likely to attend?

       •     What time frame is needed to develop and distribute the product?

       •     How much will it cost to develop the product? Do you have access
             to the talent and resources needed for product development?

        •    What other related products are already available?  Can you build on
              existing products?
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                            When will the material be out of date?  (You probably will want to
                            spend fewer resources on products with shorter lifetimes.)

                            Would it be effective to have distinct phases of products over time?
                            For example, an initial phase of products designed to raise awareness,
                            followed by later phases of products to increase understanding.

                            How newsworthy is the information?  Information with inherent
                            news value is more likely to be rapidly and widely disseminated by the
                            media.
              6.1.5     How Will Your Products Reach Your Audience?

              Effective distribution is essential to the success of an outreach strategy. You need to
              consider how each product will be distributed and determine who will be responsible for
              distribution. For some products, your organization might manage distribution. For
              others,  you might  rely on  intermediaries  (such as  the media  or educators)  or
              organizational partners who are willing to participate in the outreach effort.  Consult
              with an experienced communications professional to  obtain information about the
              resources and  time  required for the various distribution options.  Some points to
              consider in selecting distribution channels include:

                      •      How does the audience typically receive information?

                      •      What distribution mechanisms has your organization used in the past
                            for this audience? Were these mechanisms effective?

                      •      Can  you identify any partner organizations that might be willing to
                            assist in the distribution?

                      •      Can  the media play a role in distribution?

                      •      Will  the mechanism you are considering really reach the intended
                            audience? For example, the Internet can be an effective distribution
                            mechanism, but certain groups might have limited access to it.

                      •      How many people is the product likely to reach through the
                            distribution mechanism you are considering?

                      •      Are  sufficient resources available to fund and implement distribution
                            via the mechanisms of interest?

              Table  6.1  provides  various  distribution  avenues  and  outreach  products  for
              communicating your environmental data to the public.

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        TABLE 6.1.  METHODS OF COMMUNICATION
          Mailing lists
Brochures
Newsletters
Fact sheets
Utility bill inserts or staffers
         Phone/fax
Promotional hotline
         E-mail/Internet
Newsletters
E-mail messages
Web pages
Subscriber list servers
         Radio/TV
Cable TV programs
Public service announcements
Videos
Media interviews
Press conferences/releases
         Journals or newsletters
Newsletters
Editorials
Newspaper and magazine articles
        Meetings, community events, or
        locations (e.g., libraries,
        schools, marinas, public
        beaches, tackle shops, etc.)
        where products are made
        available.
Exhibits
Kiosks
Posters
Question-and-answer sheets
Novelty items (e.g., mouse pads, golf tees,
buttons, key chains, magnets, bumper
stickers, coloring books, frisbees, etc.)
Banners
Briefings
Fairs and festivals
Meetings (i.e., one-on-one and public)
Community days
Speeches
Educational curricula
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              6.1.6    What Follow-up Mechanisms Will You  Establish?

              Successful outreach may cause  people to contact you with requests for more
              information or expressing concern about issues you have addressed. Consider whether
              and how you will handle this interest. The following questions can help you develop this
              part of your strategy:

                    •     What types of reactions or concerns are audience members likely to
                          have in response to the outreach information?

                    •     Who will handle requests for additional information?

                    •     Do you want to indicate on the outreach product where people can
                          go for further information (e. g., provide a contact name, number,
                          address, or establish a hotline)?

              The BASIN Web site (http://bcn.boulder.co.us/basin/main/about.html) provides
              information so that people can contact the BASIN Project Coordinator by phone, e-
              mail, or postal mail. The public can also contact the BASIN Project Coordinator via a
              Web site comment form.
              6.1.7    What Is the Schedule for Implementation?

              Once you have decided on your goals, audiences, messages, products, and distribution
              channels, you will need to develop an implementation schedule.  For each product,
              consider how much time will be needed for development and distribution. Be sure to
              factor in sufficient time for product review. Wherever possible, build in time for testing
              and evaluation by members or representatives of the target audience in focus groups or
              individual sessions so that  you  can  get feedback on whether you have effectively
              targeted your material  for your audience.   Section 6.3 contains suggestions for
              presenting technical information to the public.  It also provides  information about
              online resources that can provide easy to understand background information that you
              can use  in developing your own outreach projects.
             6.2  Elements of the BASIN Project's  Outreach
                    Program

             The BASIN Project team uses  a variety of mechanisms to communicate timely
             environmental information, as well as information about the project itself, to the
             Boulder area community. The team uses the BASIN Web site as the primary vehicle for
             communicating timely information to the public. Their outreach strategy includes a

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variety of  mechanisms  (e.g.,  Internet,  brochures,  presentations  at events,  and
community television) to provide the public with information about the BASIN
project.
6.2.1    Outreach Elements

Each element of the project's communication and participation program are discussed
below.

Public Participation. The BASIN project vigorously encouraged public participation.
BASIN continuously invited the public to join the project primarily through their Web
site (which is discussed later).  The interested public could join as a BASIN Boulder
Community Network (BCN) Volunteer, join the BASIN Forum, complete the BASIN
Survey, or join local school or neighborhood projects.

       BASIN BCN. BASIN invited the public to help with graphic design, Web page
       development, scripting or video/audio streaming. BASIN provided an online
       "classified  ads"  (http://bcn.boulder.co.us/basin/news/classifieds.html)  to
       help  the community see the needs of the BASIN project.  Potential BCN
       Volunteers could contact the BASIN Volunteer Coordinator either by phone or
       e-mail or sign up as a BCN Volunteer by completing the online BCN Volunteer
       Questionnaire  (http://bcn.boulder.co.us/volunteer/register.html).    BCN
       Volunteers  provided over  1000 hours  of assistance by offering ideas and
       feedback and  designing the BASIN Web site.

       BASIN FORUM. BASIN provided an online forum for the interested public
       to share ideas or information about local environmental and social concerns that
       relate to community livability and sustainability.  The public could  either post
       their ideas and comments online or subscribe to the Boulder Creek  Watershed
       e-mail list serve to obtain information about BASIN forum.

       BASIN Survey. For individuals who did not have time to become a BCN
       Volunteer, BASIN provided an opportunity for Web site visitors  to provide
       comments  regarding the usefulness and presentation  of the information
       provided on the BASIN Web site  (http://bcn.boulder.co.us/basin/surveys/
       index.html). The public could either type their comments in a text field or take
       an online 10-question survey.

