United States
                        Environmental Protection
                        Agency
Office of Research and
Development
Washington DC 20460
EPA/620/R-00/005I
   February, 2000
&EFW     Coastal   Communications


t^m9^    Integrated Monitoring of the  Mid-Atlantic Estuaries
                              (Delaware Bay  to  North Carolina)
Background
The Mid-Atlantic Integrated Assessment Estuaries Program (MAIA-Estuaries) focuses on the region of the United
States as defined by the land and near-coastal area from Delaware Bay south through Pamlico Sound (states of NJ, PA,
DE, MD, VA, and NC). During the development of the Condition of the Mid-Atlantic Estuaries report (EPA 600-R-98-
147), a synthesis of data from a large number of different studies, several information gaps were identified. One of the
considerations in designing MAIA-Estuaries in 1997 was to fill some of these data gaps. The objectives of this program
were to: (1) characterize the ecological condition of the Mid-Atlantic estuaries using a common set of measurements, (2)
focus research on small estuaries to help design more efficient monitoring approaches for these critical systems, and (3)
to demonstrate that effective partnerships can be established among Federal and state agencies for resource
management purposes.

Approach
The Atlantic and Gulf Ecology Divisions of EPA's National Health and
Environmental Effects Research Laboratory and a group of partnering agencies
(see insert) conducted an intensive field study using a common set of indicators
(see below) at over 900 stations during the summers of 1997 and 1998. This
partnership recognized that each of these entities plays an important and vital
MAIA-Estuaries Partners
  EPA- Offices of Research and Development, Water, and Pesticide Programs; Regions II,
      III and IV; Chesapeake Bay Program
  NOAA
  National Park Service
  U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
  States of NJ, PA, DE, MD, VA, NC, and the District of Columbia
  Delaware River Basin Commission
  National Estuary Programs - Delaware Estuary Program, Delaware Inland Bays Program,
role in estuarine monitoring. Traditionally, different agencies have not always
monitored the same set of parameters, making data integration difficult.
MAIA-Estuaries partners sampled a common set of water quality and sediment
indicators in 1997. Fish indicators were monitored at a subset of the stations in
1998. Results of this survey are currently being analyzed and will be publicly
available later this year, along with a final report.
                               s>
            MAIA-Estuaries sampling stations (red dots)
Ecoloqicol Indicators
Water Quality
Dissolved oxygen
Salinity, temperature, pH, depth
Dissolved <& particulate nutrients
Chlorophyll
Secchi depth
Sediment Quality (1997 only)
Grain size
Total organic carbon
Sediment chemistry
Sediment toxicity
Benthic community structure
Fish (1998 only)
Community structure
External pathology
Histopathology
Tissue chemistry
Further Information
For further information on MAIA-Estuaries and the current status of data analysis, please contact John Paul (email
paul.john@epa.gov or tel. 401-782-3037) or Charles Strobel (email Strobel.charleS@epa.gov or tel. 401-782-3180)
at EPA's NHEERL Atlantic Ecology Division, or visit the MAIA web site at WWW.epa.gov/maia.

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