Water Quality in the Nation’s Streams and Rivers – Current Conditions and Long-Term Trends Active
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.
- Overview
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.
- Data
Filter Total Items: 19
National 1-km resolution rasters of selected Census of Agriculture statistics allocated to land use for the period 1950-2012
This dataset consists of a series of rasters covering the conterminous United States. Each raster is a one kilometer (km) grid for 18 selected Census of Agriculture statistics mapped to land use pixels for the time period 1950 to 2012. A supplemental set of 9 statistics mapped at the entire county level are also provided as 1-km rasters. The rasters are posted as ArcGIS grids. The statistics repreWatershed Boundaries for the U.S. Geological Survey National Water Quality Network
The National Water Quality Network (NWQN) for Rivers and Streams includes 113 surface-water river and stream sites monitored by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) National Water Quality Program (NWQP). The NWQN represents the consolidation of four historical national networks: the USGS National Water-Quality Assessment (NAWQA) Project, the USGS National Stream Quality Accounting Network (NASQAN), tPesticide concentration and streamflow datasets used to evaluate pesticide trends in the Nations rivers and streams, 1992-2012
In 1991, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) began a study of more than 50 major river basins across the Nation as part of the National Water-Quality Assessment (NAWQA) project of the National Water-Quality Program. One of the major goals of the NAWQA project is to determine how water-quality conditions change over time. To support that goal, long-term consistent and comparable monitoring has been cCounty fresh-water withdrawal water use allocated to relevant land uses in the United States: 1985 to 2010
This product is a series of six national 1-kilometer (km) raster datasets, for five year intervals between 1985 and 2010, representing USGS Water Use "Total Fresh Water Withdrawals", allocated to areas of land use representing anthropogenic use. Pixels representing anthropogenic uses (urban, agriculture, and mining land uses) are derived from the NAWQA Wall-to-wall Anthropogenic Land-use Trends (NU.S. block-level population density rasters for 1990, 2000, and 2010
This dataset consists of three raster datasets representing population density for the years 1990, 2000, and 2010. All three rasters are based on block-level census geography data. The 1990 and 2000 data are derived from data normalized to 2000 block boundaries, while the 2010 data are based on 2010 block boundaries. The 1990 and 2000 data are rasters at 100-meter (m) resolution, while the 2010 daAgricultural Pesticide Use Estimates for the USGS National Water Quality Network, 1992-2014
The National Water Quality Network (NWQN) for Rivers and Streams includes 113 surface-water river and stream sites monitored by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) National Water Quality Program (NWQP). The NWQN represents the consolidation of four historical national networks: the USGS National Water-Quality Assessment (NAWQA) Project, the USGS National Stream Quality Accounting Network (NASQAN), tLangelier Saturation Indices Computed for U.S. Groundwater, 1991-2015; Water Well Data and Characteristic Values for States
The occurrence of metals, such as lead and copper, in household drinking supplies can often be a result of the corrosion of pipes and joints in water distribution systems. One measure of the potential for water to cause corrosion is the Langelier Saturation Index (LSI) (Langelier, 1936). The LSI is a measure of the potential for water to deposit a mineral layer (scale) within a water distribution - Multimedia
- Publications
Water-quality trends in US rivers: Exploring effects from streamflow trends and changes in watershed management
We present a conceptual model that explores the relationship of streamflow trends to 15 water-quality parameters at 370 sites across the contiguous United States (US). Our analytical framework uses discrete water-quality data, daily streamflow records, and a statistical model to estimate water-quality trends between 1982 and 2012 and parse these trends into the amount of change attributed to trendAuthorsJennifer C. Murphy, Lori A. SpragueFilter Total Items: 29Water-quality trends in US rivers: Exploring effects from streamflow trends and changes in watershed management
We present a conceptual model that explores the relationship of streamflow trends to 15 water-quality parameters at 370 sites across the contiguous United States (US). Our analytical framework uses discrete water-quality data, daily streamflow records, and a statistical model to estimate water-quality trends between 1982 and 2012 and parse these trends into the amount of change attributed to trendAuthorsJennifer C. Murphy, Lori A. SpragueWater-quality trends in U.S. rivers, 2002 to 2012: Relations to levels of concern
Effective management and protection of water resources relies upon understanding how water-quality conditions are changing over time. Water-quality trends for ammonia, chloride, nitrate, sulfate, total dissolved solids (TDS), total nitrogen (TN) and total phosphorus (TP) were assessed at 762 sites located in the conterminous United States between 2002 and 2012. Annual mean concentrations at the stAuthorsMegan E. Shoda, Lori A. Sprague, Jennifer C. Murphy, Melissa L. RiskinQuality-control design for surface-water sampling in the National Water-Quality Network