       School or  Neighborhood Projects.   Schools and neighborhoods could
       contact BASIN to find out how they could develop and implement their own
       school water monitoring projects.
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              Bringing  together  experts.    The EMPACT project  stakeholders  included
              representatives from organizations that originally signed the BASIN Memorandum of
              Understanding (MOU), as well as other interested individuals in the community who
              use or provide environmental information to the public and were supportive of the
              BASIN's efforts. The MOU was a non-binding agreement among the BASIN partners
              to cooperate fully in the project, including active participation in the project design,
              development, and implementation of the project. The originals signers of the MOU are
              listed below.

                     •      City of Boulder
                     •      enfo.com
                     •      Local environmental educators and organizers
                     •      University of Colorado Department of Civil Engineering and
                            Architectural Engineering
                     •      The U.S. Geological Survey
                     •      Boulder Community Network
                     •      Boulder County Healthy Communities Initiative
                     •      Boulder County Health Department
                     •      Boulder Creek Watershed Initiative
                     •      Boulder Valley School District
                     •      Colorado Division of Wildlife - River Watch Network
                     •      Community Access  Television

              Web site. The BASIN Web site can be accessed at http://bcn.boulder.co.us/basin.
              The  EMPACT project  is  discussed at  http://bcn.boulder.co.us/basin/main/
              about.html.  The Web  site was the main avenue used by the team for disseminating the
              various environmental monitoring data. Itwas estimated that 80 percent of all residents
              in the Boulder area have Internet access [Source: 1998 EMPACT Grant Application,
              Draft (5/11)]. Although the BASIN project ended in December 2000, the Web site still
              provides a variety  of real-time data, maps and live on-line cameras.   Data includes
              weather, stream flow, water quality, and snow pack.  In addition to providing water-
              related data, the site provides air quality advisories, which are linked to the Colorado Air
              Pollution Control Division's Web site  (http://apcd.state.co.us/psi/main.html).  The
              site also announces the availability of new reports and studies for the Boulder area.

              The left side of the BASIN Web page displays a list of "Themes" discussing a variety of
              topics such as watersheds, waterworks  technology and infrastructure, personal actions
              for protecting water quality, recreation,  and current events. Via the Web site, the public
              can read news about the project or  participate in online forums. These are discussed
              below:

                     Newsletter.  The  project  newsletter, BASIN News,  featured local, timely
                     environmental information  which focused on water issues and links to other
                     resources. The newsletter was  published bi-monthly in electronic  form.  The
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       public  could  read  BASIN News online at http://bcn.boulder.co.us/basin/
       news/current.html or could subscribe to receive BASIN News in HTML or text
       only format for free through their email account. Hard copies were distributed
       in various city offices. Appendix C contains a copy of the December 2000 issue.

       Online Forums. BASIN hosted an online forum to  discuss topics of local
       interest and concern  on October 23-31. Entitled Drought, Fire e> Flood in the
       Boulder Area: Are WePrepared? this electronic seminar explored the background,
       current situation, and future concerns relating to climate change, wildfires and
       flash flooding in the Boulder area. The public participated by subscribing to the
       discussion list serve or could download a daily summary of the discussion from
       the BASIN Web  site.

Stakeholder Update. Periodically, the BASIN team provided a Stakeholder Update
letter which discussed the  recent activities on  the project.  The Stakeholder Update
announced the availability of new data, outreach and marketing efforts, new studies,
staffing changes, etc.  The Stakeholder Update letter was available on the BASIN Web
site.

Television. Students from Sojourner Middle School in Boulder wrote and produced a
television news program  about various aspects of Boulder Creek which they had been
studying throughout the school year. The students were assisted by members of BASIN
in researching, developing, and  producing  the television program.  The students
interviewed various experts to gather information on drinking water, kayaking, flash
flood hazards, the importance of snow runoff, the greenback cutthroat trout, ammonia,
and macro invertebrates.  The 50 minute program, including a 15 minute documentary
on the making of the program, aired two days a week during July 2000 and won a local
community media award for best student documentary.  The program was featured in
the American  Water Works  Association's (AWWA) Mainstream Magazine in May,
2001. In addition, a 13 minute television program entitled "BASIN Kid" showing basic
water quality testing techniques and a  15 minute program providing an overview on the
Millennium Baseline Study were shown on community television.

Presentations. BASIN representatives gave presentations to a variety  of groups
including the state Flood  and Drought Task Force,  Denver Regional Council  of
Governments, city advisory  boards, EPA Region 8, PLAN  Boulder, several EPA
conferences and on the local  radio station KGNU.  In August  2000, Mark McCaffrey
gave a presentation in Sweden at the Stockholm International Water Symposium.  In
September 2000, Mr. McCaffrey and Sheila Murphy gave a presentation at the American
Water Resources Association (AWRA)  Colorado State Convention in Vail.

Piggybacking on existing events.  BASIN representatives attended many local
events  providing brochures and displaying project posters for the attending public.
Such local events included the Boulder Earth Day Festival, the Boulder Creek Festival,
Boulder Farmer's Market, and the Children's Water Festival.  Maps  of the watershed

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              proved to be an excellent icebreaker at public events and a natural segue to providing the
              public with brochures about BASIN.
              6.2.2     Developing the BASIN Web Site

              Experience Gained and Lessons Learned

              The BASIN team encountered several challenges as it tried to establish continuity and
              maintain momentum for the project.  One collaborative challenge involved reaching a
              group consensus on the goals for the project. Many individuals had differing opinions
              regarding the goal of the project and how resources should be allocated to  various
              endeavors.  One member of the BASIN staff who had experience as a professional
              facilitator was able to aid in the dialogue process for reaching consensus and working
              through issues  of contention and disagreement.   By identifying potential areas of
              conflict and working to clarify their shared vision, the facilitator assisted the team as they
              attempted to pioneer  new ways of  networking and collaborating  together.   The
              experience also suggests that future teams  desiring to implement a similar program
              allow time and resources for establishing the team relationships.

              The team experienced several obstacles when soliciting partnerships with potential data
              providers. The team realized that providing public access to environmental information
              is a major paradigm shift. In most of the world, the idea of a public's "right-to-know"
              simply does not exist. While in the U.S. there is increasingly the technology and the will
              to inform the public about their environmental system's health, there are numerous
              political, technological, cultural, and personal challenges involved in pioneering systems
              and approaches to  involving the public more directly in monitoring their local
              environment and taking responsibility for the impact of their actions.

