National Water-Quality Assessment Program (NAWQA) Rio Grande Valley Study
The New Mexico Water Science Center (NMWSC) has historically conducted NAWQA data collection of groundwater and surface water-data within the former Rio Grande Valley (RIOG) study unit, which covers about 45,700 square miles in Colorado, New Mexico, and Texas.
National Water-Quality Assessment Project - NAWQA Home Page
Approach:
- Measure groundwater levels and conduct decadal water-quality sampling in two shallow well networks in agricultural and urban areas of New Mexico.
- Sample 60 public-supply wells to characterize and explain the occurrence of contaminants of concern for human health in groundwater used for public supply.
- Continuously monitor groundwater- quality parameters at three wells in the Rincon Valley in the southern part of NM.
- Collect 14 sets of water-quality samples each year at Rio Grande at El Paso, TX (08364000) for major ions, nutrients, pesticides, and suspended-sediment concentration.
Objectives:
- Describe the status and trends in the quality of a large, representative part of the Nation's surface water and groundwater resources.
- Provide a sound, scientific understanding of the primary factors affecting the quality of these resources.
The mission of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) is to assess the quantity and quality of the earth resources of the Nation and to provide information that will assist resource managers and policymakers at Federal, State, and local levels in making sound decisions. Assessment of water-quality conditions and trends is an important part of this overall mission.
One of the greatest challenges faced by water-resources scientists is acquiring reliable information that will guide the use and protection of the Nation's water resources. That challenge is being addressed by Federal, State, interstate, and local water-resource agencies and by many academic institutions. These organizations are collecting water-quality data for a host of purposes that include: compliance with permits and water-supply standards; development of remediation plans for a specific contamination problem; operational decisions on industrial, wastewater, or water-supply facilities; and research on factors that affect water quality. An additional need for water-quality information is to provide a basis on which regional and national-level policy decisions can be based. Wise decisions must be based on sound information. As a society we need to know whether certain types of water-quality problems are isolated or ubiquitous, whether there are significant differences in conditions among regions, whether the conditions are changing over time, and why these conditions change from place to place and over time. The information can be used to help determine the efficacy of existing water-quality policies and to help analysts determine the need for and likely consequences of new policies.
To address these needs, the Congress appropriated funds in 1986 for the USGS to begin a pilot program in seven project areas to develop and refine the National Water-Quality Assessment (NAWQA) Program. In October 1990 (the start of federal fiscal year 1991), the USGS began full implementation of the program. The NAWQA Program builds upon an existing base of water-quality studies of the USGS, as well as those of other Federal, State, and local agencies. The objectives of the NAWQA Program are to:
- Describe current water-quality conditions for a large part of the Nation's freshwater streams, rivers, and aquifers.
- Describe how water quality is changing over time.
- Improve understanding of the primary natural and human factors that affect water-quality conditions.
This information will help support the development and evaluation of management, regulatory, and monitoring decisions by other Federal, State, and local agencies to protect, use, and enhance water resources.
The goals of the NAWQA Program are being achieved through investigations of many of the Nation's most important river basins and aquifer systems, which are referred to as study units. These study units are distributed throughout the Nation and cover a diversity of hydrogeologic settings. More than two-thirds of the Nation's freshwater use occurs within the study units and more than two-thirds of the people served by public water-supply systems live within their boundaries. Twenty of the study units were started in fiscal year 1991, 16 were started in fiscal year 1994, and 17 were started in fiscal year 1997. Maps are available which show the study areas and when they were started, or when they are scheduled to start.
National synthesis of data analysis, based on aggregation of comparable information obtained from the study units, is a major component of the program. This effort focuses on selected water-quality topics using nationally consistent information. Comparative studies will explain differences and similarities in observed water-quality conditions among study areas and will identify changes and trends and their causes. The first topics addressed by the national synthesis are pesticides, nutrients, volatile organic compounds, and aquatic biology. Discussions on these and other water-quality topics will be published in periodic summaries of the quality of the Nation's ground and surface water as the information becomes available.
The Rio Grande Valley study unit includes parts of Colorado, New Mexico, and Texas, and is one of the more geographically diverse NAWQA study units, with climate ranging from alpine tundra to Chihuahuan Desert. The headwaters of the Rio Grande originate in the mountains of southern Colorado at an altitude of over 13,000 feet. At the lower end of the study area, just above El Paso, Texas, the altitude is less than 4,000 feet. Mean annual precipitation ranges from greater than 50 inches per year in the Colorado mountains to less than 6 inches per year south of Albuquerque. Additional information is available in published reports.
Outside Links and Suggestions for Further Reading:
- National Water-Quality Assessment (NAWQA) Project
- Circular 1162
Water Quality in the Rio Grande Valley, Colorado, New Mexico, and Texas, 1992-95 - Circular 1112
Design of the National Water-Quality Assessment Program: Occurrence and distribution of water-quality conditions, by R.J. Gilliom, W.M. Alley, and M.E. Gurtz - Open-File Report 90-174
Implementation plan for the National Water-Quality Assessment Program, by P.P. Leahy, J.S. Rosenshein, and D.S. Knopman
The New Mexico Water Science Center (NMWSC) has historically conducted NAWQA data collection of groundwater and surface water-data within the former Rio Grande Valley (RIOG) study unit, which covers about 45,700 square miles in Colorado, New Mexico, and Texas.
