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South Atlantic Water Science Center

The Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint (ACF) River National Water Quality Assessment (NAWQA) Program

ACF Study Design: Surface Water Comparison Sites

For each of the six indicator sites 5-6 comparison sites were chosen. Three sites were chosen for between-basin comparison and 2-3 for within-basin comparison. Those sites chosen for between-basin comparison met the same criteria as sites in the indicator basin. In theory, if data collected at all targeted land-use sites during basin-wide synoptic surveys indicated that all basins had very similar water-quality characteristics, then information gained through intensive monitoring of one could be transferred to the others. Within-basin comparison sites were selected to represent inputs from tributaries or sub-basins upstream of the indicator site to help define within-basin variability.

 View maps of data-collection sites