Long-Term Watershed Monitoring Program
To ensure that the Clean Water Atlanta improvements are achieving
the necessary water quality improvements, the City will conduct
a Long-Term Watershed Monitoring Program (WMP) to monitor the
water quality before, during and after the improvements
are implemented. Currently, several streams within the city are
listed in the state 305 (b) report as partially supporting or
not supporting their designated use. City staff and consultants,
working with the U.S.
Geological Survey (“USGS”), have begun setting
up monitoring stations to gather biological and water quality
data on metro streams including Nancy, Peachtree, Proctor, Sandy,
Camp, and Utoy Creeks, as well as the South River.
The WMP will help the City to document biological and habitat
conditions in the City’s major watersheds, as well as
identify sources of pollution and other impairments. Information
gathered from the WMP will also help the City to document stream
improvement and any pollutant reduction that can be attributed
to program implementation, consolidate Water Quality Program
sampling requirements to provide data to support the City’s
stormwater permitting program and identify new programs to address
streams requiring further action by providing the data necessary
to make decisions about the direction of the City’s future
programs. Finally, the WMP will provide water quality data available
to citizens, Adopt-a-Stream programs, other environmental organizations
and stakeholders throughout the region, in support of public
education and watershed stewardship programs.
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