nwqmc july 26, 2005 developing a national water quality monitoring network design
TRANSCRIPT
NWQMCJuly 26, 2005
Developing A National Water Quality Monitoring Network
Design
An Ocean Blueprint for the 21st Century
Final Report of the U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy
The US Ocean Action PlanThe Administration’s Response
Both called for the creation of a National Water Quality Monitoring Network
Origins of the Proposal
Three Recommendations:1. Develop network that coordinates and
expands existing efforts
2. The network should include coverage in both the coastal and upland areas that affect them, and be linked to the Integrated Ocean Observing System
3. Network must have clear goals, specify core variables, and an appropriate sampling framework, and be periodically reviewed and updated.
National Water Quality Monitoring Network
• Council is a 35-member committee under the Advisory Committee on Water Information (ACWI)
• ACWI is Chartered under the Federal Advisory Committee Act
• ACWI members accepted task from CEQ and NSTC for Council to Design a National Water Quality Monitoring Network (NMN)
• Council has already developed many products to address these problems (see Council brochure)
Challenge:• Common information goals ● Compatible design approaches● Sampling timing● Metadata standards ● Parameter specifications● Field data collection & handling● Analytic procedures● Data storage, and data access
practices
National Water Quality Monitoring Network
DesignWorkgroup
SteeringCommittee
Inventory Workgroup
DataAssembly& Access
Methods & Data CompWorkgroup
Council’s Organization of the Effort
National Water Quality Monitoring Network
57 Participants in the National Water Quality Network Design
Participant Affiliation
Federal
Industry
Academia
State &Tribal
Local
40%
28%
23%
7%
2%
• Design the network using criteria derived from:– Specified goals and objectives– Management questions
• Compare design with existing monitoring efforts
• Then:– Retain– Add or Extend – Enhance– Define as external to the Network
Approach to the Design
• Integrate, coordinate, and as necessary enhance water quality monitoring efforts needed to make informed management decisions for sustainable use of aquatic resources.
• Communicate the availability of quality assured data, and disseminate information products relevant to national, regional and local needs.
Goals of the National Water Quality Monitoring Network
1. Define status and trends of key water quality parameters and conditions on a nationwide basis.
2. Provide data relevant to determining whether goals, standards, and resource management objectives are being met, thus contributing to sustainable and beneficial use of coastal and inland water resources.
3. Provide data to identify and rank existing and emerging problems to help target more intensive monitoring, preventive actions, or remediation.
4. Provide data to support and define coastal oceanographic and hydrologic research, including influences of freshwater inflows.
5. Provide quality-assured data for use in the preparation of interpretive reports and educational materials.
Objectives of the National Water Quality Monitoring Network
• Major river systems and major tributaries of those primary drainages
• Estuaries • Outlets of major estuaries and bays• Near-shore coastal zone• Regional aquifers• Great Lakes
The Six Environments
• Oxygen depletion• Nutrient enrichment• Toxic contamination• Sedimentation• Harmful algal blooms• Habitat degradation• Invasions by exotic species• Pathogens (indicator bacteria)
Stressors Affecting Resources
Regional IOOS Associations
Major Rivers of the Conterminous U.S.
Cumulative Drainage and Streamflow in Major Conterminous U.S. Rivers
• Illustrates the gap between what monitoring exists and what monitoring is useful to management
Dissolved Oxygen in the Chesapeake Bay
703 Stream Gages
176 WQ Associated with Stream Gages
313 Active Stream Gages 389 Active Water-Quality
118 Sites Meet Frequency and/or Parameter Criteria for trends
>1700 Water Quality
Initial Network Design for Nontidal Monitoring
• Focusing on the issue of oxygen depletion
• Assembling parameter lists for marine & estuarine waters
• Contacting other case study areas
Progress To Date
• We are addressing: Common definitions of environmental
compartments Common information goals The use of different design approaches Common parameter specifications Sample timing
● We are starting to address: Metadata standards Field data Collection & handling Analytic procedures Data storage, and data access practices
Progress To Date
• Council Meeting: July 26-28, 2005
• Interim report to ACWI: Sept 14, 2005
• Council Meeting: Nov 1-3, 2005• Final report: Mid-Jan 2006• Nat’l. Monitoring Conf. May 7-11,
2006
Network Milestones
Charles SpoonerUS Environmental
Protection AgencyOffice of Water 4503T1200 Pennsylvania
Avenue, N.W.Washington, DC [email protected]
Dr. Gail MallardUS Geological Survey2 Schumann RoadWesterly, RI [email protected]
