Evaluation of State and Regional Water Quality Monitoring Councils

September 9th, 2003

Advisory Committee on Water InformationU.S. Environmental Protection Agency

Industrial Economics, Inc. (IEc)

Cambridge, Massachusetts

Objectives of Study

• EPA's Office of Water has identified improved monitoring as one of its top priorities

• Monitoring by State agencies is a critical to implementing the Clean Water Act – Can Councils make significant contributions

toward this effort ?

• Objective: Identify lessons learned to help current Councils and facilitate establishment of additional Councils

EPA recommended elements of a state water monitoring &

assessment program:• Monitoring Program Strategy• Monitoring Objectives• Monitoring Design • Core and Supplemental Water Quality Indicators• Quality Assurance• Data Management• Data Analysis/Assessment • Reporting• Programmatic Evaluation• General Support and Infrastructure Planning

MethodologyDefining the Study Set

Wisconsin Groundwater Coordinating Council

FindingsCouncil Role

• General: Councils are forums for communication, collaboration, cooperation among monitoring entities

• Specific: Variation among councils– MD: Capacity building– WI: Non-regulatory programs (per statute)– VA: Does not set policy or usurp power from

state

FindingsCouncil Structure

• Highly variable across study set; most Councils have stratified membership

VA, CO, MT: Egalitarian structure

• Widespread participation by State Agency staff

FindingsCouncil Activities

• Councils support common objectives of increasing communication, collaboration, and cooperation through:– Regular meetings and conferences

• Issue-specific workgroups (e.g., post-fire monitoring, CO)

– Monitoring inventories– Minimum data elements or sampling protocols– Data storage and transmission protocols

• Monitoring network design

FindingsSupport of EPA's Elements

• Focus state activities (not those of Councils); Councils should strive to support– Councils structured to meet state/regional

needs

• Councils can support states regarding EPA's Elements

Council Successes• Increased communication and collaboration

– Facilitated information flow• Meetings, websites• Data swaps• Monitoring inventories

• Councils have made significant impacts, though difficult to quantify– Impacts often felt indirectly: Difficult to employ

quantitative performance measures• Successes will likely mount over long-term

Lessons Learned

Councils yield significant benefits Councils vary in design and objectives Councils have difficulty keeping

momentum Building and keeping momentum is a

primary challenge Dedicated staff are invaluable Effective Councils have state support

Wisconsin Groundwater Coordinating Council

FindingsSupport of EPA's Elements

ELEMENT DESCRIPTIONCOUNCILSUPPORT

Monitoring Design Help to design a comprehensive monitoring program Core andSupplemental WaterQuality Indicators

Determine core and supplemental monitoring indicators

Quality Assurance Define procedures to ensure scientific validity Data Management Help to store/manage data electronically Reporting Support state in Federal report completion General Support andInfrastructure Needs

Forecast resource needs to fund planned Council activities ProgrammaticEvaluation

Conduct internal audits to identify areas for improvement High Medium Low