Reference Library: Topics

Understanding Water Quality

Water Quality Basics

Recommended! Bioassessment and Biocriteria Basics, by USEPA Office of Water.  Explains biocriteria, how they are used to assess stream health, and how they differ from chemical criteria.
http://www.epa.gov/ost/biocriteria/basics/

Recommended! OSU Extension Water Resource Protection Factsheets.  Titles include Nonpoint Source Pollution: Water Primer, Ground- and Surface-Water Terminology, Total Maximum Daily Loads (TMDLs):
http://www.ag.ohio-state.edu/~ohioline/lines/ennr.html#EWRES

Recommended! Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) Program: Introduction to TMDLs, by EPA Office of Water. Provides a definition of TMDL and an overview of the current TMDL program and regulations:
http://www.epa.gov/owow/tmdl/intro.html

Recommended! Water Pollution, produced by Joel (Flush) Gordon, wastewater treatment plant operator and former schoolteacher.  Provides an introduction to water pollution and treatment.  Answers basic questions, like 'What is water pollution?', 'What causes it?', 'How do we measure it?', 'How do we prevent it?', and 'What happens at the wastewater treatment plant?'  Goes into greater depth on the topic of water analysis methods used by water treatment plants (meant for water quality professionals and science teachers).
http://www.geocities.com/flusch/site_map.htm

Recommended! What is NPS Pollution?, by USEPA Office of Water (various pages).  Access a variety of EPA sites to learn more about Nonpoint Source Pollution and what the average person can do to address NPS pollution:
http://www.epa.gov/owow/nps/whatis.html

Introduction to Water Quality training course, produced by Know Your Watershed.  Fill out the pre-test on-line and they will send you the course materials for free. The course is designed to teach the fundamentals for reducing pollution from agricultural nonpoint sources. Participants receive materials including two videos, 12 modules of printed instruction, and two reference manuals.  Takes 90 days to complete.
http://www.ctic.purdue.edu/KYW/training/nrcsintro.html#Comment

Glossaries of Water-Quality Related Terms

Glossary, by Water on the Web.  Hundreds of water resource related terms, plus conversion tables for length, area, volume, weight, and concentration:
http://wow.nrri.umn.edu/wow/under/glossary.html

Groundwater Basics, by The Groundwater Foundation. A glossary of groundwater-related terminology. 
http://www.groundwater.org/GWBasics/ABCs.htm

Lake and Water Word Glossary, by the North American Lake Management Society.  Covers hundreds of water and water quality related terms:
http://www.nalms.org/glossary/glossary.htm

Water Quality Data and Information

Ohio Environmental Protection Agency (OEPA)

Recommended! Explore Your Watershed, by OEPA Division of Surface Water.  The site is designed to help the user find their watershed, access OEPA monitoring data, and gain an understanding of how Ohio's water quality standards are established and monitored.  You can also download a copy of the Guide to Developing Local Watershed Action Plans in Ohio: 
http://www.epa.state.oh.us/dsw/watershed/index.html

Biological and Water Quality Reports, by OEPA Division of Surface Water.  Download water quality reports for various watersheds around Ohio surveyed from 1991-2000 (in Adobe Acrobat format).  Also known as TSD's or Technical Support Documents, these surveys (10-15 study areas are surveyed each year) are used by OEPA in the permitting process and to report to USEPA on the status of Ohio's watersheds:
http://www.epa.state.oh.us/dsw/document_index/psdindx.html

Ohio Water Resource Inventories 305(b) reports, by OEPA Division of Surface Water.  Download summary reports and factsheets describing findings from Ohio's 305(b) studies for 1994-2000.  (In Adobe Acrobat format):
http://www.epa.state.oh.us/dsw/document_index/305b.html

Section 303(d) TMDL Priority List, by OEPA Division of Surface Water.  Download a variety of lists and maps showing watersheds in Ohio designated for a TMDL (in Adobe Acrobat format):
http://www.epa.state.oh.us/dsw/tmdl/303dnotc.html

United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA)

