Ambient Toxicity Monitoring Program

Ambient water and sediment quality tests may be useful as waterbody-specific environmental indicators to identify trends in the occurrence of toxicity. Stations are strategically placed to identify toxicity from known or suspected sources and, therefore, the data set should not be used as an indicator of conditions across broad geographic areas. Ambient toxicity tests do not provide a direct measure of ecological health; therefore, test results are more useful for identifying water quality problems than for use as environmental indicators.

On a waterbody or station-specific basis, data will be useful as an indicator in shorter terms. For example, the installation of dechlorination or nitrification facilities at a specific treatment facility, or the implementation of nonpoint source controls, such as restoration of riparian zones around row crop agricultural land to sequester herbicides or pesticides, may result in an immediate reduction or elimination of toxicity.