Water Resources of Idaho

WHAT IS THE NAWQA PROGRAM?

During the past 25 years, industry and government have made large financial investments intended to improve water quality across the Nation; however, many water-quality issues remain. To address the need for consistent and scientifically sound information for managing the Nation's water resources, the U.S. Geological Survey began a full-scale National Water-Quality Assessment (NAWQA) Program in 1991. The goals of the NAWQA Program are to (1) describe current water-quality conditions for a large part of the Nation's freshwater streams and aquifers (water-bearing sediments and rocks), (2) describe how water quality is changing over time, and (3) improve our understanding of the primary natural and human factors affecting water quality.

Assessing the quality of water in every area of the Nation would not be practical; therefore, NAWQA Program studies are planned within a set of regions called study areas. These study areas encompass 59 important river and aquifer systems that represent the diverse geography, water resources, and land and water uses of the Nation. The Northern Rockies study area has been selected to (1) include several important river systems, (2) represent a mixture of forested, agricultural, urban, and developing areas, (3) contain major sole-source aquifers such as the Spokane Valley/Rathdrum Prairie and Missoula Valley aquifers, and (4) assess the effects of mining practices on the quality of streams and aquifers. Study activities by the U.S. Geological Survey in the Northern Rockies began in late 1996.

U.S. Department of the Interior, U.S. Geological Survey Page Contact: Idaho Webmaster Page Last Modified: 12:47:28 Wed 13 Apr 2005 Privacy Statement || Disclaimer || Accessibility URL: id.water.usgs.gov/nrok/program.htm