The Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ), Water Bureau (WB), is soliciting surface water quality monitoring recommendations for Fiscal Year (FY) 2008 to support implementation of the watershed-specific component of our Strategic Environmental Quality Monitoring Program for
Michigan
's Surface Waters (Strategy). The primary goals of the Strategy include:
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Assess the current status and condition of individual waters of the state and determine whether water quality standards are being met.
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Provide data to support the MDEQ water quality protection programs (i.e., National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System, Nonpoint Source (NPS), and Site Remediation) and evaluate their effectiveness.
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Detect new and emerging water quality problems.
In FY 2008, the WB intends to target the majority of our monitoring resources to those watersheds highlighted in the attached Figure to remain consistent with our watershed permitting process and monitoring strategy. However, we will consider surface water quality monitoring recommendations for other Michigan watersheds, including the Great Lakes and their connecting channels. We are particularly interested in designing and conducting monitoring studies to help evaluate the effectiveness of individual NPS water quality improvement/protection projects that were funded using Clean Michigan Initiative or federal 319 monies.
The availability of Clean Michigan Initiative - Clean Water Fund monies have allowed the WB to greatly enhance its water quality monitoring capabilities. As a result, several types of monitoring activities can be recommended for consideration, including:
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Water chemistry monitoring.
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Sediment chemistry monitoring.
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Fish contaminant monitoring.
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Caged fish chemical bioconcentration studies.
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Fish and/or macroinvertebrate community assessment studies.
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Aquatic toxicity tests (ambient waters or effluents).
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Nuisance aquatic plant or algae growth assessment studies.
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Inland lake trophic status investigations.
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Escherichia
coli (E. coli) bacteria monitoring.
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Channel morphology studies.
A Water Quality Monitoring Request form is included below to help communicate your monitoring recommendations to the WB for consideration. It is available as both a .PDF file and a Microsoft word document, making it possible to electronically submit your surface water monitoring recommendations to the WB. All monitoring recommendations should be mailed, faxed, or e-mailed to Mr. Gary Kohlhepp at the following address:
Michigan Department of Environmental Quality
Water Bureau
P.O. Box 30273
Lansing, Michigan 48909-7773
kohlhepg@michigan.gov
Fax: 517-373-9958
Please contact Gary Kohlhepp (517-335-1289) if you have questions about water quality monitoring recommendations for 2008.
Map: 2008 Monitoring-Targeted Watersheds
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