To assess ecological impacts on water resources, we conduct various types of toxicological studies at our Biological Research Facility. These include contaminant bioavailability studies, toxicity identification evaluations, standard whole effluent toxicity tests, and in situ toxicity studies for federal, state, and local government clients. Our researchers focus on methods development for sediment toxicity and resident single species, as well as conducting studies on water effects ratios and development of site-specific water quality standards. Under the Clean Water Act, federal and state governments are required to "restore and maintain the chemical, physical and biological integrity of the nation's waters." Tetra Tech supports national biological criteria programs to provide a direct assessment of the condition of the aquatic community and the detection of cumulative impacts on aquatic life from multiple stressors and land use in our watersheds. We've been at the forefront of developing guidance for quickly and accurately measuring the aquatic health of water bodies. Our scientists have designed and facilitated regional workshops on techniques such as bioassessment, biocriteria development, and site-specific water quality criteria development. Back to top Environmental assessments that are conducted at a watershed or regional level require the integration of ecological findings with other stakeholder interests such as hydrological, geomorphological, and socioeconomic concerns. Tetra Tech combines innovative bioassessment strategies with other scientific disciplines and public outreach approaches to integrate other environmental issues such as storm water runoff and habitat alteration. Back to top The fisheries investigation is an integral component of many water quality management, permitting, and licensing programs, and its importance is reflected in the aquatic life use-support designations of many states. Narrative expressions such as "fishable" or "fish propagation" waters are prevalent in state standards. The merit of using fish as indicators centers on their relative sensitivity to environmental stressors and reflects their ecological, recreational, and commercial importance. Tetra Tech scientists provide technical support for developing monitoring strategies and implementing fisheries investigations on the local, state, and national scales. Our fisheries scientists design and conduct fish biosurveys, bioassessments, population estimates, age and growth studies, entrainment and impingement surveys, health/condition assessments, threatened and endangered species surveys, and feeding habit studies throughout the United States. We also give professional insights and guidance to EPA for nationally focused programs. We're intimately involved with the design and implementation phases of the national fish tissue bioaccumulation study for EPA, and we provide scientific support for the development of section 316(b) regulations addressing cooling water intake structures. Back to top Critical elements of ecological assessment programs are attention to education and communication to the public and non-scientist sector. The collaboration of "stakeholders" with vested interest in the health and disposition of water resources is important in making appropriate decisions. The public outreach and citizen monitoring discipline provides technical support in organizing, facilitating, and documenting workshops and public forums for discussion of ecological assessment issues and programs including community-based environmental protection approaches. Clients include state agencies, where public outreach and special information brochures and documents are required, and EPA for developing citizen monitoring guidance, holding national symposia, and developing community-based organizational training. Back to top The Center for Ecological Sciences designs and conducts biosurveys and collections for toxicological studies throughout the country. Data are collected for ecological assessments using up-to-date techniques and approaches, many of which were developed by scientists within the Center for Ecological Sciences. We've designed and conducted biological surveys of hazardous waste sites, industrial facilities, power plants, and municipalities to evaluate pollution and habitat degradation. We've provided support to dozens of state and county environmental agencies to develop monitoring programs, focusing on reference site development, sampling design, bioassessment, and biocriteria development. Back to top Tetra Tech maintains a biological research facility to perform a variety of biological and toxicological investigations. We have extensive experience in developing and conducting toxicity tests using resident or indigenous species and/or modified test systems to accommodate non-laboratory cultured species. BRF staff cowrote the ASTM Standard Guide on Selecting Resident Species for Toxicity Testing (ASTM Guide E-1850-97), which is the standard used by many organizations. We are currently focusing on the biological effects of fluctuating exposures of wastewater contaminants on toxicity. The capabilities of the BRF include the following: Invertebrate and ichthyoplankton taxonomy Standard freshwater and saltwater bioassays Whole sediment and pore water toxicity testing Resident and indigenous species tests Toxicity identification/reduction evaluations Development of site-specific water quality criteria Artificial stream microcosms Back to top A central impediment for biological assessment and monitoring programs has been timely data analysis and integration. Tetra Tech developed a data analysis system to calculate indices and provide a mechanism for integrating biological and physicochemical data. The Ecological Data Application System (EDAS) is designed to enable the user to easily manage, aggregate, integrate, and analyze data to make informed decisions regarding the condition of water resources. It allows users to migrate their data with ease to EPA's STORET, as well as analyze bioassessment data that resides in STORET. Most biological assessment and monitoring programs in the United States require aggregation of biological data (lists and enumeration of taxonomic results) into informative indicators (e.g., multimetric indices). EDAS is designed to facilitate data analysis, particularly the calculation of biological metrics and indices. Predesigned queries that calculate a wide selection of biological metrics are included with EDAS. EDAS is a custom-designed relational database application created by Tetra Tech for use with Microsoft Access. Minimum system requirements are a Pentium (or equivalent) processor and at least Windows 95. Available for download are versions for Access 97 (SR2b), 2000, and XP. EDAS provides flexibility in data manipulation through a collection of tables that are linked by one or more fields. EDAS can be linked to various other applications, e.g., ArcView or STORET. Access supports Open Database Connectivity (ODBC) and Structured Query Language (SQL), thus making it compatible with most other databases or database software. EDAS has the following functionality: EDAS can store many types of ecological data Benthic macroinvertebrates Fish Periphyton Water chemistry Pebble count Cross-sectional measurements RBP style physical stream habitat assessments Other physical stream characteristics Enlarge Image EDAS has additional features: Calculation of benthic macroinvertebrate metrics Calculation of fish metrics Management of data (QA/QC) Reporting of data and results Connecting to other databases (e.g., ArcView or STORET) Preparation of data for upload to STORET TAKE IT WITH YOU Go to Take It With You to download a copy of EDAS Back to top