2. OHIO RIVER MONITORING AND ASSESSMENT Program Overview

3. ORSANCO Established in 1948  Total Budget - $40,000  2 Employees – Executive Director, Administrative Assistant  Headquarters Office  Support of Commissioner Travel  Not enough $$ to do any monitoring

4. Monitoring in the 1950s: the Water Users Network  ORSANCO requested data from utilities and industries that monitored the river at their intakes.  Approximately 30 participants  Mostly physical parameters: Temp, pH, turbidity, hardness  No cost to ORSANCO  Parameters and monitoring frequency varied  No QC

5. Monitoring in the 1960s: Electronic Monitors  Technology developed in the late 50s with a Cincinnati electronics firm.  4 primary parameters (Temp, pH, DO, Conductivity)  Additional parameters at times – chloride, sri, orp  Network consisted of 24 sites at its peak

7. Monitoring in the 1970s: Increased federal support  106 grant nearly doubled Commission resources.  States decided to charge ORSANCO with monitoring and assessment of the Ohio River and lower reaches of major tributaries  Monitoring Strategy Team: states, US EPA, USGS, US COE  Ambient network: 36 sites (22 Ohio River, 14 tributary)

8. Monitoring in the 1970s: Fish Studies  Aquatic Life studies conducted in the 1960s, but not continued as routine program.  Lock Chamber studies begun in 1975 as ongoing effort.  Fish tissue analysis added in 1976.

9. Monitoring in the 1980s: Toxics Concerns  Organics Detection System established to monitor for unreported spills.  Increased resources for fish tissue analysis.  Special studies of portions of the river with high incidence of toxics.

10. Monitoring in the 1990s: Concern with Specific Use Protection  Electrofishing and macroinvertebrate sampling added to improve assessment of aquatic life support.  Bacteria monitoring redesigned to allow assessment of contact recreation support.  Wet weather studies in three urban areas  Atrazine monitoring for drinking water protection.

11. Monitoring in the 21 st Century: Incorporating new technologies  High volume sampling  Mobile lab – use of Colilert  Additional pathogen analyses  Studies of emerging contaminants with US EPA, USGS

12. Current and Recent special studies  Nutrients and Algae  Total Dissolved Solid and Mineral Constituents  Mercury

13. Keys to Success  Commitment to good science  Dedicated resources  Collaboration