Hydrologic Monitoring, Assessments and Research Subactivity extensive analysis of national and regional water-quality issues and priorities. The topics are: effects of nutrient enrichment on streams; sources, transport, and fate of agricultura chemicals; transport of contaminants to water supply wells; effects of urbanization on stream ecosystems; and bioaccumulation of mercury in aquatic organisms. ⚫ National syntheses of key findings related to important water-quality topics from investigations in the study units and from other water-quality investigations (estimates for FY 2001, $8.8 million; FY 2002, $8.9 million; FY 2003, $8.0 million) - National synthesis projects compare findings across the country and identify relationships between land use, geology, soils, climate, and water-quality conditions. The current national synthesis topics are pesticides, nutrients, volatile organic compounds, trace elements, and aquatic ecology. • Supporting research and methods development (estimates for FY 2001, $7.4 million; FY 2002, $7.2 million; FY 2003, $6.4 million) – To ensure NAWQA data collection and analyses are relevant to emerging issues, about 12 percent of program resources are devoted to developing new methods of sample collection and analysis, and to continuously improving assessment techniques. • Coordination at local, State, regional, and national levels with environmental and natural resources managers and other users of water-quality information (estimates for FY 2001, $4.4 million; FY 2002, $4.2 million; FY 2003, $3.5 million) Nationally, over the past year, NAWQA coordination has increased significantly with both the USEPA and the National Park Service. NAWQA has provided direct service to the USEPA Office of Pesticide Programs; Office of Wetlands, Oceans, and Watersheds; Office of Ground Water and Drinking Water; and Office of Science and Technology, assisting in the timely and relevant application of NAWQA data to those Offices' decisionmaking processes. This association has made millions of dollars of field pesticide data available in a useful form for USEPA Support for Native American "The NAWQA program is generating water quality and ecological information that will be useful to the Oneida Environmental, Health and Safety Department in managing Tribal water resources. As the Tribe engages in efforts to improve conditions of its watershed, NAWQA data and reports should serve as a reference against which future changes in water quality can be compared." - Patrick J. Pelky, Oneida Tribe of Indians of Wisconsin, Environmental, Health and Safety Department decisionmaking. In addition to the national efforts, every study unit maintains a local liaison activity. Collectively, these study unit liaison activities involve more than 1,500 organizations and individuals. Cycle I and the Transition to Cycle II The NAWQA Program is in the process of completing analyses and reports from Cycle I study units that began in 1991, focused on the occurrence and distribution of contaminants. Cycle II studies began in 2001. These studies are focusing on water-quality trends over time and are expanding on the explanation of environmental conditions that influence contaminant distribution. 226 National Water-Quality Assessment NAWQA is designed to take advantage of other USGS programs and existing USGS infrastructure. NAWQA uses a rotational design for its investigations that consists of three groups of study units with staggered intervals of high- and low-intensity study. About one-third of all study units will be under highly intensive investigation at any given time for 3 years, and trends will be assessed about every 10 years for the areas studied. Cycle I comprised 3 groups of studies-20 studies that began in 1991, 16 studies that began in 1994, and 15 studies that began in 1997--for a total of 51. Strategic Planning for Cycle II USGS began planning for Cycle II in 1997. The Planning Team made recommendations to help USGS achieve program goals within available funding. Two major recommendations set the tone for the design of Cycle II. The first recommendation was to increase emphasis on Review of NAWQA Cycle II by the "NAWQA has produced not only The second recommendation was to reduce the number of study units in order to accommodate the current NAWQA budget's purchasing power. As a result of this strategic planning process, USGS decided on a total of 42 study units for Cycle II, with 14 of the first 20 Cycle I investigations to start in 2001, with the phase-in of 14 investigations in 2004, and 14 in 2007. Outreach and Liaison USGS has a NAWQA Home Page (http://water.usgs.gov/nawqa/) to provide rapid access to NAWQA data, reports, and methods documents. Also available is an up-to-date listing of "I believe that NAWQA has been one of the most successful national-level water quality efforts undertaken by a Federal agency." -Gary Rosenlieb, current developments that allows interested parties to get new To share program knowledge, NAWQA managers coordinate extensively with Federal agencies such as the USEPA, State and local agencies, and the private sector. For example, NAWQA staff share office space in selected USEPA offices to ensure that technical information and resources are shared, so that duplication can be avoided and Federal dollars can be saved. Numerous liaison Hydrologic Monitoring, Assessments and Research Subactivity meetings are held each year by active NAWQA study units, informing interested parties from the public and private sectors of program findings and plans. Input from these same groups is sought and incorporated in program activities. For example, these groups influence the selection of sampling sites, the selection of chemicals to be analyzed, and assist USGS in gaining access to sampling locations. Since the USGS initiative planning for NAWQA in the mid-1980s, USGS has requested review and advice from the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) five times. The most recent of these reviews was completed and released on December 20, 2001. The review follows an in-depth internal USGS review of the NAWQA Program that provided the template for Cycle II. The NAS review will be used to plan and direct program activities. The report states, "NAWQA is providing key national leadership in monitoring, reporting, and assessing the quality of surfacewater and ground-water resources across the Nation. Furthermore, NAWQA is playing a vital role in balancing its good science with responsiveness to policy and regulatory needs." 