Data        Water Quality Standards       Sampling and Monitoring Guidance       References and Resources

Data

Indiana Water Monitoring Inventory
The Indiana Water Monitoring Inventory is a Google Map application that serves as a portal for locating water monitoring information in the state of Indiana. You may search the monitoring inventory by location, parameter type, or agency/organization who conducted the sampling. Every monitoring location within the Inventory contains a URL link to either the actual data (if they are available on-line) or contact information for the person or program responsible for the monitoring data. 

IDEM Indiana Water Quality Atlas
The Indiana Water Quality Atlas (IWQA) uses geographic information systems (GIS) tools to focus specifically on Indiana’s water quality as affected by land use change.

IDEM Assessment Information Management System (AIMS) Database
Tabular download and graphical presentation utility of the Indiana Department of Environmental Management (IDEM) water quality database. Accessed through the Indiana Water Quality Atlas (IWQA) Web portal.

USGS NAWQA Data Warehouse
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) began its NAWQA (National Water Quality Assessment) program in 1991, systematically collecting chemical, biological, and physical water quality data from 42 basins across the nation. The data warehouse currently contains and links data concerning  chemical concentrations in water, bed sediment, and aquatic organism tissues for about 3,100 chemical constituents; site, basin, well and network characteristics with many descriptive variables; daily stream flow information for fixed sampling sites; and groundwater levels for sampled wells.

USGS National Water Information System: Surface Water
The U.S. Geological Survey's (USGS) National Water Information System (NWIS) is a comprehensive and distributed application that supports the acquisition, processing, and long-term storage of water data. Indiana surface-water information includes time-series data that describe stream levels, stream flow (discharge), reservoir and lake levels, surface-water quality, and rainfall.

USGS National Water Information System: Water Quality
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) collects and analyzes chemical, physical, and biological properties of water, sediment and tissue samples from across the Nation. The discrete sample data is a large and complex set of data that has been collected by a variety of projects ranging from national programs to studies in small watersheds. Users should review the help notes and particularly the data retrieval precautions before beginning any retrieval or analysis of data from this data set.

IDNR Hoosier Riverwatch Searchable Database
Hoosier Riverwatch promotes stewardship of Indiana's waterways through a volunteer stream monitoring and water quality education program. The database is searchable by 8-digit hydrologic unit code (HUC) through an interactive map.

USGS National Water Information System: Groundwater
The U.S. Geological Survey's (USGS) National Water Information System (NWIS) is a comprehensive and distributed application that supports the acquisition, processing, and long-term storage of water data. The groundwater database consists of records of wells, springs, test holes, and excavations. Available site descriptive information includes well location information such as latitude and longitude, well depth, and aquifer.

IDNR Ambient Ground Water Chemistry
Database from the Indiana Department of Natural Resources, Division of Water (IDNR, DOW; CD-ROM or downloadable) contains ambient groundwater chemistry analyses for samples in the following water-management basins: St. Joseph (1997),  Whitewater (1988), Kankakee (1990), Lake Michigan (1994), Maumee (1996), West Fork White River (1999). Full publications concerning the water resources of these basins are available on the IDNR, DOW Web site. GIS shapefiles of the point values are included, as well as metadata for each data set.

IDNR Water Well Record Database
The Indiana Department of Natural Resources, Division of Water (IDNR, DOW) currently maintains, in original paper and digital form, the records of nearly 373,000 water wells drilled in Indiana. Of this number approximately 138,000 records have been field verified. This online database provides access these public records, with several available search options. It is recommended by IDNR that first time users of this online database familiarize themselves with the About this Service and Database Search Help pages. 

IDNR Water Well Record Viewer
The Indiana Department of Natural Resources, Division of Water (IDNR, DOW) currently maintains, in original paper and digital form, the records of nearly 373,000 water wells drilled in Indiana. Of this number approximately 138,000 records have been field verified. The well record viewer is an interactive Web mapping application that plots the locations of water wells in Indiana, noting those with verified locations versus those with estimated locations.

IDNR Significant Water Withdrawal Facility Data
The Indiana Department of Natural Resources, Division of Water (IDNR, DOW) currently maintains information and water-use data submitted by owners of significant water withdrawal facilities. These users are required to register with the DNR and report water use on an annual basis. A “significant water withdrawal facility” is defined to mean those that have the capability of withdrawing more than 100,000 gallons of groundwater, surface water, or both in one day. Prior to using the data, the IDNR recommends that you review the metadata (data explanation) document, which will help you to better understand the limitations of the data.

