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Region 5 Harbors Project Information
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This proposed project will establish a monitoring framework that can be used by all states in the Region to meet monitoring requirements under the Clean Water Act. A total of 43 Areas of Concern (AOCs) in the Region have been found to have impairments posing ecological and human health risks. The areas most affected are the harbors and embayments of major tributaries entering the Great Lakes.
This project will address the St. Louis Bay AOC (Figure 5-2), because it is typical of other harbors and embayments that are AOCs. The St. Louis River Drainage Basin covers approximately 4,900 square miles in the states of Minnesota and Wisconsin. The proposed approach involves the use of the EMAP probability- based sampling frame (perhaps in combination with another sampling frame to accommodate distinct physiographical sections of the study area) on a subregional scale. The project will follow the sampling and collection protocols of the EMAP-Surface Waters and the EMAP-Great Lakes Resource Groups. Indicators will be selected that address the most frequently impaired uses for all 43 AOCs in the Region.