Unique Niche/Role
Seek on-going opportunities to:
• expand data gathering/sharing;
• identify research needs in order to
improve water quality protection and
restoration; and
• support the sustainable use and
protection of our Region's water
resources
Goals and Tasks
1. Conduct holistic and integrated
assessments and evaluations of
surface water quality information to
promote resource protection and
restoration.
2. Generate products and services
using surface water quality and land
use information to aid in water
program decision making.
3. Utilize surface water data to
promote the most effective
utilization of water resources in
Region 6.
4. Promote better understanding of
surface water/land use/ground
water interactions.
5. Inform Region 6 program staff,
managers, states and stakeholders
of the state of Region 6 surface
waters.
Organization/Support
A coordinator assigned to the 6WQ-NI
team serves as the point of contact for
the center interfacing with customers
and managing requests and tasks. The
6WQ-NI team members are skilled in
the use of CIS, presentation graphics,
web-page development and
spreadsheet/ database applications.
These skills currently assist 6WQ and
Region 6 in a variety of water quality
data evaluation and presentation
initiatives geared toward furthering the
watershed restoration and protection
efforts. The use of Geographic
Information Systems (CIS) is a key
component to providing center products
and services.
.
SurfaceiWater
^±,f£> Center
r
EPA Region 6
Water Quality Protection Division
U.S. ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
REGIONS
1445 Ross AVENUE
DALLAS, TX 75202
For Further Info Contact:
Patricia A. Taylor, Ph.D., P.E.
Surface Water Center Coordinator
(214)665-6403
taylor.patricia-a@epa.gov
Provide supportive data and
decision making tools to enable
cooperative interaction and
facilitate watershed protection and
restoration efforts
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Established in 2009, the Region 6
Surface Water Center was developed
to support Regional watershed
protection and restoration efforts and
help achieve the goals, priorities, and
objectives for the Regional water
program.
Introduction
Located within EPA Region 6's Water
Quality Protection Division (6WQ),
Planning and Analysis Branch, and
working with the Region 6 Ground
Water Center, the center exists to
protect water quality, as well as plan
and track watershed protection and
restoration activities. The center is
supported by the 6WQ Water
Information and Analysis Team
(6WQ-NI); however the data used is
primarily housed within EPA, and
other Federal, Tribal, State, and local
entities. 6WQ-NI provides the
managerial and technical support to
acquire data and develop easy to use
products and services. The center's
website provides a central repository
for decision making tools, status
maps, and links to information.
Issues/Challenges
The viability of the center is directly related to
providing "value added" products and services
Cross-program growth will include other
regulatory and enforcement programs. An
ongoing challenge for the center is to remain
responsive to changing needs and information
technologies and adapt as needed while
accomplishing tasks. Continual reassessment,
on an annual basis and making adjustments as
needed is vital forsustainability.
Products and
The 6WQ-NI team works with potential
customers to identify needs as well as
request information to analyze performance,
identify trends and compare the analyses to
Regional and National water program goals.
It is expected the center will provide useful
data and analyses to Region 6, other federal
agencies, tribes, state partners, and local
entities. In order to effectively manage
expectations, a screening process will be
used to evaluate the applicability of the
needs and requests with respect to the
center basic tenets, and assign a priority to
each need and request. The continual
assessment and prioritization process will
ensure the center focuses efforts on the
most critical needs.
SurfaceiWater
Center
EPA Region 6
http://region6.epa.gov/intranet/6wq/planninganalysis/swc/index.htm
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