Develop and Implement a Comprehensive Environmental Database. ( Figure 2)) The relational database will be based on a generalized environmental data model and will include standardized data reporting criteria. This database will contain data from the entire watershed and will allow the TWG to identify lacking or overlapping data collection efforts and conduct a preliminary assessment of the apparent stressors affecting the health of Xxxxxxxx Inlet. The database will initially contain data collected from various sources prior to the development of this project. Collected data may include surface water quality mapping, sediment chemistry, benthic community structure analysis, sediment and water toxicity, indigenous bivalve and fish contamination and condition, deployed bivalve contamination and growth. This will result in a database that can be used: − Model the hydrodynamic variability and fate of contaminants in Xxxxxxxx Inlet. − Prioritize identified pollutants in terms of potential impacts on the marine environment. − Produce TMDLs for identified pollutants as deemed appropriate by WDOE. This database will incorporate usable data from all stakeholder sources from 1994 to present. Specialized research/sampling projects will be included regardless of age. Quality assurance criteria ratings will be applied to each piece of data to give users the ability to determine relative confidence of a given data set. This initial database will be evaluated by ecological risk assessment experts on this projects working group to determine missing information. A sampling plan will be developed to address the identified gaps. When these data gaps have been filled we should know: pollutants, pollutant concentrations, pollutant sources, and impacts of pollutants on biota.
