Some sites are highly technical and geared to use by professional water quality scientists and engineers; others are designed to provide useful information to the interested citizen. When a site contains highly technical information, it has been identified as being geared to the professional.
Many of these sites are cross-linked or linked to other natural resource sites.
EPA Office of Science and Technology BASINS project - access to BASINS, a watershed analysis tool; a site for professional watershed managers which integrates GIS, national watershed data, environmental assessments, and modeling tools to model and analyze nonpoint source (NPS) management alternatives
EPA Office of Wetlands, Oceans, and Watersheds - another great starting place for citizens interested in wetlands or watersheds
Monitoring water quality - links to volunteer monitoring programs, how-tos for volunteer groups; technical guidance for professionals; information databases for all
Watersheds - provides information on the Clean Lakes programs for nonprofessionals and Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) documents and information for professionals responsible for water quality
Wetlands - links to laws and legislation, landowner assistance and stewardship information, science education and information resources, wetland fact sheets
Oceans - links to regulatory programs, National Estuary Program, information on coral reefs, coastal watersheds, and publications
Nonpoint Source Pollution Control Program - Clean Water Act Section 319 information; information on nonpoint source issues related to forestry, agriculture and urban development; Coastal NPS Program; education and outreach; tribal information; access to listservs; kids’ page
Surf Your Watershed - allows the user to pinpoint a watershed of interest and learn statistics on area, natural resources, users, water quality, and other information pertinent to the health of the watershed
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service National Wetlands Inventory - a useful site for the professional; provides digital wetland maps, wetland data sheets and the classification scheme for wetland and deep water habitats
U.S. Geological Survey Water Resources of the United States - provides real-time water quality data from gaging stations throughout the United States; acid rain precipitation chemistry; and GIS information for the professional watershed manager. Links to USGS water offices in each of the states
Great Lakes National Program Office - links to Great Lakes environmental atlas with environmental data on the Lakes; information on programs remediating contaminated sediments; human health issues; monitoring methods, programs, and web sites
Water Resources of South Carolina
South Carolina real-time water quality data (from USGS gaging stations) can be downloaded from the database accessed through this site. Interesting but most useful to professional water managers
National Institutes for Water Resources - P.L. 101-397 established a water resources research institute in each state and territory, and the District of Columbia which are funded only partly with federal dollars; most are affiliated with state universities. This site provides links to the water research institutes and servers of interest to people studying water quality. Many states’ water quality information is located at their water research institute site. While not strictly government sites, these sites are the only source of information on water quality programs in these states. All the state sites can be accessed through this gateway.
In addition to the water research institutes, many states have web sites for the departments responsible for the water quality of the state. The following links are to those departments in the states that have established web sites.
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College of Library and Information Science, University of South Carolina Columbia, S.C.