Unified Water Study
Monitoring Our Bays and Harbors Together
The Unified Water Study: Long Island Sound Embayment Research is a new water quality monitoring protocol developed so many different groups around Long Island Sound can engage in a coordinated effort to collect comparable data on the health of our bays and harbors.
Learn more in our project launch press release.
If you are interested in participating in this important study, please contact the Unified Water Study Coordinator, Peter Linderoth, at plinderoth@savethesound.org.
The Who, Why, and What
The Long Island Sound Funders Collaborative initiated this Sound-wide study after creating the first Long Island Sound Report Card in 2015 and finding a scarcity of comparable data for our bays and harbors. Save the Sound was selected to design and coordinate the study, working in collaboration with science advisors, other monitoring groups, and regulatory agencies (EPA, CTDEEP, NYSDEC, NYCDEP).
The resulting Unified Water Study (UWS) is designed to measure human impact on, and the relative health of, the bays and harbors of Long Island Sound. The findings will further our understanding of the Sound and inform and support our actions to preserve and protect it.
The study is now open to participation by any interested, qualifying group or community on the Sound. Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs), other study documentation, and in-person trainings are provided to all participating groups. Sources of funding are available to cover the cost of the study.
UWS measures dissolved oxygen (DO), chlorophyll a (Chl a), temperature (Temp), salinity, macrophytes and water clarity. Monitoring groups must follow all study procedures in their entirety to qualify for participation and to ensure consistent comparable data.
The Science Advisors to the UWS are Jamie Vaudrey, PhD, and Jason Krumholz, PhD. The UWS Coordinator is Peter Linderoth, plinderoth@savethesound.org. Additional guidance is provided by members of the Long Island Sound Study (LISS).
Monitoring Sites for 2017
Watersheds surrounding Sound bays and harbors
