USGS Hydrological Benchmark and other water quality monitoring stations. U.S. Geological Survey, 1993.
To assess the quality of the nationís surface and ground water, the National Water-Quality Assessment Program (NAQWA) began in 1991. The program was designed to describe the status and identify trends in water quality and identify natural and anthropogenic factors affecting water quality. The scope of the program is large, covering approximately 60 to 70% of the water used by the entire U.S. population. This information will provide water managers and policy makers with a better understanding of the geographic differences water quality and concomitant causes.
Two basins that lie partially within Minnesota are being studied as part of NAWQA: the Red River of the North Basin and the Mississippi Basin in the Minneapolis-St. Paul metropolitan area. The Red River of the North project began in 1991 and the Mississippi River project in 1994. Both projects were recently completed. USGS Water Resources Investigations Reports contain information summarizing the water quality of the basin. (See reports 3 and 4 in this series of WRC River reports for further information on these studies.)