§ 143-215.8D. North Carolina Water Quality Workgroup; Rivernet.
§ 143‑215.8D. NorthCarolina Water Quality Workgroup; Rivernet.
(a) The Department ofEnvironment and Natural Resources and North Carolina State University shalljointly establish the North Carolina Water Quality Workgroup. The Workgroupshall work collaboratively with the appropriate divisions of the Department ofEnvironment and Natural Resources and North Carolina State University, theEnvironmental Management Commission, and the Environmental Review Commission toidentify the scientific and State agency databases that can be used toformulate public policy regarding the State's water quality, evaluate thosedatabases to determine the information gaps in those databases, and establishthe priorities for obtaining the information lacking in those databases. TheWorkgroup shall have the following duties:
(1) To addressspecifically the ongoing need of evaluation, synthesis, and presentation ofcurrent scientific knowledge that can be used to formulate public policy onwater quality issues.
(2) To identify knowledgegaps in the current understanding of water quality problems and fill these gapswith appropriate research projects.
(3) To maintain a web‑basedwater quality data distribution site.
(4) To organize andevaluate existing scientific and State agency water quality databases.
(5) To prioritizerecognized knowledge gaps in water quality issues for immediate funding.
(b) The North CarolinaWater Quality Workgroup shall be composed of no more than 15 members. Thosemembers shall be jointly appointed by the Chancellor of North Carolina StateUniversity and the Secretary of Environment and Natural Resources. Any personappointed as a member of the Workgroup shall be knowledgeable in one of thefollowing areas:
(1) Water QualityAssessment, Water Quality Monitoring, and Water Quality Permitting.
(2) Nutrient Management.
(3) Water PollutionControl.
(4) Waste Management.
(5) GroundwaterResources.
(6) Stream Hydrology.
(7) Aquatic Biology.
(8) EnvironmentalEducation and Web‑Based Data Dissemination.
(c) North CarolinaState University shall provide meeting facilities for the North Carolina WaterQuality Workgroup as requested by the Chair.
(d) The members of theNorth Carolina Water Quality Workgroup shall elect a Chair. The Chair shallcall meetings of the Workgroup and set the meeting agenda.
(e) The Chair of theNorth Carolina Water Quality Workgroup shall report each year by January 30 tothe Environmental Review Commission, to the Cochairs of the House ofRepresentatives and Senate Appropriations Subcommittees on Natural and EconomicResources, and to the Chancellor of North Carolina State University or theChancellor's designee on the previous year's activities, findings, andrecommendations of the North Carolina Water Quality Workgroup.
(f) The North CarolinaWater Quality Workgroup shall develop a water quality monitoring system to beknown as Rivernet that effectively uses the combined resources of NorthCarolina State University and State agencies. The Rivernet system shall bedesigned to implement advances in monitoring technology and informationmanagement systems with web‑based data dissemination in the waters thatare impaired based on the criteria of the State's basinwide water qualitymanagement plans. Water quality and nutrient parameters shall be continuouslymonitored at each station, and the data shall be sent back to a centralizedcomputer server.
The Rivernet system shall becoordinated with related data collection and monitoring activities of theDepartment of Environment and Natural Resources, the Water Resources ResearchInstitute, the North Carolina Water Quality Workgroup, and other researchefforts pursued by academic institutions or State government entities. If theNorth Carolina Water Quality Workgroup chooses to employ a technology for whichthere are testing procedure guidelines promulgated by the United StatesEnvironmental Protection Agency, the American Public Health Association, theAmerican Water Works Association, or the Water Environment Federation then thetesting procedures shall comply with the appropriate guidelines. If the NorthCarolina Water Quality Workgroup chooses to employ a technology for which thereare no testing procedure guidelines promulgated by any of the groups cited inthis subsection, then the North Carolina Water Quality Workgroup may establishtesting procedure guidelines.
The Rivernet system shall alsohave the capabilities to trigger alarms and notify the appropriate member ofthe Workgroup when monitoring stations exceed defined limits indicating a spillor a significant water quality or nutrient measurement event, which then can becomprehensively analyzed. (2001‑424, s. 19.5; 2004‑195, ss. 3.3,3.4.)