LAKE SALVADOR EMPACT SAMPLING

PROGRAM DESCRIPTION

This sampling program is made possible by an Environmental Monitoring for Public Access and Community Tracking (EMPACT) grant to Jefferson Parish through the Gulf of Mexico Program of the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

The Jefferson Parish EMPACT project is using satellite imagery as well as on the ground water sample collection to monitor freshwater diversions and harmfull algal blooms (HABs) in Lake Salvador and associated water bodies. This program is a cooperative effort of several groups:

• The United States Geological Survey (USGS)
• The Coastal Studies Institute at Louisiana State University ( LSU CSI)
• The Coastal Ecology Institute at Louisiana State University ( LSU CEI)
• The Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium ( LUMCON)

The USGS has installed and is maintaining an in-situ continuous recording data station which monitors the following environmental parameters (this data is available through the USGS Web site):

• Water level, temperature, salinity, pH, Dissolved Oxygen, Turbidity, Fluorescence (Chlorophyll)
• Wind speed and direction, air temperature, precipitation

The Earth Scan Laboratory at the Coastal Studies Institute is responsible for the interpretation of the satellite images of the area. The images are posted on the Earth Scan Lab web site. Water samples are being collected (on a weekly basis) by Jefferson Parish and USGS personnal. These samples are being analyzed by the Coastal Ecology Laboratory for the following parameters (the results are presented as part of this Web Site):

• Water Salinity
• Pigments (Chlorophyll_a, Phaeophytin_a)
• Suspended Load (sediment and organic)
• Carbon (Total, Inorganic, Total Organic Carbon (TOC)
• Nutrients (Ammonium, Nitrate, Nitrite, Phosphate, Silicate)

The results from the weekly sample analysis will be used to aid in the interpretation of the satellite images. The algal species present in the water samples are being analyzed by researchers at LUMCON.