Monitoring the Effectiveness of Best Management Practices on the Newaukum River, Washington State Department of Ecology

The Newaukum River and its tributaries are a small watershed that drains into the Chehalis River. The Chehalis River basin has recently become an area of focus for implementing projects that are intended to improve water quality and salmon habitat. In order to achieve this goal the Chehalis Lead Entity has chosen the Newaukum River as an area to focus restoration activities, with the intention of applying what is learned to the larger Chehalis River restoration effort.

This Quality Assurance Project Plan describes a long-term monitoring strategy that is intended to quantify the effectiveness of BMPs implemented in the Newaukum River and provide feedback to landowners, conservation, and resource coordinators with regards to the effectiveness of implemented actions. Specifically, effectiveness will be assessed by measuring changes of specific parameters before and after as well as upstream and downstream of BMP treatment areas. Changes will be measured using annual Watershed Health Assessments, bracketed bacteria sampling, and continuous water quality monitoring data from critical periods. These measures will then be assessed for change using GIS and statistical analysis.