for small amounts of data from STORET (total costs under $25) may be obtained by contacting the EPA Region 5 Freedom of Information Officer. Data can also be obtained online or from the PCA. There are no fees for this service, except for unusually large data retrievals, and the wait time for most data requests is approximately two weeks. (Contacts for data requests are listed in Appendix B.)
The nationwide Hydrologic Benchmark Network Program provides information on baseline water quality conditions. The network consists of a set of stations located in small, pristine drainage basins. Because point source pollution is not a problem in these areas, this program has been especially useful in describing the effects of non-point atmospheric deposition of pollutants on streams. Only one Hydrologic Benchmark Network station is located in Minnesota on the Kawishiwi River near Ely. Another station, located on the North Fork of the Whitewater River, closed in 1993.
The National Stream Accounting Network (NASQAN) was established in 1973 to obtain information on the quality and quantity of water draining into the oceans, describe geographic variability in water quality, detect temporal trends, and provide a nationally consistent database. Most NASQAN stations are located at the mouths of rivers and tributaries. As a result, this programís stations are broadly representative of their basins, but they cannot provide specific, detailed data to characterize the basins. This has limited the ability of the program to analyze geographic patterns in water quality. In the early 1990s, this program experienced a significant reduction in size declining from ten NASQAN stations in Minnesota in 1993 to four in 1994. Existing stations are located on the Minnesota River at Jordan, the Mississippi River at Royalton and Nininger, and the St. Louis River at Scanlon. Figure 5.1 shows the locations of the NASQAN stations, the USGS Hydrological benchmark stations and other USGS water quality monitoring stations.
Figure 5.1 Locations of NASQAN, 