The National Water Program

Research Strategy

Strategy Objectives

The National Water Program Research Strategy (the Strategy) 

comprehensively defines the research needed by the National Water 

Program to address EPA’s Strategic Goals and Sub-objectives for clean and 

safe water. 

The Strategy will achieve three objectives: 

• ensure the national Water Program’s research, science, and 

technology needs are identified and documented in a comprehensive 

plan that supports our commitment to collaborative corporate 

planning, prioritization, and research management to meet the 

environmental goals of the National Water Program;

• expand research partnerships and collaborations across EPA and the 

federal research family; 

• engage the broader research community in the investigation of water 

research needs. 

What you will find in the Strategy:

 Four Priority Research Themes

 Five Technical Tool Areas

 A Three Tiered Hierarchy of Research Needs

The Strategy is available online at: www.epa.gov/waterscience/strategy.
The National Water Program Research Strategy

Four Research Themes

The Strategy is organized in four chapters that discuss high level research Themes selected by 

the OW Executive Committee for Research (ECR) to represent comprehensive water research 

priorities. 

Healthy Watersheds and Coastal Waters 

Research Needs 

Research under this theme is used by programs to 

improve water quality to protect and restore waters to 

their designated uses, thereby protecting the health of 

humans, aquatic life and wildlife. 

Safe Drinking Water Research Needs 

Research under this theme is used in programs that 

provide safe drinking water and protect sources of 

drinking water. 

Sustainable Water Infrastructure Research Needs

Research under this theme is used in programs that 

protect water resources by promoting conservation 

and efficient water use, supporting innovative drinking 

water and wastewater infrastructure design and 

renovation, enabling effective decentralized wastewater 

treatment programs, evaluating point source 

abatement and control programs, and other wastewater 

management functions. 

Water Security Research Needs 

Research under this theme investigates ways to better 

secure the nation’s drinking water and wastewater 

systems against threats and attacks, with a focus on 

the nation’s drinking water and wastewater supply, 

infrastructure, treatment, and distribution systems.

Technical Tool Areas 

To organize the research needs within 

each theme and communicate them 

more clearly to collaborators, the 

research needs were grouped by 

the type of technical tool areas they 

address. Research needs fell into the 

following five technical tool areas. 

• Aquatic Life Health Effects 

• Human Health Effects 

• Method Development 

• Occurrence and Exposure 

• Treatment Technologies and 

Effectiveness 

Tiered Hierarchy of Needs

The research needs within each technical tool area 

were sorted into three tiers to communicate the 

relevant driver and urgency. The criteria to classify a 

need for each tier are given below.

• Tier 1: On critical path to satisfy a statutory, 

regulatory, court ordered, or Agency/Office 

strategic obligation. 

• Tier 2: Supports, augments, or improves 

existing and adequate tools, guidance, 

or policy, or would enhance new critical path 

research products. 

• Tier 3: Investigates potential environmental 

concerns of the future, or takes advantage 

of a serendipitous opportunity to leverage 

resources or an initiative. 

Office of Water (4304T) EPA 822-F-09-005 October 2009 www.epa.gov/waterscience/strategy