NPS-USGS Water Quality Assessment and Monitoring

Since 1998, the National Park Service (NPS) and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) have gathered information on water quality in parks to enable the National Park Service to address its most critical water quality management responsibilities. The USGS-NPS Water-Quality Parternship program was created as part of the Clean Water Action Plan, a Presidential initiative to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the Clean Water Act.

 

23 Years of Partnership

As of 2021, the USGS-NPS Water-Quality Partnership has supported 267 projects at 150 national parks.

 

How It Works

Annually, parks submit funding proposals to the program; these are ranked and selected by an interagency work group. The projects selected address the highest priority NPS water quality issues identified by park managers. They include

• investigations of nutrient transport in groundwater

• nutrient, sediment and metal transport and loading in streams

• atmospheric deposition in streams and lakes

• microbiological contamination in recreational waters

• organic contamination in stream and lake sediments

• aquatic biological health

In addition, fixed-station monitoring and technical assistance projects are implemented to address park needs related to providing baseline water quality data and advice on specific water issues.

 

Explore Water-Quality Projects

 

Benefits of the Partnership

Through the activities of the partnership, new relationships are established which provide opportunities for future collaborations. Also, the partnership is producing tangible products for park managers including data for resource decision-making, information for interpretation purposes, monitoring plans for park staff, and professional reports with detailed results.

More Information

The USGS-NPS Water-Quality Partnership program is administered out of the USGS Headquarters in Reston, Virginia, and the NPS Water Resources Division in Fort Collins, Colorado. Further information on the USGS-NPS Water-Quality Partnership program.