National Water Program Research Strategy

EPA’s National Water Program published its first strategy identifying the research needed to achieve its goals, meet statutory obligations, and fulfill court mandates. Communicating water research needs to current and potential collaborators aligns water programs with the Administrator’s desire for transparency in EPA’s actions, involvement of a broader research community in Agency science, and the use of well considered science in Agency decisions. By expanding the science base of the program, we will increase program credibility, expedite the production of the needed tools, and accelerate and better quantify water quality environmental outcomes. The Strategy also provides a means for the National Water Program to manage its research portfolio and evaluate the progress being made in critical research areas.

The Strategy identifies four priority themes:

Healthy Watersheds and Coastal Waters
Safe Drinking Water
Sustainable Water Infrastructure
Water Security

Within each theme, research needs are categorized into the following areas:

Aquatic health effects
Human health effects
Occurrence and exposure
Methods development
Treatment technologies and effectiveness.

For more information, please contact Mary Reiley (reiley.mary@epa.gov).

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