Water Quality in the Nation’s Streams and Rivers – Current Conditions and Long-Term Trends
What's in the Water?
Access water-quality data for current conditions of our streams and rivers
Water-Quality Trends
How has the water quality in our streams and rivers changed? Use this web tool to find out
Annual Agricultural Pesticide Use
Access maps, graphs, and tables for data on use of hundreds of pesticide compounds
The Nation's rivers and streams are a priceless resource, but pollution from urban and agricultural areas pose a threat to our water quality. To understand the value of water quality, and to more effectively manage and protect the Nation's water resources, it's critical that we know the current status of water-quality conditions, and how and why those conditions have been changing over time.
The Nation's rivers and streams are a priceless resource—they provide drinking water for a growing population, irrigation for crops, habitat for aquatic life, and countless recreational opportunities. But pollution from urban and agricultural areas continues to pose a threat to water quality. Since passage of the Clean Water Act in 1972, Federal, State, and local governments have invested billions of dollars to reduce pollution entering streams and rivers. Yet recently, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency reported that more than half of the Nation's stream miles have ecosystems in poor condition. Knowing the current water-quality conditions of our rivers and streams and where those conditions have improved or deteriorated is critical information for resource managers and the public.
Two of the major goals of the USGS National Water-Quality Assessment (NAWQA) Project are to determine the current status of water-quality conditions in the Nation’s streams and rivers and to determine how those conditions are changing over time. These goals are accomplished on a national scale through two projects:
(1) Objective 1: Tracking Water Quality of the Nation's Rivers and Streams—The USGS National Water Quality Network (NWQN) monitors water-quality conditions in streams and rivers throughout the Nation using consistent and comparable methods. The Water-Quality Tracking page provides annually updated information on water-quality concentrations, loads, and trends at sites located throughout the U.S.
(2) Objective 2: Water-Quality Changes in the Nation's Streams and Rivers—Outside of the NAWQA Project, the USGS and other Federal, State, and local agencies also have collected long-term water-quality data to support their own assessments of changing water-quality conditions. To support the second objective, these data have been combined with USGS data to support the most comprehensive assessment to date of water-quality trends in the United States. Collectively, these data provide insight into how natural features and human activities have contributed to water-quality changes in the Nation's streams and rivers. Use the Water-Quality Trends mapping tool to visualize trends in water chemistry (nutrients, pesticides, sediment, carbon, and salinity) and aquatic ecology (fish, invertebrates, and algae) for four time periods: 1972-2012, 1982-2012, 1992-2012, and 2002-2012.
National 1-km resolution rasters of selected Census of Agriculture statistics allocated to land use for the period 1950-2012
Watershed Boundaries for the U.S. Geological Survey National Water Quality Network
Pesticide concentration and streamflow datasets used to evaluate pesticide trends in the Nations rivers and streams, 1992-2012
County fresh-water withdrawal water use allocated to relevant land uses in the United States: 1985 to 2010
U.S. block-level population density rasters for 1990, 2000, and 2010
Agricultural Pesticide Use Estimates for the USGS National Water Quality Network, 1992-2014
Langelier Saturation Indices Computed for U.S. Groundwater, 1991-2015; Water Well Data and Characteristic Values for States
Water-quality trends in US rivers: Exploring effects from streamflow trends and changes in watershed management
Water-quality trends in US rivers: Exploring effects from streamflow trends and changes in watershed management
Water-quality trends in U.S. rivers, 2002 to 2012: Relations to levels of concern
Quality-control design for surface-water sampling in the National Water-Quality Network
Data analysis considerations for pesticides determined by National Water Quality Laboratory schedule 2437
Modeling drivers of phosphorus loads in Chesapeake Bay tributaries and inferences about long-term change
Increasing chloride in rivers of the conterminous U.S. and linkages to potential corrosivity and lead action level exceedances in drinking water
Evaluation and use of U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Clean Watersheds Needs Survey data to quantify nutrient loads to surface water, 1978–2012
A field study of selected U.S. Geological Survey analytical methods for measuring pesticides in filtered stream water, June - September 2012
Nutrient and pesticide contamination bias estimated from field blanks collected at surface-water sites in U.S. Geological Survey Water-Quality Networks, 2002–12
Water-quality trends in the nation’s rivers and streams, 1972–2012—Data preparation, statistical methods, and trend results
Challenges with secondary use of multi-source water-quality data in the United States
Prediction of pesticide toxicity in Midwest streams
Estimates of areal extent of U.S. parking lots now available
Parking lots may be a significant source of pollution, but up until now there has been no quantitative estimate of the areal extent of parking lots in the U.S.
