Vital Signs Guidance

Preserving water resources of the national parks unimpaired for the enjoyment of future generations is a fundamental purpose of the National Park Service. Critical to this endeavor is understanding the condition of water resources in the National Parks. Park managers across the country are confronted with increasingly complex and challenging issues that require a broad based understanding of park water resources as a basis for making decisions, working with other agencies, and communicating with the public to protect park hydrologic systems and aquatic species. The water quality and aquatic resource components of the Vital Signs program provide park managers with the information they need to protect natural water systems and native aquatic species. The Park Service has embarked on a new era of science-based management to provide park managers with the information they need to understand and better protect resources. Water is a critical component of this strategy in park Vital Signs monitoring and a national effort is underway to characterize the current status and determine trends in the condition of park aquatic resources. Trend information is essential to assess the effectiveness of management and restoration activities and to provide early warning of independent threats.

This page provides highly technical guidance (and links to guidance) primarily for Park Service staff and their cooperators involved in the water quality monitoring component of Vital Signs under the Natural Resource Challenge. The information is generally not useful to the lay public but may be a resource for scientists or discipline specialists interested in a better understanding of long-term water quality and aquatic resource monitoring in general, and specifically this Park Service resource monitoring program.

WRD Guidance Documents

WRD & InterAgency Support Materials

Vital Signs Announcements NEW

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