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NATIONAL WATER-QUALITY ASSESSMENT PROGRAM

Methods and Sources of Data Used to Develop Selected Water–Quality Indicators for Streams and Ground Water for EPA’s 2007 Report on the Environment: Science Report

U.S. Geological Survey Open–File Report 2008–1096

By Nancy T. Baker, John T. Wilson, and Michael J. Moran

ONLINE ONLY

This report is available below as a 23–page PDF for viewing and printing.

This report also includes 1 oversized table (PDF and Excel formats) and 11 appendixes (Excel format), which are available below for viewing and printing.


Abstract

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) was one of numerous governmental agencies, private organizations, and the academic community that provided data and interpretations for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (USEPA) 2007 Report on the Environment: Science Report. This report documents the sources of data and methods used to develop selected water–quality indicators for the 2007 edition of the report compiled by USEPA. Stream and ground–water–quality data collected nationally in a consistent manner as part of the USGS’s National Water–Quality Assessment Program (NAWQA) were provided for several water–quality indicators, including Nitrogen and Phosphorus in Streams in Agricultural Watersheds; Pesticides in Streams in Agricultural Watersheds; and Nitrate and Pesticides in Shallow Ground Water in Agricultural Watersheds. In addition, the USGS provided nitrate (nitrate plus nitrite) and phosphorus riverine load estimates calculated from water–quality and streamflow data collected as part of its National Stream Water Quality Accounting Network (NASQAN) and its Federal–State Cooperative Program for the Nitrogen and Phosphorus Discharge from Large Rivers indicator.

Contents

Foreword

Abstract

Introduction

Land–Use Classification of Stream– and Ground–Water Sampling Sites

Report on the Environment Indicators for Fresh Surface Waters

Nitrogen and Phosphorus in Streams in Agricultural Watersheds

Nitrogen and Phosphorus Discharge from Large Rivers

Pesticides in Streams in Agricultural Watersheds

Report on the Environment Indicators for Ground Water

Nitrate in Shallow Ground Water in Agricultural Watersheds

Pesticides in Shallow Ground Water in Agricultural Watersheds

Summary

Acknowledgments

References Cited

Appendix  1.  List of NAWQA stream–water sampling sites with land–use classification used for EPA's 2007 Report on the Environment:
                   Science Report

Appendix  2.  Water–quality data for nitrogen and phosphorus in stream–water samples from agricultural watersheds, 1992–2001

Appendix  3.  Annual nitrate and total phosphorus load estimates for the Mississippi River, 1968–2004

Appendix  4.  Annual nitrate and total phosphorus load estimates for the Mississippi, Susquehanna, St. Lawrence, and Columbia Rivers

Appendix  5.  Water–quality data for pesticide occurrence in stream–water samples from agricultural watersheds, 1992–2001

Appendix  6.  List of analytes sampled in stream water and ground water with human–health and aquatic–life benchmarks

Appendix  7.  Pesticide exceedance of aquatic–life benchmarks in agricultural streams

Appendix  8.  Pesticide exceedance of human–health benchmarks in agricultural streams

Appendix  9.  Water–quality data for nitrate in ground–water samples from agricultural watersheds, 1992–2003

Appendix 10. Water–quality data for pesticide occurrence in ground–water samples from agricultural watersheds, 1992–2003

Appendix 11. Pesticide exceedance of human–health benchmarks in agricultural ground water

Figures

  1–2. Tables, graphs, and maps showing:

          1. Flow–weighted mean concentrations of nitrate (as N) and total nitrogen in agricultural stream water for 1992–2001.

          2. Flow–weighted mean concentrations of orthophosphate (as P) and total phosphorus in agricultural stream water for 1992–2001.

  3–4. Graphs and maps showing:

          3. Annual nitrate load discharged from four major U.S. rivers, 1955–2004.

          4. Annual total phosphorus load discharged from four major U.S. rivers, 1971–2004.

5–10. Tables, graphs, and maps showing:

          5. Pesticide occurrence in agricultural streams for 1992–2001.

          6. Pesticides in agricultural streams exceeding aquatic–life and human–health benchmarks for 1992–2001.

          7. Pesticides in agricultural streams exceeding aquatic–life and human–health benchmarks for 1992–2001 showing revised bin classes.

          8. Nitrate concentrations in agricultural ground water for 1992–2003.

          9. Pesticide occurrence in agricultural ground water for 1993–2003.

         10. Pesticides in agricultural ground water exceeding human–health benchmarks for 1993–2003.

Tables

          1. Sources and type of data provided by the U.S. Geological Survey to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
              for EPA’s 2007 Report on the Environment: Science Report.

          2. Watershed land–use criteria used to define land–use classification of stream–water sampling sites.


Availability

This document is available in Portable Document Format (PDF)

To view and print report you will need to use Adobe Acrobat Reader (available as freeware)

Users with visual disabilities can visit Online conversion tools for Adobe PDF documents web page

Front cover (PDF) (50 KB) (8.5" by 11" paper)
Back cover (PDF) (36 KB) (8.5" by 11" paper)
Whole report (PDF) (2.35 MB) – 23 pages (8.5" by 11" paper)
Table 1 (PDF) (35 KB) – 1 page (17" by 11" paper)
Table 1 (Excel) (26 KB)
Appendix 1 (Excel) (197 KB)
Appendix 2 (Excel) (897 KB)
Appendix 3 (Excel) (10.3 MB)
Appendix 4 (Excel) (139 KB)
Appendix 5 (Excel) (10.3 MB)
Appendix 6 (Excel) (87 KB)
Appendix 7 (Excel) (118 KB)
Appendix 8 (Excel) (1.11 MB)
Appendix 9 (Excel) (371 KB)
Appendix 10 (Excel) (122 KB)
Appendix 11 (Excel) (134 KB)


Suggested Citation:

Baker, N.T., Wilson, J.T., and Moran, M.J., 2008, Methods and sources of data used to develop selected water–quality indicators for streams and ground water for EPA’s 2007 Report on The Environment—Science Report: U.S. Geological Survey Open–File Report 2008–1096, 23 p., plus 1 oversized table and 11 appendixes.



For more information about activities of the USGS National Water-Quality Assessment (NAWQA) Program, visit the NAWQA home page.




U.S. Department of the Interior, U.S. Geological Survey
Persistent URL: https://pubs.water.usgs.gov/ofr2008-1096
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