Evaluation of State and Regional Water Quality Monitoring Councils September 9 th, 2003 Advisory Committee on Water Information U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Industrial Economics, Inc. (IEc) Cambridge, Massachusetts

Objectives of Study EPA's Office of Water has identified improved monitoring as one of its top priorities Monitoring by State agencies is a critical to implementing the Clean Water Act –Can Councils make significant contributions toward this effort ? Objective: Identify lessons learned to help current Councils and facilitate establishment of additional Councils

EPA recommended elements of a state water monitoring & assessment program: Monitoring Program Strategy Monitoring Objectives Monitoring Design Core and Supplemental Water Quality Indicators Quality Assurance Data Management Data Analysis/Assessment Reporting Programmatic Evaluation General Support and Infrastructure Planning

Methodology Defining the Study Set Wisconsin Groundwater Coordinating Council

Findings Council Role General: Councils are forums for communication, collaboration, cooperation among monitoring entities Specific: Variation among councils –MD: Capacity building –WI: Non-regulatory programs (per statute) –VA: Does not set policy or usurp power from state

Findings Council Structure Highly variable across study set; most Councils have stratified membership VA, CO, MT: Egalitarian structure Widespread participation by State Agency staff

Findings Council Activities Councils support common objectives of increasing communication, collaboration, and cooperation through: –Regular meetings and conferences Issue-specific workgroups (e.g., post-fire monitoring, CO) –Monitoring inventories –Minimum data elements or sampling protocols –Data storage and transmission protocols Monitoring network design

Findings Support of EPA's Elements Focus state activities (not those of Councils); Councils should strive to support –Councils structured to meet state/regional needs Councils can support states regarding EPA's Elements

Council Successes Increased communication and collaboration –Facilitated information flow Meetings, websites Data swaps Monitoring inventories Councils have made significant impacts, though difficult to quantify –Impacts often felt indirectly: Difficult to employ quantitative performance measures Successes will likely mount over long-term

Lessons Learned  Councils yield significant benefits  Councils vary in design and objectives  Councils have difficulty keeping momentum  Building and keeping momentum is a primary challenge  Dedicated staff are invaluable  Effective Councils have state support

Wisconsin Groundwater Coordinating Council

Findings Support of EPA's Elements