              Some institutions that were solicited for data were simply uncomfortable with  making
              their data publicly available. They were concerned that there would be public inquiries
              arising from data without staff resources to address these inquiries. They were also
              concerned about the uncompensated  in-house costs for preparing and  delivering
              internal data to the public.

              Other potential data providers supported the objectives  of the BASIN project and
              expressed willingness to provide data; however, ongoing discussions with the potential
              data providers resulted in mixed success and a greater clarification of the challenges and
              difficulties associated with data partnering. BASIN had established rigorous standards
              for supporting meta-data and providing interpretive information along with the data, as
              well as standards for quality control and quality assurance.  While most of the potential
              data providers  readily provided access to raw data sets, obtaining or developing
              appropriate supportive interpretative information and agreeing to appropriate QA/QC
              procedures proved more problematic.  [Source:  2000  Annual Report, BASIN Project
              EMPACT Grant, January 30, 2001]

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While  several  environmental monitoring programs were identified within  the
watershed, the  team quickly realized that  few of the potential data providers were
immediately prepared to make their data available to the general public. The following
concerns were identified:

       •      The  need for comprehensive  information context  to  relay  the
              significance of the data to the public.

       •      The need for additional internal quality control before releasing in-
              house data.

These  early interviews  also served to clarify technical challenges of developing the
project's  IMS.  The team quickly realized that independent data collection programs
involved highly specific collection and analysis procedures, software standards varied
dramatically between monitoring programs, and data was retained in a variety of units.

These factors lead to a restructuring of the  project plan. As a result, the project focus
was shifted from a more standard software development cycle of needs assessment,
initial design, user  evaluation, implementation and testing to a more responsive and
rapid approach. To ensure both public participation and data provider cooperation, the
initial software development schedule was  revised to advance the implementation of
prototype data  delivery and Web site information products.  Prototype applications
were then applied to additional data sets as  providers agreed to participate.
[Source: BASIN Final Report, BASIN EMPACT Project, February 2001]

Key to the development of BASIN's Web site and associated outreach products were
the volunteers of the BCNwho brought a wide variety of skills and perspectives to the
effort.  In the early months of the project a  series of monthly meetings were held with
some 40 BCN volunteers. After an overview of the goals of the project was given, the
volunteers broke into  four primary teams:  Web  Design,  Architecture, Resource
Discovery Group and Outreach.  One volunteer— a geography teacher at a local high
school was particularly interested in GIS on the Web, and while it was determined that
GIS was beyond the scope of BASIN's pilot project, he continued to be involved and
has now developed a GIS unit for his class  using aerial photos from the BASIN Web
site. A general BCN volunteer list was established to keep all the participants informed
on new developments and to ask for assistance and feedback on particular aspects of the
project. Many of the volunteers were involved with the high-tech field in the region and
were able to bring their expertise and tools  to the project.

In addition to the monthly meetings, the teams worked together with BASIN staff on
specific tasks, and a password protected development site was  developed to begin
experimenting with approaches and artwork, and much of the actual development of
the Web site including usability testing was conducted on the Web with  the active
involvement of key BCN volunteers. The volunteers gained experience and provided a
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              valuable community service through their involvement with the project. BASIN's BCN
              volunteers proved to be more than just an in-house focus group for on-going feedback
              as the Web site and related outreach projects went through their iterative development.
              They also served as powerful advocates in their own communities, promoting BASIN
              with their families, schools, and work colleagues.

              Within  six months after first meeting with volunteers of the Boulder Community
              Network, the first release of the BASIN Web site was made available to the general
              public,  and  during that six month period much of the "place-based" information
              relating to the watershed community's unique  history, geography and culture were
              developed. Historical photos  from the Denver Public  Library  and the Library of
              Congress were  added to the Web site, existing watershed education materials  and
              quizzes were configured for the Web, historical essays and other materials helped to
              contextualize the environmental data that was added to the site in the following months.
              In addition to enriching the Web site with multi-disciplinary depth, it also served as an
              inspiration for other local contributors to ask that their own materials be added to the
              network. These include Dr. Pete Palmer's peer reviewed articles on sustainability at
              http://bcn.boulder.co.us/basin/local/sustainintro.html and excerpts from  Joanna
              Sampson's digital book HIGH, WILD AND HANDSOME: The Story of Colorado's
              Beautiful South Boulder Creek and Eldorado Canyon at http://bcn.boulder.co.us/
              basin/history/Moffat.html.

              Among the  volunteer efforts that BCN volunteers provided were the  BASIN logo
              (developed by Linda Mark) which played a key role in establishing "brand recognition"
              of BASIN and was used on all BASIN brochures and posters, and the online quizzes (by
              Paul von Behren).
              6.3   Resources for Presenting  Environmental
                     Information to the Public

              As you develop your various forms of communication materials and begin to implement
              your outreach plan, you will want to make sure that these materials present your
              information as clearly and accurately as possible. There are resources on the Internet to
              help you develop your outreach materials. Some of these are discussed below.
              6.3.1     How Do You Present Technical Information to the Public?

              Environmental topics are often technical in nature and full of jargon, and environmental
              monitoring information is no exception. Nonetheless, technical information can be
              conveyed in  simple, clear terms to those in the general public not familiar with
              environmental data. The following principles should be used when conveying technical
              information to the public:

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       •      avoid using jargon,

       •      translate technical terms (e.g., reflectance) into everyday language the
              public can easily understand,

       •      use active voice,

       •      write short sentences,

       •      use headings and other formatting techniques to provide a clear and
              organized structure.

The following Web sites provide guidance regarding how to write clearly and effectively
for a general audience:

       •      The National Partnership for Reinventing Government has a guidance
              document, Writing User-Friendly Documents, that can be found on the Web
              at http://www.plainlanguage.gov.

       •      The American Bar Association has a Web site that provides links to on-
              line writing labs (http://www.abanet.org/lpm/bparticlel 1463_front.
              shtml). The Web site discusses topics such as  handouts and grammar.

