Development of the Galveston Bay Regional Monitoring and Data - Information Management Program

A Regional Monitoring Workshop was held in July 1992 (GBNEP, 1992) to examine the need and feasibility of a regional monitoring program. The participants included policy-makers, resource managers, scientists, and representatives of public and commercial interest groups. There was both unanimous agreement among the participants on the need for a regional monitoring program and popular support for the development of ecological information to guide resource management decisions. It was also agreed that the establishment and management of a technically sound regional monitoring program is feasible. Based on this initial agreement, and ecosystem-level, regional monitoring program is being developed under the direction of the Monitoring and Data and Information Task Forces of the Galveston Bay National Estuary Program (GBNEP). This monitoring program, which is a required component of the Comprehensive Conservation and Management Plan (CCMP), has two primary goals: to measure the effectiveness of management actions and programs implemented under the CCMP, and to provide essential information that can be used to redirect and refocus the management plan.