The data-quality objectives for samples collected at surface-water sites in the National Water-Quality Network include estimating the extent to which contamination, matrix effects, and measurement variability affect interpretation of environmental conditions. Quality-control samples provide insight into how well the samples collected at surface-water sites represent the true environmental conditioAuthorsMelissa L. Riskin, David C. Reutter, Jeffrey D. Martin, David K. MuellerData analysis considerations for pesticides determined by National Water Quality Laboratory schedule 2437
In 2013, the U.S. Geological Survey National Water Quality Laboratory (NWQL) made a new method available for the analysis of pesticides in filtered water samples: laboratory schedule 2437. Schedule 2437 is an improvement on previous analytical methods because it determines the concentrations of 225 fungicides, herbicides, insecticides, and associated degradates in one method at similar or lower coAuthorsMegan E. Shoda, Lisa H. Nowell, Wesley W. Stone, Mark W. Sandstrom, Laura M. BexfieldModeling drivers of phosphorus loads in Chesapeake Bay tributaries and inferences about long-term change
Causal attribution of changes in water quality often consists of correlation, qualitative reasoning, listing references to the work of others, or speculation. To better support statements of attribution for water-quality trends, structural equation modeling was used to model the causal factors of total phosphorus loads in the Chesapeake Bay watershed. By transforming, scaling, and standardizing vaAuthorsKaren R. Ryberg, Joel D. Blomquist, Lori A. Sprague, Andrew J. Sekellick, Jennifer L. KeismanIncreasing chloride in rivers of the conterminous U.S. and linkages to potential corrosivity and lead action level exceedances in drinking water
Corrosion in water-distribution systems is a costly problem and controlling corrosion is a primary focus of efforts to reduce lead (Pb) and copper (Cu) in tap water. High chloride concentrations can increase the tendency of water to cause corrosion in distribution systems. The effects of chloride are also expressed in several indices commonly used to describe the potential corrosivity of water, thAuthorsEdward G. Stets, Casey J. Lee, Darren A. Lytle, Michael R. SchockEvaluation and use of U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Clean Watersheds Needs Survey data to quantify nutrient loads to surface water, 1978–2012
Changes in municipal and industrial point-source discharges over time have been an important factor affecting nutrient trends in many of the Nation’s streams and rivers. This report documents how three U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) national datasets—the Permit Compliance System, the Integrated Compliance Information System, and the Clean Watersheds Needs Survey—were evaluated for useAuthorsTamara I. IvahnenkoA field study of selected U.S. Geological Survey analytical methods for measuring pesticides in filtered stream water, June - September 2012
U.S. Geological Survey monitoring programs extensively used two analytical methods, gas chromatography/mass spectrometry and liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry, to measure pesticides in filtered water samples during 1992–2012. In October 2012, the monitoring programs began using direct aqueous-injection liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry as a new analytical method for pesticides.AuthorsJeffrey D. Martin, Julia E. Norman, Mark W. Sandstrom, Claire E. RoseNutrient and pesticide contamination bias estimated from field blanks collected at surface-water sites in U.S. Geological Survey Water-Quality Networks, 2002–12
Potential contamination bias was estimated for 8 nutrient analytes and 40 pesticides in stream water collected by the U.S. Geological Survey at 147 stream sites from across the United States, and representing a variety of hydrologic conditions and site types, for water years 2002–12. This study updates previous U.S. Geological Survey evaluations of potential contamination bias for nutrients and peAuthorsLaura Medalie, Jeffrey D. MartinWater-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. FarmerChallenges with secondary use of multi-source water-quality data in the United States
Combining water-quality data from multiple sources can help counterbalance diminishing resources for stream monitoring in the United States and lead to important regional and national insights that would not otherwise be possible. Individual monitoring organizations understand their own data very well, but issues can arise when their data are combined with data from other organizations that have uAuthorsLori A. Sprague, Gretchen P. Oelsner, Denise M. ArguePrediction of pesticide toxicity in Midwest streams
The occurrence of pesticide mixtures is common in stream waters of the United States, and the impact of multiple compounds on aquatic organisms is not well understood. Watershed Regressions for Pesticides (WARP) models were developed to predict Pesticide Toxicity Index (PTI) values in unmonitored streams in the Midwest and are referred to as WARP-PTI models. The PTI is a tool for assessing the relAuthorsMegan E. Shoda, Wesley W. Stone, Lisa H. Nowell - Web Tools
- News
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.