National Wetland Condition Assessment

Purpose/Objectives

The Environmental Institute of Houston conducted the National Wetland Condition Assessment (NWCA) for Texas in the summer of 2021. The project is a national assessment coordinated by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to meet three primary goals:

1. Produce a national report that describes the quality of the nation's wetlands;
2. Help states and tribes implement wetland monitoring and assessment programs to guide policy development and project decision-making; and
3. Advance the science of wetlands monitoring and assessment.

The sampling design for this survey is a probability-based network that will provide statistically-valid estimates of condition for a population of wetlands with a known confidence. It is designed using modern survey techniques. Sample points are selected at random to represent the condition of wetlands across the country.

Study Area

Texas

Project Period

2021

Description

The NWCA is a statistical survey of the quality of our nation's wetlands, and is is designed to:

• Determine the ecological integrity of wetlands at regional and national scales;
• Build state and tribal capacity for monitoring and analyses;
• Promote collaboration across jurisdictional boundaries;
• Achieve a robust, statistically-valid set of wetland data; and
• Develop baseline information to evaluate progress.

This is one of a series of water surveys being conducted by the EPA, states, tribes, and other partners. The purpose of these surveys is to generate statistically-valid and environmentally relevant reports on the condition of the nation's water resources.

Project Sponsors

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Texas Commission on Environmental Quality

Related links

EPA: National Wetland Condition Assessment