Water Resources Division, NJ District
                      810 Bear Tavern Road, Suite 206
                      West Trenton, New Jersey  08628
                                                           April 28, 1994
Dear Committee Member,

Subject: National Water-Quality Assessment (NAWQA) program liaison meeting

  Thank you for agreeing to participate on the liaison committee for the Long
Island-New Jersey NAWQA study.  The first committee meeting is scheduled for
Friday, May 13 at the EPA facility in Edison, NJ.  The goal of this meeting
is to define and prioritize the water-quality issues in the study area.  We
appreciate your willingness to help.  The meeting will begin at 9:30am and
conclude by 3:00pm.  Background information follows below and an agenda/map
is attached.  Lunch will be a nominal charge of $3 to $4 (a selection of
hoagies, condiments, and drinks).
  The USGS NAWQA program began in 1991 with goals to (1) evaluate the quality
of the Nation's surface- and ground-water resources, (2) monitor changes
through time, and (3) work to improve our understanding of factors affecting
water quality.  NAWQA is a national program with emphasis on national- and
regional-scale water-quality problems, but there is flexibility in the
individual study design to address the more important study-scale issues as
well.  It is the intent of NAWQA to produce relevant information that will
be useful to policy makers and managers at all levels.  We believe with your
and others input, the liaison process at this level will lead to more
relevant products for the study area and the Nation.
  NAWQA was designed to build a national assessment, in large part, from 60
representative river basins and aquifer systems (study units).  The Long
Island-New Jersey Coastal Drainages (LINJ) is on of the 60.  Budget
limitations required NAWQA to be rotational in nature.  The first set of 20
study units were begun in 1991, the second set of 20 is starting now (1994),
and the third set of 20 is scheduled to begin in 1997.  The Hudson River
Basin is in the 1991 set.  The Delaware River Basin will be in the 1997 set.
  The LINJ study unit is in the 1994 set.  The LINJ study team (eventually 8-
10 people) will be coordinated from our West Trenton office.  Tasks for the
first two years, 1994 and 1995, include staffing, developing a liaison
process, analyzing existing data, and designing a data collection program to
start in late 1995.  We currently have a staff of two, Paul Stackelberg and
myself.  You are part of the LINJ liaison committee, see attached list of
members.  These planning activities, with your help, should prepare an
efficient design for 3 years of intensive data collection in 1996-98 and 6
years of lower level activities that follow.
  Like the study unit teams, there also are national synthesis teams of
scientists to address the national-scale issues, interpretations, and
products.  You'll learn more about all these NAWQA details in later meetings
as the need occurs.  See the attached generalized report "Implementation
Plan for the NAWQA Program" for additional details.

                LINJ LIAISON COMMITTEE, MAY 13, 1994 MEETING
                                   AGENDA
       9:40  Welcome                             Janice Ward
       9:45  Introduction to NAWQA               Mark Ayers
      10:15  Discussion of Study boundaries      Mark Ayers
      10:30  NJ water-quality management
             planning initiatives                Dan VanAbs
      11:00  Review of LINJ study issues         Paul Stackelberg
      11:30  Lunch inhouse (hoagies, condiments, and drinks)
      12:30  Goals of work group sessions        Mark Ayers
      12:40  Breakout into work groups to define
             and prioritize water-quality issues
             which NAWQA should address
                                                 facilitators
        Group 1-- Surface-water issues           Janice Ward
        Group 2-- Ground-water issues            Paul Stackelberg
        Group 3-- Aquatic ecology issues         Mark Ayers

       2:15  Break
       2:30  Presentations of work group discussions
             (5-7 minutes each group)
       2:50  Summary discussion                  All
       3:00  Set next meeting date and adjourn


CONCEPTUAL NAWQA DESIGN
                                  Analysis of
                           ---< Historical Data >-----
                          |           |               |
                          v           ^               v
National Synthesis Teams >===< Study Unit Team >===========< Liaison Team
               |    ^     |           |          |    ^    |
               |    |     |           v          |    |    |
               |    |     -----> Study Design <---    |    |
               |    |                 |               |    |
               |    |                 v               |    |
               |    ------------< New Data >-----------    |
               v                                           v
               ---------------> NAWQA Products <------------