New USGS Water Quality Tracking Tool for Rivers and Streams

The U.S. Geological Survey has developed a new online graphical data tool that tracks water quality in the nation’s rivers and streams.  The tool can be used to:

• Compare recent water-quality conditions to long-term conditions (1993-2013) at each site,
• Download water-quality datasets (streamflow, concentrations, and loads), and
• Evaluate nutrient loading to coastal areas and large tributaries throughout the Mississippi River Basin.

The tool also provides annual summaries of nutrient and sediment concentrations and loading information that can provide water resource managers with timely information to track how loadings and concentrations are changing over time in response to nutrient reduction actions.  Graphical summaries are available for 106 river and stream sites monitored as part of the USGS’s National Water-Quality Network for Streams and Rivers.  Pesticide data will also be included in future updates.  To access the online tool, visit the USGS web site.