Delaware (DEL) National Estuarine Research Reserve Metadata January-December 2002 Latest Revision: May 27, 2003

Water quality monitoring is conducted at 26 National Estuarine Research Reserves (NERR) at four locations within or adjacent to the reserve. The following parameters are collected at least every 30 minutes: water temperature, specific conductivity, salinity, percent saturation, dissolved oxygen concentration, water depth, pH and turbidity. All water quality data loggers will be deployed from a known depth from the bottom at each site.

Research objectives The principal objective of this study is to record long-term water quality data for Delaware Bay in order to observe any physical changes or trends in water quality over time. The three sites chosen for monitoring will assist in understanding the impacts of both urban and agricultural impacts on the watersheds. Scotton Landing, Lebanon Landing, and Division Street are located within the St. Jones River watershed, while the Blackbird Landing component is located in the Blackbird Creek watershed. Measurements are taken every 30 minutes over two week collecting periods at the Scotton Landing (SL), Blackbird Landing (BL), Lebanon Landing (LL), and Division Street (DS) sites.