The Kansas Department of Health and Environment relies on timely, accurate and properly interpreted water quality data to guide the efforts of its various water pollution control programs and, ultimately, to protect and restore the physical, chemical and biological integrity of the waters of the state. Although each monitoring program in the Technical Services Section is designed around its own unique set of objectives, essentially all monitoring programs lend themselves to the performance of the following tasks:
- Fulfilling the water quality monitoring and reporting requirements of 40 CFR 130.4 and sections 106(e)(1), 303(d), 305(b), 314(a) and 319(h) of the Clean Water Act
- Evaluating compliance with the provisions of the Kansas surface water quality standards (K.A.R. 28-16-28b et seq.)
- Identifying point and nonpoint sources of pollution contributing most significantly to documented water use impairments
- Documenting spatial and temporal trends in water quality resulting from changes in prevailing climatological conditions, land use/land cover, natural resource management practices, wastewater treatment plant operations, and other factors
- Developing scientifically defensible environmental standards, wastewater treatment plant permits, water body/watershed pollution control plans
- Evaluating the effectiveness of pollution control efforts and water body remediation and restoration initiatives implemented by the department and other natural resource agencies