Landels-Hill Big Creek Reserve

14 Jun, 02 AM - 14 Jun, 05 AM

The Reference Condition Monitoring Program (RCMP) is part of the State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB) Surface Water Ambient Monitoring Program (SWAMP). Bioassessment is an evaluation of the biological condition of a waterbody that uses biological surveys and other direct measurements of resident biota (macroinvertebrates, algae, diatoms) in surface waters. Data collected from bioassessments can be used to determine whether the biological health of the waterbody is what would be expected if pollution and other water quality stressors were not causing an effect. Reference conditions define the biological assemblages expected under minimal human influence and are fundamental to a bioassessment program. Surveying reference sites are necessary because they set objective and defensible benchmarks for attainment of ecological condition objectives, account for natural variation in expected biological assemblages in different physical settings across the state, and identify high quality watersheds to prioritize protection efforts. Reference program data can also be used to help define physical habitat expectations and thus, help separate physical habitat impairment from water quality impairment. To account for the large amounts of natural variation in the biology in California streams, reference sites are chosen from throughout the state. A subset of these sites must be sampled repeatedly over time to account for inter-annual variation at reference sites, and support the ongoing development and refinement of biological and physical condition indicator scoring tools (MMIs, O/E models, tiering of condition expectations).

Visit #25374 @Landels-Hill Big Creek Reserve

Approved

Under Project # 23798 | Research

Reference Condition Management Program

professional - California Department of Fish and Game

Reservation Members(s)

Group of 4 Faculty Jun 14, 2011 (1 days)

Reserve Resources(s) | Create Invoice

Day use 4 Jun 14 (3 hours)
Day Use Only 4 Jun 14 (3 hours)