Table 2. IEPA water monitoring program design summary.
No. of Stations/ Special Field
Monitoring Program/Activity Sampling Approach Surveys/Year Equipment Needed Summary/Comments
Fixed Station Monitoring
Ambient Water Quality Monitoring
Network (AWQMN)
Core Pesticide Stations
Mississippi River
Water Chemistry 213 Sites Statewide/
year
Hydrolabs, USGS cranes, suspended sediment
point samplers, peristaltic pumps, filtering
equipment, bacteria incubators, split churn,
weighted bottle sampler.
AWQMN sampling is conducted out of the Marion (66 sites), Springfield
(67), and Des Plaines Regional Offices (68). Each site is sampled 9 times
per year on a cycle of once every 6 weeks (see Appendix 2). An
additional 10 sites on the Mississippi River are monitored quarterly.
Ambient Lake Monitoring
Program (ALMP)
Ill. Clean Lakes Prog. (ICLP)
Vol. Lake Mont. Prog.(VLMP)
Water chemistry/lake
quality assessments
ALMP 50 Lakes/ year
ICLP varies annually
VLMP 180 lakes/yr
Hydrolabs, Kemmerer sampler, Petite Ponar,
weighted bottle sampler, Secchi disk,
Chlorophyll filtering equipment, 16' boat, and
4WD vehicle
14 to19 Lakes are sampled annually in each region. Each lake is
sampled 5 times: April, June, July, August, and October. Sampling may
include shoreline erosion and macrophyte assessments and other
indicators of lake quality.
Great Lakes Program Water Chemistry
Fish Contaminants
77 Water Chemistry
7 Fish Contaminant
City of Chicago sampling vessel
IDNR electrofishing gear
Water chemistry is sampled monthly March through November per a
memorandum of agreement with the City of Chicago. Fish sampling is
accomplished spring and fall through IDNR.
Point Source
Facility -Related Stream Surveys
(FRSS)
Water Chemistry, effluent,
habitat quality
macroinvertebrates, and
occasionally, fish
20 to 30 surveys/year
7 - 15 surveys/yr by
each regional monitoring
office
Aquatic dip nets, No. 30 sieves, hip boots and
waders, Price Standard Current meter or Gurley
Meter.
Each FRSS consists of sampling conducted upstream and downstream
of wastewater treatment plants and the number of sites may vary from
three to seven or more. Sampling may be conducted in response to legal,
CSO, TMDL, WQ standards issues, or plant performance & toxicity
issues.
Intensive/Special Surveys
Intensive Basin Surveys Water chemistry, habitat
quality, fish,
macroinvertebrates,
sediment chemistry, fish
tissue
Six to eight basins
annually; one to three
surveys in each regional
office (Des Plaines,
Marion, and Springfield)
Electric seine, back pack shocker, seines, sport
yak, 1800 watt generator, scale/ measuring
board, aquatic fish/dip nets, hip boots/waders,
30 mesh sieve, sediment sampling equipment,
Price Standard Current meter / Gurley meter.
Basin surveys are conducted on a 5-year cycle cooperatively with the
Illinois Department of Natural Resources (IDNR); each basin survey may
consist of approximately 10 to 35 stations.
Special Surveys Metric/parameter
coverage as necessary for
survey objectives
Variable As required Special surveys may consist of mini-intensive surveys, sediment
chemistry or fish contaminant surveys, lake quality assessments, livestock
waste sampling, toxic contaminants, or monitoring to satisfy conditions of
grant-funded projects.
TMDL Monitoring Metric/parameter
coverage as necessary for
survey objectives
Variable As required Surveys may consist of mini-intensive surveys or surveys of specific
303(d)-listed water body segments to determine causes/sources of
impairment, or water chemistry characteristics for developing waterbody
loadings, or stream improvements following TMDL implementation.
Groundwater
Ambient Network of Community
Water Supply Wells (CWS Network)
Water Chemistry 350 Sites Statewide/
biannually
Hydrolabs CWS Network sampling is conducted out of the Rockford Regional Office
and Springfield Cent ral Office. Each site is sampled 1 time per year on a
biennial rotation with the Rotating Monitoring Network.
Rotating Monitoring Network Water Chemistry 350 Sites Statewide/
biannually
Hydrolabs Rotating Monitoring Network sampling is conducted out of the Rockford
Regional Office and Springfield Central Office. Sampling stations are
varied based upon program needs and are sampled 1 time per year on a
biennial rotation with the CWS Network.
Nonpoint Source (NPS)
Assessments
Watershed land use data
collection
In conjunction with
intensive surveys and/or
as needed
Topographic maps, aerial photographs, Natural
Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) data
No water sampling conducted. Staff collect information on land use and
critical areas within a watershed which contribute to NPS water quality
impairments.
