Ribble estuary: summary of sampling locations and requirements

The Ribble estuary (North West England) is sampled for water quality twelve times a year. The suite of parameters used for baseline monitoring is only analysed four times a year on the designated sampling sites. The sampling locations are shown in Figure 1, and their descriptions are found in Appendix 1.The baseline monitoring stations have been chosen torespond to regional, national and European requirements.The suite of parameters to be analysed in the laboratoryis listed in Tables 1 and 2.Appendix 2 lists the environmental quality objectives(EQOs) and standards (EQSs) for estuaries and coastalwaters. These values will help in interpreting thecollected data from the Ribble surveys.