As you develop communication materials for your audience, remember to tailor your
information to consider what they are already likely to know, what you want them to
know, and what they are likely to understand. The most effective approach is to provide
information that is valuable and interesting to the target audience. For example, the
kayakers may want to know about the creek flow rates in Boulder Creek.  Also, when
developing outreach products, be sure to consider special needs of the target audience.
For example, ask yourself if your target audience has a large number of people who
speak little  or no English.  If so, you should prepare communication materials in their
native language.

The rest of this section contains information about resources available on the Internet
that can assist you as you develop your own outreach projects. Some of the Web sites
discussed below contain products, such as downloadable documents or fact sheets,
which you can use to develop and tailor your education and outreach efforts.
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              6.3.2     Federal Resources

              EPA's Surf Your Watershed
              http://www.epa.gov/surf3

              This Web site can be used to locate, use, and share environmental information on
              watersheds. One section of this site, "Locate Your Watershed," allows the user to enter
              the names of rivers, schools, or zip codes to learn more about watersheds in their local
              area or in other parts of the country. The EPA's Index of Watershed Indicators (IWI)
              can also be accessed from this site. The IWI is a numerical grade (1 to 6), which is
              compiled and calculated based on a variety of indicators that assess the condition of
              rivers, lakes, streams, wetlands, and coastal areas.

              EPA's Office of Water Volunteer Lake Monitoring: A Methods Manual
              http://www.epa.gov/owow/monitoring/volunteer/lake

              EPA developed this manual to present specific information on volunteer lake water
              quality monitoring methods. It is intended both for the organizers of the volunteer lake
              monitoring program and for the volunteer(s) who  will  actually  be  sampling lake
              conditions. It emphasizes identifying appropriate parameters to monitor and listing
              specific steps for each selected monitoring method. The manual also includes quality
              assurance/quality control procedures to ensure that the data collected by volunteers are
              useful to State and other agencies.

              EPA's Nonpoint Source Pointers (Fact sheets)
              http://www.epa.gov/owow/nps/facts

              This Web site features a series of fact sheets (referred to as pointers) on nonpoint source
              pollution (e.g., pollution occurring from storm water runoff).  The pointers covers
              topics including:  programs and  opportunities for public involvement in nonpoint
              source control, managing wetlands to control nonpoint source pollution, and managing
              urban runoff.

              EPA's Great Lakes National Program Office
              http://www.epa.gov/glnpo/about.html

              EPA's  Great  Lakes National Program Office  Web  site includes information about
              topics  such as  human health,  visualizing  the  lakes, monitoring, and pollution
              prevention.  One section of this site (http://www.epa.gov/glnpo/gl2000/lamps/
              index.html) has links to Lakewide Management Plan (LaMP) documents for each of the
              Great Lakes. A LaMP is a plan of action developed by the United States and Canada to
              assess, restore, protect and monitor the ecosystem health of a Great Lake.  The LaMP
              has a section dedicated to public involvement or outreach and education. The program
              utilizes a public review process to ensure that the LaMP is addressing their concerns.
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You could use the LaMP  as a model in developing similar plans for your water
monitoring program.

U. S. Department of Agriculture Natural Resource Conservation Service
http://www.wcc.nrcs.usda.gov/water/quality/frame/wqam

Under "Guidance Documents," there are several documents pertaining to water quality
that can be downloaded or ordered. These documents are listed below.

       •     A Procedure to Estimate the Response of Aquatic Systems to Changes
             in Phosphorus and Nitrogen Inputs

       •     Stream Visual Assessment Protocol

       •     National Handbook of Water Quality Monitoring

       •     Water Quality Indicators Guide

       •     Water Quality Field Guide


6.3.3     Education Resources

Project WET (Water Education for Teachers)
http://www.montana.edu/wwwwet

One goal of Project WET is to promote awareness, appreciation, knowledge, and good
stewardship of water resources by developing and making available classroom-ready
teaching aids.  Another goal of WET is to establish state- and internationally-sponsored
Project WET programs. The WET site has a list of all the State Project WET Program
Coordinators.

Water Science for Schools
http://wwwga.usgs.gov/edu/index.html

The USGS's Water Science for Schools Web site offers information on many aspects of
water and water quality. The Web site has pictures, data, maps, and an interactive forum
where you can provide opinions and test your water knowledge.  Water quality is
discussed under "Special Topics."
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              Global Rivers Environmental Education Network (GREEN)
              http://www.earthforce.org/green

              The  GREEN provides  opportunities  for middle and high school-aged youth to
              understand, improve and sustain watersheds in their community. This site also includes
              a list of water quality projects being conducted across the country and around the world
              (http://www.igc.apc.org/green/resources.html).

              Adopt-A-Watershed
              http://www.adopt-a-watershed.org/about.htm

              Adopt-A-Watershed is a school-community learning experience for students from
              kindergarten through high school. Their goal is to make science applicable and relevant
              to the  students.  Adopt-A-Watershed  has many products and services available to
              teachers wishing to start an Adopt-A-Watershed project. Although not active in every
              state, the Web site has a list of contacts in 25 States if you are interested in beginning a
              project in your area.

              National Institutes for Water Resources
              http://wrri.nmsu.edu/niwr/niwr.html

              The National Institutes  for Water Resources (NIWR)  is a network of 54 research
              institutes throughout each of the 50 States, District of Columbia, the Virgin Islands,
              Puerto Rico, and Guam/Federated States  of Micronesia.  Each institute conducts
              research to  solve water problems unique to  their area  and establish cooperative
              programs with local governments, state agencies, and industry.

              Southeast Michigan Watershed Project Participants
              http://imc.lisd.kl2.mi.us/SE.html

              This Web site discusses water testing projects conducted by various middle schools and
              high schools in southeast Michigan. Each school provided QuickTime videos of their
              sampling sites.

              Water on the Web
              http://ga.water.usgs.gov/edu/index.html

              This Web site is maintained by USGS and provides water science information for
              schools. The site has information on many aspects of water, along with pictures, data,
              maps, and a site where you can test your knowledge.
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Learning Web
http://www.usgs.gov/education/

Learning Web is a USGS Web site dedicated to K-12 education, exploration, and life-
long learning. The site covers topics such as biology, geology, and hydrology.

Webmonkey for Kids
http://hotwired.lycos.com/webmonkey/kids/?tw=eg!9990608

This site shows children how to build Web pages.

Northern Colorado Water Conservancy District — Education
http://www.ncwcd.org/ncwcd?go_about/education.htm

This site offers an  array of water-related educational services for preschoolers to
retirees.  It includes  facts  about water, teacher  information,  publications, and
information about water festivals.