National Water-Quality Assessment Project - NAWQA Home Page
Approach:
- Measure groundwater levels and conduct decadal water-quality sampling in two shallow well networks in agricultural and urban areas of New Mexico.
- Sample 60 public-supply wells to characterize and explain the occurrence of contaminants of concern for human health in groundwater used for public supply.
- Continuously monitor groundwater- quality parameters at three wells in the Rincon Valley in the southern part of NM.
- Collect 14 sets of water-quality samples each year at Rio Grande at El Paso, TX (08364000) for major ions, nutrients, pesticides, and suspended-sediment concentration.
Objectives:
- Describe the status and trends in the quality of a large, representative part of the Nation's surface water and groundwater resources.
- Provide a sound, scientific understanding of the primary factors affecting the quality of these resources.
The mission of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) is to assess the quantity and quality of the earth resources of the Nation and to provide information that will assist resource managers and policymakers at Federal, State, and local levels in making sound decisions. Assessment of water-quality conditions and trends is an important part of this overall mission.
One of the greatest challenges faced by water-resources scientists is acquiring reliable information that will guide the use and protection of the Nation's water resources. That challenge is being addressed by Federal, State, interstate, and local water-resource agencies and by many academic institutions. These organizations are collecting water-quality data for a host of purposes that include: compliance with permits and water-supply standards; development of remediation plans for a specific contamination problem; operational decisions on industrial, wastewater, or water-supply facilities; and research on factors that affect water quality. An additional need for water-quality information is to provide a basis on which regional and national-level policy decisions can be based. Wise decisions must be based on sound information. As a society we need to know whether certain types of water-quality problems are isolated or ubiquitous, whether there are significant differences in conditions among regions, whether the conditions are changing over time, and why these conditions change from place to place and over time. The information can be used to help determine the efficacy of existing water-quality policies and to help analysts determine the need for and likely consequences of new policies.
To address these needs, the Congress appropriated funds in 1986 for the USGS to begin a pilot program in seven project areas to develop and refine the National Water-Quality Assessment (NAWQA) Program. In October 1990 (the start of federal fiscal year 1991), the USGS began full implementation of the program. The NAWQA Program builds upon an existing base of water-quality studies of the USGS, as well as those of other Federal, State, and local agencies. The objectives of the NAWQA Program are to:
- Describe current water-quality conditions for a large part of the Nation's freshwater streams, rivers, and aquifers.
- Describe how water quality is changing over time.
- Improve understanding of the primary natural and human factors that affect water-quality conditions.
This information will help support the development and evaluation of management, regulatory, and monitoring decisions by other Federal, State, and local agencies to protect, use, and enhance water resources.
The goals of the NAWQA Program are being achieved through investigations of many of the Nation's most important river basins and aquifer systems, which are referred to as study units. These study units are distributed throughout the Nation and cover a diversity of hydrogeologic settings. More than two-thirds of the Nation's freshwater use occurs within the study units and more than two-thirds of the people served by public water-supply systems live within their boundaries. Twenty of the study units were started in fiscal year 1991, 16 were started in fiscal year 1994, and 17 were started in fiscal year 1997. Maps are available which show the study areas and when they were started, or when they are scheduled to start.
National synthesis of data analysis, based on aggregation of comparable information obtained from the study units, is a major component of the program. This effort focuses on selected water-quality topics using nationally consistent information. Comparative studies will explain differences and similarities in observed water-quality conditions among study areas and will identify changes and trends and their causes. The first topics addressed by the national synthesis are pesticides, nutrients, volatile organic compounds, and aquatic biology. Discussions on these and other water-quality topics will be published in periodic summaries of the quality of the Nation's ground and surface water as the information becomes available.
The Rio Grande Valley study unit includes parts of Colorado, New Mexico, and Texas, and is one of the more geographically diverse NAWQA study units, with climate ranging from alpine tundra to Chihuahuan Desert. The headwaters of the Rio Grande originate in the mountains of southern Colorado at an altitude of over 13,000 feet. At the lower end of the study area, just above El Paso, Texas, the altitude is less than 4,000 feet. Mean annual precipitation ranges from greater than 50 inches per year in the Colorado mountains to less than 6 inches per year south of Albuquerque. Additional information is available in published reports.
Outside Links and Suggestions for Further Reading:
- National Water-Quality Assessment (NAWQA) Project
- Circular 1162
Water Quality in the Rio Grande Valley, Colorado, New Mexico, and Texas, 1992-95 - Circular 1112
Design of the National Water-Quality Assessment Program: Occurrence and distribution of water-quality conditions, by R.J. Gilliom, W.M. Alley, and M.E. Gurtz - Open-File Report 90-174
Implementation plan for the National Water-Quality Assessment Program, by P.P. Leahy, J.S. Rosenshein, and D.S. Knopman