USGS Approach to Water IndicatorsDonna Myers

NWQMC Steering Committee Meeting December 9, 2008

Reston, VA

VISION

Try to use EPA and State Data to enhance breath and scope of

water indicators

Multiple Tools RequiredDesign/Tool Questions they can answer --Probabilisticsurvey

• What percentage of the Nation’s water resources meet the goals of the Clean Water Act?

• What percentage of the Nation’s water qualitygetting better or worse?

Modeling and landscape analysis

• Can we predict water quality conditions in space and time?

• Can we extrapolate from sampled to un-sampled locations?

Targeted monitoring

• What are the causative and associative human and natural factors that effect water quality?

• What is the water quality in a watershed or at a location and is it changing over time?

Changes with season, over time, and with streamflow

1992-2001

0

20

40

60

80

100

1992-1998, n=106 1992-2001, n=186

PERC

ENT

OF S

ITES

WIT

H IN

DICA

TED

NUMB

ER O

FCO

NTAM

INAN

TS D

ETEC

TED

IN E

ACH

SAMP

LE

1 or 23 or 45 or more

EXPLANATIONNumber of contaminantsdetected in each sample

Contaminant Occurrence in National Stream Water

1992-2001

020406080

100

1992-1998,n=106

1992-2001,n=186

PERC

ENT

OF S

ITES

EXCE

EDIN

G IN

DICA

TED

NUMB

EROF

BEN

CHMA

RKS

no benchmark exceeded12 or 34 or more

EXPLANATIONNumber of contaminantsexceeding benchmarks

1992-2001

0204060

80100

1992-1998, n=106 1992-2001, n=186

Human Health Aquatic Life

Contaminants in National Stream Water Exceeding Human-Health and Aquatic-Life Benchmarks

< 2 mg/L2 to < 6 mg/L6 to < 10 mg/L

10 mg/L or More

1992-2003

>_

Less than 2 mg/L 2 to 6 mg/L

6 to 10 mg/L 10 mg/L or more

1992 - 2003

Nitrate Concentration in Farmland, Forest, Urban, and Grassland Ground WaterPE

RCEN

T OF

GRO

UND

WAT

ER S

ITES

WIT

HIN

DICA

TED

NIT

RATE

CON

CENT

RATI

ON

EXPLANATIONNitrate concentration

0

20

40

60

80

100

Farmland Forest Urban Grassland

FarmlandEcosystem Comparison

Total Nitrogen(pounds of nitrogen per square mile per year)

Less than 1010 - 599600 - 1,4991,500 - 2,999More than 3,000

2001-20051996-2000

Five-Year Mean-Annual Incremental Yield of Total Nitrogen From Major Watersheds

Annual Nitrate Load Discharged to Coastal Waters

ANNU

AL N

ITRA

TE L

OAD,

IN T

HOUS

AND

LONG

TON

S PE

R YE

AR

0

500

1000

1500

2000

2500

1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000YEAR

Mississippi RiverSusquehanna RiverSt. Lawrence RiverColumbia River

Detail

0

50

100

150

1970 1980 1990 2000

NAWQA site with nutrient-load estimate

Based on

NAWQA sites only

+ 55% + 30%

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on all sites

Prediction Error

NAWQA: 44Other USGS: 174 Other agency: 586(matched to USGS gage)

Assessment of Total Nitrogen Concentration

Mean concentration, in 2002

> 0.7 mg/L61 %

< 0.7 mg/L39 %

Percent of 72,000 stream miles

Source Shares Delivered to Sensitive Coastal Areas

Atmospheric depositionAgricultural sourcesRunoff from developed landPoint-source discharge

Mobile BayCape Fear

EstuarySavannah

River Estuary

NAWQA Ecological Data

1800 National River and Stream Assessment Sites

2008 Heinz Center Report on the

State of the Nation’s Ecosystems

BiologicalCommunity

Integrity in Streams

VISION: Combine USGS and EPA data

Example:Example:

• Combined NAWQA & EPA datafacilitated regional assessmenttool that is broadly applicable (Carlisle & Hawkins, in press)

• NAWQA assessmentsin regional context

• Direct comparisons ofassessments among river basins

• Similar tools developed for Eastern U.S. (Meador et al.,

approved)