RESOURCES

San Diego Region - Surface Water Ambient Monitoring Program (SWAMP)

NEW!

A Report on the effects of wildfires on the biological conditions in southern California streams was recently released. You can find the 6-page management and the technical report here:

San Diego Regional Water Quality Data Portal

The San Diego Regional Water Quality Control Board is pleased to announce the beta release of the San Diego Regional Water Quality Data Portal. The purpose of this project is to improve public access and use of regional water quality data maintained by regulatory and regulated agencies, and non-profit organization. This Portal will focus on regional water quality data but will be also part of other State-wide initiatives to make water quality information more accessible.

To access the San Diego Regional Water Quality Portal, click here**, San Diego Regional Water Quality Portal

Other State-wide initiatives include:

My Water Quality

California Environment Data Exchange Network

** The system may go through frequent updates during the early stages of the initial release. We apologize if the Portal is temporarily unavailable. Please try again later.

Background

The Surface Water Ambient Monitoring Program (SWAMP) is a statewide monitoring effort designed to assess the conditions of surface waters throughout the State of California. The State Water Resources Control Board established the SWAMP program in 2000. Under the SWAMP program, "ambient" monitoring refers to any activity in which information about the status of the physical, chemical, and/or biological characteristics of the environment is collected to answer specific questions about the status and trends in water quality and/or beneficial uses of water. The primary responsibility for implementation of monitoring activities resides with the nine Regional Water Quality Control Boards that have jurisdiction over their specific geographical areas of the State.

The SWAMP program in San Diego is designed to support and expand water quality assessments of our region's waters [Clean Water Act (CWA) section 305(b)]; determine whether water quality standards are met to support listings or de-listings of water quality limited segments [CWA section 303(d)]; and to provide information to help make decisions about problems and locations that should be prioritized in order to initiate or support site-specific actions, such as traditional enforcement. Additional objectives of the SWAMP are to identify long term trends in water quality, beneficial uses and habitat; support development and refinement of the Index of Biotic Integrity (IBI); develop lasting partnerships with stakeholders; and to disseminate information.

Under the SWAMP, we are collaborating to capture monitoring information collected through other State and Regional Water Board Programs such as the Total Maximum Daily Loads (TMDLs), Nonpoint Source, and Watershed Project Support programs. Monitoring under SWAMP does not include effluent or discharge monitoring, which is covered under the various Waste Discharge Requirements (WDR) issued by the Regional Water Boards. 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.

Regional Monitoring

New! A Report on the Ecological Conditions of Watersheds in Coastal Southern California: Progress Report of the Stormwater Monitoring Coalition's Stream Monitoring Program First Year (2009) was recently released. You can find the report here. Click here for the fact sheet.

For the first five years (July through June) of the SWAMP program, monitoring efforts in the San Diego Region were focused on main stem rivers and streams and major tributaries within the various hydrologic units. There are eleven hydrologic units in the San Diego Region: San Juan, Santa Margarita, San Luis Rey, Carlsbad, San Dieguito, Penasquitos, San Diego, Pueblo San Diego, Sweetwater, Otay and Tijuana. Monitoring efforts were focused on two hydrologic units in each of four years and three hydrologic units in the fifth year. This approach ensured that SWAMP monitoring was conducted in each hydrologic unit in the region over a five-year period. Monitoring was conducted for conventional water chemistry, water and sediment toxicity, fish tissue contamination, and bioassessment.

Click here for a map of SWAMP monitoring locations.

Click here for the San Diego SWAMP Regional Monitoring Strategy

Click here for the fact sheet of the San Diego SWAMP program

Click here for Executive Officer Report's on SWAMP

Click here for the technical report on the Regional Bioassessment Monitoring Program

Click here for the monitoring plan for improving the coordination of the watershed monitoring in the San Diego river watershed

The annual workplans for the San Diego SWAMP program are available for the following years:

Click here for the proposed SWAMP monitoring for FY 2010-11

2001-02
2002-03
2003-04
2004-05
2005-06 (2005-06 follow up)
2006-07
2008-10

More information regarding the ambient biological assessment monitoring program may be found on the San Diego Water Board's Website.

Statewide Monitoring

Click here for the statewide SWAMP program.

SWAMP recently released a report on Contaminants in Sport Fish from the California Coast, 2009: Summary Report on Year One of a Two-Year Screening Survey. This report focuses on urban coastal areas. You can find the fact sheet and the report on this website: http://www.waterboards.ca.gov/water_issues/programs/swamp/coast_study.shtml

Click here for the SWAMP 2009 Achievements Report. You can find the SWAMP 2009 Achievement Report here: http://www.waterboards.ca.gov/water_issues/programs/swamp/achievements/

NEW! Contaminants in Fish from California Lakes and Reservoirs: Summary Report on a Two-Year Screening Survey. SWAMP recently released a technical report presenting results from California’s largest ever survey of contaminants in sport fish from lakes and reservoirs Click here for the fact sheet. The entire report can be dowloaded here. You can find the fact sheet and the report on this website. Please link with text. http://www.waterboards.ca.gov/water_issues/programs/swamp/lakes_study.shtml

Click here to read the Executive Officer's Report on the Lake Study. It contains information on methlylmercury and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in the San Diego region.

Contaminants in Fish from California Lakes and Reservoirs: Technical Report on Year One of a Two-Years Screening Study Released. SWAMP recently released a technical report presenting results from the first year of a screening survey of the contaminant accumulation in fish from California lakes and reservoirs. Click here for the fact sheet. The entire report can be dowloaded here.

Data Availability

SWAMP data that has undergone the quality assurance process is available on the Internet. Toxicity information is not yet available on the Internet.

In order to access the SWAMP data visit: http://bdat.ca.gov

Select "Data Retrieval"

Select "Data Category" = water quality

Select "SWAMP" project or combine with multiple projects by holding down the "Ctrl" key.

Quality Assurance and Quality Control

A goal of SWAMP is to ensure high quality data is produced by SWAMP efforts statewide. Information and updates on SWAMP Quality Assurance and Quality Control can be found at http://www.waterboards.ca.gov/water_issues/programs/swamp/tools.shtml#qa

This website includes a template for preparing a SWAMP compatible QAPP for a surface water monitoring project. A new SWAMP Quality Assurance Program Plan (QAPrP) was released in 2008, and can be downloaded. The previous SWAMP QAPP from 2002 is available with Appendices. The San Diego SWAMP programs were covered under the following QAPPs:

SWAMP R9 rotational watershed sampling 2001-2006 (statewide QAPP 2002 statewide, Appendices can be downloaded here) SWAMP R9 follow up sampling 2006 (regional QAPP 2006)
SWAMP R9 bioassessment sampling 2007 and 2008 (regional QAPP 2007-08)
SWAMP R9 SMC bioassessment sampling 2009 and 2010 (statewide QAPP 2008 and SMC QAPP 2008)

New! A new QAPP for bioassessment is now available. SWAMP recently released a Quality Assuance and Project Plan for bioassessment studies in Southern Calfornia. Click here to download the new bioassessment QAPP.

For More Information

Please contact Lilian Busse at (858) 467-2971 for additional information.