IDEM Indiana Safe Drinking Water Information System (SDWIS)
Tabular summaries of public water supply systems with ability to examine water-quality parameters that are monitored, along with maximum contaminant load (MCL) levels for each parameter. Actual sample results are not made available on this site. The database is made available through Indiana Department of Environmental Management (IDEM).

USEPA Drinking Water Data and Databases
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) maintains drinking water data in several databases, including the Safe Drinking Water Information System - Federal Version (SDWIS/FED) and the National Contaminant Occurrence Database (NCOD). The agency utilizes this information to help manage environmental programs, and provides public access to the data through the Internet.

USEPA Envirofacts Data Warehouse: Water
Envirofacts is a single point of access to select U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) environmental data. This Web site provides access to several USEPA databases to provide you with information about environmental activities that may affect air, water, and land anywhere in the United States. With Envirofacts, you can learn more about these environmental activities in your area or you can generate maps of environmental information.

Water Quality Standards

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Water Quality Standards: USEPA Indiana Region 5
The Water Quality Standards (WQS) program in Indiana is managed by the Indiana Department of Environmental Management (IDEM). Other State Agencies, such as the Indiana Department of Natural Resources and the Indiana State Department of Health, at times work with IDEM on WQS issues.

Indiana 327 IAC 2-1-1 Water Quality Standards
Indiana Administrative Code statute regarding water-quality standards.

Indiana Water Quality Report
Scorecard.org is an online resource for information about pollution problems and toxic chemicals. The site has a community activist aesthetic to it. The site compiles publicly available data on polluters collected by federal regulatory agencies and distributed in digital form. The Web application pulls data from many disparate federal datasets and compiles them for integrated searches by geographic area, pollution topic, or chemical profile. The provided link describes the Clean Water Act (CWA) status for Indiana.

IDEM Indiana Storm Water Quality Manual
The Indiana Storm Water Quality Manual provides guidelines and specific storm water quality measures for controlling soil erosion; controlling and treating the nonpoint source pollution associated with sediment-laden runoff; and the management and treatment of pollutants associated with post-construction land uses. The manual is provided by the Indiana Department of Environmental Management (IDEM). 

Lake Michigan TMDL Framework
The Clean Water Act (CWA) and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) regulations require that states develop Total Maximum Daily Loads (TMDLs) for all waters on the section 303(d) lists. A TMDL is the sum of the allowable amount of a single pollutant that a water body can receive from all contributing point and nonpoint sources and still support its designated uses. This report concerns development of E. Coli TMDLs for the Lake Michigan Shoreline and tributaries.

Great Lakes Water Quality Initiative  
Code of Federal Regulations, Title 40 Part 132: Protection of Environment, Water Quality Guidance for the Great Lakes System. Description of the Great Lakes Water Quality Initiative, as well as specific methodologies for development of water-quality criteria and other procedures.

USEPA Quality Criteria for Water 1986 (“Gold Book”)
The Clean Water Act (CWA) requires that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) publish and periodically update ambient water quality criteria. The criteria are not rules and do not have regulatory impact. The criteria can and should be used for guidance concerning the environmental effects that can be useful to derive regulatory requirements. Many sources defer to the “Gold Book” for water-quality targets. The “Gold Book” superseded the “Red Book,” which was published in 1976.

USEPA National Recommended Water Quality Criteria
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (USEPA) compilation of national recommended water-quality criteria is presented as a summary table containing recommended water-quality criteria for the protection of aquatic life and human health in surface water for approximately 150 pollutants. These criteria are published as directed by the Clean Water Act (CWA) and provide guidance for states and tribes to use in adopting water quality standards.

USEPA Drinking Water Standards
The Drinking Water Standards and Health Advisories Tables are revised periodically by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) in order to update reference dose and cancer values, so that they are consistent with the most current Agency assessments of chemical contaminants that may occur in drinking water and to introduce new Health Advisories. The current version of the standards is from 2006. A downloadable PDF version of the tables can be downloaded from a link on this Web site.

