Wiyot Tribe

The tribe's water quality monitoring program stretches from the Eel River estuary to Humboldt Bay. With the approval of the Tribe's Quality Assurance Program Plan (QAPP) and Monitoring Plan by the US EPA in 2003. The environmental department began collecting samples and amassing water quality data.

The bulk of data collected in this program is collected in-situ with Yellow Springs Instruments 6600 EDS sondes, outfitted with probes that directly measure turbidity, temperature, pH, conductivity, and dissolve oxygen (the sondes also extrapolate salinity). Discrete sampling consists of deploying a sonde for about 15 minutes; long-term sampling consists of deploying a sonde in a protective structure (a permanently fixed housing) for two-week periods during which the sonde logs sample data every 15 minutes.

For chemical and bacteriological sampling several sample collection devices are used, depending on the specific parameter being tested. All sampling methods are described in the Wiyot Tribe's EPA-approved Quality Assurance Program Plan.