Establishing monitoring protocols will follow BLM program specific policy and, where appropriate, the general seven step principles outlined in the Regional Framework for Water-Resources Monitoring Related to Energy Exploration and Development. Those steps are:
Specify monitoring goals and objectives.
Characterize anthropogenic stressors that may affect receptors and parameters of interest.
Develop regional questions and conceptual models to describe the process and pathways anthropogenic stressors may affect receptors.
Suggest indicators to measure the effects of anthropogenic stressors, and define existing information availability and needs.
Estimate the sensitivity of the indicators to detect change, to guide final indicator choice, and monitoring design.
Describe a process by which management can identify thresholds of change requiring a management response as indicated by causal factors.
Identify clear connections between the overall monitoring program and management decision process.