2 Advances and integration of water management techniques to enhance water security under increasing demand

We invite presentations on field, laboratory, and modeling studies that address water management. Presentations can include topics on water conservation techniques to strengthen the scientific rationale and quantify the impacts of both stress and management.

Monday, 9 March 2026
9:00 AM - 10:00 AM
RCC, 104

Integrated Monitoring of Evaluating Water Quality Remediation

Paper number: 2-2
Program: Technical Sessions
Time: 9:30 AM – 9:45 AM

Authors

Abstract

State water quality assessments rely on long-term monitoring data to evaluate impairment status and guide remediation efforts, yet translating observed trends into clear measures of remediation effectiveness remains challenging. Here we present a generalized, data-driven framework for interpreting water quality trends as indicators of remediation performance, using Oklahoma surface waters as a case study, with broader applicability to other states. This approach combines mass-balance concepts with empirical trend analysis by modeling pollutant concentrations as first-order decay processes, where fitted decline rates provide quantitative metrics of net improvement over time. We have applied the framework to multiple pollutant classes such as suspended sediment, nutrients, and metals, using both agency monitoring records and community science generated data from Oklahoma rivers. Results demonstrate consistent patterns across pollutants in agency and community science datasets, despite differences in sampling resolution and time scale. Comparative analysis highlights predictable differences in responsiveness among pollutant types, reflecting variations in chemical persistence and source legacy. This proposed framework is intentionally simple, transparent, and adaptable, allowing implementation with routinely collected data without reliance on complex watershed models. By converting water monitoring trends into interpretable performance metrics, this approach complements state efforts in Oklahoma and provides a transferable tool for evaluating remediation progress in other state and regional water quality programs.

Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs. Vol. 58, No. 1

doi: 10.1130/abs/2026SE-411811

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