Design of Cycle 3 of the National Water-Quality Assessment Program, 2013?2023: Part 1: Framework of Water-Quality Issues and Potential Approaches

In 1991, the U.S. Congress established the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) National Water- Quality Assessment (NAWQA) Program to develop long-term, nationally consistent information on the quality of the Nation's streams and groundwater. Congress recognized the critical need for this information to support scientifically sound management, regulatory, and policy decisions concerning the increasingly stressed water resources of the Nation.