Restoration of water quality in the metropolitan area

5-Year Monitoring and Corrective Program: A stratified sampling approach for the restoration of water quality in the metropolitan area

For ten consecutive years, the San Juan Bay Estuary Water Quality Volunteer Monitoring Program has been one of the key projects of our organization.

After hurricane Maria, the SJBEP will expand the scopeof the monitoring program and implement a systematic strategy to pinpoint (i.e., identify at the lowest scale possible) major contaminant areas at a subbasin scale. The approach is supplemented by a subbasin water quality assessment component whereby a battery of water quality tests are performed on a quarterly basis at the drainage outlet of all subbasins within the catchment zone.

By expanding our efforts, the SJBEP will include all the major metropolitan area of Puerto Rico in a five-year collaborative effort between EPA-Region 2, PRASA, The San Juan Bay Estuary Corporation, University of Puerto Rico, Mayaguez Campus and all municipalities within the metropolitan zone of Puerto Rico.

The budget required is: $4,000,000 ($800,000/year for the 5 year program)