Designation:D5851−95(Reapproved2021)StandardGuideforPlanningandImplementingaWaterMonitoringProgram1ThisstandardisissuedunderthefixeddesignationD5851;thenumberimmediatelyfollowingthedesignationindicatestheyearoforiginaladoptionor,inthecaseofrevision,theyearoflastrevision.Anumberinparenthesesindicatestheyearoflastreapproval.Asuperscriptepsilon(´)indicatesaneditorialchangesincethelastrevisionorreapproval.INTRODUCTIONWaterresourcemonitoringhastakenplaceinmanyformsforscoresofyears.Thismonitoringhasbeensponsoredandperformedbyavarietyoffederal,state,andlocalpublicagencies;andperhapsbyanevenwidervarietyofprivate,quasi-publicandindustrialentities.Historically,muchoftheearlydatadealtwithquantitiesofflow,anddrinkingwaterqualitywasjudgedbythestandardsoftheperiod.Duringthepastseveralyearstheproblemsrelatedtopointandnonpointsourcesofpollutionofwaterresourceshavebecomeincreasinglyapparent.Technologyhasimproveddramatically,astheneedformonitoringdatahasimproved.Thereisanecessityforinformationonmarinebeachesandestuarineareas,freshwaterswamps,groundwater,wetlands,streams,andsedimentdeposits,andtobetterunderstandtheentirehydrologiccycle.Theneedformoreandvariedwaterqualityinformationhasexpandedasrapidlyasourtechnologicalabilitytogeneratetheinformation.Further,ithasbecomeincreasinglydifficultandsometimesimpossibletounderstandandresolveconflictsamongthedifferentdatasetsavailable.Muchofthedatahavebeencollectedatdifferenttimes,indifferentgeographicareas,andfordifferentpurposes.Thedatahavebeencollectedbypersonswithvariedtraining,usingdifferentmethods,andwithvastlydifferentanalyticalcapabilities.Asaconsequence,wepresentlyareatthestagewherewemayknowmoreaboutagivensituationthanweunderstandandworkersinthefieldwhoreceivethedataareunabletointegratethedataavailableintoausefulsolution.Theneedforstandardizationofmonitoringprogramsisevident.Standardizationdoesnothereinmeaneveryonedoingeverythingexactlythesameway.Itdoesmeantheuseofmethodsandprocedures,whereapplicable,thatfollowrecognizedanddocumen...
