ASTM_D_5851_-_95_2021.pdf

Designation:D585195(Reapproved 2021)Standard Guide forPlanning and Implementing a Water Monitoring Program1This standard is issued under the fixed designation D5851;the number immediately following the designation indicates the year oforiginal adoption or,in the case of revision,the year of last revision.A number in parentheses indicates the year of last reapproval.Asuperscript epsilon()indicates an editorial change since the last revision or reapproval.INTRODUCTIONWater resource monitoring has taken place in many forms for scores of years.This monitoring hasbeen sponsored and performed by a variety of federal,state,and local public agencies;and perhapsby an even wider variety of private,quasi-public and industrial entities.Historically,much of the earlydata dealt with quantities of flow,and drinking water quality was judged by the standards of the period.During the past several years the problems related to point and nonpoint sources of pollution ofwater resources have become increasingly apparent.Technology has improved dramatically,as theneed for monitoring data has improved.There is a necessity for information on marine beaches andestuarine areas,fresh water swamps,ground water,wetlands,streams,and sediment deposits,and tobetter understand the entire hydrologic cycle.The need for more and varied water quality information has expanded as rapidly as ourtechnological ability to generate the information.Further,it has become increasingly difficult andsometimes impossible to understand and resolve conflicts among the different data sets available.Much of the data have been collected at different times,in different geographic areas,and for differentpurposes.The data have been collected by persons with varied training,using different methods,andwith vastly different analytical capabilities.As a consequence,we presently are at the stage where wemay know more about a given situation than we understand and workers in the field who receive thedata are unable to integrate the data available into a useful solution.The need for standardization ofmonitoring programs is evident.Standardization does not herein mean everyone doing everythingexactly the same way.It does mean the use of methods and procedures,where applicable,that followrecognized and documented protocols as well as the accurate recording and storage of the data inaccessible formats.Realizing the difficulties in water monitoring,the Office of Management and Budget(OMB)of thefederal government charged the Water Information Program(WICP),a program of the U.S.Geological Surveys Office of Water Data Coordination,with studying water quality monitoring in theUnited States and recommending improvements.The Intergovernmental Task Force on MonitoringWater Quality(ITFM),a federal,state,and tribal partnership,was established under the WICPsInteragency Advisory Committee on Water Data to carry out this study.The results of three years ofwork by about 200 contributors have been captured in a series of three annual reports(1-3).2The following summarizes the conclusions from those reports:(1)Monitoring programs shall keep pace with changing water-management programs.(2)A collaborative strategy is needed to link the many separate monitoring programs.(3)Agenuine appreciation of the need for cooperation currently exists among monitoring agencies.(4)Recent advances in technology provide opportunities for interaction and cooperation thatpreviously were impossible.Copyright ASTM International,100 Barr Harbor Drive,PO Box C700,West Conshohocken,PA 19428-2959.United StatesThis international standard was developed in accordance with internationally recognized principles on standardization established in the Decision on Principles for theDevelopment of International Standards,Guides and Recommendations issued by the World Trade Organization Technical Barriers to Trade(TBT)Committee.1Based upon those conclusions,the following recommendations were made:(1)Implement an integrated,voluntary,nationwide strategy to improve water quality monitoring.(2)Charter a permanent national body to guide the implementation of ITFM recommendations.(3)Develop a framework for monitoring water quality that defines the components of a monitoringprogram.(4)Develop criteria with which to select parameters that measure progress in achieving waterquality goals.(5)Recommend indicators to measure whether water quality uses designated by the state are beingmet.(6)Charter a Methods and Data Comparability Council to foster the development and use ofperformance-based methods of collection and analysis.(7)Use the ecoregions concept,reference conditions,and index calibration.1.Scope1.1 PurposeThis guide is generic in its application tosurface or ground water,rivers,lakes,or estuaries(quantity andquality).It proposes a series of options that offer directionwithout recommending a definite course of action and dis-cusses the major elements that are common to all purposes ofwater monitoring.1.2 The elements described a