Surface Water Ambient Monitoring

The Surface Water Ambient Monitoring Program, or SWAMP, is a statewide monitoring effort designed to assess the conditions of surface waters throughout the state of California. The program is administered by SWRCB. Responsibility for implementation of monitoring activities resides with the nine RWQCB's that have jurisdiction over their specific geographical areas of the state.

SWAMP also hopes to capture monitoring information collected under other State and Regional Board Programs such as the State's TMDL (Total Maximum Daily Load), Nonpoint Source, and Watershed Project Support programs. SWAMP does not conduct effluent or discharge monitoring which is covered under National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permits and Waste Discharge Requirements (WDR).

The following existing surface water monitoring programs have been included as part of SWAMP: State Mussel Watch, Toxic Substance Monitoring Program, Toxicity Testing Program, and Coastal Fish Contamination Program.

Steps are being taken to ensure that high quality data is produced by SWAMP efforts statewide. The SWAMP Quality Assurance and Quality Control Project Plan (QAPP) can be found at: http://www.waterboards.ca.gov/water_issues/programs/swamp/qapp.shtml
This QAPP to be used as the statewide standard for all surface water monitoring conducted under various State grant programs.

A SWAMP database is currently being developed. Once in operation, the database will serve as a central repository of all data collected by SWAMP. This database will eventually be included in the State Board's Water Information Network (WIN). All data will eventually be fed to STORET, managed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

A detailed description of the information management system that will support data capture and reporting during the initiation of SWAMP is included as Appendix I of the SWAMP QAPP.

The SWAMP program in the North Coast Region is designed to rotate intensive monitoring through watersheds on a five-year cycle, as well as sample permanent long-term stations on a quarterly basis. Due to budgetary constraints only two years of data were collected under SWAMP, primarily in the North Coastal area and the Klamath River basin. Those data include typical water quality constituents such as dissolved oxygen, minerals, nutrients (nitrogen and phosphorus), and heavy metals, as well as pesticides in specific instances.

The SWAMP effort in fiscal year 2003-04 (July 2003-June 2004) will focus on developing techniques for screening for environmental endocrine disruptors, and some preliminary sampling. A grant proposal to fund SWAMP in a reduced mode in the Central Coast, San Francisco Bay, and the North Coast have been submitted to the SWRCB for consideration.

For more information on the North Coast Region’s program, please contact Rich Fadness at 707-576-6718 or RFadness@waterboards.ca.gov. For more information on the statewide program in general, visit the SWAMP homepage at: http://www.waterboards.ca.gov/water_issues/programs/swamp/