Region 8
Technical Support & Guidance Documents
NEW: Pre- and Post-Coal Bed Natural Gas Development Surface Water Quality Characteristics of Agricultural Concern in the Upper Tongue River And Powder River WatershedsThe documents below are Adobe PDF files (about PDF files)
- Draft Final Tongue River Report, July 11, 2007 (PDF, 13 pp, 48K)
- Powder River Watershed Data Summary, March 28, 2007 (PDF, 33 pp, 718K)
- Draft Final Tongue River Figures, July 11, 2007 (PDF, 12 pp, 916K)
Tongue River Assessment and Modeling Report
Proceedings from the Region 8 Biomonitoring and Bioassessment Meeting - April 4-6, 2006 - Eccles Conference Center & Quinney Library - Utah State University, Logan, Utah.
All of the presentations from the meeting are available on the Biossessment_Workshop ftp site. All of the documents, other than the agenda, are Adobe PDF documents (about PDF files).
Region 8 State Bioassessment Reports
Colorado
Development of Biological Assessment Tools for Colorado (Appendix A / Appendix B / Appendix C) - Colorado is a unique state with an abundance of high quality natural freshwater resources. The continued protection of those resources will depend on the development of reliable assessment tools. Principal among these are methods for assessing biological integrity. In this study, multimetric and multivariate predictive indexes were developed for bioassessment of streams in Colorado. Macroinvertebrate data were assembled from an existing Department of Public Health and Environment database. Both modeling approaches rely on reference sites for constructing the models.
Montana
Comparability Analysis of Benthic Macroinvertebrate Methods in Montana - Montana's Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) has collected biological data (periphyton and macroinvertebrates) for more than twenty years. Multimetric indices were originally developed for various regions of the state using relatively unstructured approaches or best professional judgment. This report addresses DEQ's consistency related to impairment decisions, and supports interpretation of biological data, suggests opportunities for protocol/equipment improvement, and recommends techniques for combining or segregating data sets for analyses.
Biological Indicators of Stream Condition in Montana Using Benthic Macroinvertebrates - The Montana Department of Environmental Quality uses biological condition as the primary indicator of ecological quality of streams and watersheds. Historically, they used three multimetric indexes (MMI) patterned on the concept of the Index of Biological Integrity for different areas of the state. The purpose of this project was to recalibrate the benthic MMI using a larger, more recent database and to develop a second type of biological indicator, a predictive model based on the River Invertebrate Prediction and Classification System (RIVPACS), known as the observed/expected (O/E) model.
Wyoming
Redevelopment of the Wyoming Stream Integrity Index (WSII) for Assessing the Biological Condition of Wadeable Streams in Wyoming - In 2002, the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality revised the statewide multimetric index for Wyoming referred to as the Wyoming Stream Integrity Index (WSII). This revision improved the accuracy and applicability of the WSII, particularly in mountainous regions of Wyoming, but it was realized that further improvement was needed to increase the accuracy of biological condition assessments for lowland and foothill streams. In addition, it was found that the reference and stressed condition criteria assigned many sites a false-positive reference or stressed status. Combined, these issues resulted in inaccurate reference expectations for lowland and foothill streams, leading to over (or under)-estimation of biological condition. Recently, the WDEQ/WQD has made a concerted effort to resolve these problems through a complete recalibration and validation of the WSII. This report summarizes the methodology, performance, limitations, and applications behind the redevelopment of the WSII.
Development of a RIVPACS model for wadeable streams of Wyoming - RIVPACS (River InVertebrate Prediction And Classification System) models allow an assessment of biological condition by comparing the taxa observed at sites of unknown biological condition with taxa expected to occur in the absence of human stress. The deviation of the observed from the expected biota, known as the O/E index, is a measure of the compositional similarity expressed in units of taxa richness and thus a community-level measure of biological integrity. As part a continued effort to use the best tools for bioassessment purposes, the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality-Water Quality Division (WDEQ-WQD) developed a state-wide RIVPACS model to assist in the evaluation of biological condition for wadeable streams in the State of Wyoming.
EPA Technical Support and Guidance Documents
Consolidated Assessment and Listing Methodology (CALM) - Toward a Compendium of Best Practices - CALM provides a framework for states and other jurisdictions to document how they collect and use water quality data and information for environmental decision making. The primary purposes of these data analyses are to determine the extent that all waters are attaining water quality standards, to identify waters that are impaired and need to be added to the 303(d) list, and to identify waters that can be removed from the list because they are attaining standards.
The following documents related to assessment and reporting guidelines are located at the EPA Monitoring and Assessing Water Quality Reporting web-site.
- 2004 Integrated Report - This document supersedes the 2002 guidance on integrated report.
- 2002 Integrated Report - This document calls for and describes an Integrated Report which will satisfy Clean Water Act requirements for both section 305(b) water quality reports and section 303(d) lists of impaired waters.
- 305(b) Guidelines - This two-volume document describes the contents of a state 305(b) report (Volume 1) and methods for assessing water quality (Volume 2).
- Clarification of the Use of Biological Data and Information in the 2002 Integrated Water Quality Monitoring and Assessment Report Guidance
Elements of a State Water Monitoring and Assessment Program (HTML, PDF - 524KB)
This guidance recommends ten basic elements of a holistic, comprehensive monitoring program that serves all water quality management needs and addresses all water body types. It describes a process in which States develop a monitoring program strategy to implement these basic components over a period of up to 10 years.
EPA's Stressor Identification Guidance - The Stressor Identification guidance leads the water resource manager or environmental investigator through stressor identification and evidence assembly. The guidance is useful whenever there is a biological impairment in an aquatic ecosystem and the cause needs to be determined..
Quality System for Environmental Data and Technology - EPA uses the Quality System to manage the quality of its environmental data collection, generation, and use. The primary goal of the Quality System is to ensure that EPA's environmental data are of sufficient quantity and quality to support the data's intended use.
Biological Monitoring and Assessment - Biological assessments are evaluations of the condition of waterbodies using surveys and other direct measurements of resident biological organisms (macroinvertebrates, fish, and plants). Biological assessment results are used to answer the question of whether waterbodies support survival and reproduction of desirable fish, shellfish, and other aquatic species -- in other words, if the waterbodies meet their designated aquatic life uses.
Wetlands Monitoring and Assessment - EPA's Office of Science and Technology provides methods and tools for a stateto analyze and determine the health of its wetland resources.