Bureau of Reclamation Environmental Education
http://www.usbr.gov/env_ed/

The site provides a list of various environmental educational programs and activities in
which the Bureau of Reclamation participates, some of which are offered for general
public participation.  The site also provides a list and description of various educational
classes relating to the study and care of water resources that the Bureau of Reclamation
will provide to classes as "hands-on" science presentations.
6.3.4    Other Organizations

North American Lake Management Society (NALMS) Guide to Local
Resources
http://www.nalms.org/

This Web site provides  resources for those dealing with local lake-related issues.
NALMS's mission is to forge partnerships among citizens, scientists, and professionals
to promote the management and protection of lakes and reservoirs.  NALMS's Guide
to Local Resources (http://www.nalms.org/resource/lnkagenc/links.htm) contains
various  links to regulatory agencies, extension programs, research centers, NALMS
chapters, regional directors, and a membership directory.
 COMMUNICATING TIMELY ENVIRONMENTAL INFORMATION                        71

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              The Watershed Management Council
              http://watershed.org/wmc/aboutwmc.html

              The Watershed Management Council (WMC) is a non-profit organization whose
              members represent a variety of watershed management interests and disciplines. WMC
              membership includes professionals, students, teachers, and individuals whose interest is
              in promoting proper watershed management.

              6.3.5     Examples of BASIN  Resources

              Note!

                    The  Colorado  BASIN  project should  not  be  confused  with  the
                    Environmental Protection Agency's  BASINS (Better Assessment  Science
                    Integration Point and Nonpoint Sources) Modeling Course. The  BASINS
                    Modeling  Course is a watershed training course offered  by  the  EPA's
                    Office   of  Wetlands,   Oceans,  & Watershed.   Please see   http://
                    www.epa.gov/waterscience/BASINS/  for  more  information   about
                    BASINS.

              BASIN's Web  site has numerous resources which serves as examples  of what other
              project's  can do to bring a strong community  focus  on the health of the local
              environment.  Some of these resources are listed below.

              BASIN's Watershed Theme
              http://bcn.boulder.co.us/basin/watershed/index.html

              BASIN's Watershed link provides information about water quality, geology, stream
              flow, weather and climate, flash floods, and tributaries.

              BASIN's Water and Community Theme
              http://bcn.boulder.co.us/basin/waterworks/index.html

              BASIN's Water and  Community link provides information  about drinking water
              systems, wastewater, underground storage tanks, and storm water runoff. The link also
              provides links to drinking water treatment and regulations.

              BASIN's Personal Action Theme
              http://bcn.boulder.co.us/basin/local/index.html

              BASIN's Personal Action link provides the public practical guidance on how to protect
              the environment. Such topics include household hazards and alternatives and water-
              wise landscaping.
72                                                                          CHAPTER 6

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BASIN's History Theme
http://bcn.boulder.co.us/basin/history/index.html

BASIN's History link provides various historical environmental information about the
Boulder Creek watershed. The site provides historical information about flash floods,
early ditch decrees, pictures, etc.

BASIN's Recreation Theme
http://bcn.boulder.co.us/basin/recreation/index.html

BASIN's Recreation  link provides information about rivers in Colorado and other
general recreation links.  The site also has links which are of interest to canoers and
kayakers, fishermen, hikers and backpackers, and boaters.

BASIN's Learning Theme
http://bcn.boulder.co.us/basin/learning/index.html

BASIN's Learning link provides information about available watershed learning and
service activities. The link which provides an online resource and teacher's guide, a fifth
grade learning activity, as well as virtual field trips is a valuable resource to teachers.

BASIN's Library Theme
http://bcn.boulder.co.us/basin/gallery/index.html

BASIN's Library link provides a gallery of photographs taken around the watershed, a
450 document Environmental Research Bibliography, and additional learning activities.
6.4  Success Stories

The  BASIN Project enjoyed several successes.  BASIN provided a framework for
successful collaboration between municipal and regional governments, educators, and
concerned  citizens to  address  a community  need for access to environmental
monitoring data and contextual information to explain the significance of that data. The
BASIN project also  generated  a  leveraging  of existing resources.  By creating a
collaborative  process and data  repository, the project provided a  focal point  for
researchers interested in the quality of Boulder Creek. The Boulder Creek Millennium
Baseline Study (http://bcn.boulder.co.us/basin/BCMB)is one example of a leveraged
resource effort that occurred as a result of the BASIN project. In this way,  the BASIN
Web site was able to respond to needs and opportunities not included in the initial
EMPACT project scope.

The  BASIN project enabled the City of Boulder's drinking water and storm water
quality programs to develop similar protocols for QA/QC. Prior to the project, the data


 COMMUNICATING TIMELY ENVIRONMENTAL INFORMATION                         73

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              from each of the programs were kept in separate databases.  Also, each program used
              different units for similar parameters. As a result those parameters could not be easily
              compared to each other. The BASIN team and City of Boulder collaborated so that the
              parameters measured by the two sampling programs could be easily compared to each
              other. The data collected from the two programs were eventually combined into a single
              database.  Also both programs began measuring additional parameters so that the
              BASIN team could generate a water quality index which grades the streams. The index
              provides a quick and easy-to-understand assessment  of the water  quality in that
              particular stream. See Section 5 for a more complete discussion of the water quality
              index.

              The BASIN Web site had become established as a community resource with robust
              usership.  Daily page requests,  distinct hosts served, pages  requested, and total data
              transferred have continued to increase since the Web site was launched in 1999. The
              ongoinguse of the Web site is a strong indication that citizens, students, researchers, and
              others both in  the Boulder area and outside the watershed have found the BASIN Web
              site to be a useful source of environmental information.

              BASIN was nominated for the  2001 Stockholm Water Prize that honors outstanding
              achievements that help protect the world's water resources. Although BASIN did not
              win, they considered their nomination for the award an honor. The $150,000 prize is the
              leading international  award for outstanding achievements on behalf of the world's
              water.  It is awarded  to an individual, institution, organization, or company that has
              made the most contribution to preserve and enhance the world's water resources. The
              prize recognizes either outstanding research,  action, or education  that protects the
              usability of water for all life and increases knowledge of water as a resource.
              [Source: http://www.worldwaterday.org/events/ev09.html]

                User Feedback

                Various partners and peers provided positive and complimentary comments to
                BASIN regarding their Web site. Some of the  comments are listed below.

