The budget for the U.S. Geological Survey National Water Quality Assessment Program (NAWQA) has been cut significantly over the past several years, and President Obama’s proposed FY2012 budget would cut an additional $6.7 million – about 10 percent – from the program. Communication from USGS indicates that the proposed reduction would:
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Eliminate monitoring and assessments of groundwater that serves as a major source of drinking water in 76 study areas in 33 states;
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Eliminate studies to assess sediment transport to estuaries such as the Gulf of Mexico, Chesapeake Bay and the San Francisco Bay Delta;
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Continue loss of data at almost 400 monitoring sites discontinued during years of inadequate funding (In its first decade, NAWQA sampled 495 stream sites and 5,000 wells to provide the long-term data necessary to assess water quality trends. For the past decade, it has only been able to fund 113 stream sites.);
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Eliminate the development of new analytical methods to assess new pesticides and other of unregulated contaminants, including many pharmaceuticals, hormones and antibiotics (NAWQA is the only program to study the occurrence of more than 200 pesticides in U.S. rivers, streams and aquifers.); and
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Postpone the implementation of real-time technology for water quality monitoring needed for timely health and recreation decisions by local, state and federal scientists, water managers and the public.
Visit the web for information about how NAWQA information is used by decision makers across the country.