A5 PROBLEM DEFINITION/BACKGROUND

In 1991, the Texas Legislature passed the Texas Clean River Act (Senate Bill 818) in response to growing concerns that water resource issues were not being pursued in an integrated, systematic manner. The act requires that ongoing water quality assessments be conducted for each river basin in Texas, an approach that integrates water quality issues within the watershed. The CRP legislation mandates that “each river authority (or local governing entity) shall submit quality-assured data collected in the river basin to the commission.” “Quality-assured data” in the context of the legislation means “data that comply with commission rules for surface water quality monitoring programs, including rules governing the methods under which water samples are collected and analyzed and data from those samples are assessed and maintained.” This QAPP addresses the program developed between the SRA and the TCEQ to carry out the activities mandated by the legislation. The QAPP was developed and will be implemented in accordance with provisions of the Quality Management Plan for the Clean Rivers Program (most recent version).

The purpose of this QAPP is to clearly delineate SRA QA policy, management structure, and procedures which will be used to implement the QA requirements necessary to verify and validate the surface water quality data collected. The QAPP is reviewed by the TCEQ to help ensure that data generated for the purposes described above are scientifically valid and legally defensible. This process will ensure that data collected under this QAPP and submitted to the statewide database have been collected and managed in a way that guarantees its reliability and therefore can be used in water quality assessments and other programs deemed appropriate by the TCEQ. Project results will be used to support the achievement of Clean Rivers Program objectives as contained in the Clean Rivers Program Guidance and Reference Guide FY 2008 -2009.

The SRA Environmental Services Division (ESD) collects surface water quality data as part of its commitment to water quality protection in the Sabine Basin. This Water Quality Monitoring Program (WQMP) includes routine monitoring and analyses of physical, chemical, bacteriological, and biological parameters. SRA also conducts special investigations concerning pollution complaints.

Additional monitoring requirements have been brought about through the implementation of the TCRP. This additional systematic monitoring program complements the existing routine monitoring by providing information on the many subwatersheds not covered by the routine monitoring. The systematic monitoring utilizes biological screening studies in combination with routine physical and chemical parameters to provide data on the health of aquatic life and long-range water quality protection. The systematic monitoring also includes field investigations to provide data on subwatersheds, which have never been sampled.

The basin topography has been used to divide the Basin into 110 subwatersheds (24 of these are located in Louisiana), which are organized into 7 reaches. A ‘reach’ of the main-stem of the River roughly corresponds to the old segment system but the reaches are based on hydrography and similarity of land features. This system allows a manager to determine which areas have adequate water quality information and which areas do not. The subwatershed approach also incorporates risk factors such as municipal and industrial outfalls, solid waste sites, urban and rural land use, etc., into the decision making process.

Water quality data is analyzed using the data analysis program developed by SRA following guidance from the TCEQ. The Routine and Special Study Monitoring programs are reviewed each year to consider revisions in every aspect of the programs.

Monitoring plans were developed by the SRA and other monitoring partners in cooperation with TCEQ staff at the annual coordinated monitoring meetings. Sampling for 24-hour dissolved oxygen monitoring will be conducted on a site in the Tenaha arm of Toledo Bend Reservoir and on one site in the Caddo Creek arm of Lake Tawakoni.

Additional sampling will be conducted under this QAPP by City of Longview personnel to provide data from sites not covered by the SRA sampling program.

A6 PROJECT/TASK DESCRIPTION

SRA will conduct monitoring at routine monitoring sites to adequately characterize water quality trends and monitor progress in protecting or restoring water in the Sabine Basin. All monitoring plans are coordinated with the TCEQ regional offices to avoid duplication of effort. The routine monitoring sites include 44 sampling sites that are monitored monthly for routine physical and chemical parameters. Selected sites are also monitored annually for metals in water. Additional sites may be monitored for 24-hour dissolved oxygen parameters to determine aquatic life use support. Details of the monitoring schedule, parameters, and sampling locations are included in Appendix B.

Routine monitoring will be conducted by the City of Longview at two sampling sites on Lake Cherokee.

See Appendix A for the project-related work plan tasks and schedule of deliverables for a description of work defined in this QAPP.

