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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
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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
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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
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Methodology Defining the Study Set Wisconsin Groundwater Coordinating Council
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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
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Findings Council Structure Highly variable across study set; most Councils have stratified membership VA, CO, MT: Egalitarian structure Widespread participation by State Agency staff
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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
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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
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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
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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
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Wisconsin Groundwater Coordinating Council
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Findings Support of EPA's Elements
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