Maintaining Water Quality in Voyageurs National Park

Voyageurs National Park is a recreational area with a high degree of water-based and water-oriented recreation and requires water quality surveillance. Bench mark (baseline) water quality data collected from 20 bench mark stations in the park allow the definition of water quality in the natural environment. The types of data required to assess potential water quality problems is identified. Water quality assessment is a necessary component of the overall recreational planning process. The goal of water quality assessment is to use predictive tools to provide decision makers with the best attainable insight to the impact of planning alternatives on delineated water quality problems. A procedural framework for organizing and executing a technically sound assessment of water quality problems is presented.