To do so, we can measure certain combinations of parameters that help describe how that system functions. For example, we m easure the magnitude of erosion in many stream channels and the degree of urban development in their upstream watersheds to determine if the two factors are related. We also recognize that natural systems are not static and that changes in those systems over time may reflect not the results of urban development or mitigation but instead the vagaries of weather, the heterogeneity of geologic materials, or the complexity of biological populations. We may need to characterize a system at a certain moment in time. Effective ness monitoring is the most common type of monitoring, and it will be emphasized in the following discussion.
Many construction permits require that monitoring occur after nominal completion of the project.
Regardless of whether or not such requirements meet any of the above criteria, this type of monitoring is well establi shed and generally is mandatory when specified. First, realistic goals must be defined and this requires knowledge of ex isting conditions and trends. This activity is ongoing. This activity is ongoing. This activity has occurred at a very coarse scale through Watersheds 2000 and the Regional Needs Assessment, and at greater detail but in only scattered locations through past basin plans and other more local studies.