| Abstract: | ABSTRACT: In 1972, the U.S. Geological Survey began a pilot program of river-quality assessments. The objectives of the program are (1) to define the character, interrelationships, and apparent causes of existing river-quality problems, and (2) to devise and demonstrate the analytical approaches and the tools and methodologies needed for developing water-quality information that will provide a sound technical basis for planners and managers to use in assessing river-quality problems and evaluating management alternatives. The most noteworthy finding of a pilot assessment of the Willamette River basin, Oregon, was that across-the-board advanced waste treatment was not the answer to the problem of meeting stringent water-quality standards established for the river. The assessment also found that existing water-quality data generally are inadequate for defining the critical cause-effect relationships that control river-quality problems and that intensive, synoptic surveys keyed to local problems and conditions would be required in most river basins to develop an adequate information base for managing important river-quality problems. The study illustrated that rigid nationwide standards and regulations are likely to result in unneeded expenditures in some river basins and in undesirable quality in others. |