                "I looked at the site - what a lot of info!  The links go on for days - it's GREAT!! I"
                - Irish McKenzie, U.S. EPA.

                "What a fabulous program you have to offer!  May we borrow your ideas/
                format and  implement them into our own plan?" - Denise Leidy, Union Soil &
                Water Conservation District, La Grande, Oregon.

                "I  am impressed  with your Web site and  have  passed  it along to  our
                employees" -  Doug Gore, Regional Director,  FEMA.

                "This is a GREAT Web site" - Ken Margolis, River Network.
74                                                                            CHAPTER 6

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6.5  Most  Frequently Asked Questions and
      Answers

The majority of questions that the BASIN team receives are related to water quality. For
example, the team receives questions about pesticides used in the watershed, questions
about water quality issues related to the Boulder Waste Water Treatment Plant, and
questions regarding E. coli bacteria count in the water. The water quality site located on
the BASIN Web page now provides public access to monitoring data to help answer
these questions.
 COMMUNICATING TIMELY ENVIRONMENTAL INFORMATION                     75

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APPENDIX A
GLOSSARY OF TERMS & ACRONYM LIST
Acre foot: The amount of water that would cover one acre at the depth of
one foot (325,900 gallons).

Anoxia: Absence of oxygen in water.

APCD: Air Pollution Control Division.

AWRA: American Water Resources Association.

AWWA: American Water Works Association.
BASIN: Boulder Area Sustainability Information Network.

BCN: Boulder Community Network.
cfs: cubic feet per second.

Chlorophyll: Green pigment in plants that transforms light energy into
chemical energy by photosynthesis.
CO2: Carbon dioxide.
COB: City of Boulder.

CPAN: Comprehensive Perl Archive Network.
GLOSSARY OF TERMS & ACRONYM LIST                                   A-1

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              Dissolved oxygen (DO): The concentration of oxygen (O2) dissolved
              in water, usually expressed in milligrams per liter, parts per million, or
              percent of saturation (at the field temperature).  Adequate concentrations of
              dissolved oxygen are necessary to sustain the life offish and other aquatic
              organisms and prevent offensive odors. DO levels are considered a very
              important and commonly employed measurement of water quality and
              indicator of a water body's ability to support desirable aquatic life. Levels
              above 5 milligrams per liter (mg O2/L) are considered optimal and fish
              cannot survive for prolonged periods at levels below 3 mg O2/L. Levels
              below 2 mg O2/L are often referred to as hypoxic and when O2 is less than
              0.1 mg/, conditions are considered to be anoxic.

              DMSO: Dimethyl sulfoxide.

              DO: Dissolved oxygen.

              DRCOG: Denver Region Council of Governments.

              DVT(s): Data visualization tools.
              Ecosystem: The interacting plants, animals, and physical components
              (sunlight, soil, air, water) of an area.

              EOF: Environmental Defense Fund.

              EDNA: Environmental Data Network Association.

              EDTA: ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid.

              EM PACT: Environmental Monitoring for Public Access and Community
              Tracking.

              EPA: Environmental Protection Agency.


              F

              ft: feet.
A-2                                                                       APPENDIX A

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FTP: File transfer protocol.
Geographic Information System (GIS): A computer software and
 hardware system that helps scientists and other technicians capture, store,
 model, display, and analyze spatial or geographic information.

GPL: General Public License.

GREEN: Global Rivers Environmental Education Network.

Groundwater: Water that sinks into the ground and collects over
impermeable rock. It then flows laterally toward a stream, lake, or ocean.
Wells tap it for our use. Its surface is called the "water table."

ug/l: micrograms (10~6 grams)/liter.

uS/cm: microsiemens per centimeter.


H

HCI: Hydrochloric acid.

HNO3: Nitric acid.

H2SO4: Sulfuric acid.


I

1C: Inorganic carbon.

IMS:  Information Management System.

IWI:  Index of Watershed Indicators.
GLOSSARY OF TERMS & ACRONYM LIST                                          A-3

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             K

             KCI: Potassium chloride.

             K2S2O8: Potassium persulfate.
             L: liter.

             LaMP:  Lakewide Management Plans.


             M

             m:  meters.

             mg: milligrams.

             mg/L:  milligrams/liter.

             mph: miles per hour.

             Monitor: To track a characteristic, such as dissolved oxygen, nitrate level,
             or fish population, over a period of time using uniform methods to evaluate
             change.


             N

             NALMS: North American Lake Management Society.

             NaOH: Sodium Hydroxide.

             NH3: Ammonia.

             NH4: Ammonium ion.

             NIWR:  National Institutes for Water Resources.

             NOAA: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
A-4                                                                      APPENDIX A

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nm: Nanometer, 10"9 meter.

Non-point Source: Diffuse, overland runoff containing pollutants.
Includes runoff collected in storm drains.

NRCS: Natural Resources Conservation Service.

NSF: National Sanitation Foundation.

NTU: Nephelometric turbidity unit.

Nutrient loading: The discharge of nutrients from the watershed into a
receiving water body (e.g., wetland). Expressed usually as mass per unit area
per unit time (kg/ hectare/ yr or Ibs/acre/year).
ORD: Office of Research and Development.

Organic: Refers to substances that contain carbon atoms and
carbon-carbon bonds.
pH scale: A scale used to determine the alkaline or acidic nature of a
substance. The scale ranges from 0 to 14 with 0 being the most acidic and
14 the most basic. Pure water is neutral with a ph of 7.

Parameter: Whatever it is you measure - a particular physical, chemical,
or biological property that is being measured.

PERL: Practical Extraction Report Language.

ppt: parts per thousand.

Point Source: A pipe that discharges effluent into a stream or other body
of water.
GLOSSARY OF TERMS & ACRONYM LIST                                           A-5

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             Quality Assurance/Quality Control (QA/QC): QA/QC procedures
             are used to ensure that data are accurate, precise, and consistent. QA/QC
             involves established rules in the field and in the laboratory to ensure that
             samples are representative of the water you are monitoring, free from
             contamination, and analyzed following standard procedures.
             Remote Monitoring: Monitoring is called remote when the operator can
             collect and analyze data from a site other than the monitoring location itself.
             Salinity: Measurement of the mass of dissolved salts in water.  Salinity is
             usually expressed in ppt.