See Appendix B for sampling design and monitoring pertaining to this QAPP.

Amendments to the QAPP

Revisions to the QAPP may be necessary to address incorrectly documented information or to reflect changes in project organization, tasks, schedules, objectives, and methods. Requests for amendments will be directed from the SRA Project Manager to the CRP Project Manager electronically. Amendments are effective immediately upon approval by the SRA Project Manager, the SRA QAO, the CRP Project Manager, the CRP Lead QA Specialist, and the CRP Project QA Specialist. They will be incorporated into the QAPP by way of attachment and distributed to personnel on the distribution list by the SRA Project Manager.

Special Project Appendices

Projects requiring QAPP appendices will be planned in consultation with the SRA and the TCEQ Project Manager and TCEQ technical staff. Appendices will be written in an abbreviated format and will reference the Basin QAPP where appropriate. Appendices will be approved by the SRA Project Manager, the SRA QAO, and the CRP Project Manager, the CRP Project QA Specialist, the CRP Lead QA Specialist and other TCEQ personnel as appropriate. Copies of approved QAPPs appendices will be distributed by the SRA to project participants before data collection activities commence.

A7 QUALITY OBJECTIVES AND CRITERIA

The purpose of routine water quality monitoring is to collect surface water quality data needed for conducting water quality assessments in accordance with TCEQ’s Guidance for Assessing Texas Surface and Finished Drinking Water Quality Data. These water quality data, and data collected by other organizations (e.g., USGS, TCEQ, etc.), will be subsequently reconciled for use and assessed by the TCEQ.

Systematic watershed monitoring is defined by sampling that is planned for a short duration (1 to 2 years) and is designed to: screen waters that would not normally be included in the routine monitoring program, monitor at sites to check the water quality situation, and investigate areas of potential concern. Due to the limitations regarding these data (e.g., not temporally representative, limited number of samples, biological sampling does not meet the specimen vouchering requirements), the data will be used to determine whether any locations have values exceeding the TCEQ’s water quality criteria and/or screening levels (or in some cases values elevated above normal). The SRA will use this information to determine future monitoring priorities. These water quality data, and data collected by other organizations (e.g., USGS, TCEQ, etc.), will be subsequently reconciled for use and assessed by the TCEQ.

The measurement performance specifications to support the project purpose for a minimum data set are specified in Table A7.1 and in the text following. The SRA laboratory will perform all of the analyses listed in Table A7.1.

Table A7.1 - Measurement Performance Specifications

PARAMETER	UNITS	MATRIX	METHOD	PARAMETER CODE	AWRL	Limit of Quantitation (LOQ)	PRECISION (RPD of LCS/LCSD)	BIAS %Rec. of LCS	LOQ CHECK STANDARD %Rec	LAB
Field Parameters
pH	pH/ units	water	EPA 150.1 and TCEQ SOP, V1	00400	NA*	NA	NA	NA	NA	Field
DO	mg/L	water	SM 4500-O G and TCEQ SOP, V1	00300	NA*	NA	NA	NA	NA	Field
Conductivity	uS/cm	water	EPA 120.1 and TCEQ SOP, V1	00094	NA*	NA	NA	NA	NA	Field
Chlorine residual**	mg/L	water	SM 4500-Cl G and TCEQ SOP, V1	50060	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	Field
Present Weather	1-clear 2-partly cloudy 3-cloudy 4-rain 5-other	NA	NA	89966	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	Field
Salinity	ppt, marine only	water	SM 2520 and TCEQ SOP, V1	00480	NA*	NA	NA	NA	NA	Field
Temperature	°C	water	SM 2550 B and TCEQ SOP V1	00010	NA*	NA	NA	NA	NA	Field
TDS,calculated	mg/L	water	calculation	70294	NA		NA	NA	NA	Field
Secchi Depth	meters	water	TCEQ SOP V1	00078	NA*	NA	NA	NA	NA	Field
Days since last significant rainfall	days	NA	TCEQ SOP V1	72053	NA*	NA	NA	NA	NA	Field
Maximum pool width***	meters	water	TCEQ SOP V2	89864	NA*	NA