I-19_SamplingStationIDNaming_Draft_20210311

CITY OF
DURHAM
City of Durham, North Carolina
Department of Public Works
Stormwater and GIS Services
Water Quality Unit
Title: Standard Operating Procedures for Sampling Station ID Naming
Version: 1.0 DRAFT
Date: [Enter date finalized and signed]
Approvals
Approved by:
Approved by:
Date:
Michelle Woolfolk, Water Quality Manager
Date:
Paul Wiebke, Assistant Director for Stormwater & GIS Services
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Revision Record
Revision
Date
Updated by
I Description of change
1.0
06/01/2018
Christine Cailleret
I Initial draft
Distribution
Current copies of this approved SOP should be provided to the following positions with the City of
Durham Stormwater and GIS Services:
• Senior Environmental Planning and Compliance Manager
• Environmental Planning and Compliance Manager
• Senior Environmental Planning and Compliance Analyst
• Environmental Planning and Compliance Analyst
• Environmental Planning and Compliance Coordinator
• Environmental Planning and Compliance Specialist
Abbreviations
COD WQU
City of Durham, Water Quality Unit
GIS
Geospatial Information System
ID
Identification
SOP
Standard Operating Procedures
Trib
Tributary
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Table of Contents
Title: Standard Operating Procedures for Sampling Station ID Naming..
Approvals.............................................................................................
RevisionRecord...................................................................................
Distribution..........................................................................................
Abbreviations......................................................................................
Tableof Contents.....................................................................................
Procedures...............................................................................................
Purpose and scope..............................................................................
Methodsummary................................................................................
Health and safety warnings.................................................................
Cautions and interferences.................................................................
Personnel qualifications and responsibilities ......................................
Equipment and supplies......................................................................
Methods..............................................................................................
Data and records management...........................................................
Quality assurance and quality control(QA/QC).......................................
References...............................................................................................
Appendix 1. Current COD Watershed Abbreviations ...............................
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Procedures
Purpose and scope
The purpose of this Standard Operation Procedure (SOP) is to establish uniform and consistent
procedures for assigning a unique sampling station identification number to the sampling locations
monitored by the City of Durham Water Quality Unit (COD WQU).
Method summary
All stream monitoring stations must be given a unique sampling station Identification (ID) that relates to
the physical location of the sampling station. All sampling station IDs must also be tracked to ensure no
sampling station ID is assigned to more than one location.
Sampling station IDs are characterized by an abbreviation broken down into three parts which designate
the watershed, stream mile, and creek name. For example, EL8.5SEC is a station ID currently in use. The
first two letters of the ID, EL, refer to the City of Durham Stormwater Sewershed that the sampling
station is located in, Ellerbe Creek. The number, 8.5, is the stream mile designation in relation to other
existing sampling station IDs. Generally speaking, the lower the stream mile, the lower the station is
positioned in the watershed. Finally, the last part of the ID in this example, SEC, stands for South Ellerbe
Creek, which is the name of the creek the sampling station is located on.
Health and safety warnings
This procedure is office based and does not have any major safety concerns associated with it.
Cautions and interferences
Staff should be cautious of all pre-existing sampling station IDs. This is to prevent two sampling stations
from having the same ID or a single sampling station to having more than one ID.
Personnel qualifications and responsibilities
Only Project Managers, and Environmental Planning and Compliance Analysts have the authority to
assign new Sampling Station IDs. These personnel should have a basic familiarity with City of Durham
geography, watersheds, and stream locations. Staff should also have some experience accessing COD
WQU databases and maps and some experience using mapping applications such as GIS and Google
maps.
Equipment and supplies
• Access to updated digital maps equipped with a measurement tool for determining relevant
stream miles.
• Master List of currently assigned sampling stations IDs and locations.
o Note: The 'master list' for all previous and current sampling station IDs is currently
maintained as a table in the investigations database. The investigations database is
stored on the City of Durham server and access can be gained with approval from the
Environmental Planning and Compliance Analyst for the Investigations work group.
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Methods
1. The physical location, site accessibility, and nearest road crossing of the new sampling station
should be pre -verified in the field before beginning the naming procedure. Additionally, latitude
and longitude coordinates in decimal degrees for the sampling station location should be
collected in the field using a GPS receiver. The procedures for selecting a sampling station
location are not outlined in this SOP and will vary depending on specific project goals.
2. Using the coordinates (latitude and longitude in decimal degrees), stream name, and road
crossing of the sampling station, locate the sampling location on a digital map and confirm that
all information is correct.
Using the master list of all current and previous sampling stations, determine if a sampling
station ID already exists for this location. If one does exist, then use that station ID. If there is no
current or previous sampling station ID for this location, continue on to the next step.
4. Determine what City of Durham Stormwater Sewershed the sampling station is located in. The
first two letters of the station ID will be the abbreviation for this watershed. See Appendix 1 for
all watershed abbreviations currently in use.
Note: Stormwater Sewersheds were developed and are maintained by the City of Durham GIS
Services group.
5. The second part of the sampling station ID will be comprised of two numbers that represent the
stream mile distance in relation to the surrounding sampling stations. Locate the nearest
sampling stations both upstream and downstream of the new sampling station location as well
as sampling stations on other tributaries.
6. Using a measure tool on a digital map, measure from the location of the new sampling station to
the nearest existing sampling locations. This measurement does not have to be exact as it is only
for naming purposes and not for calculations. The smaller the stream mile designation, the
further downstream the sampling station is within the watershed. Therefore, when moving
downstream in the system be sure to subtract the stream mile distance from the nearest
sampling station and when moving upstream in the system add the stream mile distance to the
nearest sampling station. This measurement should consist of a two digit number rounded to
the tenths place (e.g., 8.5).
7. The last part of the sampling station ID is an abbreviation of the creek the sampling station is
located on. The standard for creek names are stored in the City of Durham GIS data. Stream
names from other sources (e.g. USGS) should not be used when creating a new sampling station
ID. The abbreviation should accurately represent the creek name and is not limited to two
letters. For example, if the sampling station is located on Third Fork Creek Tributary C, the
abbreviation TCTC is used. Refer to the master list of sampling stations in the investigations
database for more examples of abbreviations used.
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8. Next, determine the location descriptor for the sampling station. This is normally the nearest
street or intersection that the sampling station is located to.
9. Add the new sampling station ID and associated attributes (latitude/longitude, station location
description, etc.) to the master list.
Data and records management
The master list containing sampling station IDs and attributes should be actively maintained and
updated by authorized COD WQU staff.
Quality assurance and quality control (QA/QQ
Once a new sampling station ID is created all appropriate project staff should check to make sure the ID
correlates with the actual location of the sampling station. The master list should be checked to ensure
no duplicate names were created.
References
There are no references for this SOP.
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Appendix 1. Current COD Watershed Abbreviations
Watershed names refer to the City of Durham "Stormwater Sewersheds" maintained by COD GIS
Services staff.
Watershed
Abbreviation
Crooked Creek
CC
Ellerbe Creek
EL
Eno River
ER
Flat River
FIR
Lick Creek
LC
Little Lick Creek
LL
Little River
LR
New Hope Creek
NH
Northeast Creek
NE
Panther Creek
PIN
Stirrup Iron Creek
SI
Third Fork Creek
TF
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