1220 POTTER DRIVE
ROOM 170
WEST LAFAYETTE, IN
47906- 1383
PHONE:
765-494-9555
WEB:
WWW.CTIC.PURDUE.EDU
The Know Your
Watershed initiative
encourages the
formation and success
of local, voluntary
watershed partnerships.
The national
initiative is coordinated
by the Conservation
Technology
Information Center
(CTIC); a non-profit
public/private
partnership.
Dr. Ethan T. Smith
USGS
417 National Center
Reston, VA 20192
Dear Dr. Smith,
At your suggestion, I have outlined several important issues for consideration by the Advisory Committee on Water Information. These issues reflect the numerous of queries received at our Center daily.
Assessments at the 8-digit scale may be fine for reporting to Congress and the public at large, however this scale is of little value to watershed partnerships at the subwatershed level. What can be done to speed the availability of solid, reliable water quality and quantity data, 'categorize' the quality/consistency of data collected/provided, and assure locally collected data is of the quality to be 'categorized ' at the highest quality level? Is there a way that the human error inherent in water quality/quantity monitoring can be reduced or virtually eliminated and still be affordable for use by watershed partnerships at subwatershed and/or watershed level?
Real-world experience and research shows that the effectiveness of non-point source management strategies varies from location to location. Any single or combination of factors (human and/or natural) can impact the effectiveness of water quality management strategies, yet this is often not explained when providing guidance, reporting basin-wide research, and conducting national studies. Even watershed boundaries, most of which are based on relief maps, rarely consider seasonal shallow water flow changes, manmade changes and other factors.What can be done to 'weigh ' the factors that impact watershed strategy effectiveness, i.e. temperature, rainfall, soil type/profile le. shallow water movement, slope, impervious cover, animal and human density, location of 'buffered 'areas, geological age of tributaries?
Watershed partnerships are making significant changes in the use of management practices at ground level, yet 'national and 8-digit HUC snapshots' fail to provide 'credit' for these risk reduction practices. Voluntary watershed partnerships realize there is a time lag between subwatershed-level management improvements and water quality. However, credit for risk reduction practices in risk based assessments would go a long way toward keeping watershed partnerships active. Can ACWI explore and recommend ways to assure the 'crediting' of risk reduction practices when water quality at the HUC/basin/national levels are assessed and reported by government agencies?
While there are other issues that are also important to local watershed partnerships, the above issues are foremost on the minds of watershed coordinators over the past few months. Thank you for asking me to recommend issues for consideration.
Sincerely,
(signed)
Karol Keppy
Project Manager
Know Your Watershed