South Carolina Estuarine and Coastal Assessment Program (SCECAP)
The primary objective of the South Carolina Estuarine and Coastal Assessment Program (SCECAP) is to evaluate overall estuarine habitat quality and biotic condition throughout the state's coastal zone in a manner that is integrated with and complementary to the SC Department of Health and Environmental Control (SCDHEC) Water Quality Monitoring Program. Sites are selected each year to represent both open water (rivers, bays and sounds) and tidal creek habitats (important nursery areas) using sampling methods that permit us to quantify the percentage of each habitat type that meets, or does not meet, a desired level of quality. Approximately 60 sites are sampled each year to measure water quality, sediment quality, and biological condition. The eighth year of sampling for this program was completed in the summer of 2006, and the results of monitoring have been published in a series of biannual reports: 1999-2000, 2001-2002, 2003-2004 (pending), 2005-2006 (sample processing still in progress). During the 2003-2004 survey period, approximately 84% of the state's estuarine habitat had good water quality, 73% had good sediment quality, and 80% of the state's estuarine habitat was considered to be in good condition when water quality, sediment quality and biotic condition measures were considered collectively. Less than 5% of the state's estuarine habitat was considered to be in poor condition with respect to each of these measures, with the rest of the habitat ranking as fair. As was observed in the earlier surveys, many of the condition measures were worse in tidal creek habitats compared to the larger open water bodies. Protection of these critical nursery habitats is critical to the sustainability of our fisheries. Since the start of SCECAP monitoring there has been a 13% decrease in the amount of South Carolina’s open water estuarine habitat that is considered to be in good condition. A substantial portion of the funding for this program is obtained from the USEPA National Coastal Assessment Program. This program may not be continued past 2006. More information on the SCECAP program, including all reports, is available at http://www.dnr.sc.gov/marine/scecap/
Program Coordinator:
Dr. Bob Van Dolah
843-953-9819
Tidal Creek Monitoring and Reporting Program (EMP ACT)
The Tidal Creek Monitoring and Reporting Program conducted in cooperation with USGS and the City of Charleston was completed in FY 04-05. This program was initiated to assess the stormwater runoff entering into the tidal creeks in the Charleston Harbor Estuary and then convey the information to the public. Four tidal creeks representing various levels of suburban/urban development were chosen for this study. Three sites were monitored in each creek during storm events, as well as some dry events. A broad suite of parameters were monitored, including nutrients, biochemical oxygen demand, suspended sediments, trace metals, fecal coliform, and limited sampling for organics. A web site (www.charlestonempact.net) was developed to provide text and data obtained from this project and the final report describing all of the findings of this study was submitted to the City of Charleston. This study provided information which has led to a more extensive evaluation of other tidal creeks in South Carolina that is described in the following section. Some of the major findings of the tidal creek monitoring program were that pollutant concentrations were much higher in developed versus undeveloped tidal creeks and concentrations were highest in the headwaters of all creeks. For some measures, such as nutrient concentrations, there was no difference in concentrations found during rainfall events versus dry periods. The study also provided some of the first available loadings data for nutrients, fecal coliform bacteria, and other pollutants that will be useful for coastal managers.
Monitoring and Assessment Program for NOAA's Oceans and Human Health Intiative
A Monitoring and Assessment Program for NOAA's Oceans and Human Health Initiative was initiated in October 2005 to study linkages between land use and the environmental and biological quality of associated tidal creeks.. This is an ongoing cooperative project between the SCDNR and NOAA's Hollings Marine Laboratory. Eleven tidal creeks and their associated watersheds, ranging from minimally to highly developed, were selected and sampled during the winter and summer of 2005. A variety of parameters have been measured along the length of the creeks including salinity, dissolved oxygen, nutrients, aquatic pathogens, sediment quality and chemistry, and benthic and fish community samples. We are processing these samples and the data are being combined with a wide variety of other data sets into a relational database. Project staff will use the database to develop a tidal creek classification scheme. In addition, they will examine a variety of questions including changes in environmental and biological measures along the creek as well as changes in measure related the types and intensity of development in the watersheds. To date, the nutrient and pathogen samples have been processed and the data have been visually evaluated for the winter and summer 2005. Total nitrogen and total phosphorus concentrations were generally higher in the headwaters of creek systems and in more developed watersheds. Concentrations of bacterial indicators tended to be higher in the summer while those of viral indicators tended to be higher in winter. Concentrations of all tested microbes were generally higher in the headwaters of the creeks systems and in more developed watersheds.
MRRI Program Coordinator:
Derk C. Bergquist
843-953-9074