National Monitoring Network - Frequently Asked Questions
A National Water Quality Monitoring Network for U.S. Coastal Waters and their Tributaries
Why do we need the Network now?
- To connect monitoring in crucial environmental compartments from terrestrial to oceans, which allows evaluation of resource status and understanding of connections among the resource compartments.
- To address the U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy recommendation regarding the creation of a “coordinated, comprehensive monitoring network that can provide the information necessary to assure effective stewardship of ocean and coastal resources.”
- To accomplish the action item to “Create a National Water Quality Monitoring Network” in the U.S. Ocean Action Plan (December 2004).
- To provide a design and framework to integrate water quality-related monitoring of watersheds, estuaries and the coastal ocean based on common criteria and standards.
What issues require monitoring?
- Nutrient enrichment
- Oxygen depletion once caused by wastes is now largely caused by algal growth in coastal waters
- Loss of seagrass beds due to algal growth
- Harmful algal blooms
- Other contaminants
- Beach closures due to bacteria
- Contamination of sediments & fish due to mercury and persistent organic compounds
- Habitat alterations
- Wetland loss
- Invasive species
- Coastal erosion /sedimentation exacerbated by sea level rise
What will this Network design do that we cannot already do with existing monitoring efforts?
- The Network design provides for a continuum of observations from the watershed to the open ocean, which does not exist today. The design will:
- assure consistency in data collection and reporting protocols,
- ensure continuity of observations and linkages,
- provide connectivity with contaminant sources and other stressors,
- include requirements for data quality and comparability,
- improve data dissemination and exchange,
- strengthen collaboration among agencies.
- The Network will help resource managers:
- determine the amounts, transformation and sequestration of contaminants in different environments;
- provide data that will contribute to increased understanding of the sources of contaminants and the causes of water quality conditions, which will contribute to effective pollution abatement or remediation strategies;
- provide data to assess water quality and ecosystem health;
- assure delivery of consistent, comparable and long-term data to assess impacts of human population growth, extreme natural events, and global climate change.
What is the relationship between this Network and existing monitoring programs?
Ongoing Federal, regional and state monitoring programs will provide the backbone for the Network, modified or supplemented as necessary to comply with Network specifications.
What is the plan for pilot studies of the Network Design?
- Pilot studies will test and refine Network design concepts. Criteria may include:
- Pilot study areas will be the size of an Integrated Ocean Observing System (IOOS) region or major sub-region and will include all resource components described in the Network design (estuaries, nearshore, offshore, rivers or Great Lakes; Ground Water, Atmospheric Deposition, beaches, wetlands).
- The willingness of different sectors of the monitoring community to participate in the design and implementation of the pilot study.
- Regional scientific infrastructure and organizational support to assure cost effective and efficient operations.
- Interest expressed from several in organizing a pilot study: Gulf of Maine, Delaware Bay, Florida Monitoring Council (which is part of the Gulf of Mexico Alliance), Southern California, and Pacific Northwest.
How will the Network link to and integrate with the IOOS?
- The IOOS is envisaged as a coordinated national and international network of:
- observations and data transmission,
- data management and communication, and
- data analyses and modeling.
- The Network will provide observations and analyses for the estuarine, coastal component of IOOS and supplement IOOS with information about the upland watersheds that affect coastal resources.
- The data management system envisioned for the Network will be compatible with the IOOS Data Management and Communications (DMAC).
- The current list of 20 core variables of the IOOS National Backbone is complementary to those identified for the Network. The principal Federal agencies involved in the development of the design of the Network will maintain a continued dialogue with Ocean.US to minimize duplication of efforts and maximize collaboration.
What will a dedicated Inter-Agency Staff accomplish?
- A dedicated staff with representatives from NOAA, EPA, and USGS will be responsible for the action items listed below over the next 12-18 months.
- The coordination staff will consult with:
- Advisory Committee on Water Information (ACWI),
- National Water Quality Monitoring Council (NWQMC),
- Ocean.US,
- IOOS Regional Associations, and
- State and Regional Monitoring Councils.
What are the action items to begin implementation of the Network?
Under the leadership of an Interagency Coordination staff:
- Finalize a list of core analytes for the Network, the performance requirements of analytical methods, and metadata requirements. These choices will be based on a considerable amount of experience derived from existing Federal programs such the USGS National Water-Quality Assessment Program (NAWQA), EPA’s Environmental Monitoring and Assessment Program (EMAP), and NOAA's National Status and Trends Program; along with contributions from monitoring programs maintained by state agencies, river basin commissions, regional associations, and the academic community. It is expected that the core set of analytes will be augmented in each pilot area to address issues of regional concern. Tools developed by the NWQMC for methods selection and requirements for metadata will provide guidelines for this effort.
- Work with the monitoring community in the pilot area(s) to address issues such as data comparability and data management and access. This might be done using a group of volunteers from the pilot area supplemented by ACWI’s Methods and Data Comparability Board and members of the NWQMC. Ongoing inter-agency, state-federal efforts on data exchange mechanisms will enhance this effort.
- Conduct an inventory of on-going monitoring in the pilot areas to determine how well on-going efforts match the Network design. The inventory would likely begin by focusing on data and metadata that are electronically available and searchable via the internet. This initial search would be supplemented by review of large data holdings that are not as accessible electronically but that are well known by experts in the pilot study area. Many IOOS Regional Associations and state and regional monitoring councils have already begun to work on a data exchange mechanism. This task will be quicker and easier in the areas where this effort is already underway.
- Identify the resources needed to fill the gaps in existing monitoring in the specific pilot study area. It may be useful to select at least two pilot studies--one in an area that has considerable on-going monitoring and cooperation and another in an area with less monitoring and cooperative efforts that are not as extensive. This spectrum would help to make estimates of overall resources that might be required to implement the Network on a broader scale.
DOI :: ACWI :: What's
New? :: Meetings
U.S. Department of the Interior, U.S. Geological
Survey