Technical Support for Assesment for the State of The Chesapeake Bay and The Chesapeake Bay Watershed

Objectives

Three separate positions will be filled by USGS personnel: (1) Monitoring Coordinator, (2) Quality Assurance Officer, and (3) Land Data Manager. The Monitoring Coordinator supports the Monitoring and Analysis Subcommittee, the Tidal Monitoring and Analysis Workgroup, and the Non-tidal Monitoring Workgroup. The Monitoring Coordinator may act as a project officer on up to 4 Chesapeake Bay Program grants in subject areas identified by the Monitoring Subcommittee as critical for reaching Chesapeake 2000 Agreement water quality goals. Incumbent is expected to take EPA¿s project officer training course and any refresher courses recommended by EPA. The Quality-Assurance Officer (1) assists Bay Program Project Officers in determining and interpreting quality-assurance requirements for individual grants and work plans, (2) reviews Quality-Assurance Project Plans and coordinates tracking and approval of the Plans, (3) prepares and distributes quality-assurance training and guidance materials, and (4) determines priorities for field and laboratory awaits based on data analysis problems, and poor performance on reference samples and blind/split samples. The Land Data Manager (1) establishes and leads an internal Land Data Team and hosts quarterly meetings to identify and address the land data needs of the Bay Program, (2) administers grants to remote sensing data and data-analysis providers, (3) plays a leadership role in coordinating data acquisition and analysis efforts in the Bay watershed, and (4) works with the Bay Program Subcommittees and GIS Team to develop landscape indicators.

Statement of Problem

The commercial, economic, and recreational value of the Chesapeake Bay and its watershed has been degraded due to water-quality problems, loss of habitat, and over-harvesting of living resources. The bay was listed as an impaired water body in 1999 under the Clean Water Act, and must show improved water quality by 2010. The Chesapeake Bay Program has been overseeing efforts to restore the Bay. The USGS has conducted studies related to the Bay since the late 1970's, and has developed a science plan to to provide integrated science for effective ecosystem conservation and restoration. Restoration efforts, including monitoring, water quality sampling, and land use assessment, are implemented by various agencies of several States and the federal government. Consistency of methods across the agencies is critical to a coordinated effort. The most effective means of assuring consistency is to have designated individuals with appropriate technical expertise dedicated to coordinating the work being undertaken by Bay partners in key assessment efforts.

Strategy and Approach

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