Call by Tuesday to Participate in WERF Survey

The Water Environment Research Foundation (WERF) is seeking input from subscribers and other stakeholders on the key questions to be addressed at an upcoming workshop on pathogens in inland waters. If you can help by taking a short survey, please contact Rhonda Kranz at [email protected], or 703-684-2470, ext. 7147, by Dec. 16.

WERF and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency are organizing an invitational workshop that will bring together 20 experts to evaluate the significance of any differences that exist between inland waters and coastal recreational waters (marine and Great Lakes coasts) for purposes of national recommended recreational water quality criteria development. The experts will be asked to

  1. determine how coastal recreational water research can be extrapolated to apply to inland waters, and
  2. identify any additional research that would be needed for upcoming water quality revisions applicable to inland waters.

The workshop report will describe the state of knowledge, identify gaps in the science, and prioritize needed research. The results will provide a roadmap for future inland waters research, including projects to be undertaken by EPA to inform development of revised criteria by 2012.

It is important that the issues addressed in this workshop reflect the needs and concerns of WERF and the broader community whose work is associated with water quality criteria. The survey will help do that.