A Multi-Scale Program to Assess Change in Acid Base Chemistry of Streams

The Department of Environmental Sciences of the University of Virginia hereby requests funds to continue the framework of integrated hydrochemical data collection and analysis maintained through the above-titled project for comparatively undisturbed, forested upland watersheds in the Ridge and Valley and Blue Ridge Physiographic Provinces of western Virginia, including watersheds in Shenandoah National Park (SNP). The broad objective of the program is to support assessment of change in the acid-base chemistry of surface waters following enactment of the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990. The specific objective is to determine temporal trends and status changes in the acid-base chemistry of streams in the region that support reproducing populations of the indigenous brook trout. This work will be accomplished by:

• Continuing the 15-year chemistry record for 66 western Virginia streams representing six geologically defined subpopulations of the larger biologically defined population of streams included in the 1987 VTSSS survey.
• Maintenance of intensive data collection in Shenandoah National Park, including long-term weekly and episodic sampling of streams representing geologically defined stream populations.
• Conducting analysis of monotonic trends and status changes in the acid-base chemistry of individual sampled streams and the defined populations of streams.