SWAMP - Surface Water Ambient Monitoring Program
QUALITY ASSURANCE AND QUALITY CONTROL
Quality Assurance (QA) includes activities that ensure that data collected are of adequate quality given the monitoring objectives. Quality Assurance consists of two separate but interrelated activities: Quality Control (QC); and Quality Assessment. Quality control refers to the technical activities employed to ensure that the data collected are adequate given the monitoring objectives to be tested. Quality Assessment activities are implemented to quantify the effectiveness of the quality control procedures.
Some of the steps being taken to ensure that high quality data is produced by SWAMP efforts include:
- Implementation of provisions described in the Quality
Assurance Program Plan (QAPP) document, otherwise
referred to as the Quality Assurance Management
Plan (QAMP);
- External expert peer review of program's scientific,
technical and programmatic processes and finding;
- External third party referee QA program to provide external QA services including QA planning and review assistance, conducting/assisting with laboratory performance audits, data validation and verification efforts.
QA Support Material
- New ! SWAMP QAPP Advisor - A system to assist in writing Quality Assurance Project Plans
- QAPP
Template - SWAMP-Compatible, March 2004
- SWAMP-QA
Checklist - for QAPP Review, April 2004
- How to be Comparable with SWAMP
- Funding
Opportunities for Citizen's Groups - provided
by the Clean Water Team (CWT)
- Monitoring
Design and Quality Assurance Workshop Presentations - for Projects Compatible with the SWAMP Program
- Performance Based Method System Protocol (PBMS)
- SWAMP Program Quality Assurance Project Plan (QAPP) (Quality Assurance Management Plan) for the State of California's Surface Water Ambient Monitoring Program
More Information
- For Additional Background, Review U.S.EPA's
Volunteer Monitor's Guide to Quality Assurance Project
Plans
- For technical questions on the QAPP (QAMP), please refer to the State Water Resources Control Board Quality Assurance Officer Bill Ray at (916) 341-5583 or email: bray@waterboards.ca.gov.