SURFACE-WATER STUDIES
and DATA (CYCLE I)
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ROUTINE FIXED-SITE NETWORK
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SEDIMENT AND FISH TISSUE STUDY
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IN WATER, SEDIMENT, AND FISH
> URBAN
LAND-USE GRADIENT STUDY
> NUTRIENT-CHLOROPHYLL
STUDY
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Overview
Surface
water studies of the NAWQA Program use three interrelated components
— water column studies, streambed sediment and fish tissue
studies, and ecological studies — to assess the quality of
important streams in a study unit. These study components rely on
both routine or repetitive monitoring at similar sites over a period
of years and limited time (termed "synoptic") sampling.
Monitoring is conducted at streams that represent major rivers or
hydrologic areas, important environmental settings and land uses,
and for characterizing specific water-quality issues. For
more information on the design of the National Program, go
to the section Design Components
in "What is NAWQA?"
Rivers of
the New England Coastal Basins Study Unit
The NECB study
unit contains a number of major coastal drainages in eastern New
England. The largest river basins in the NECB study unit are the
Kennebec (drainage area of 5,890 mi2), Merrimack (5,010
mi2), Androscoggin (3,520 mi2), and Saco Rivers
(1,700 mi2). Important, but smaller, coastal drainages
include the Charles (321 mi2), Blackstone (335 mi2),
and Taunton Rivers (530 mi2). These rivers
and their drainages are used extensively for drinking water, industry,
power generation, wastewater discharges, and recreation.
Determining
the effects of new and old urbanization on the quality of streams
in the NECB study unit was a primary design feature for the surface-water
studies. To assist in understanding the effects of urbanization,
natural variability in stream quality was minimized by focusing,
to a large extent, on streams in the Northeastern Coastal Zone ecoregion
as defined by Omernik (1987) and revised in 1999.
Five surface-water
studies were conducted as part of the NECB study from 1998 through
2001:
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RIVERS
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ECOREGIONS
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Photograph
Credits
All photographs on
this site were taken by USGS employees unless otherwise noted.
Selected
References
Chalmers, A.T., 2002,
Trace elements and
organic compunds in streambed sediment and fish tissue of coastal New
England streams, 1998-99: U.S. Geological Survey Water-Resources Investigations
Report 02-4179, 30 p.
Gilliom, R.J., Alley,
W.M., and Gurtz, M.E., 1995, Design
of the National Water-Quality Assessment Program: Occurrence and distribution
of water-quality conditions: U.S. Geological Survey Circular 1112,
33 p.
Omernik, J.M., 1987,
Aquatic ecoregions of the conterminous United States: U.S. Geological
Survey data available on the Web, accessed September 16, 1999, at http://water.usgs.gov/lookup/getspatial?ecoregion.
U.S.
Department of the Interior
U.S. Geological Survey
New Hampshire/Vermont District, USGS, 361 Commerce Way, Pembroke, NH
03275, USA
Comments and feedback: NH/VT webmaster-nh@usgs.gov
Last Updated March 23, 2007
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