October 1999
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(ESRI Shapefile with ArcGIS .lyr and ArcView 3x .avl)

Overview

Massachusetts Coastal Zone Management (MCZM), within the Executive Office of Environmental Affairs (EOEA), has compiled a water quality sampling GIS coverage for the Parker River/Essex Bay Area of Critical Environmental Concern (ACEC) project. The purpose of the project was to develop a regional picture of water quality information. The coverage has an associated database including information on who is collecting the samples and the parameters being measured for each site. The focus area for this project includes the areas between Salisbury and Gloucester. In ArcSDE the layer is named WQMSTAT_PT.

Methodology

CZM gathered existing information from agencies and organizations doing water quality sampling in this area, most of which was not in a GIS format. These agencies included: Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) Division of Marine Fisheries (DMF); Department of Fisheries, Wildlife & Environmental Law Enforcement (DFWELE) Division of Watershed Management (DWM); Ipswich River Watershed Association (IRWA); Massachusetts Audubon Society (MAS); Merrimack Valley Planning Commission (MVPC); Parker River Clean Watershed Association (PRCWA); and Woods Hole/Marine Biological Lab. Data was then compiled in ArcView as Shapefiles and joined with each agency's database. This process varied for each agency depending on their existing data format, described as follows:

DEP DMF: Data points were downloaded from MassGIS as an ArcInfo Export file and imported to ArcView. The associated database was compiled as a spreadsheet and joined with the shapefile.

DFWELE DWM, MVPC, Woods Hole/Marine Biological Lab: Data points and attributes were compiled by each agency and sent as an ArcView shapefile.

IRWA, MAS, PRCWA: Data points were identified by each agency on USGS 7.5-minute quadrangle maps and were then on-screen digitized using scanned quad images from MassGIS. The associated database was created from existing reports and reports that are in the process of being completed by agency staff.

Attributes

This data layer has a point attribute table with the following items:
ID ID number from the various agencies
STATN_CODE Station ID assigned by watershed team
STAT_CODE Station code including organization
STAT_NAME Station name as given by the organization monitoring
HOW_OFTEN How often samples were taken
PARAMETERS Parameters being sampled
STREAM Name of water where station is located
TOWN Name of town where station is located
METHOD How parameters were being tested
REPORT Report from which this information was received
SOURCE How station was located on the map
FECALCOLI Determines if fecal coliform was sampled for
DATE_START Date sample collection began
DATE_STOP Date sample collection ended
CONTACT Organization responsible for sampling site

Maintenance

All project work has been archived at MCZM offices. For further information, please contact the Data Manager at (617) 626-1222, MCZM, Boston, MA.

 

Last Updated 6/8/2007