http://wi.water.usgs.gov/methods

Report to Advisory Committee on Water Information

(ACWI)January 19, 2006

Herndon, VA

ACWI Organization ChartACWI Organization Chart

Summary of Presentation• Future Directions & Activities Plan

– Shorter term• National Monitoring Network• National Conference

– Longer term • NEMI • Water Quality Data Elements • Wadeable Streams Assessment (WSA) • New technologies and event monitoring?

Methods and Data Comparability Board Homepage

Shorter term objectives• Find new EPA Co-Chair• WQDE Workgroup Co-Chair• NMN—several members participated in Work Groups

– Herb Brass and Eric Vowinkel—Liaisons of Methods Work Group to Steering and other work groups

– Chapter 4 (Ed Johnson from NOAA, Jerry Diamond from Tetra Tech, Ed Santoro from DRBC)

– Next Steps—assistance from now until May Conference

• National Conference in May– Review of Abstracts and setting up sessions– Calling of vendors– Booth with NWQMC– Live demos of NEMI, NEMI-CBR, WQDE– Recruitment of new board members– Assist in Wadeable Stream Assessment sessions

Activities Plan FY06

• 3 face to face meetings in FY06– Madison (Oct 05) concentrated on Future Directions– Phoenix/Tucson (Feb 6-8, 2006)– ??? (June/July 06)

• Monthly Full Board conference calls• Bi-monthly or monthly work group conference calls,

as required• Recruiting at the NWQM Conference (May 06)• Keep web-page up to date• 2 Across the Board Newsletters in FY06

Longer term objectives

• Concentrate on what has been successful– National Environmental Methods Index (NEMI)– Water Quality Data Elements (WQDE)– Wadeable Streams Assessment: bioassessment

comparability guidance/pilots– Accreditation

• Outreach tools• Possible new topic--event monitoring• NMN Implementation—is there a role?

MDCB Evolving Structure of Work Groups and Technical Committees

http://www.nemi.gov

• One stop shopping for environmental methods

• User friendly

• Currently 819 methods in NEMI and growing

• Predominantly water analytical methods

• Potential to be expanded to include other media: air/ soil/sediments/field methods/tissues

http://www.nemi.gov

Example of NEMI Search and Output

•Media

–708 Water

– 53 Soils/sediment

– 14 Animal tissue

– 6 Air

– 28 Microbiological

– 36 Various

Sources of methods in NEMI

• Types of methods– 489 Inorganic– 224 Organic– 54 Radiochemical– 28 Microbiological– 15 Physical– 10 Sample preparation– 3 Biochemical

Monthly visitors

New Types of Methods to be entered into NEMI

• Population/Community and Toxicity – Leads: Jerry Diamond & Dan Sullivan– Pilot Methods ready for review – early 2006

• Field measurement methods (i.e., probes for temperature, conductance, etc.)– Lead: Franceska Wilde– Hach entering methods

• Media other than water???

NEMI – Green Methods

• ACS Petroleum Research Fund grant to Green Chemistry Institute– Leads: Larry Keith & Jennifer Young (ACS)– Define green methods– Intern hired to use definition of green methods

to identify green methods in NEMI– Relative “greenness” of methods– Idea is to be able to easily select Green

Methods from NEMI

CRADA for NEMI

• Looking for alternative ways to help fund NEMI

• Hach & In Situ have committed; marketing plan developed to reach other potential partners

• MDCB Web site notice of Opportunity Brief• Developing E-mail list to distribute

Opportunity Brief

NEMI-CBR & CBR AdvisorCBR = Chemical, Biological, Radiochemcial

• Methods related to homeland security • Will be available on web and CD• Public release delayed• Issues with addition of some methods

from EPA Standard Analytical Methods (SAM) Protocol and timing of SAM release

Example of CBR Advisor

Water Quality Data Elements

http:///wi.water.usgs.gov/methods/tools/wqde

Provide guidance on what monitoring parameters should be collected and stored related to “who, what, where, when, why, and how”

• Chem/micro: approved by ACWI 5/15/01• Biological: approved by the Board (2003) and Council (2004);

reviewed and supported by ACWI (2005)• Toxicity: approved by the Board (2003) and Council (2004);

reviewed and supported by ACWI (2005)

• WQDE Guide: Awaiting formal approval from ACWI

WQDE (cont.)

• Physical habitat: under development

• Chem/micro: approved and adopted by the Environmental Data Standards Council

• Biological: recommended by US EPA for the Wadeable Streams Assessment

• Adapted by the Pacific NW Data Exchange, Delaware River Basin Commission, and the California State Water Resources Control Board

Methods Board Advisory Group on Bioassessment Comparability for

USEPA Wadeable Streams Assessment

• MDCB providing a forum for discussion of comparability issues related to the USEPA WSA

• First meeting on 3/8/05 in St. Pete, FL• Projects:

– Comparability Study data analysis (3/05 – 12/06)– Report: Critical Review of the State-of-the-Science of

Bioassessment Comparability (11/05)– EPA Guidance on Bioassessment Comparability initiated (3/05 –

6/07)– Workshop at NWQM Conference (5/06)– New Bioassessment Comparability Pilot Studies (10/05 – 6/07)

Lunchtime MDCB Round Table

• Looking for feedback• Is the MDCB heading in the right direction?• Can the MDCB assist in assessment of

comparability of methods (sample collection and analytical methods) related to event monitoring or real-time monitoring?

• Can the MDCB assist in providing insight into comparable methods for monitoring for nutrients along the continuum from volunteer monitoring to large federal programs?