228 2 Began in fiscal year 2001 Scheduled to begin in fiscal year 2004 Depiction of NAWQA Cycle II Study Units Recent Accomplishments NAWQA Data Provided for National Use - The NAWQA National Water-Quality Assessment "NAWQA is one of the only Federal decisionmakers, managers, and Support for U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) and State of Nebraska - The Nebraska Game and Parks Commission, University of Nebraska, and Pallid Sturgeon/Sturgeon Chub Task Force, as well as the USFWS, are using data from the Platte River NAWQA as part of their studies of the endangered pallid sturgeon in the Platte River system. The information is being used to determine the habits and habitat of the fish, and to evaluate potential effects of environmental contaminant exposure. Results from the studies will help determine how to best re-establish the pallid sturgeon. Support for the National Park Service (NPS) - In cooperation with the NPS, NAWQA scientists determined the occurrence of fecal-indicator bacteria in the Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area near Atlanta, GA. This study resulted in a program to develop near real-time monitoring of bacteria concentrations in the recreation area. USGS is currently providing bacteria concentration data on a Web site so that the public can make informed decisions about health risks associated with swimming, fishing, and paddling the river. "In the last decade-and-a-half, Support for Fish Advisories with State of Washington The Washington Department of Ecology issued fishconsumption advisories and established new consumption limits for rainbow trout, mountain whitefish, and large-scale suckers caught in the Spokane River because of elevated levels of lead and PCBs. The advisories extend from the Idaho State line downstream to the eastern edge of Spokane. The first advisory was issued in August 2000 following the release of NAWQA information that showed elevated concentrations of lead and other heavy metals in fish and stream-bed sediments. A second advisory was released in early 2001 for PCBs following a joint study by the State and USGS that looked at PCB occurrence, as well as more detailed surveys on the extent to which heavy metals spread downstream from Idaho's histonc mining activities. - Opportunities to improve the USGS NAWQA Program, National Research Council Hydrologic Monitoring, Assessments and Research Subactivity Urban Land Use Studies in New Jersey - The NAWQA Long Island New Jersey study unit's urban gradient study has demonstrated that land-use alterations (urban development) resulting in an increase in impervious surfaces, runoff volume, and runoff variability directly affect the habitat, geomorphology, and water quality of streams and rivers, and alter the aquatic communities that inhabit these systems. This study of 36 New Jersey watersheds further suggests that forest and wetlands play a major role in maintaining a healthy supply of water, food, and habitat for intolerant and highly desired species, and at the same time, help mitigate the undesirable affects of other human-induced landscape alterations. These findings support the State of New Jersey's ongoing efforts to control urban runoff and consider modifying future regulations to emphasize the role of infiltration as well as detention storage. Source-Water Protection in Tennessee - The NAWQA program in Tennessee is providing an Alabama municipality withdrawing drinking water from the Tennessee River with insight on riverwater quality and the importance of the drinking-water intake location. Comparisons of pesticide concentrations in an upstream tributary and at the drinking-water intake indicate that the tributary represents a significant component of the source water for the municipality because of incomplete mixing of the tributary with the Tennessee River. These findings indicate that source water protection measures within a small area of the source water area can contribute significantly to protecting the quality of drinking water and that river flow characteristics are important to consider when selecting water-intake locations. TMDL Process in North Carolina - NAWQA scientists are playing an important role in "I am very pleased as a professional in water quality and as a taxpayer in the quality and accessibility of this work and the need at national level for information of this nature. You have provided excellent service that will help us better understand water resources." - Peter Mangarella GeoSyntec Consultants establishing Total Maximum Daily Loads (TMDL) for the Support for TMDLs in the State of Washington - The Washington State Department of Ecology has used NAWQA Yakima study unit reports to establish a TMDL to address bacterial contamination in State waterways. Indicator bacteria data were collected at 34 basin-wide locations throughout the basin. These data, combined with suspended sediment, streamflow, and nutrient measurements from NAWQA show that bacteria sources are broader than just animal feeding operations, and include hobby farms, wildlife, urban (septic tanks and pets), and low density cattle grazing. Support for USEPA, National Cancer Institute (NCI), and Others in Arsenic Mitigation and Studies - USGS arsenic data published by NAWQA have been used in the USEPA rulemaking process for establishing a drinking-water standard for arsenic, and in new epidemiologic studies by the University of California at Berkeley and private institutions, and in a collaborative NCI/USGS exposure assessment study in New England. Geochemical interpretations of the national arsenic dataset are being used in many parts of the world, particularly in research supported by the State Department and International Atomic Energy Agency in Asia, to assess the location and severity of arsenic problems in drinking water. |