Quality Assurance and Quality Control Program:
Water Quality Monitoring

The purpose of the Quality Assurance and Quality Control (QA/QC) Program is to ensure that the environmental data generated by the Division of Water Quality (DWQ) and its cooperators is of known and suitable quality and quantity to meet DWQ’s water quality monitoring goals and objectives. High-quality data enables DWQ to make sound decisions affecting Utah’s water quality.

Documentation

A key aspect of DWQ’s QA/QC program is documentation. The Division’s Quality Assurance Program Plan (QAPP) is meant to be an umbrella document outlining the minimum QA/QC requirements for environmental data collection. Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) describe how DWQ collects, handles, processes, and analyzes environmental data. DWQ generates SOPs for any procedure that becomes routine, even when published methods are utilized. The use of SOPs ensures data comparability, defensibility, accuracy, and reduces bias. Field manuals are produced when a set group of SOPs is used routinely for a specific monitoring program, such as the case for the Utah Comprehensive Assessment of Stream Ecosystems (UCASE) Program.

Final and Approved QA/QC Documentation

QAPP

• Quality Assurance Program Plan for Environmental Data Operations

Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs)

• Aquatic Benthic Macroinvertebrate Collection in Rivers and Streams
• Calibration, Maintenance, and Use of Multiparameter Water Quality Sondes
• Collection and Filtering Water Column and Benthic Chlorophyll-a Samples
• Collection and Identification of Harmful Algal Blooms
• Collection and Preparation of Fish Tissue for Analysis
• Collection of Macroinvertebrate Samples in Wetlands
• Collection of Sediment Samples in Wetlands
• Collection of Vegetation Samples in Wetlands
• Collection of Water Chemistry Samples in Streams and Wetlands 
• Collection of Zooplankton Samples in Wetlands
• Collection, Handling, and Quantification of Total Coliform and Escherichia Coli (E.coli) Samples
• Lake Water Sampling and Data Collection
• miniDOT Dissolved Oxygen Logger
• Pressure Transducer Installation and Maintenance
• Secchi Disk Depth Measurements
• Sediment Sampling on Stream Banks and Lake Shores
• Stormwater Monitoring Using Portable Samplers 
• Stream Flow Measurement

Field Manuals

• Utah Comprehensive Assessment of Stream Ecosystems (UCASE) Field Operations Manual