Interactive Map Provides a Long-Term Look at Changes in River and Stream Quality Completed
Streamflow Measurement and Water-Sample Collection from Cableway
A new U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) interactive map provides a comprehensive, long-term assessment of changes in the chemical composition and quality of our rivers and streams over the last four decades.
Since passage of the Clean Water Act in 1972, Federal, State, and local governments have invested billions of dollars to reduce the amount of contaminants entering rivers and streams. To understand the return on these investments and to effectively manage and protect the Nation's water resources, it's essential to know how water quality has changed over time. A new, interactive mapping tool, developed by the USGS National Water-Quality Assessment Project, allows users to do just that—visualize long-term changes in water quality and in health of aquatic life at hundreds of sites on streams and rivers across the United States.
Users of the on-line mapping tool can explore trends in more than 50 water-quality constituents (such as nutrients, salinity, and pesticides) and 38 aquatic-life metrics (such as numbers of fish, macroinvertebrates, and algae) for four periods: 1972–2012, 1982–2012, 1992–2012, and 2002–2012. The data that underlie the trends were compiled for almost 1,400 sites in more than 50 major river basins collected by Federal, State, Tribal, regional, and local governmental agencies and nongovernmental organizations.
A companion report documents the procedures used to compile and process the data and the methods used to determine the trends. It also provides a brief summary of the trend results along with examples of how to interpret them. Collectively, the trend results provide insight into how natural variation, human activities, and management decisions have contributed to water-quality changes over time in the Nation's rivers and streams.
The USGS National Water-Quality Assessment Project provided the funds for the study.
Below are other science teams and laboratories associated with this work.
National Water-Quality Assessment (NAWQA) Program
Below are publications associated with this Activities and Expertise.
Water-quality trends in the nation’s rivers and streams, 1972–2012—Data preparation, statistical methods, and trend results
Below are data or web applications associated with this work.
Groundwater Quality: Decadal Change
Almost one-half of the U.S. population rely on groundwater for their water supply, and demand for groundwater for public supply, irrigation, and agriculture continues to increase. This mapper shows how concentrations of pesticides, nutrients, metals, and organic contaminants in groundwater are changing during decadal periods across the Nation.
Tracking Water Quality of the Nation's Streams and Rivers
An online graphical data tool provides annual summaries of nutrient and sediment concentrations and loads and streamflow information for 106 sites monitored as part of the USGS National Water-Quality Network for Streams and Rivers.
Below are news stories associated with this work.
- Overview
A new U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) interactive map provides a comprehensive, long-term assessment of changes in the chemical composition and quality of our rivers and streams over the last four decades.
Since passage of the Clean Water Act in 1972, Federal, State, and local governments have invested billions of dollars to reduce the amount of contaminants entering rivers and streams. To understand the return on these investments and to effectively manage and protect the Nation's water resources, it's essential to know how water quality has changed over time. A new, interactive mapping tool, developed by the USGS National Water-Quality Assessment Project, allows users to do just that—visualize long-term changes in water quality and in health of aquatic life at hundreds of sites on streams and rivers across the United States.
Users of the on-line mapping tool can explore trends in more than 50 water-quality constituents (such as nutrients, salinity, and pesticides) and 38 aquatic-life metrics (such as numbers of fish, macroinvertebrates, and algae) for four periods: 1972–2012, 1982–2012, 1992–2012, and 2002–2012. The data that underlie the trends were compiled for almost 1,400 sites in more than 50 major river basins collected by Federal, State, Tribal, regional, and local governmental agencies and nongovernmental organizations.
A companion report documents the procedures used to compile and process the data and the methods used to determine the trends. It also provides a brief summary of the trend results along with examples of how to interpret them. Collectively, the trend results provide insight into how natural variation, human activities, and management decisions have contributed to water-quality changes over time in the Nation's rivers and streams.
The USGS National Water-Quality Assessment Project provided the funds for the study.
- Science
Below are other science teams and laboratories associated with this work.
National Water-Quality Assessment (NAWQA) Program
During the past 25 years, industry and government made large financial investments in pollution control that have resulted in better water quality across the Nation; however, many water-quality problems 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... - Publications
Below are publications associated with this Activities and Expertise.
Water-quality trends in the nation’s rivers and streams, 1972–2012—Data preparation, statistical methods, and trend results
Since passage of the Clean Water Act in 1972, Federal, State, and local governments have invested billions of dollars to reduce pollution entering rivers and streams. To understand the return on these investments and to effectively manage and protect the Nation’s water resources in the future, we need to know how and why water quality has been changing over time. As part of the National Water-QualAuthorsGretchen P. Oelsner, Lori A. Sprague, Jennifer C. Murphy, Robert E. Zuellig, Henry M. Johnson, Karen R. Ryberg, James A. Falcone, Edward G. Stets, Aldo V. Vecchia, Melissa L. Riskin, Laura A. De Cicco, Taylor J. Mills, William H. Farmer - Web Tools
Below are data or web applications associated with this work.
Groundwater Quality: Decadal Change
Almost one-half of the U.S. population rely on groundwater for their water supply, and demand for groundwater for public supply, irrigation, and agriculture continues to increase. This mapper shows how concentrations of pesticides, nutrients, metals, and organic contaminants in groundwater are changing during decadal periods across the Nation.
Tracking Water Quality of the Nation's Streams and Rivers
An online graphical data tool provides annual summaries of nutrient and sediment concentrations and loads and streamflow information for 106 sites monitored as part of the USGS National Water-Quality Network for Streams and Rivers.
- News
Below are news stories associated with this work.