National Water-Quality Assessment (NAWQA) Program
NAWQA's 8 Major River Basin Assessments
Larger Map (GIF)
Annotated Map with Study Units (PDF)
A major focus of the NAWQA Program in its second decade (2002-2012) is on regional- and national-scale assessments of status and trends in streams and rivers. NAWQA has identified eight large geographical regions (referred to as "major river basins") as the basis for its status and trends assessments.
More information on the network design and assessments (PDF)
Publications from Major River Basin Assessments
A total of 113 sites planned for monitoring of stream water quality.
A total of 58 wadeable stream sites planned for monitoring of aquatic ecological conditions and in-stream and near-stream habitat
Integration of modeling and other scientific tools with monitoring data collected at individual sites extend knowledge of water quality to unmonitored, yet comparable areas.
Ambient resource assessment over decades, with a regional and national perspective.
Evaluation of specific issues that vary by major river basin, including those related to ecological conditions and the occurrence, trends, and transport of nutrients and pesticides.
Collaboration and integration of data with other Federal agencies, as well as regional, State, Tribal, and local organizations.
Predictions of nutrient concentrations and loads at unmonitored sites
Prediction of pesticide concentrations at unmonitored sites
Assessments of pesticide use and trends
Characterization and prediction of stream ecosystem health in wadeable streams
U.S. Department of the Interior | U.S. Geological Survey
URL: http://water.usgs.gov/nawqa/studies/mrb/
Page Contact Information: nawqa_whq@usgs.gov
Page Last Modified: 10:53:41 Fri 01 Feb 2008
