Confronting the Nation's Water Problems The Role of Research (2004) / Chapter Skim
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5 Data Collection and Monitoring
5 Data Collection and Monitoring
Pages 179-198
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From page 179... ...
Examples of water resources and other relevant data that are collected through a variety of measurement devices and networks are: · hydrologic storages and fluxes such as soil moisture, snow pack depth, precipitation, streamflow, hydraulic head, recharge, and evapotranspiration · land-ocean-atmosphere energy fluxes · water, land, and air quality measures, including physical, chemical, biological, and ecological elements · water and energy demand, consumptive use, and return flows · terrain elevation and land use, and lake, stream, and river geometry Data collection is the means by which these types of data are acquired for multiple uses, including for flood warnings and other health and safety monitoring activities, weather prediction, engineering design, commercial and industrial applications, and scientific research. Monitoring is data collection with the more targeted purpose of detecting and drawing attention to changes in selected measures, particularly extreme changes.
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From page 180... ...
Similarly, an assessment of the impact of global climate change on groundwater and surface water resources will require basic monitoring systems capable of providing data for time periods of centuries. With other problems, like nonpoint source contamination of streams resulting from runoff laden with nitrate, pesticides, and sediment, hourly data may be required because of the close association of stream contamination with the timing of storms and resulting runoff processes.
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From page 181... ...
Yet, even this large program is only a first step in providing the information necessary to support federal regulations related to water quality (e.g., the Total Maximum Daily Load program) , to support restoration of aquatic ecosystems impacted by agriculture (e.g., the Neuse River basin)
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From page 182... ...
Furthermore, highresolution satellites are being used to map distributions of different types of aquatic plant communities in wetlands and littoral areas of lakes, and aircraftmounted spectroradiometers are being used to map aquatic vegetation and water quality conditions (e.g., turbidity, phosphorus, and chlorophyll a) in rivers.
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From page 183... ...
It should be noted that remote sensing systems for some crucial water monitoring data -- for example biological metrics of water quality like
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From page 184... ...
manage water resources in important western rivers like the Colorado. Chemical, biological, and sediment data are needed to evaluate the efficacy of attempts to restore water quality and ecological health in the Chesapeake Bay, the Mississippi River system, and the San Francisco Bay, which are being adversely affected by nonpoint source contamination.
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From page 185... ...
Streamflow The USGS has been collecting streamflow information since 1889 and today operates a national network of about 7,200 stream gages. The information provided by the network is used for many purposes, including water resource planning, daily water management, flood prediction and hazard estimation, water quality assessment and management, aquatic habitat assessment and mitigation, engineering design, recreation safety, and scientific research.
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From page 186... ...
, would provide for a stable nationwide backbone stream gage network that would be fully funded by the USGS to maintain for future generations the important long-term streamflow information at critical locations. Stream gages required for local needs would supplement this backbone network and would remain funded through the Cooperative Water Program.
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From page 187... ...
Ideally, a comprehensive groundwater-level network is needed to assess groundwater-level changes, the data from which should be easily accessible in real time. Soil Moisture It has been long recognized that soil moisture in the first one or two meters below the ground surface regulates land-surface energy and moisture exchanges with the atmosphere and plays a key role in flood and drought genesis and maintenance (e.g., Huang et al., 1996; Eastman et al., 1998)
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From page 188... ...
At the present time, models must use estimates derived from secondary sources of information or from other models, rendering predictions pertaining to ecosystem behavior or surface watergroundwater interactions subject to significant uncertainty. Even a few long-term monitoring networks of soil moisture would substantially decrease the uncertainty in predicting processes that critically depend on soil moisture levels (like flow, water chemistry, and plant response)
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From page 189... ...
Unfortunately, water quality monitoring networks within USGS have not received additional funding since their inception and thus have been declining simply due to the impacts of inflation. USGS surface water quality networks include the Hydrologic Benchmark Network (HBN)
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From page 190... ...
. Box 5-1 discusses how the lack of reliable water quality monitoring data has hampered efforts to sensibly plan for development in New Jersey and comply with state laws.
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From page 191... ...
Only nine subbasins had water quality monitoring data, and for only one of these was there a long-term continuous record. One of the subbasins with both long-term continuous flow and water quality records, McDonald's Branch, is situated in the center of the region, is small and forested, has variable aquifer thickness, and lacks some of the wetland types of importance to the study.
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From page 192... ...
In a recently completed NRC review of the USGS National Water Use Information Program (NWUIP)
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From page 193... ...
· The USGS should focus on the scientific integration of water use, water flow, and water quality to expand knowledge and generate policy-relevant information about human impacts on both water and ecological resources. · The USGS should seek support from Congress for dedicated funding of a national component of the recommended water use science program to supplement the existing funding in the Cooperative Water Program.
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From page 194... ...
In recent years the District has devel oped unique approaches to operating federal facilities to achieve envi ronmental benefits that were not valued when the project was first built, but without compromising the water supply and flood control requirements of the original project. Lake Okeechobee is at the heart of the water management system in South Florida, storing floodwater from the upstream watershed and sup plying water for agriculture, urban populations, and the Everglades.
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From page 195... ...
Key legacy monitoring systems in areas of streamflow, groundwater, sediment transport, water quality, and water use have been in substantial decline and in some cases have been nearly eliminated. These systems provide data necessary for both research (i.e., advancing fundamental knowledge)
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From page 196... ...
2002. National Water Quality Inventory -- 2000 report: EPA841R02001.
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From page 197... ...
Geological Survey National Water Quality Assessment Program. Washington, DC: National Academy Press.
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From page 198... ...
1991. Soil moisture, empirical data and model results.
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