A Water Quality Index for Ecology's Stream Monitoring Program is a new publication being offered by the State of Washington's Department of Ecology. A description of the work in part states that "the Water Quality Index is intended as a tool to summarize and report Ecology's Freshwater Monitoring Unit's routine stream monitoring data...determined for temperature, pH, fecal coliform bacteria,...

A new report from the US Geological Survey has been made available entitled Assessing Ground-Water Vulnerability to Contamination: Providing Scientifically Defensible Information for Decision Makers. The report provides a look at the common approaches used to scientifically determine the factors controlling the vulnerability of groundwater resources to contamination. The introduction states that...

"This Volunteer Water Quality Monitoring National Facilitation Project is designed to build a comprehensive support system for Extension volunteer water quality monitoring efforts across the country." At this website, the Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service (CSREES) provides in-depth documents about why and how to monitor water quality and how to increase monitoring...

Recently released by the US Geological Survey USGS in cooperation with the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), this report summarizes regional and national information collected by the USGS between 1991 and 1995 for seven major-use herbicides. The report is offered in text or .pdf format and includes an abstract, a list of abbreviations and acronyms, and numerous charts and tables.

The US Geological Survey describes the location, extent, and geologic and hydrologic characteristics of major aquifers in the United States in the Groundwater Atlas of the United States Website. The groundwater resources of the US are broken down into specific regions, which are described in chapters. Some of the chapters are not available online, but the chapters that are available include...

The Pesticide National Synthesis Project homepage offers a number of publications and reports on pesticides in the Hydrologic System. The site also features data sets, national maps of pesticide use, and some special topic reports, as well as information on the Project and its staff.

Since its inception in 1991, the USGS National Water-Quality Assessment (NAWQA) program has been collecting and analyzing data about more than 50 major river basins and aquifers across the United States. The core mission is "to develop long-term consistent and comparable information on streams, ground water, and aquatic ecosystems to support sound management and policy decisions." Visitors can...

The USGS's "National Water Quality Laboratory (NWQL) offers environmental analytical services, including inorganic, organic, and radiochemical constituents, and provides high-quality, reproducible data." Researchers can find a summary of the Laboratory's capabilities, facilities, technology, areas of expertise, and accreditations and certificates. The website offers a Microsoft PowerPoint...

The US Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA's) Website provides many educational resources for K-12 teachers. A recently posted one is the "What's Up With Our Nation's Water?" page, looking at how water quality is measured, what toxins are found in drinking water, and defining wetlands and groundwater. Highlights include a "What can I do?" section and suggested science projects. Colorful artwork...