THE NATIONWIDE STRATEGY FOR IMPROVING WATER-QUALITY MONITORING IN THE UNITED STATES

FINAL REPORT OF THE INTERGOVERNMENTAL TASK FORCE
ON MONITORING WATER QUALITY
TECHNICAL APPENDICES

Task Group/Working Group, Chairs

Assessment and Reporting

Neil E. Carriker

Data Collection Methods

Herb Brass and Russell W. Sherer

Data Management and Information Sharing

Thomas H. Yorke

Environmental Indicators

Andrew Robertson

Framework

Bruce J. Baker

Ground Water

Chuck Job

Monitoring Cost

Roges Ankrah

National Survey

Lynn R. Singleton

U.S. Geological Survey
Office of Water Data Coordination
417 National Center
Reston, Virginia 22092
(703)648-5023

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CONTENTS

Technical Appendices

A. Glossary of Water-Quality-Monitoring Terms
B. Framework for a Water-Quality-Monitoring Program
C. Terms of Reference--National Water-Quality Monitoring Council
D. Indicators for Meeting Management Objectives--Summary and Rationale Matrices
E. Indicator-Selection Criteria
F. Ecoregions, Reference Conditions, and Index Calibration
G. Multimetric Approach for Describing Ecological Conditions
H. Terms of Reference--Interagency Methods and Data Comparability Board
I. Data Comparability and Performance-Based Methods Policy Paper--Comparability of Data-Collection Methods
J. Target Audiences, Monitoring Objectives, and Format Considerations for Reporting Water-Quality Information
K. Annotated Bibliography of Selected Outstanding Water-Quality Reports
L. Ground-Water-Quality-Monitoring Framework
M. Data-Elements Glossary
N. Evaluation of a Performance-Based Methods System Approach to Field and Prelaboratory Methods
O. Performance-Based Methods System for Biological Collection Methods--A Framework for Examining Method Comparability
Acronyms Used in These Technical Appendices

WATER-QUALITY MONITORING IN THE UNITED STATES--
TECHNICAL APPENDICES
FINAL REPORT OF THE INTERGOVERNMENTAL TASK FORCE ON MONITORING WATER QUALITY

ACWDPU Advisory Committee on Water Data for Public Use
ACWI Advisory Committee on Water Information
AMSA Association of Metropolitan Sewerage Agencies
AMWA Association of Municipal Water Administrators
ASTM American Society for Testing and Materials
AWWA American Water Works Association
BCI Biotic Condition Index
BEST Biomonitoring of Environmental Status and Trends Program (NBS)
CD-ROM Compact Disc-Read Only Memory
CERCLA Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act
CNAEL Committee on National Accreditation of Environ-mental Laboratories
COE U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
CWA Clean Water Act
DMIS Data Management and Information Sharing Task Group
DMR Discharge Monthly Report
DQO Data Quality Objective
EMAP Environmental Monitoring and Assessment Program (USEPA)
EMMC Environmental Monitoring Management Council
EPA Environmental Protection Agency
FGDC Federal Geographic Data Committee
FIFRA Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act
FIPS Federal Information Processing Standard
GAO Government Accounting Office
GIS geographic information system
GWFG Ground Water Focus Group
HUC Hydrologic Unit Codes
IACWD Interagency Advisory Committee on Water Data
IBI Index of Biologic Integrity
ICI Invertebrate Community Index
ISO International Standards Organization Guide
ITFM Intergovernmental on Monitoring Water Quality
MDCB Methods and Data Comparability Board
NAWQA National Water Quality Assessment (USGS)
NBS National Biological Service
NOAA National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
NPDES National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System
NRC National Research Council
NRCS National Resources Conservation Service
NRDC National Resources Defense Council
NWIS National Water Information System
OMB Office of Management and Budget
OPPE Office of Policy, Planning, and Evaluation (USEPA)
OST Office of Science and Technology (USEPA)
OWDC Office of Water Data Coordination (USGS)
PBMS performance-based methods system
QA/QC quality assurance/quality control
RBP Rapid Bioassessment Protocol
RCRA Resource Conservation and Recovery Act
RF3 river reach file
RPD relative percent difference
SAB Science Advisory Board
SCS Soil Conservation Service (Note: In 1994, the SCS became the National Resources Conservation Service)
STORET STOrage and RETrieval System (USEPA)
TSCA Toxic Substances Control Act
TVA Tennessee Valley Authority
USDA U.S. Department of Agriculture
USDOI U.S. Department of the Interior
USEPA U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
USFS U.S. Forest Service
USFWS U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
USGS U.S. Geological Survey
WATSTORE National WATer Data STOrage and REtrieval
WDNR Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources
WEF Water Environment Federatio
WICP Water Information Coordination Program

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