Recommended! Atlas of America's Polluted Waters, by USEPA Office of Water, Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) Program.  Maps depicting the waters within each state that do not meet state water quality standards can be viewed on-line.  Each state map includes a bar chart of the number of stream, river, and coastal miles that do not meet state standards and the pollutant that is causing the impairment.
http://www.epa.gov/owow/tmdl/atlas/index.html

Recommended! Envirofacts Data Warehouse and Applications, by USEPA.  Billed as "a single point of access to select USEPA environmental data", this site was developed to provide the public with direct access to a variety of EPA databases, including water permits, drinking water, drinking water contaminant occurrence, and drinking water microbial and disinfection byproduct information.  You can even create maps using database information.
http://www.epa.gov/enviro/index_java.html

Recommended! TMDL Related Links, by USEPA Office of Water.   Provides links to a variety of sites (mostly USEPA sites) that provide information about total maximum daily loads (TMDL).
http://www.epa.gov/ost/BASINS/tmdllinx.htm

Index of Watershed Indicators, by USEPA.  Learn more about the Index of Watershed Indicators (IWI), a compilation of information on the health of aquatic resources in the United States.  The IWI uses seven indicator criteria to provide a comprehensive picture of the status of our nation's watersheds:
http://www.epa.gov/iwi/

STORET, by USEPA Office of Water.  STORET (short for STOrage and RETrieval) is the USEPA's largest computerized environmental data system.  It is a repository for water quality, biological, and physical data.  You can download data from the STORET Web-site.   You can also click on the "Useful Internet Links" button to access other sources of data, such as the US Geological Survey's National Water Information System and National Stream Quality Assessment Network, and National Hydrography Dataset. 
http://www.epa.gov/storet/

United States Geological Survey (USGS)

Recommended! National Water Quality Assessment Data Warehouse, by USGS.  Provides data, maps, and reports on water quality, stream flows, and other information for two study areas in Ohio: the Little and Great Miami River Basin, and the Lake Erie Basin.  A total of 59 areas will be studied all over the United States with the ultimate goal of describing the status and trends in the quality of the Nation's ground and surface water resources.
http://infotrek.er.usgs.gov/wdbctx/nawqa/nawqa.home

Non-Governmental Organizations

Recommended! Scorecard, by Environmental Defense.  Provides the public with easy access to information about toxic emissions and water quality (e.g., Index of Watershed Indicators) using data from US EPA and slick graphics and maps.  You can get a national or very local perspective on the status of water quality and other environmental issues (e.g., air pollutants, lead hazards, animal wastes from large farms, and chemical releases from manufacturing facilities).   
http://www.scorecard.org

Water Quality Monitoring Methods

Recommended! Volunteer Monitoring, by USEPA Office of Water.   You will find a variety of factsheets, manuals, forms, and conference proceedings useful to both novice and advanced volunteer monitoring projects.  Topics covered include: "What is volunteer monitoring?", "Starting out in volunteer water monitoring", past and current issues of "The Volunteer Monitor", "Volunteer stream monitoring: A methods manual", and "The volunteer monitor's guide to quality assurance project plans".
http://www.epa.gov/owow/monitoring/vol.html 

Field Manual for Water Quality Sampling, by the Arizona Water Resources Research Center, College of Agriculture, The University of Arizona.  (Available in English and Spanish).  Gives a thorough explanation of water quality sampling in three phases: Planning (where to collect your samples); Preparation (preparing equipment and detailing sampling station locations); and Sampling (following guidelines, record keeping, packing and shipping samples.
http://ag.arizona.edu/AZWATER/publications/handbook/cover.html

References

Federal Interagency Stream Restoration Working Group. (1998). Stream Corridor Restoration: Principles, Processes, and Practices.  GPO Item No. 0120-A.Ohio EPA. (1997).

A Guide to Developing Local Watershed Action Plans in Ohio. pp 12-21 and Table 2.1, p. 16.Murdoch, T. and Cheo, M. (1996).

Streamkeeper's Field Guide: Watershed Inventory and Stream Monitoring Methods. Everett, WA: The Adopt-A-Stream Foundation.USDA-Soil Conservation Service.

Water Quality Indicators Guide: Surface Waters. Doc#: SCS-TP-161.