National Ground Water Monitoring Network: A Progress Report

The federal Advisory Committee on Water Information (ACWI) is directed by the Office of Management and Budget with fostering collaboration related to water information collection and sharing. The Subcommittee on Ground Water (SOGW) is a subgroup of ACWI and is charged with developing and encouraging implementation of a long-term, nationwide ground-water quantity and quality monitoring framework. The framework provides detailed information about existing State ground water monitoring programs. It also will encompass recommendations on monitoring network design, field practices, data storage and retrieval, and future network implementation. The framework is expected to highlight the critical importance of a collaborative effort among and between federal and state agencies for achieving a functioning “network of networks.” The network would provide data necessary for the planning, management, and development of ground-water supplies to meet current and future water needs, and ecosystem requirements.