Aquatic Health Monitoring Protocol
The Aquatic Health Monitoring Protocol (
840 KB) assesses the watershed's biological response to sediment discharge from placer mining, as well as the biological response when sediment discharges end after mining stops.
This protocol uses the "Reference Condition Approach" which compares areas affected by placer mining to areas considered to be in "reference" or relatively undisturbed condition.
The data to be collected and analyzed includes:
- Sampling of benthic invertebrate populations
- Sampling of fish species
- Basin area and perimeter, stream width, depth and water quality
Variations in the natural environment, which might explain variations in fish and benthic invertebrate communities, will be examined.
An annual report will summarize the results. If the aquatic health objectives are not being met, monitoring efforts may be focused to further assess these areas.
Any decisions on modifying the Regime to address problems with watershed health should be based on multiple years of data.
Last Updated: 2/21/2007