Description: <DIV STYLE="text-align:Left;"><DIV><DIV><P><SPAN>The Surface Water Assessment Section (SWAS) within EGLE's Water Resources Division oversees the protection of the quality of surface waters throughout the State of Michigan. To do this, SWAS develops standards for the protection of water quality and monitors water, sediments, and aquatic life to ensure the viability of our aquatic ecosystems, that water quality standards are being met, and that surface waters meet designated uses. Assessment efforts focus on a subset (approximately 20%) of Michigan’s major watersheds each year, resulting in a five-year rotating watershed cycle shown in this dataset. Biological condition surveys and some fish and wildlife contaminant monitoring activities use this basin cycle to organize our monitoring effort. In addition to showing which watersheds will be monitored in a given year, this dataset can be used to find relevant watershed reports and identify biologists leading watershed monitoring. The watershed boundaries were developed by altering the 57 major watersheds as defined as the USGS’s 8-digit Hydrologic Unit Codes to produce a relatively even distribution of surface waters for monitoring cycle scheduling purposes. As a result, these watershed boundaries are not considered hydrologically “true” and should be used for spatial reference purposes only. More information pertaining to the sample design can be found in the </SPAN><A href="https://www.michigan.gov:443/documents/deq/wrd-swas-strategy-2017_556101_7.pdf" STYLE="text-decoration:underline;"><SPAN>Michigan Surface Water Monitoring Strategy 2017 update</SPAN></A><SPAN>. This dataset is updated semi-annually or when necessary to reflect staff changes and reassignments within SWAS. Please contact Chris Vandenberg (vandenbergc@michigan.gov) with any questions. </SPAN></P></DIV></DIV></DIV>
Copyright Text: Water Resources Division (WRD), Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE). Vandenberg (2021).