             SC: Specific Conductance.

             Sediment: Fine soil or mineral particles.

             SMSA: Standard metropolitan statistical area.

             SNOTEL: SNOwpack TELemetry. Automated system that measures
              snowpack.

             Specific Conductance (SC): The measure of how well water can conduct
             an electrical current. Specific conductance indirectly measures the presence
             of compounds such as sulfates, nitrates, and phosphates. As a result, specific
             conductance can be used as an indicator of water pollution. Specific
             conductivity is usually expressed in wS/cm.

             STP: sewage treatment plant.

             Suspended solids: (SS or Total SS [TSS]). Very small particles that
             remain distributed throughout the water column due to turbulent mixing
             exceeding gravitational sinking.
A-6                                                                       APPENDIX A

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TDS: Total dissolved solids.

TIGER: Topically Integrated Geographic Encoding and Referencing.

Timely environmental data: Data that are collected and communicated
to the public in a time frame that is useful to their day-to-day decision-making
about their health and the environment, and relevant to the temporal
variability of the parameter measured.

TOG: Total organic carbon.

TSS: Total suspended solids.

Turbidity: The degree to which light is scattered in water because of
suspended organic and inorganic particles.  Turbidity is commonly measured
inNTU's.
UV: Ultraviolet.

USGS: United States Geological Survey.
W

Watershed: The entire drainage area or basin feeding a stream or river.
Includes surface water, groundwater, vegetation, and human structures.

WET: Water Education for Teachers.

WMC: Watershed Management Council.

WQI:  Water Quality Index.
GLOSSARY OF TERMS & ACRONYM LIST                                           A-7

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A-8                                                             APPENDIX A

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APPENDIX B
BASIN NfWS Newsletter
BASIN NEWS NEWSLETTER                            B-'

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                                                                                                .•kritiuk rxit*c aril
                                                                                                        ' OftoJ
              WUtffiw Impact Aquatic Habllat and Water Quality
Wldfiras no: my  tmpacl vegecalmn and  and antrra*  -
mcijarxj human teftp and TDM property  - they can AIM
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               me Hurry Bui it orccpM onto «*tnnw M «twnM  ard low {»6QfiJMari aftn- P* fre kepi
                fTDSof mrwnil T>* USG& s -ftaikwiq with Pw vdutty to find writs DorpcaJSoni mit
                (til
                To reM rJic USGS ssurrv faprrl MJJI
                trrte.'iVtWi* la fee u^'1irc-Jvufec<'Hil3t"L."'ii.SJ^£- rccorl Irt^i
                                 of  nlef«5i«j  groups
                               jQtne>d   logettwr   n
                                 erfopis rot di
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                                                                                                    •<"*
B-2
                                     APPENDIX B

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Spills Contaminate Local Waterways
in July, 54 fish -were teucnJ d«ad at dhe Coal Greet Golf Course after t'Kftiwic^J*. w«ra *>mp*d into ih* cr«efc
      lumad Ihfe wal»r whit*.  lh« fish included varicwf minrwws sucti 35 white Gucfcws, -eras* chi&s,
      . wd long nowd dacs, ranging in lentph >wn 1  1/2 irtetes K> 6 irtetes. The Colora*) Division pf WikM*
      sanctions against LOwe'S f-tettwar* for ajmptng 'water - oanbaming nemnarts gf vtttfl 1119 flooding and
mastic down 4h* drain, wtac*i foci into tin* cwrii aortg iiw golf course,

At the and of the wmm«r. Clear Cnw* in ScWem, Coto, was g= Pqq4, locaiBd at
30in and Arapghcw, The fcak»ii cetera sflepwJ ttwowflt» crad^i In ln« nearby pocl  raainlenance
          ar>d into Ine n&s«*' drain. The Boutdtf County HeaWi Deparirreni srd ihe city's Pubfe:: Worts
       ata.ff vs«5r1i*sd tageihew to •^wtjatii ttw impacts  to ttw  croek Med Wiiiams. Asslaant Dir««;tor d
      for Unittre st«*«t.  "it's uilcrt-ynale 1ha1 a  large rtrfrfi* cf Wt w*r* hillwl m iftis iiKktent. rtowe',-er.
       col any fcrea to public tealrti w safely Urcm um spil," A copy of in* Walsh rapon is avaiiai* on tt>e
    Weft *rte -il vt*BW o t>.~'.i'dB-' co ij»'c..?rrinr-.-nre
      Sfli»S wfirft coftlty TOT Ih* aqitatk Wo as wall as far the ireponsible partws  Ph* Aragon o! 1tw
          Wildlife estimassKj that a hn» wo^At total £15-.S75, sirwe acocfding to stale iaw eadi fish cart be
worth up TO 535 Cibzeii can  wioisrts water Duality r»(^jlaUofis,  l>«allrt
          , and AiUtiie regulations, fina VounQwoM fro*n ?h* Cottxado D«viskx» oTWiidiite *dw**s Gfliz*ra; io
retort ac»
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        Colorado Watershed Assembly
        Over th« SMTwer, -ready 6U people reorssenting 22 different we:«sted groups ail«rtd*:.HJi wat^rsftBd prowcsicn around tie sta:e  The Rivei N&two'h 1acil*j:ed tie nesting, sugar /i
        yacDortnet y ihc S'.warcfcriip inaiftire ! .-.v.'.y v.^- ai :v- pir ' .,TJ •. rt coi -i i. **!h Si-cpad rre*if ihe EfiviferirneflW
        3ioicciicn A'.jer»tj>  Ths golhefing discyssec sJeas tor stanewde Afters-ted organlzir-g  f*art>cisar"s Df3«.e *ito
        •a at ;tnsicf m ard discus;; a «jrk» d,tg, lack of sut-ie
        support and politics barriers.
        In voicing iheaa ooffliiwn iteu^tls fc*d cwia^nis. thtt groups idwntfwl wrtpn advantages- %4iich a statevndft
        entfiy couM bring, rae overtdrt§ iaea was Lnai a s!*iB-*rfB entity couW mprowj netwo*,ng bf^lw®n tfw many
        watwsfted groups In Cotorado. create a oomnwi vok*. and htlp |>fOvid» a varwly n4 rwcwrew
        The watwsrwd aa»mtty ifldsd wtti oommlUTieri! from flterriberis irotn !he drrrerfe-il wal«r«h«d groups to ronlinw to
        wprt on 3 pfWflS'S lo create an wtcy w s^uppsl walenetied g rojps A second assennbly ia schtdiJed for F»b«u»iy 2001
        lo s^art «riplemi8nlir«g a s4ade-levfl4 or^anizakxi. Contact Larry MacDomeH at M3-545-64.B? former* irJwmatirw

