Technical Specification for Watershed-Scale Agricultural Non-Point Source Pollution Monitoring (Draft for Comments)

This document applies to watershed-scale agricultural non-point source pollution monitoring and pollutant-load accounting, covering pollution sources from crop production, livestock and poultry breeding, aquaculture, and rural domestic activities. It requires pre-monitoring investigations of watershed conditions, land use, agricultural production, breeding, domestic activities, and point-source pollution; establishment of control and background sections; and monitoring over at least one complete hydrological year. Water quality and quantity shall be monitored simultaneously, with total nitrogen, nitrate nitrogen, ammonium nitrogen, and total phosphorus as mandatory parameters; phosphate and chemical oxygen demand may also be monitored. Monitoring frequency shall be determined for different hydrological and production periods, with quality control, recordkeeping, archiving, and calculation of pollutant loads by source in accordance with the appendices.