Designing monitoring programs for water quality based on experience in Canada II. Characterization of problems and data-quality objectives

In Part I of this article [D.D. MacDonald, M.J.R. Clark, P.H. Whitfield, M.P. Wong, Trends Anal. Chem. 28 (2009) 204], we presented a systematic eight-step ecosystem-based process to provide a practical means of designing environmental-monitoring programs that directly support the management of aquatic ecosystems and the human activities than can adversely affect them. While Part I described the theory and the framework, this part addresses two steps in detail – characterization of problems, and development of data-quality objectives (DQOs). Characterizing the problem is done using a three-step process of characterizing issues and concerns, developing the appropriate models, and preparing background reports. Similarly, the seven-step process used to develop DQOs clearly links the collection of observations to the decision-making process. We include an example scenario to illustrate the DQO process.