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Research Accomplishments
Milestones
Monitoring
The Ecosystem Services Research Program's assessment and monitoring methods have been widely adopted by EPA and states. More than half of the states have adopted ESRP monitoring approaches - and nearly all 50 states have used ESRP protocols to establish the condition of at least one aquatic resource within their state. In addition, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association's Status and Trends Program has adopted ESRP's approach for its coastal assessments, and the National Water Quality Monitoring Council incorporated an ESRP approach in its design for a National Monitoring Network for Coastal Waters in response to a charge from the Council of Environmental Quality.
National Coastal Assessment
The Environmental Monitoring and Assessment Program's (EMAP) National Coastal Assessment was the first ESRP research project to demonstrate the efficacy of integrated probabilistic monitoring of estuaries and produced the first comprehensive assessment of condition for any of the nation's aquatic resources. This project produced the first comprehensive assessment of condition-known as the National Coastal Condition Report-for any of the nation's aquatic resources. EPA released a draft of the third National Coastal Condition Report in April 2007 for public comment and peer review. The report includes assessments of 100 percent of the nation's estuaries in the contiguous 48 states, as well as Puerto Rico, south-central Alaska, and Hawaii and provides the basis for the beginning of trend detection. For this project, ESRP partnered with EPA regions, Office of Water, U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and the resource protection agencies of 24 marine coastal states.
Wadeable Stream Assessments
The Environmental Monitoring and Assessment Program's (EMAP's) research on Western streams was the largest comprehensive study conducted by EPA on the ecological condition of the West. This was a cooperative venture involving 12 western states, tribes, universities, the three western EPA Regional Offices, USGS, and USDA's Forest Health Monitoring Program. In 2005 this research produced the first estimate of the condition of perennial, wadeable streams throughout the West. Subsequently, EPA's Office of Water asked EMAP to develop a compatible design for a National Wadeable Streams Assessment. The design combined EMAP's Western Streams Assessment data with monitoring data from the remainder of the country's streams. In 2006 this resulted in the first assessment of the condition s of all U.S. wadeable streams. In the National Wadeable Streams Assessment chemical, physical, and biological data were collected at more 1,392 perennial stream locations to determine the biological condition of these waters and the most important factors affecting their condition.
Assessments of Great Rivers Ecosystems
The Environmental Monitoring and Assessment Program (EMAP) developed the sampling designs and indicators necessary to determine the condition of large and Great Rivers under its Great Rivers Ecosystem Research focus area. Partnering with river states, the Ohio River Valley Water Sanitation Commission, EPA Regions 4-8, USGS, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, ESRP is collecting data to assess the ecological condition of the Missouri, Ohio and Mississippi Rivers. This work will inform the survey of national flowing waters (streams and rivers) to be conducted by the EPA Office of Water in FY 2008 and FY 2009.