Sampling and Monitoring Guidance

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Catalog of Monitoring Protocols Used by Indiana Agencies
Agencies monitoring Indiana's waters use many methods and protocols.  This site is designed to compile existing protocols used by statewide monitoring programs in Indiana into a central location to provide accessible information on methods used for monitoring across the state of Indiana. Purdue University has coordinated the development of this site, in collaboration with the Indiana Water Monitoring Council. 

Indiana Clean Lakes Program: Volunteer Lake Monitoring Handbook
The Volunteer Lake Monitoring Program is a cooperative effort by three groups:  volunteers, IDEM, and Indiana University’s School of Public and Environmental Affairs (SPEA). Begun in 1989, the Volunteer Lake Monitoring Program now includes over 90 Indiana lakes. The handbook contains explanations about measurements and methods, and contains forms, checklists, and overview descriptions of how to conduct lake monitoring.

Indiana Clean Lakes Program: Volunteer Lake Monitoring Expanded Manual
The Volunteer Lake Monitoring Program is a cooperative effort by three groups:  volunteers, IDEM, and Indiana University’s School of Public and Environmental Affairs (SPEA). Begun in 1989, the Volunteer Lake Monitoring Program now includes over 90 Indiana lakes. This expanded handbook contains explanations about measurements and methods, and contains forms, checklists, and detailed descriptions of how to conduct lake monitoring.

IDNR Hoosier Riverwatch Volunteer Stream Monitoring Training Manual
This is the training manual provided to all Hoosier Riverwatch Basic Training workshop participants. The chapters include guidance on chemical and biological monitoring, macroinvertebrate identification, as well as overview chapters on watersheds and habitat. The entire manual is provided via this Web site in PDF format.

USGS InLand Lakes Manual
The U.S. Geological Survey has compiled information and guidance regarding lake monitoring. Chapters include principles of designing a monitoring program, an overview of limnology, an overview of tools and techniques, as well as specific guidance on field sampling.

Qualitative Habitat Evaluation Index (QHEI)
The qualitative habitat evaluation index (QHEI) gives scientists a quantitative assessment of physical characteristics of a sampled stream similar to IBI and ICI biological data (see below). QHEI represents a measure of instream geography. By combining evaluations of QHEI and IBI, for example, researchers can gain a well-rounded perspective of both the physical and biological conditions of a particular stream site. This comprehensive assessment is critical for evaluating disturbance and land-use practices.

Index of Biotic Integrity (IBI)
This index is designed to measure the aquatic vertebrate community and the surrounding conditions by using fish species as indicators. Overall, there are 12 fish community variables that can be broken down into three main categories: species richness and composition, trophic composition, and fish abundance and condition. By assessing the variables within these parameters, scientists can compare a sampled site with a relatively undisturbed site with similar geographical and climatic conditions. With this rationale, the only variable would be stressors resulting from human development and disturbance.

Invertebrate Community Index (ICI)
The invertebrate community index (ICI) is very similar to the IBI and measures the health of the macroinvertebrate community. This index is comprised of 10 metrics where sampled sites are also compared to relatively undisturbed sites with similar geographical features. Both IBI and ICI are useful tools for biological measuring of aquatic environments, but IBI is often the preferred method; fish are generally longer lived and can therefore represent environmental changes over a longer period of time.

Volunteer Water Quality Monitoring: National Facilitation Project
This Web page was developed as part of the National Facilitation Project by USDA CSREES, and Land Grant Colleges and Universities to provide Volunteer Monitoring Program Coordinators with access to a number of relevant publications that relate to water-quality monitoring in lakes and streams. Links to many external resources are provided.

USEPA Adopt Your Watershed
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (USEPA) Adopt Your Watershed program challenges you to serve your community by taking part in activities to protect and restore your local watershed. The site uses the USEPA interactive Web application called “Surf Your Watershed” to link to an on-line database of watershed groups to learn about opportunities to get involved in activities such as volunteer water monitoring, stream cleanups, and storm drain marking. Once you locate your watershed, click on "citizen-based groups at work in this watershed" to find a list of organizations.

IDNR Hoosier Riverwatch Adopt-A-River
Hoosier Riverwatch is seeking community groups, youth groups, businesses, schools, families, and environmental organizations to participate in the Adopt-A-River program. Volunteer groups who commit to cleaning at least a ½ mile stream segment twice per year for two years will be recognized with a large, colorful sign erected along a highway nearest the "adopted" site.

