Preparing for the Third Decade of the National Water-Quality Assessment Program (2012) / Chapter Skim
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3 Assessing Accomplishments of the NAWQA Program
3 Assessing Accomplishments of the NAWQA Program
Pages 53-72
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From page 53... ...
The order in which they are presented does not represent an evaluation of their relative significance. NATIONAL ASSESSMENT OF CHEMICALS IN THE NATION'S SURFACE WATERS Reports from individual study units in Cycle 1 established a baseline of water-quality in surface waters in distinct environmental settings with specific hydrogeology, climate, and anthropogenic factors.
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From page 54... ...
Specific to groundwater, NAWQA has demonstrated the utility of groundwater age determination in water-quality studies, especially mixing of old and young waters. Incorporation of biological indicators of water quality into assessments: NAWQA has integrated measures of indicator organisms into water-quality monitoring and has examined relationships among biological, chemical, hydrological, and land use parameters using uniform methods at a national scale.
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From page 55... ...
Collaboration and cooperation: NAWQA continues to cooperate, coordinate, and collaborate within its own agency as well as with other federal, state, and local agencies in designing and carrying out its programs with a commitment to en hancing its usefulness by making its data and programs relevant to others with interests in water-quality. Linkages and integration across media, disciplines, and multiple scales: NAWQA has been successful in multidisciplinary research at regional and national scales, collecting and interpreting geographic, hydrologic, biologic, geologic, and climatic data from a range of environmental media (e.g., groundwater, sediments, soils, surface waters, and biota)
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From page 56... ...
. To further advance the assessment of chemicals in the nation's surface waters, NAWQA scientists have used lake sediment cores to reconstruct water-quality histories.
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From page 57... ...
USGS was the first governmental agency to systematically apply science to studying groundwater systems, and its regional assessments of groundwater resources remain a hallmark of how hydrogeologic synthesis is done, including the use of a broad range of USGS publicly available groundwater numerical and geochemical models, and other groundwater assessment tools.2 NAWQA's groundwater work builds on the USGS's strength in this field. NAWQA initially focused on how human activities affected groundwater quality in agricultural and urban areas, excluding considerations of surface water-groundwater interactions (NRC, 2002)
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From page 58... ...
Water supply pumping schemes that mix deep and shallow groundwater often produce lower-quality water than those that pump from deep wells alone. Furthermore, changes in land use such as conversion of rangeland to irrigated crops can affect local shallow groundwater quality (Gurdak et al., 2009)
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From page 59... ...
. INCORPORATION OF ECOLOGICAL ASSESSMENT INTO NAWQA NAWQA scientists have integrated biological assessments into waterquality monitoring and have examined relationships among biological, chemical, hydrological, and land-use parameters using uniform methods at a national scale.
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From page 60... ...
. The Topical Study Effects of Nutrient Enrichment on Stream Ecosystems examined the influence of natural and human-related factors on nutrient cycling in stream ecosystems in agricultural watersheds differing in crop types (row crop, orchard, vineyard, pasture)
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From page 61... ...
These reports identify water quality issues that occur only in isolated areas versus those that are pervasive, and they show the effects of human activities and natural factors on water quality in a range of environmental settings. Three national synthesis reports have been published (pesticides, VOCs, and nutrients)
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From page 62... ...
The Volatile Organic Compounds National Synthesis Project5 and corresponding national synthesis report, The Quality of Our Nation's Waters -- Volatile Organic Compounds in the Nation's Ground Water and Drinking-Water Supply Wells, presents information about the concentrations of 55 VOCs in aquifers, considering factors such as geography, aquifer characteristics, VOC type, detection frequency, and well type (Zogorski et al., 2006)
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From page 63... ...
This is a significant and enduring accomplishment. DEVELOPMENT AND USE OF ROBUST EXTRAPOLATION AND INFERENCE-BASED TECHNIQUES NAWQA products are used to assess status and trends in water quality, to evaluate the effectiveness of regulatory programs, to inform policy analysis, and to support ecological risk assessment.
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From page 64... ...
For example, the program is refining SPARROW to study various water-quality parameters in six of the eight Cycle 2 Major River Basins (MRBs)
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From page 65... ...
This is because, as noted in NRC (2002) , NAWQA is "first and foremost a provider of information to parties interested in water quality." Early in NAWQA's history, communication was promoted as a fourth unspoken NAWQA objective (apart from status, trends, and understanding)
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From page 66... ...
Other (Professional Paper, 1 25 18 1 44 Thesis, Water Supply Papers, Newsletters, Non UGSG Reports) a Total 16 1036 826 125 2003 a Non-USGS reports indicates references produced outside of USGS that include either NAWQA data and/or are coauthored by NAWQA personnel, are about NAWQA, or are an interview with NAWQA personnel.
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From page 67... ...
The NAWQA data warehouse10 makes data widely available online with sufficient nodes for data approximating national coverage and, in some cases, with sufficient regional coverage to assess changes in water quality over time in major watersheds. It contains data on approximately 2,000 physical, chemical, and biological water-quality parameters (Bell and Williamson, 2006)
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From page 68... ...
NAWQA SCIENCE INFORMING POLICY AND MANAGEMENT DECISIONS NAWQA was created to support scientifically sound decisions for water-quality management, regulation and policy. NAWQA has translated and delivered its interpretation of program data to the policy- and decision 11 See http://infotrek.er.usgs.gov/nawqa_queries/jsp/biomaster.jsp.
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From page 69... ...
. Indeed, the federal interagency Mississippi River/Gulf of Mexico Watershed Nutrient Task Force is using this and other informa BOX 3-2 The NAWQA Program's Science and Activities That Support Policy and Management · "Assessing sources and transport of contaminants in agricultural and urban areas; · Assessing vulnerability to help prioritize geographic areas, basins, and aquifers for management and protection; · Understanding trends and whether conditions are better or worse over time; · Assessing source-water quality used for drinking; · Assessing and sustaining aquatic ecosystem health; · Linking tributaries to receiving waters; · Support for the development of regulations, standards, guidelines, and criteria for contaminants; · Contributions to state assessments of beneficial uses and impaired waters (Total Maximum Daily Loads or TMDL)
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From page 70... ...
States save resources by using NAWQA data for these purposes. Washington and New Jersey have both used NAWQA data to obtain compliance monitoring waivers from the EPA for low vulnerability water supply wells under the Safe Drinking Water Act.
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From page 71... ...
NAWQA has collected and interpreted data from a range of environmental media including groundwater, sediments, soils, surface waters, and biota and focused attention on linkages between groundwater and surface water. NAWQA investigations consistently recognize the interrelatedness of processes occurring in aquatic and terrestrial environments that impact water quality.
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From page 72... ...
water quality, in accordance with the mission of a national water-quality assessment program.
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