Skip to main content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

National Water-Quality Assessment Project (NAWQA)

By National Water Quality Program

Visit the NAWQA Science Homepage

Water-quality data and science for the Nation

NAWQA home page

Surface-Water Quality and Ecology

Data and science on the Nation's streams and rivers

NAWQA surface water

Groundwater Quality

Dive deep—data and science on groundwater, our invisible, vital resource

NAWQA groundwater

The NAWQA Project is the largest component of the NWQP as a primary source of objective and nationally consistent water-quality data and information on the quality of the Nation’s streams and groundwater.

NAWQA Science, Just a Click Away

Micro-sampler installation in flood

Learn about current conditions and trends in the quality of the Nation's rivers, streams, and groundwater and the health of aquatic ecosystems. Easy access to data, mappers, and publications!

NAWQA Home Page

Water-Quality Quicklinks

The National Water Quality Program (NWQP) of the Water Mission Area conducts water-quality monitoring, assessment, and research activities that:

  1. Assess the current quality of the Nation’s freshwater resources and how it is changing over time,

  2. Explain how human activities and natural factors (e.g., land use, water use and climate

    variability) are affecting the quality of surface water and groundwater resources,

  3. Determine the relative effects of important sources of impairment to water resources including contaminants, excess nutrients and sediment, and altered streamflow on aquatic ecosystems, and

  4. Predict the effects of human activities, climate change, and management strategies on future water-quality and ecosystem conditions.

 

In 1991, Congress established NAWQA within the USGS to address a fundamental question: “What is the status of the Nation’s water quality and is it getting better or worse?” Since then, the NAWQA Project has been a primary source of objective and nationally consistent water-quality data and information on the quality of the Nation’s streams and groundwater. NAWQA Project data and models provide answers to where, when, and why the Nation’s water quality is degraded, and what can be done to improve and protect it for human and ecosystem needs.