# Presentation: 732447

- _[http://wi.water.usgs.gov/methods](http://wi.water.usgs.gov/methods)_
- Report to Advisory Committee
-  on Water Information
- (ACWI)
- January 19, 2006
- Herndon, VA

## ACWI 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.](http://www.nemi.gov/)__[nemi](http://www.nemi.gov/)__[.gov](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

**Notes:**
All USGS-NWQL methods for organics and inorganics
Most NWQL methods developed in last 15 years
Total USGS methods in NEMI = 240
All USGS-NWQL methods for organics and inorganics
Most NWQL methods developed in last 15 years
Total USGS methods in NEMI = 240

## http://www.nemi.gov

- _[http://www.](http://www.nemi.gov/)__[nemi](http://www.nemi.gov/)__[.gov](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

- 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

**Notes:**
The web site notice is being finalized here (Dan) and will be posted on NEMI and Methods Board web sites before Tucson meeting.  How to go about getting it on the Council homepage??

## NEMI-CBR & CBR AdvisorCBR = 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

**Notes:**
We’ve gone further with our lists of data elements for biological and toxicological evaluations
Biological data elements for organism, population, community-level biosurveys & biomonitoring
Tox elements suitable for ecotoxicological bioassays

## 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

**Notes:**
Env Data Standards Council used the Chemical/microbiological Water Quality Data elements as a starting point for the ESAR data standard, Environmental Standards, Analysis, and Results
WSA is recommending the WQDEs for population/community data for data reporting that supports their comparability evaluations
Bio and tox elements have already been adapted for use by other state and interjurisdictional monitoring entities

## 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)

**Notes:**
TIMELINE!!!

## Status of  WSA Comparability Efforts

- Critical Review of State-of-the-Science of Bioassessment Comparability, contracted by EPA, was completed and will be reviewed by MDCB Advisory Group.
- Comparability analyses of WSA pilots completed in 2005 will be reviewed by Advisory Group later this spring.
- EPA Bioassessment Comparability Guidance Document being developed with MBAG input as well as EPA advisory group. Materials, references have been posted to Board internal web site for review and evaluation.
- Workshop at the NWQM Conference on bioassessment comparability involving several Advisory Group members.  Workshop on Guidance document also planned for North American Benthological Society meeting this spring.
- New Comparability Pilot Studies being planned for FY 06, including EPA Region 4 states and Potomac River basin.

## 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?