United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
Office of Research and
Development
Washington DC 20460
EPA/620/R-00/005a
October, 1999
&EPA Coastal Communications
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
EMAP Western Pilot - Coastal Ecosystems
Background
The U.S. EPA Environmental Monitoring and Assessment Program (EMAP) Western Pilot is a five-year
effort led by EPA's Office of Research and Development to advance the science of ecosystem condition
monitoring and to demonstrate the application of EMAP monitoring and assessment methods. It is intended
to demonstrate the value of survey-based monitoring by applying these techniques to problems of Regional
and State interest. The coastal portion of the EMAP Western Pilot will create an integrated,
comprehensive coastal monitoring program along the West Coast to assess estuarine condition and develop
the infrastructure in the EPA Regions and the states to implement this program. The coastal program is
organized and managed by the National Health and Environmental Effects Research Laboratory's Gulf Ecology Division (Gulf
Breeze, FL).
Coastal Indicators
Estuarine conditions are assessed using biological indicators such as plankton abundance, benthic community structure, fish
community analysis, and the incidence of disease or other pathologies in fish. Stressors are evaluated by assessing water
quality parameters, sediment contamination and toxicity, and the presence of contaminants in fish tissue. These stressor
indicators are used to interpret the most likely cause of observed poor condition in biological indicators. These core EMAP
coastal indicators are listed below.
Water Quality
Dissolved oxygen
Salinity, temperature, depth
PH
Nutrients
Chlorophyll
Sediment Quality
Grain size
Total organic carbon
Sediment chemistry
Benthic community structure
Sediment toxicity
Fish and Benthos
Community structure
External pathology
Tissue analyses
1999 Sampling
During the first year's effort (1999) EPA and state resource personnel conducted an
assessment of the condition of the small estuarine systems (< 250 km2) in the States
of California, Oregon and Washington. Over 200 sites were scheduled for sampling in
these states' small bays, estuaries, tidal rivers, and tidal streams. All estuarine
resources were included in the survey with the exception of the Puget Sound system, the
Columbia River, and the San Francisco Bay system (see Future Activities below). Two
types of the estuaries sampled are shown at right. The number of successful samples
collected is listed below. The most common reason for unsuccessful sampling was the
inaccessibility of a site. For small estuarine systems along the West Coast, 3.6% _± 1% of
estuarine area cannot be sampled.
minq.
itero
Estero Americana, CA
State
(# Expected Sites)
Washington (50)
Oregon (80)
California (80)
# Sites - Water Quality
(% of Expected)
44 (88%)
78 (98%)
79 (99%)
# Sites - Sediment Quality
(% of Expected)
40 (80%)
76 (95%)
73(91%)
# Sites -Fish/Benthos
(% of Expected)
43 (86%)
78 (98%)
72 (90%)
Future Activities
Samples for sediment chemistry, toxicity, benthic community structure, and tissue contamination will be completed by April
2000. In summer of 2000, Coastal EMAP will complete its estuarine assessment with surveys of the large estuarine systems-
Puget Sound, San Francisco Bay, and Columbia River. In 2001, the plan is to survey the estuaries and off shore coastal waters
of Alaska and Hawaii. In 2002, Coastal EMAP will sample the offshore areas of the three primary Pacific Coast States
(California, Oregon, and Washington). All of these surveys are designed to be used by ORD's National Coastal Survey.
Further Information
For further information, please contact Kevin Summers at (850) 934-9244 or Summers.kevin@epa.gov. General
information on the U.S. EPA EMAP is available at http://WWW.epa.gov/emap.
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