Intensive natural resource development in the NEMW region such as shale gas extraction and agriculture can threaten the Northeast Midwest region’s high-value water resources. Both the potential economic benefits and water-quality impacts from these activities are high priorities for policy makers. Regional water quality information that is timely, credible, and policy-relevant holds the key to guiding policies that are adequately protective of the region’s water resources, yet not unnecessarily restrictive of industry. Toward Sustainable Water Information (TSWI) is investigating whether the Northeast-Midwest region’s water monitoring capabilities are adequate to supply this critical information, and if not, what is needed to effectively and efficiently improve them.
The Northeast-Midwest Institute (NEMWI), in a cooperative agreement with USGS, is working with industry, environmental, academic, and agency decision makers and experts through our Blue Ribbon Project Steering Committee and Technical Advisory Committees to investigate and describe the ability of the region’s water monitoring system to support policy decisions.
The project initially will focus on nutrient enrichment in the Lake Erie basin and shale gas extraction in the Susquehanna River basin to understand and illustrate the level of monitoring effort that might be required to answer specific policy questions. We will relate findings from these case studies to identify the types of data the region as a whole might need, to understand the extent to which available data in the network of Federal, state, and local monitoring programs can be used, and to shine a spotlight on any critical deficiencies in the region’s available water data to support decision making.
In a second phase of the project, we will provide a vision for a region-wide framework for a credible, adaptive, and cost-effective water information system, building on case study examples. We will identify and begin implementing a plan for bringing this water information system into realization, paving the way for a sustainable water information source that is responsive to decision-makers’ needs as they consider policies regarding urban, agricultural and industrial development while securing the region’s water supply into the future.
Blue Ribbon Steering Committee
Name | Organization |
Glenn Benoy | International Joint Commission |
Paul A. Biedrzycki | City of Milwaukee Health Department |
Suzanne Bricker | National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration |
Allegra Cangelosi | Northeast-Midwest Institute |
Julius Ciaccia | Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District |
Thomas Davenport | Environmental Protection Agency, Region 5 |
Joseph Depinto | Limnotech |
Blayne Diacont | Range Resources |
Timothy Eder | Great Lakes Commission |
Norman Grannemann | United States Geological Survey |
Carlton Haywood | Interstate Commission on the Potomac River Basin |
Jonathan Higgins | The Nature Conservancy |
Jennifer Hoffman | Chesapeake Energy |
Susy King | New England Interstate Water Pollution Control Commission |
James Miller | Organic Valley |
Jeffrey Myers | New York Department of Environmental Conservation |
Laura Rubin | Huron River Watershed Council |
Robert Tudor (retired) | Delaware River Basin Commission |
Mark Walbridge | United States Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service |
Susan Weaver | Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection |
Shale Technical Advisory Committee
Person | Organization |
Adam Goehner | Pembina Institute |
Andrew Gavin | Susquehanna River Basin Commission |
Bert Smith | Chesapeake Energy |
Daniel Soeder | Department of Energy National Energy Technology Laboratory |
David Yoxtheimer | Penn State University |
James Saiers | Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies |
John Wilson | US Geological Survey |
Pete Murdoch | US Geological Survey |
Tony Shaw | Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection |
Nutrient Technical Advisory Committee
Person | Organization |
Anne Choquette | US Geological Survey |
Bill Brown | Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection |
Elizabeth Toot-Levy | Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District |
Mark Tomer | US Department of Agriculture Agricultural Research Service |
Paul Stacey | Great Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve in New Hampshire |
Pete Richards | Heidelberg University |
Raj Bejankiwarr | International Joint Commission |
Photo: Tower for drilling horizontally into the Marcellus Shale Formation and farmfield; Lycoming County, Pennsylvania, USA: WikiCommons by Ruhrfisch.
Graphic: United States GeologicalSurvey, real timewater monitoring map downloaded from http://waterdata.usgs.gov/usa/nwis/rt