The Nation's rivers and streams are a priceless resource, but pollution from urban and agricultural areas pose a threat to our water quality. To understand the value of water quality, and to more effectively manage and protect the Nation's water resources, it's critical that we know the current status of water-quality conditions, and how and why those conditions have been changing over time.
The Nation's rivers and streams are a priceless resource—they provide drinking water for a growing population, irrigation for crops, habitat for aquatic life, and countless recreational opportunities. But pollution from urban and agricultural areas continues to pose a threat to water quality. Since passage of the Clean Water Act in 1972, Federal, State, and local governments have invested billions of dollars to reduce pollution entering streams and rivers. Yet recently, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency reported that more than half of the Nation's stream miles have ecosystems in poor condition. Knowing the current water-quality conditions of our rivers and streams and where those conditions have improved or deteriorated is critical information for resource managers and the public.
Two of the major goals of the USGS National Water-Quality Assessment (NAWQA) Project are to determine the current status of water-quality conditions in the Nation’s streams and rivers and to determine how those conditions are changing over time. These goals are accomplished on a national scale through two projects:
(1) Objective 1: Tracking Water Quality of the Nation's Rivers and Streams—The USGS National Water Quality Network (NWQN) monitors water-quality conditions in streams and rivers throughout the Nation using consistent and comparable methods. The Water-Quality Tracking page provides annually updated information on water-quality concentrations, loads, and trends at sites located throughout the U.S.
(2) Objective 2: Water-Quality Changes in the Nation's Streams and Rivers—Outside of the NAWQA Project, the USGS and other Federal, State, and local agencies also have collected long-term water-quality data to support their own assessments of changing water-quality conditions. To support the second objective, these data have been combined with USGS data to support the most comprehensive assessment to date of water-quality trends in the United States. Collectively, these data provide insight into how natural features and human activities have contributed to water-quality changes in the Nation's streams and rivers. Use the Water-Quality Trends mapping tool to visualize trends in water chemistry (nutrients, pesticides, sediment, carbon, and salinity) and aquatic ecology (fish, invertebrates, and algae) for four time periods: 1972-2012, 1982-2012, 1992-2012, and 2002-2012.
National 1-km resolution rasters of selected Census of Agriculture statistics allocated to land use for the period 1950-2012
Watershed Boundaries for the U.S. Geological Survey National Water Quality Network
Pesticide concentration and streamflow datasets used to evaluate pesticide trends in the Nations rivers and streams, 1992-2012
County fresh-water withdrawal water use allocated to relevant land uses in the United States: 1985 to 2010
U.S. block-level population density rasters for 1990, 2000, and 2010
Agricultural Pesticide Use Estimates for the USGS National Water Quality Network, 1992-2014
Langelier Saturation Indices Computed for U.S. Groundwater, 1991-2015; Water Well Data and Characteristic Values for States
Water-quality trends in US rivers: Exploring effects from streamflow trends and changes in watershed management
Water-quality trends in US rivers: Exploring effects from streamflow trends and changes in watershed management
Water-quality trends in U.S. rivers, 2002 to 2012: Relations to levels of concern
Quality-control design for surface-water sampling in the National Water-Quality Network
Data analysis considerations for pesticides determined by National Water Quality Laboratory schedule 2437
Modeling drivers of phosphorus loads in Chesapeake Bay tributaries and inferences about long-term change
Increasing chloride in rivers of the conterminous U.S. and linkages to potential corrosivity and lead action level exceedances in drinking water
Evaluation and use of U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Clean Watersheds Needs Survey data to quantify nutrient loads to surface water, 1978–2012
A field study of selected U.S. Geological Survey analytical methods for measuring pesticides in filtered stream water, June - September 2012
Nutrient and pesticide contamination bias estimated from field blanks collected at surface-water sites in U.S. Geological Survey Water-Quality Networks, 2002–12
Water-quality trends in the nation’s rivers and streams, 1972–2012—Data preparation, statistical methods, and trend results
Challenges with secondary use of multi-source water-quality data in the United States
Prediction of pesticide toxicity in Midwest streams
Estimates of areal extent of U.S. parking lots now available
Parking lots may be a significant source of pollution, but up until now there has been no quantitative estimate of the areal extent of parking lots in the U.S.