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Towards a joint national and state partnership in aquatic resource assessment monitoring survey design
Citation:
OLSEN, A. R. Towards a joint national and state partnership in aquatic resource assessment monitoring survey design. Presented at National Water Quality Monitoring Committee Conference, Atlantic city, NJ, May 19, 2008.
Impact/Purpose:
The USEPA is currently conducting national assessments of all aquatic resources in the United States. Prior national assessments were completed for coastal waters and wadeable streams.
Description:
The USEPA is currently conducting national assessments of all aquatic resources in the United States. Prior national assessments were completed for coastal waters and wadeable streams. National assessments are now underway for lakes, rivers and streams, coastal waters, and wetlands with the field work being completed for lakes in 2007, and planned for streams and rivers in 2008-9, coastal waters in 2010, and wetlands in2011. Each assessment will be based on a probability survey design which is structured to meet the objectives for the assessment. The National Hydrography Dataset (NHD) or NHD-Plus forms the basis for the GIS coverage used for the sample frame for lakes and streams/rivers. Coastal waters sample frame was constructed from coastal shoreline, and the wetlands sample frame will be derived from National Wetlands Inventory Status & Trends survey. Many states will be conducting concurrent state assessments, or plan to do so in the future. In many cases NHD, or an enhanced version, is used for the state sample frame. The objective of this paper is to propose how a joint partnership between the states and USEPA can result in improved integration of state and national assessments. Critical elements that must be addressed are (1) clarity in definition of the aquatic resource of interest, (2) integration of state sample frames and national sample frames, and (3) integration of state and national survey designs. Conceptually, the process is straightforward. Achieving it requires partners who are committed to integrating state and national assessments. Institutionally, a structure must be put in place to complete the necessary tasks. The result will lead to improvements in the efficiency of both state and national assessments.