Start Date: 2003
End Date: 2006
Full Citation:
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, $60,000, 2003–2006. Determination of regional reference conditions, tiered aquatic life applications and inter-regional calibration of community assessment methods. PI: D. Huggins.
Category:
- Aquatic
Associated with the KU Field Station: No
Research Summary:
As directed by the Clean Water Act, the USEPA has set a priority for the development of biological water quality criteria. Biological criteria are valuable because they directly measure the condition of the resource at risk, detect problems that other methods may miss or underestimate, and provide a systematic process for measuring progress resulting from the implementation of water quality programs. When implemented, biological criteria will expand and improve water quality standards programs, help identify impairment of beneficial uses, and help set program priorities.
The initial phase of this program directed State adoption of narrative biological criteria as part of State water quality standards. CPCB assisted the USEPA Region 7 Biocriteria Workgroup in this effort by creating a database of physical, chemical, habitat, and biological data for reference streams of Region 7 and hosting workgroup meetings and workshops that covered topics such as:
- Sampling Methodologies in the Central Plains
- Programmatic and Applied Uses of Biological Information in Protecting Aquatic Resources
- Stream Habitat Assessment
- Reference Conditions and Landscape-Scale Bioassessment.
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