National Aquatic Resource Surveys (NARS)

Provide support to the EPA's Office of Water by providing support for the National Aquatic Resource Surveys (NARS). NARS was developed in response to the Government Accountability Office and other independent reviews calling for improved water monitoring and reporting. The NARS are designed using state-of-the art survey techniques to randomly select sites to represent the conditions of aquatic resources at multiple spatial scales. Field crews use the same and often innovative protocols at all sites to ensure that results are nationally comparable. For many of the indicators selected for research purposes, scientists analyze the results against reference conditions derived from water bodies judged to have been the least disturbed by human activities. This survey and continuing research program provides statistically valid data and information vital to describing water resource quality conditions across the country, how these conditions vary with geographic setting, and the extent of human and natural influences.