The Long Term Resource Monitoring Program (LTRMP) is being implemented by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Upper Midwest Environmental Sciences Center (UMESC), in La Crosse, Wisconsin, under provisions contained in the Water Resources Development Act of 1986. In that Act, Congress recognized the Upper Mississippi River System (UMRS) as both a nationally significant ecosystem and a nationally significant commercial navigation system. Accordingly, the mission of the LTRMP is to provide decision makers with the information needed to maintain the Upper Mississippi River System as a viable multi-use large river ecosystem.

Summary

Three LTRMP field stations began taking limnological measurements in Pools 8, 13, and 26 of the Upper Mississippi River in summer 1988. Sampling in La Grange Pool of the Illinois River began in September 1989. A few months later (January 1990), LTRMP water quality sampling commenced in Pool 4 (Lake Pepin), and a year later (March 1991), sampling was begun on the Open River reach near Cape Girardeau, Missouri. All six field stations have operated continuously since joining the LTRMP. As the LTRMP field stations have grown, the parameters measured in water quality monitoring have gradually expanded. From 1988 to 1991, the LTRMP limnological sampling effort was limited to a basic suite of field measurements that required no laboratory analysis. A limited suite of laboratory analyses was added to the water quality effort in 1991 (these samples were analyzed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Waterways Experiment Station, in Vicksburg, Mississippi). In 1993, the LTRMP developed an internal analytical lab, and the list of parameters was further expanded. Some reduction in parameters is possible in 1996, but this decision is still pending. The basic design of the sampling effort was revised in 1993. From July 1988 through June 1993, the LTRMP performed weekly limnological measurements at 15-30 permanently fixed sampling locations in each study area. These sampling locations were chosen without randomization (or replication) to represent 23 general habitat types and typical river reaches in the UMRS. This approach did not meet the needs of the Program, and in June 1993, a new sampling design was implemented that incorporated both fixed-site sampling (at a revised set of sampling sites on a biweekly basis), stratified random sampling (on a quarterly basis), and an expanded set of measurements. Fixed-site sampling is now used to monitor tributaries, headwaters, tailwaters, and other points of special interest. Randomized sampling is used to characterize broad aquatic (habitat) areas. Special care is required to combine current data with data from the period prior to this design change. Interpretation of the stratified random sampling data collected after June 1993 also requires additional information. Users are strongly encouraged to consult the LTRMP Procedures Manual(s) and Upper Midwest Environmental Sciences Center staff to determine the applicability of these data to specific applications.

Reason for the Graphical Water Quality Database Browser

One of the key goals of the LTRMP is to provide timely and useful information to natural resource decision makers in the UMRS Basin. This information is available through standardized annual reports and Web access to Program data. However, data served in this manner require substantial post-processing by users as well as an intricate knowledge of the statistical sampling design. The goal of the Graphical Water Quality Database Browser is to present LTRMP water quality data in an intuitive, universally accessible manner that enhances the usefulness of the data to resource decision makers and the general public.

Reference

Soballe, D. M., and J. R. Fischer. 2004. Long Term Resource Monitoring Program Procedures: Water quality monitoring. U.S. Geological Survey, Upper Midwest Environmental Sciences Center, La Crosse, Wisconsin, March 2004. Technical Report LTRMP 2004-T002-1 (Ref. 95-P002-5). 73 pp. + Appendixes A-J

Disclaimer

These data have been generated by State agencies under contract with the Department of the Interior and the Upper Midwest Environmental Sciences Center (UMESC). Although these data have been processed successfully on a computer system at the UMESC, no warranty, expressed or implied, is made regarding the accuracy or utility of the data on any other system or for general or scientific purposes, nor shall the act of distribution constitute any such warranty. However, error correction is a continuing process, and the UMESC routinely makes changes to data as errors are discovered. The file date is referred to as the release date and should be mentioned in all references to data. These data have been provided as a unit package to ensure that you receive a valid data set collected in a consistent manner. Methods, purposes, and conditions can vary dramatically among other data sets from the UMESC or other sources unless the user fully understands the procedures and purposes used to create each set of data and can verify that data are comparable across sources.