        News from BASIN: Drought, Fire and Flood
        Freffi Oct. 23-31 ,  BAS*M fioffcti afi Ofl Jin* ^scwstw on the htslory o* drought, ftre and floed Jn !ne Boulfler araa. The
        loruni was feared ai answer ing BUS question*: Mfcs*- rrwcft do you rwtty knew about drought fire and flood? HOP*- *
        each at Itese events impacl ont artolher? Mo-* anoyld oommunifes 0r»par * for thess events'' Th€' fonjm ir>clijde  Seveicfwd w the la&t SO years *hteh allows hurnarts B defiele i^uitois ^*tw than the^'
        am he nspwn.shcc hy pneopits'cn  'Aater shofls^ers could 1ir*n into footf s hortagw, a I nee il takes, muchly  1 ,QK> l&n*
        of water la ;tnxlu:c .mt iijn ol grgm <>«if1 far more wafer lo c"O3 jce meal:. Brown argues thai governments (rrp«3siurn. offers al»ts on 1f*aa and related
                       rf .f WAI rma^taflipj «•*? J'An^i I. (if. • BASflP.' Bciii^l'vr Dwy C'w^sia. EilK of Bnatdet s Q^HBIT SpiKsc
                            -f. f- "A Hcfrnftttyf «»IA '.;.« jr.v
                             i Wjfr' c;.-HW6rvanrjK CiSJif.1 PA3IN MW=. 6 rtftlta* by Ja'rislie MufosJ«^ and «diled by Mart
                    i-ur-i Jan" heanr anrt "
B_4                                                                                         APPENDIX B

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  Basin Calendar of Events

         i  ^5**. Wnur -Hwtaij'  BouMw Crack Watere^d ^ururn. Or. Canne Woodt'euse *t*n NCAA
                Prn^i-ani National GeopHySical Oa» C*fW«MI sJr*fr»ri! ClM^iflf CBiraSn Chatge:
                    BouW?' Crwfe 5!wanrttcm* fr«r Tree Ring Uata free and apw 8a B-« pubte CKJC*? tvpn
                                                      MOB'*
                      •**"'
                       1T« CalcfadQ Wata- C^3c»awss ProECBts. *
  Dan-.cf, HC  Collar? SCO 83? CS!2or »!•(  •. *. •  , ,  ,, -i...,., iuy^M.-.f.'
           1 /"  tntlBi>' The CodxmJo Wuiv OongrHA^ P«***'its, Wnrt'ttxip on l.^gft EWira in Wate"
                       fil S03-837-n8!t2 w h-

                       H«alt^v Walsyshorts
  nafcnq  Co"la

  Novemt*» Tn5* Ttiift^ay Htd Tfkp*rs In Kaljral R»S»
  Nnturatet ard AI*TOT, i-'roBMlcNa bv tie LiR«vii* f rwuwrr-rtrtniwd Acltoo Foruf A>M; lt» LrAKvrt« Oper Space
         &H«d Preif,ifiiiv h*»gin& * J OQpm alt** Lowrtwlte Arts Csnipr 601 Grant Ave Cal JfD3-665-^435 fcn
  Office of EnvimunMilBl Afflaim
  PO Itox T9i
  BoyWftr, CO §0306
BASIN NEWS  NEWSLETTER                                                                        B-5

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APPENDIX C

OTHER PRINTED PROMOTIONAL
MATERIAL FOR BASIN
OTHER PRINTED PROMOTIONAL MATERIAL FOR BASIN              C-l

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                                                   . and more
                                                 Public Recess to
                                             environmental Information

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                          A Sense Of Place
                     The Greater Boulder Area
                        The Boulder Area Sustainability
                             Information Network
                          www.basm.orq
                          Educational opportunities for
                          the entire family
                          Maps, photos, quizzes, links
                          and learning activities
                       •  Many ways to participate

                     A Sense Of Environmental
                              Conditions
                       •  Public Information
                       •  Science Education
                       •  Government & Research
                          Information
                    BASIN Partners include USGS, Boulder Creek
                    Watershed Initiative, Boulder Community
                    Network, University of Colorado at Boulder, city of
                    Boulder, Boulder Valley School District, Naropa
                    University, Boulder County Health Department,
                    Community Access TBlevisiort, Rivers of Colorado
                    Water Watch Network and Boulder County
                    Healthy Communities Initiative,
Scientific
Data
fe.
f
Environmental
Information
ih
^-f
Personal
Action
C-4
APPENDIX C

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                               KNOW  THE  FLOW
                                   TEST YOUR H2O IQ

                              How much water does the average
                              person in the Boulder area use in a day?
                          c)  8 gallons
                          b)  33 gallons
                          c)  80 gallons

                          12. In Colorado, what percentage of water
                              use is by cities and agriculture?
                          a)  -10% city, 90% agricultural
                          b)  90% city, 10% agricultural
                          c)  ,50% city, 50% agricultural

                          13. Name two in stream uses of water,
                          a)  car washing, showering
                          fa)  lawn watering, dishwashing
                          e)  habitat protection, recreation

                          14, Does runoff  increase or decrease in
                              urban areas?
                              decrease
                          b)  increase.
                          c)  stays the same

                          15, What agency is responsible for
                              administering water rights in Colorado15
                          a)  local governments
                          b)  Department of Transportation
                          c.)  State Engineer's Office

                          FOR MORE WAYS TO TEST YOUR WATER
                          WISDOM, GO TO www.basin.org/quizes
                          BASIN- the Boulder Area Sustain ability
                          Information Network—is a partnership of various
                          public and private organizations in the Boulder
                          area funded through  an EMPACT grant from the
                          U.S. EPA.
                          Printed on recycled paper with vegetable-based infcs,
                          Pfease recycle this t)y giving to a friend or colleague.
                          Answers: 1-C, 2-A, 3-C, 4-8, 5-C
OTHER PRINTED PROMOTIONAL MATERIAL FOR BASIN
C-5

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C-6
APPENDIX C

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