MYSound-a partnership for monitoring Long Island Sound water quality and dynamics

In September 1998, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Long Island Sound Project Office and the University of Connecticut (UConn) initiated development of a prototype marine environmental-monitoring network for Long Island Sound. The project, known as the MYSound Project (for Monitoring Your Sound), is being funded under the EPA's Environmental Monitoring for Public Access and Community Tracking (EMPACT) Program. The goal of the project is to provide comprehensive, timely marine water-quality monitoring data on Long Island Sound and its harbors and estuaries, and to use these data as a means to increase public understanding of water quality, its importance, and governing factors. The key component in the project is the establishment of an array of coastal water-quality monitoring stations in the vicinity of Bridgeport, New Haven, and New London, Connecticut (CT), as well as stations at the western end of the Sound. These stations use in-situ sensors and real-time data processing and telemetry to capture and transmit data to shore. The composite data set is being compiled at UConn and presented in real time on the project Web site in a format that can be assimilated by project participants, stake-holders, and the public. The project is in the second year of a three-year effort. This paper describes the current status of the project, lessons learned to date, and future plans to expand the scope of the network and make it sustainable over the long term.