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Complex environmental problems call for unique solutions to monitoring efforts alongside developing a more environmentally literate citizenry. Community-based monitoring (CBM) through the use of volunteer monitoring organizations helps to provide a part of the solution, particularly when CBM groups work with research scientists or government managers. This study of volunteer monitoring organizations (VMOs) active in 2009 in the United States was conducted via survey in order to better understand the organizational structure, data collection procedures and data use of water-quality monitoring by volunteers, focusing on North Carolina. Organizational structures and origins of monitoring groups are discussed and reveal a wide variety of types and history of programs. Data collection procedures including required training and quality assurance were explored and discussed through the survey. Many groups require training of a varied type, but fewer complete quality assurance plans. Multiple types of volunteer monitoring data uses were indicated, including management and research. This study suggests a lack of structure at the state level may hinder the usefulness of data collected for purposes other than local information and environmental education. Cooperation between research scientists and VMOs may aid organizations in publishing more of their data and developing a quality assurance plan. (Contains 5 tables and 2 figures.)

Clean water from forests is commonly used to supply drinking water to communities both within and outside basin boundaries through inter‐basin transfers (IBTs). Here, we modified the Water Supply Stress Index (WaSSI) model to provide estimates of mean water yield and the proportion of mean flow originating on forested lands at the 12‐Digit Hydrologic Unit Code scale across the conterminous United States (CONUS). We accounted for the benefits of forests for drinking water supply and receiving populations through IBTs by incorporating a new IBT database, surface intake location information for public drinking water systems, and modeled water yield from forests. We compiled the new database of 594 IBTs ranging from 0.01 million m3 yr−1 to 8,900 million m3 yr−1, for a total transferred volume of 116,894 million m3 yr−1. According to our results, forested lands comprised 28.7% of the total land area across CONUS, but contributed 46% of the total surface water yield. Approximately 125.5 million people derived more than 10% of their surface drinking water supply from forested lands, and 83.1 million people received more than 50% of their surface drinking water supply from forested lands. Of those 83.1 million people receiving more than 50% of their surface drinking water supply from forested lands, 19.4 million people obtained some (≥0.01%) of that water through IBTs. We conclude that accounting for IBTs is critical to accurately assess the contribution of forested watersheds for surface drinking water supply. Hydrologic models for assessment and decision making must include IBTs to fully account for the effects of climate change and human population dynamics on water resource availability at watershed to regional scales. Results from this study can aid water resource and forest managers in developing integrated watershed management plans at a time when climate change, population growth, and land use change threaten water supplies. Key Points: National Forest System and other forested lands comprised 28.7% of the total land area but contributed 46.0% of the total water yieldApproximately 125.5 million and 83.1 million people received more than 10% and 50% of their surface drinking water supply from forested lands, respectivelyWithout considering inter‐basin transfer, benefits of forests to water supply would be underestimated [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Changes in streamflow are an important area of ongoing research in the hydrologic sciences. To better understand spatial patterns in past changes in streamflow, we examined relationships between watershed-scale spatial characteristics and trends in streamflow. Trends in streamflow were identified by analyzing mean daily flow observations between 1940 and 2009 from 967 U.S. Geological Survey stream gages. Results indicated that streamflow across the continental U.S., as a whole, increased while becoming less extreme between 1940 and 2009. However, substantial departures from the continental U.S. (CONUS) scale pattern occurred at the regional scale, including increased annual maxima, decreased annual minima, overall drying trends, and changes in streamflow variability. A subset of watersheds belonging to a reference data set exhibited significantly smaller trend magnitudes than those observed in nonreference watersheds. Boosted regression tree models were applied to examine the influence of watershed characteristics on streamflow trend magnitudes at both the CONUS and regional scale. Geographic location was found to be of particular importance at the CONUS scale while local variability in hydroclimate and topography tended to have a strong influence on regional-scale patterns in streamflow trends. This methodology facilitates detailed, data-driven analyses of how the characteristics of individual watersheds interact with large-scale hydroclimate forces to influence how changes in streamflow manifest. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

- Brook charr ( Salvelinus fontinalis) is a sentinel fish species that requires clean, cold water habitats generally resulting from landscapes that allow for surface water flows devoid of sediment and contaminants and high groundwater discharge of cold water. As such, brook charr are impacted by land cover changes that alter stream temperature regimes. We evaluated brook charr populations across their eastern and midwestern range in the United States with reference to thermal habitat availability in relationship to land cover and per cent baseflow. We found that while forest cover does protect brook charr thermal habitat, high levels of groundwater discharge can allow for increased levels of agriculture within a watershed by keeping the water cold in spite of warm ambient summer temperatures. Our study concludes that with enhanced communication among land, water and fisheries managers, society can provide for sustainable stream salmonid populations despite increased threats on cold water resources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]