Proposed ACWI Action:

1. The National Water Quality Monitoring Network forU.S. Coastal Waters and their Tributary Rivershttp://water.usgs.gov/wicp/acwi_intranet/monitoring/network/design/Advisory Committee on Water InformationJanuary 18, 2006

2. Proposed ACWI Action: • Suggest needed revisions • Approve report or agree upon plan to approve report • Convey to CEQ and NSTC • Plan for next steps needed for implementation

3. PresentationOutline • Review history of the project • Process for report preparation • Overview of the report’s content • Next steps

4. Background • The Oceans Act of 2000 • Created U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy • To focus on: • Protection of life and property • Stewardship of resources • Protection of environment and pollution prevention • Enhancement of marine commerce • Closer cooperation among government agencies

5. U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy 31 Chapters with 200+ specific recommendations Draft sent for review by 55 states and territories Chapter 15 Creating a National Monitoring Network

6. Chapter 15: Recommendations for “Creating a National Monitoring Network” • 15-1: Develop a national monitoring network that coordinates and expands existing efforts, including monitoring of atmospheric deposition. • 15-2: Ensure that the national monitoring network includes adequate coverage in both coastal areas and the upland areas that affect them, and … linked to the IOOS. • 15-3: Ensure that the monitoring network has clear goals, specific core variables and an apporpriate sampling framework.

7. The Administration’s Response • Created a Committee on Ocean Policy • Coordinate the activities of executive departments and agencies • Facilitate coordination and consultation among Federal, State, tribal, local governments, the private sector, foreign governments and international organizations • Issued the U.S. Ocean Action Plan (December 17, 2004)

8. CEQ and NSTC Charge to ACWI • Charge formally accepted by ACWI in February, 2005 • Delegated responsibility to NWQMC • Progress report to SWAQ in May, 2005 • Progress report to ACWI in September, 2005 • Task to be completed by January, 2006

9. 80 Participants in the National Water Quality Network Design

10. Design Features • Clear objectives linked to management questions • Linked to IOOS • Linked monitoring of linked resources • Flexibility over time • Includes • metadata, • quality assurance, and • data management system that provides accessible data

11. The Design Will Not: • Provide data on all water resources • Small rivers • Lakes and Reservoirs • Local aquifers • Replace State Clean Water Act use attainments monitoring • 305 (b) • 303 (d) • Deal with compliance monitoring

12. NineResource compartments Fixed station and probabilistic designs Stations identified Parameters and sampling frequencies specified Provisions for data comparability, management & access A continuum of Observations Estuaries Nearshore Offshore and EEZ Great Lakes Coastal Beaches (BEACH Act) Wetlands With Flow and Flux from Rivers Atmosphere Groundwater Structure of the Design

13. Constituent Categories • Physical: Flow magnitude and direction, physical habitat, sediments • Chemical: • Inorganic: Water-quality characteristics, major ions, nutrients, metals and metalloids • Organic: Bulk organics, volatile organic compounds, pesticides, halogenated hydrocarbons, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, contaminants with new and emerging concerns • Biological: Diversity, toxicity

14. Monitoring Estuaries

15. Monitoring Near Shore

16. Great Lakes Nearshore and Offshore Sites

17. Proposed Riverine Stations

18. Proposed Riverine Stations – Great Lakes

19. Coordination With IOOS • Design proposes to involve the IOOS Regional Associations in managing some part of the proposed monitoring • Design has a data management plan that is consistent with the IOOS Data Plan • Design relies on IOOS plans for monitoring the Offshore compartment

20. A Network of Networks • NMN will rely on existing efforts to extent possible • Federal backbone can be augmented with state and local data that are network compliant • National network at specified spatial and temporal density • Additions and enhancements can be accommodated

21. A Network of Networks (continued) • Conditions and trends identified at national scale • State and local agencies continue to be responsible for detailed problem identification and source tracking

22. Metrics to Track Network Implementation • Finalize design to determine the “whole” • Complete inventory to determine what part is on-going • Example: Streamgages • Need 258 sites at downstream point of HUC-6 basins • 197 streamgages in place • METRIC: 76% of total in place

23. Network Data Management • Design places major emphasis on storage and access • Built on ACWI’s Water Quality Data Elements for content, metadata • Assumes USGS and EPA data warehouses • Assumes web services will be the data exchange mechanism

24. Next Steps - Outreach • Engage the broader monitoring community in dialogue about the Network • Locate and inventory monitoring sites • Negotiate the use of on-going monitoring efforts that might contribute to the Network as implementation • Develop a set of status/implementation metrics

25. Next Steps – More Detail • Finalize Network design details • Finalize the list of constituents and measurements • Define methods performance requirements • Schedule design of deferred elements • Specify Network metadata standards • Specify data system requirements

26. Next Steps - Resources • Identify resource needed by federal and non-federal agencies for Network implementation • Work to secure those resources