Jump to main content.


Developing Design Structure - Objectives

The Design Team has developed a process to guide the development of a survey design for Aquatic Resource Monitoring.

The process includes several steps and feedback loops among the general components and information sources that lead to a survey design.  Completion of the process is required before field implementation.

An illustrative example of the design processes is presented based on the EMAP Western Pilot Program.

See Indiana Streams for another example.

The Design Process starts with the designation of the Monitoring Objectives

Western Pilot Objective for Streams and Rivers:

Describe the current ecological condition of flowing waters of the West (conterminous States of EPA Regions 8, 9, 10).

Specific Extent Objectives for the Study area, and each EPA Region and State are:

  • Total stream and river channel length
  • Total Perennial stream and river channel length
  • Total Non-Perennial stream and river channel length. (A secondary objective is to differentiate non-perennial streams into intermittent and ephemeral classes.)
  • Total stream and river channel length by natural and constructed channels.

Estimate for each State, EPA Region and Study Region:

  • Extent (total length) of perennial and non-perennial streams and rivers
  • Condition of perennial streams and rivers
Estimate for each special study area:
  • Extent of perennial streams and rivers
  • Condition of perennial streams and rivers
Programmatic definitions are required for each of the key terms within these objectives:
  1. perennial and non-perennial,
  2. streams,
  3. rivers,
  4. and condition.

Next Step

Local Navigation


Jump to main content.