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Survey Goals

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Survey Goals

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  1. Notice: The views expressed here are those of the individual authors and may not necessarily reflect the views and policies of the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Scientists in EPA have prepared the EPA sections, and those sections have been reviewed in accordance with EPA’s peer and administrative review policies and approved for presentation and publication. The EPA contributed funding to the construction of this website but is not responsible for it's contents. Mention of trade names or commercial products does not constitute endorsement or recommendation for use.

  2. Water Quality Indicators: Lessons from State and Federal OfficialsPenn State University Atlantic Slope ConsortiumHuman Dimensions GroupMay 13, 2003

  3. Survey Goals • Identify: • What water quality indicators are being used • How they are being used • How they are useful and/or problematic • How development, refinement and use of indicators can be improved • Key Water Quality Indicator Issues and Challenges • Provide foundation for development of community surveys in selected ASC watersheds

  4. Respondent Recruitment • “Reputational Method” • State agencies (28 Interviews) • NJDEP, Delaware DNREC, PADEP, MDDNR, VAMRC, VADCR, VADEQ, NCDENR and NYDEC • Federal agencies (12 Interviews) • EPA, NOAA, ACE, Fish & Wildlife Service, Forest Service, and USGS • Interstate Watershed Commissions (6 Interviews) • DRBC, SRBC, ICPRB, and CBLAD

  5. Managers Water Resources Management Development of Policies and Regulations Issuing Permits and Overseeing Permitting Processes Managing planning for watersheds Supervising monitoring and assessment of aquatic resources Scientists Developing and Collecting Indicator Data Conducting Water Resource Assessments Designing Monitoring Programs Evaluating and Improving Indicator Metrics Respondents’ Roles

  6. What is an “Indicator”? • “Data that vary with time and tell us something about the overall health of an aquatic ecosystem or water resource” • Identifies stressor, condition and/or response • Water Quality Standards or Criteria • Biological, Physical or Chemical • Commonly Integrated as a Suite • Land Use or Watershed Measures • Socioeconomic Indicators

  7. How are indicators used? • Important for: • Assessing Status and Monitoring Trends • Cause-Condition-Response Models • Regulatory Enforcement • Defining and Evaluating Standards • Identifying “Vulnerability” Status • Setting Agency Priorities • Indirect Measure of Agency Performance

  8. + Identifying impairment or degradation of water resources Developing water quality standards and criteria Responding to and guiding program goals Foundation of data for future needs _ Limited by resource constraints Financial Technical Organizational Most useful when developed as suites / multi-metrics Challenge of maintaining scientific integrity and issue-relevance Water Quality Indicators: Strengths and Weaknesses

  9. Improving Indicator Metrics • Accuracy and Scientific Integrity • Evaluation and application of new technologies • Availability and Abundance • Utilizing current resources (e.g. citizens’ monitoring data) • Securing support for continued indicator development

  10. Improving Indicator Use • Consistency… from development of metrics to provision for management purposes • Data needed vs. data that can be obtained • Forms in which data are collected • Application to Water Quality Issues • Gather localized or issue-specific data when possible (quality vs. quantity tradeoffs) • Diverse and creative formatting of data for stakeholder use

  11. State & Federal Agencies Others NGO’s Private Industry Academia Plus many more… Similarities and Differences Aquatic resources’ status and conditions Standards, requirements and permitting rules Resource Management Development and Accuracy of Indicators Stakeholders - and - Their Concerns

  12. Responding to Stakeholder Concerns: Important Dimensions of Indicators • No Silver Bullet (Suites with issue-dependent components) • Iterative Process of Indicator Development • Flexibility of Formatting is Important (Audience-specific Indicator Data)

  13. Key Findings • State and Federal agencies have a continuing need for indicator development and enhancement of current indicators • Stakeholders need data to be in multiple formats and communicated creatively • Availability and efficient allocation of funding and technical resources are fundamental challenges

  14. Challenges • Abundance, Quality, and Efficiency of Resources • Financial • Technical • Human • Future Needs: Indicators and Programs that are… • Innovative • Adaptive • Collaborative • Where to go from here • Input at the watershed level • What do indicators mean to the general public?

  15. Next Step: Community Surveys in Selected ASC Watersheds • Develop a taxonomy of watershed indicators based on ecological science  • Assess the relevance of these indicators to the general public • Assess the linkage between environmental indicators and indicators of social well being • Determine the qualities of indicators that increase:  • perceived relevance  • the probability of their use in environmental policy • the strength of the relationship between environmental and social well being

  16. Thank You! • EPA STAR • Respondents • Collaborators

  17. QUESTIONS?

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