Assessment
Water
quality monitoring in the Cheney Reservoir and the watershed provides
an ongoing picture of watershed health. Water quality data is essential
to determining the current condition of the watershed, setting goals
for improvement, and measuring progress toward those goals.
Some of the monitoring in this watershed, such as that done by the U.S.
Geological Survey, provides hard data on physical and chemical attributes.
Biological monitoring adds another dimension with the assessment of
habitat and the range of macroinvertebrate species living within the
watershed. Computer modeling programs of the watershed (AnnAGNPS) can
be calibrated with actual monitoring data to help project the results
of improved management in the watershed. Student monitoring programs
provide another layer of monitoring which serves to introduce young
citizens to water quality issues as well as contributing additional
data.
