4.5   Management plans for key Control Measures and Documenting their Operational Monitoring

Management plans for key control measures are important to ascertain their reliable performance at all times. These specify

1. operational monitoring systems for each control measure to ensure that timely response is possible in case results indicate that it is not functioning as it should. Examples are given below and also in the tables at the end of each of the four links to defining control measures (4.1 – 4.4). Note that in this context, monitoring does not imply monitoring cyanobacteria or cyanotoxins, but merely some operational parameter that is suitable to show whether or not a measure is operating as it should. An important criterion for the choice of the monitoring system is that it gives a signal on time for taking corrective action before failure leads to cyanobacterial proliferation or cyanotoxin break-through and exposure;

2. critical limits for each of the monitoring systems that show operators when the system is “out of bounds” and corrective action needs to be taken on time;

3. which corrective action to take immediately in case monitoring shows a process to be “out of bounds”, i.e. performance targets are not being met;

4. standard operating procedures (SOPs) for each control measure and its monitoring system. These describe how to operate the measure, the operational monitoring system, its critical limits, corrective action, lines of responsibility and communication, and whatever information is important for day-to-day operation.  For these, the level of detail useful in documentation will vary between settings. A rule of thumb is to keep such documents concise and handy, otherwise they sit on the shelf rather than being used. General experience is that after initial reluctance to document SOPs, they are found highly useful, particularly for keeping information accessible.

A table is provided n your worksheet with this decision support tool for entering the following specifics for your control measures:

Control measure	Reason for its choice	Operational monitoring system	Critical limits	Corrective Action	Reference to monitoring records	Reference to documented SOP
Flocculation and filtration	Retaining cells effectively and without lysis on filters will retain > 95% of the microcystin load	Turbidity (as indicator of particle breakthrough) and pigment fluorescence (as indicator of lysis) at the outlet of each filter	Yet to be defined after validation experiments with new instrument	Immediate backwashing of filter	Backwashing records kept on the server	Document no. xyz on server and print-out “SOP Floc” on shelf in control room
Fertilisation regimes and stock density regulations on farms as defined in cooperation agreement	Preventing increase of phosphorus load from catchment	Surveillance of farmers’ books on nutrient budgets and cattle head counts by inspection at (slightly irregular) intervals of 2-3  months	See stipulations in cooperation agreement	Enforcement of compliance (Note: remember to get agricultural agency on board if this becomes necessary!)	Reports provided by farmers according to the cooperation agreement and inspection records kept by staff member responsible for catchment collaboration programme	Cooperation agreement on server and print-out in director’s office
Artificial destratification	Create conditions unfavourable for cyanobacteria	depth profiles of water temperature	Temperature differences > 1 °C between surface and bottom layer	Increase intensity of aeration	Aeration pump electricity consumption record kept on the server	Document no. zyx on server and print-out “SOP aeration” on shelf in director’s office

Documentation of operational monitoring: For each operational monitoring system, it is important to keep records of the monitoring data collected in order (i) to be able to trace what went wrong and why in cases of incidents or to validate that the system was working well even when excessively challenged, e.g. by a bloom, and (ii) to demonstrate due diligence in managing the system. For these, it is best to keep separate data records, to which the table suggested here would refer.

On to  èValidation

Back to è START