National Assessment of Water Quality

Geographical coverage

Geographical scale of the assessment National
Country or countries covered United States
Any other necessary information or explanation for identifying the location of the assessment, including site or region name

Conceptual framework, methodology and scope

Assessment objectives

NAWQ provides an assessment of water quality, whether conditions are getting better or worse over time, and how human and natural features are affecting them.

Mandate for the assessment

Conceptual framework and/or methodology used for the assessment

URL or copy of conceptual framework developed or adapted

System(s) assessed

  • Inland water

Species groups assessed

Ecosystem services/functions assessed

Provisioning

  • Water

Regulating

  • Regulation of water quality

Supporting Services/Functions

  • Habitat maintenance

Cultural Services

Scope of assessment includes

Drivers of change in systems and services

No

Impacts of change in services on human well-being

No

Options for responding/interventions to the trends observed

No

Explicit consideration of the role of biodiversity in the systems and services covered by the assessment

No

Timing of the assessment

Year assessment started

2001

Year assessment finished

2012

If ongoing, year assessment is anticipated to finish

Periodicity of assessment

Assessment outputs

Report(s)

Communication materials (e.g. brochure, presentations, posters, audio-visual media)

Journal publications

Training materials

Other documents/outputs

Tools and processes

Tools and approaches used in the assessment

  • Modelling

Process used for stakeholder engagement in the assessment process and which component

Key stakeholder groups engaged

The number of people directly involved in the assessment process

Incorporation of scientific and other types of knowledge

Supporting documentation for specific approaches, methodology or criteria developed and/or used to integrate knowledge systems into the assessment

Assessment reports peer reviewed

No

Data

Accessibility of data used in assessment

Policy impact

Impacts the assessment has had on policy and/or decision making, as evidenced through policy references and actions

Independent or other review on policy impact of the assessment

No

Lessons learnt for future assessments from these reviews

Capacity building

Capacity building needs identified during the assessment

Actions taken by the assessment to build capacity

How have gaps in capacity been communicated to the different stakeholders

Knowledge generation

Gaps in knowledge identified from the assessment

How gaps in knowledge have been communicated to the different stakeholders

Additional relevant information