Operations and Maintenance >> Quality Assurance
Quality Assurance
Quality Assurance (QA) is an essential feature of our monitoring program. We have prepared and strive to follow a QA Project Plan (QAPP) that defines the standards and methods used to ensure consistent sampling procedures and that data generated in the monitoring program are accurate, complete, and representative of actual riverine conditions. Data collected are to be of a known and verifiable quality sufficient to meet the overall objectives of the monitoring program.
Selected features of the QA program follow:
- Field and laboratory staff follow strict protocols for collecting and processing samples, maintaining and calibrating meters and equipment, and managing data.
- Duplicate samples are collected and split in both the field and lab.
- Chain of custody procedures are followed to ensure that sample integrity is maintained during all phases of sample handling and analysis.
All procedures are thoroughly documented, with exceptions noted. - All data are reviewed for quality at several steps along the path from collection to data entry.
- Personnel are trained on a regular basis and all features of the program.
See our Quality Assurance Project Plans:
- 2007 Quality Assurance Project Plan for Physical Habitat & Bioassessment Monitoring in Surface Waters of the Pyramid Lake Indian Reservation, Nevada: Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe Stream Bioassessment Procedure (7.4 Mb PDF file)
- Appendix A for 2007 Quality Assurance Project Plan - PLPT Stream Bioassessment Procedures
for collecting Benthic Macroinvertebrates (573k PDF file)


