# Presentation: 518375

## Update

**Methods and Data Comparability Board**

- San Diego, CA, Dec. 6,2007

## MDCB External Web Page

## MDCB Current Activities

- Recent meeting in Portland, OR 10/23-24/07
- NEMI
- Water Quality Data Elements (WQDE)
- Physical Habitat (Streams)
- Preparing for 2008 National Conference
- New directions
- Planning a MDCB meeting in conjunction with the MACOORA water-quality workshop in March 2008
- National Conference  May 18-22, 2008

## MDCB New Directions

- From Portland meeting, recent Board conference calls, and Council meeting
- Contaminants
- Sensors
- Event and continuous monitoring
- Statistical and other analysis methods—how to integrate discrete, probabilistic, and real-time monitoring observations
- Need to prioritize based on needs of the Council and water-quality community

## NEMI Update

- EPA & USGS analytical methods – backbone of NEMI
- 947 methods to date
- Green Methods identified in database
- Outreach
- Conference in Atlantic City (presentation)
- Updates to EPA and USGS management (meetings)
- ELAB and similar conferences (handouts)
- Other?

## New methods in NEMI

- In the queue for FY 2008:
- Habitat protocols
- USGS field methods (NFM)
- Biological (Pop/comm)
- Microbiological
- Toxicity
- Sediment & Tissue chemistry
- Suspended sediment
- Feedback welcome!

## CRADA for NEMI

- Partners:
- YSI – financial support interested in entering multiparameter probes
- Neptune, Inc. – analytical and statistical methods. Web-based stats programs
- Tennessee Tech U. (Martha Wells) – research methods, University outreach
- Abraxis LLC – analytical kits

## WQDE Physical Habitat Update

- Developed a fantastic team of scientists lead by Faith Fitzpatrick and Revital Katznelson
- Working closely with USEPA and ESAR
- Working on a minimum set of elements for stream habitat a different habitat scales
- Several experts are reviewing the list now
- Will move into other habitats such as wetlands and coastal areas in the future

## Slide 9

## Slide 10

## Sensors

- Being used more frequently in the field
- Beginning to see “methods” that are defined by the technology
- How can we evaluate these new technologies in order to compare them?
- Enter into NEMI or some similar subset

## Sensors (cont)

- Board plans to develop a white paper to outline the approach
- Create a web-site to help guide users
- Develop a Board “New Technologies” workgroup
- Need to bring in experts to the Board
- EPA Environmental Technology Verification (ETV) Program
- Sandia National Laboraties (SNL)
- Department of Defense
- Homeland Security
- Private sector
- Several USGS presenters at WQ Workshop at Galveston

## Contaminants

- Many programs monitor many compounds
- Lists of compounds change over time
- Emerging contaminants – is there a process for identifying what should be a concern?
- Based on discussions at Council Network breakout session the Board and Tracy need to look at current list for the Network ASAP
- Need to develop a short term and long term plan

## Statistical Methods

- Need to determine if this is a priority of the Council???
- Need to connect with the Water Information Strategies Work Group to evaluate methods of analysis of the available data sets
- White paper and create a web site to help those use statistical methods appropriately
- How to integrate discrete, probabilistic, and real-time data sets generated from the Network

## Moving Forward

- Need to determine the level of effort that the Council wants to commit for the Board to address these issues
- Need to interact with the Council’s to better understand the needs over the short term and long term—have selected Council members come to Board meetings/conference calls, etc.