Location of monitoring stations operated by Kachemak Bay Research Reserve.

Water Quality and Weather

The Kachemak Bay Research Reserve monitoring program began in July of 2001 and is part of the larger National Estuarine Research Reserve (NERR) System-Wide Monitoring Program (SWMP, pronounced "swamp"). The program includes water quality and meteorological monitoring stations.

The goal of this monitoring program is to identify and track short-term variability and long-term changes in the ecosystem for the purpose of contributing to effective national, regional, and site-specific coastal zone management. We achieve this goal through three primary objectives:

• Collect information that improves our understanding of circulation patterns in Kachemak Bay and Lower Cook Inlet
• Provide resource managers and the public with accurate real time water quality and meteorological information to make better informed decisions
• Continue to monitor atmospheric, water quality, and nutrient parameters and track how these variables may be changing with a shifting climate

Homer meteorological station atop Lands End Resort building at the end of the Homer Spit.

The Kachemak Bay Research Reserve operates two permanent meteorological stations: one atop the Land's End Resort on the Homer Spit and one in Anchor Point. The Reserve maintains two permanent water quality stations in Kachemak Bay: one at the tip of the Homer Spit and one in Seldovia Bay. At each water quality station, two data loggers are deployed: one meter below the surface, and one meter above the bottom. The Reserve historically deployed dataloggers in five other locations throughout Kachemak Bay: Aurora Rock, Halibut Cove, Cohen Island, Munson Point, and Port Graham. For the last two years, the Reserve has also seasonally deployed a datalogger in the Nick Dudiak fishing lagoon on the Homer Spit to monitor water quality parameters for salmon stocking efforts. Monthly nutrient grab samples are collected at the same locations as the water quality sites, with 11 additional nutrient samples being collected inside the Homer Harbor over an entire tidal cycle. The reserve has also been monitoring temperature information in four sub-bays on the south side of Kachemak Bay (Bear Cove, Halibut Cove, Peterson Bay, and Jakolof Bay) using Tidbit temperature loggers.

Real time data from these stations can be accessed at:

• Centralized data management office website (all sites except Anchor Point)
• National Data Buoy Center, Homer Meteorological
• National Data Buoy Center, Homer Water Quality
• National Data Buoy Center, Seldovia Water Quality

Homer water quality and nutrient station ("Homer Surface" and "Homer Deep") located at the southeastern end of the Pioneer ferry dock.

Please contact Angela Doroff for data that is not available on the web.