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Elk River Basin - Water Quality Monitoring Many water quality monitoring programs are ongoing in the Elk River Basin. The Environment Protection Agency (EPA) funds a Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) project that measures the total amount of pollutants a water body can receive and still maintain minimum water quality standards. To be included in a TMDL study, a water body has to first be included on an ‘impaired waters’ list created by the EPA. This programs measures variables such as nutrients, chlorophyll a (an indirect measure of algal growth), sediment load (a measure of the amount of sediment suspended in the water), stream discharge, benthic (stream bottom) macroinvertebrates (i.e. insect larvae) and other chemical and physical measurements. More information on this program can be found at the following address: http://www.dnr.mo.gov/wpscd/wpcp/wpc-tmdl.htm The streams within the Elk River Basin that are on the TMDL list of impaired waters can be found in the Water Quality section of this website. For more information on the program, check out: http://www.epa.gov/owow/tmdl/. The United States Geological Survey (USGS) also conducts water quality monitoring within the Elk River Basin. Their project is called the National Water Quality Assessment Program (NAWQA). The focus of this program is to determine trends in water quality of surface water and groundwater throughout the nation. The Elk River Basin is part of the larger Ozark Plateaus study unit. More information on this project can be accessed at: http://water.usgs.gov/nawqa/ |
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Elk River | James River | Sac River | Spring River | North Fork Salt River |
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Missouri Watershed Information Network (MoWIN) |
Page last updated August 26, 2008 |
