NOAA's Weather Tower at the New Canal Lighthouse provides real-time data for a variety of water and air testing parameters.

This module has three main purposes. It should help you to: (1) Understand when and how modeling can contribute to watershed assessment. (2) Learn approaches and tools that are useful for watershed modeling. Note that the requirements of watershed assessment can necessitate different tools and approaches from a traditional point source modeling problem. (3) Understand the considerations in choosing models for watershed assessments.

When the water in our rivers, lakes, and oceans becomes polluted; it can endanger wildlife, make our drinking water unsafe, and threaten the waters where we swim and fish. EPA research supports efforts under the Clean Water Act and Safe Drinking Water Act.

Water-quality samples collected from drainage canals, from Lake Pontchartrain, La., and from flood waters contained contaminants typically found in waters influenced by urban runoff. Pesticides and wastewater compounds were detected in all water samples, but none exceeded U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) drinking water or aquatic life criteria. Although metals were detected in all samples, copper, nickel, and silver occurred in concentrations greater than water-quality criteria for salt water.

Students investigate causes of water quality degradation and analyze the relationship between harmful algal blooms, toxic algae, and dead zones. They explore water quality "success stories" and actions to improve water quality.

Streams, rivers, wetlands and lakes are home for many small animals called macroinvertebrates. These animals generally include insects, crustaceans, molluscs, arachnids and annelids. The term macroinvertebrate describes those animals that have no backbone and can be seen with the naked eye. Some aquatic macroinvertebrates can be quite large, such as freshwater crayfish, however, most are very small. Invertebrates that are retained on a 0.25mm mesh net are generally termed macroinvertebrates.

Students will have fun analyzing sample water for eight different test factors: pH, dissolved oxygen, biochemical oxygen demand, temperature, turbidity, nitrate, phosphate, and coliform bacteria. This complete kit includes a manual with step-by-step, diagrammed instructions; an easy-to-use laminated color chart, and all the necessary apparatus and non-hazardous TesTabs to test ten water samples (three samples for coliform).

The five following parameters are basic to life within aquatic systems. Impairments of these can be observed as impacts to the flora and or fauna with a given waterbody. [Dissolved oxygen] is the amount of oxygen dissolved in water. Most aquatic organisms need oxygen to survive and grow. Some species require high DO such as trout and stoneflies. Other species, like catfish, worms and dragonflies, do not require high DO.

Changes in landuse, seasonal variations in our weather and longer-term changes to climate can all affect surface water, groundwater, the flows between them, and the amounts of salt that they contain. The term "salinity" refers to the concentrations of salts in water or soils. Salinity can take three forms, classified by their causes: primary salinity (also called natural salinity); secondary salinity (also called dryland salinity), and tertiary salinity (also called irrigation salinity).

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