The US Geological Survey-National Park Service Water Quality Partnership

Content Provider	Semantic Scholar
Author	Ellsworth, Alan C. Nilles, Mark A. Rosenlieb, Gary
Copyright Year	2014
Abstract	The National Park Service (NPS) and the US Geological Survey (USGS) work together to administer and operate a water quality-focused partnership program. This program was started as part of the Clean Water Action Plan, a 1998 presidential initiative to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the Clean Water Act through plans and actions to further restore and protect America’s waters. Under the partnership, water quality projects are developed jointly by USGS and NPS personnel to support a broad range of policy and management needs related to high-priority issues in national parks. The National Park Service manages highly valued aquatic systems across the country, including portions of the Great Lakes, ocean and coastal zones, historic canals, reservoirs, large rivers, high-elevation lakes and streams, geysers, springs, and wetlands. The water quality partnership program has proven tremendously successful in supporting USGS-led studies, resulting in nearly 160 completed projects that support efforts to conserve and improve the nation’s water resources. Some of the ongoing projects are highlighted in the NPS Call to Action item “Crystal Clear,” which celebrates national park water resource initiatives to provide clean water into the next century of park management (www.nature.nps.gov/water/ crystalclear/). Partnership projects range from one-year technical assistance activities that provide consultation with USGS scientists to three-year intensive projects involving hypothesis-driven data collection, assessment, and publication in peer-reviewed reports. These partnership projects are developed in response to an annual request for proposals that is released to national parks through their regional offices and USGS science centers. To date, 197 partner ship projects have been undertaken in over 120 national park units. The current program bibliography (http://water.usgs.gov/nps_partnership/pubs.php) includes over 135 publications. Project selection is highly competitive, funding only 8 new projects each year out of the approximately 75 short pre-proposals that are initially submitted for the annual call. At each
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Language	English
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Resource Type	Article