National Water Quality Monitoring Council Recent Activities and

National Water Quality Monitoring Council Recent Activities and Accomplishments: A Report to ACWI September, 2003

NWQMC Mission Provide a national forum to coordinate consistent and scientifically defensible methods and strategies for improving water quality monitoring, assessment, and reporting.

NWQMC Members n Federal Agencies u u u u u Environmental Protection Agency US Geological Survey Natural Resources Conservation Service Forest Service Fish & Wildlife Service Park Service Tennessee Valley Authority National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration DOD/ Department of Navy n States and Tribal u u u u NH Department of Environmental Services NJ Department of Environmental Protection VA Department of Environmental Quality AL Department of Environmental Management MN Pollution Control TX Natural Resources Conservation Commission WA Department of Ecology Inter-Tribal Council of AZ

NWQMC Members n Other Interests u u u Water Environment Federation American Water Works Association of Metropolitan Water Agencies Association of Metropolitan Sewerage Agencies North American Lake Management Society n Other Interests u u u Watershed Watch, University of Rhode Island Association of American State Geologists Colorado State University ORSANCO National Association of State Conservation Agencies American Chemistry Council

The Framework for Monitoring • Developed with input from the monitoring community • Series of interlinked steps that will improve monitoring efforts, monitoring results, and communication of information

Develop Monitoring Objectives n n n Why monitor? Who will use the data? What will the data be used for? Education/ Awareness Assess Impairment Legal/ Regulatory

Design Monitoring Program n n n Environmental setting Water quality issues Sampling network design Site selection, what to monitor u How often, for how long u n Methods

Collect Field and Lab Data n Identify optimal methods u n n n National Environmental Methods Index (NEMI) Train personnel Document sampling site location Coordinate with partners

Compile and Manage Data n n n Database design / Security features Store field and lab data Meta data documentation u n Water Quality Data Elements (WQDE) Data Verification

Assess and Interpret Data What Are the Implications? n n Historical evaluation Water quality relevance Management relevance Information goals met?

Assess and Interpret Data What Does It Say? n n n Summary statistics Compare to state standards Time series plots GIS Water quality models

Convey Findings & Evaluate Program n n n Did we meet our objectives? Evaluate cost Feedback from information users “Lessons Learned” Adjustments? Redesign?

Collaborate, Communicate, & Coordinate n n n Public participation National and regional monitoring conferences State and regional monitoring councils

Seeking a Common Framework for Water Quality Monitoring n n Journal of American Water Resources Association 8 papers expanding on each of the monitoring cogs plus coordination, communication, and collaboration

Biennial National Water Quality Monitoring Conferences • 1998 Reno, NV • 2002 Madison, WI • 2000 Austin, TX • 2004 Chattanooga, TN About 450 attendees: 31% federal 20% private 19% state 11% academia 7% local/regional 7% NGO 3% international 1% tribal n See link at http: //water. usgs. gov/wicp/acwi/monitoring for link to conference proceedings and information about 2004 conference.

Water Resources IMPACT Special Issue n n n Journal of American Water Resources Association September 2003 issue, “Seeking a Common Framework for Water Quality Monitoring” Eight papers expanding on each of the monitoring steps plus the need for coordination, communication, and collaboration

Biennial National Water Quality Monitoring Conferences • 1998 Reno, NV • 2000 Austin, TX • 2002 Madison, WI • 2004 Chattanooga, TN About 450 attendees: 31% federal 20% private 19% state 11% academia 7% local/regional 7% NGO 3% international 1% tribal

4 th National Monitoring Conference http: //nwqmc. org n n n Chattanooga, Tennessee May 17 -20, 2004 Theme: Building and Sustaining Successful Monitoring Programs Plenary sessions, oral and poster presentations, workshops, training courses Abstracts due October 31, 2003

Council Workgroups Methods and Data Comparability Board n Watershed Components Interactions n Water Information Strategies n Communications and Outreach n

Areas of Activity: n Methods and Data Comparability u Water Quality Data Elements u Define the data that should be collected u NEMI t u Index to method performance Performance Based Systems

Areas of Activity: n Support for State and Regional Councils National Council members serve as ambassadors to new councils u Workshops at National Monitoring Conferences u Preparing fact sheet with success stories u Joint meetings with State Councils t July 2002—Denver, CO t August 2003—Baltimore, MD u

Areas of Activity: Expert system for design of monitoring programs: exploring existing systems and fleshing out requirements n Fact sheets about Council and benefits of State and Regional Councils n Biological Data Elements n Monitoring in the coastal zone: lessons learned from NWQMC n

Activities Currently Underway n Review and comment on on-going dialogue between US EPA and USGS on STORET-NWIS Compatibility