USGS NAWQA Sampling and Analysis Protocols
This very spare navigation page by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) provides links to two NAWQA program pages. One link is for method, sampling, and analytical protocols, whereas the second link is for biological sampling, habitat, and laboratory protocols. After following one of the links, a series of links to USGS publications relevant to various water-quality or biological sampling, processing, documentation, or analysis is provided.

References and Resources

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Wikipedia: Clean Water Act
A discussion of the federal law called the “Clean Water Act” of 1977 from Wikipedia, the free online encyclopedia.

IDNR Hoosier Riverwatch
Hoosier Riverwatch promotes stewardship of Indiana's waterways through a volunteer stream monitoring and water quality education program. Hoosier Riverwatch is a state-sponsored water quality monitoring initiative. The program was started in 1994 to increase public awareness of water quality issues and concerns by training volunteers to monitor stream water quality. Hoosier Riverwatch is sponsored by the Indiana Department of Natural Resources - Division of Fish and Wildlife (IDNR, F&W).

Indiana Association of Soil and Water Conservation Districts
The Indiana Association of Soil and Water Conservation Districts (IASWCD) and the 92 local SWCDs share a single mission: to coordinate assistance from available sources - public and private, local, state and federal - in an effort to develop locally driven solutions to natural resource concerns.

Indiana Watershed Planning Guide
This manual, developed by the Indiana Department of Environmental Management (IDEM), was compiled to assist local groups in developing successful watershed plans, and to establish a common approach for watershed planning throughout Indiana. The manual is intended to provide a road map to watershed groups developing watershed management plans, especially if they are being developed under CWA Section 319 grant funding.

IDNR Water Resources Updates (updated monthly)
This link leads to a number of resources and assessments that are updated monthly by the Indiana Department of Natural Resources, Division of Water for Indiana. Some of the products include climatic conditions, current stream flow conditions, water levels of reservoirs, status of groundwater levels from observation wells, as well as links to resources such as Indiana’s Water Shortage Plan.

USEPA Surf Your Watershed
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (USEPA) has developed an interactive Web application called “Surf Your Watershed” to link to on-line databases to investigate topics such as stream flow, science in your watershed, water-use data, impaired water bodies, and water-quality monitoring data in the selected watershed.

USGS National Water Quality Assessment (NAWQA) Program
The National Water-Quality Assessment Program (NAWQA) provides an understanding of water-quality conditions; whether conditions are improving or degrading; and how natural and manmade activities affect water quality. Regional and national assessments are possible because of a consistent study design and uniform methods of data collection and analysis. Monitoring data are integrated with geographic information on hydrological characteristics, land use, and other landscape features.

Indiana Lakes Management Society
The Indiana Lakes Management Society is based in Angola, Indiana, and was organized to promote and encourage the understanding and comprehensive management of lakes and reservoirs and their watershed ecosystems. Please click a page link above for more information about us, and to learn more about lakes and lake living.

Indiana Clean Lakes Program
The Indiana Clean Lakes Program was created in 1989 as a program within the Indiana Department of Environmental Management's (IDEM) Office of Water Management. The program is administered through a grant to Indiana University's School of Public and Environmental Affairs (SPEA) in Bloomington. The Indiana Clean Lakes Program is a comprehensive, statewide public lake management program having five components: (1) public information and education, (2) technical assistance, (3) volunteer lake monitoring, (4) lake water quality assessment, and (5) coordination with other state and federal lake programs.

Central Indiana Watersheds
Web log (blog) that promotes and shares information about water quality and work in watersheds in Central Indiana.

IDEM Water Monitoring
Water monitoring programs active at the Indiana Department of Environmental Management (IDEM). The links lead to additional information on biological studies, impaired water body assessments, integrated water monitoring, surveys, TMDL program, as well as information on toxicology and chemistry.

Indiana Water Quality Report (www.scorecard.org)
Scorecard.org is an online resource for information about pollution problems and toxic chemicals. The site has a community activist aesthetic to it. The site compiles publicly available data on polluters collected by federal regulatory agencies and distributed in digital form. The Web application pulls data from many disparate federal datasets and compiles them for integrated searches by geographic area, pollution topic, or chemical profile. The provided link describes the Clean Water Act (CWA) status for Indiana.

National Resources Defense Council: Testing the Waters
Summary of water quality on Indiana’s Great Lakes beaches compiled by the Natural Resources Defense Council.