Tribal Clean Water Act 106 Reporting Requirements Overview

• Overview
• Reporting Requirements
  • Monitoring Strategy
  • Water Quality Assessment Report (WQAR)
  • WQX Data
• Fact Sheets on Water Quality Parameters

Overview

The Guidance on Awards of Grants to Indian Tribes under Section 106 of the Clean Water Act (the Guidance) is intended to help Tribal water quality program managers, staff, and other Tribal environmental decision makers design and implement effective and successful water quality programs. It also establishes procedures and guidelines for EPA regions to consider when awarding and administering grants to federally recognized Tribes. See also: Draft Clean Water Act Section 106 Tribal Grant Guidance.

Reporting requirements and data management expectations for all Tribal programs are a key component of the Guidance. Tribes are developing Tribal assessment reports that contain information about water quality on Tribal land and demonstrate national results for the Section 106 Tribal program. A Tribal assessment report consists of the following:

1. A description of the monitoring strategy;
2. A water quality assessment (annual requirement); and
3. Water quality monitoring data submitted electronically into EPA's Water Quality Exchange (WQX).

The Guidance is available on EPA's National Clean Water Act Tribal Section 106 program website, and the STORET-compatible Data Template (also referred to as the WQX Web Template) is available along with other resources at the EPA's Water Quality Data and Water Quality Exchange Web Template Files websites.

If you have questions about these materials, please contact your Section 106 Project Officer.

Reporting Requirements

The documents below have been developed by HQ and Region 9 to assist Tribes in completing reporting requirements outlined in the Tribal 106 Guidance, and serve as additional tools for EPA and Tribal staff to use as they implement the Guidance. In addition to the materials on this page, the full guidance text, individual chapters (full color and print friendly), and supplements can be found at E{A's Clean Water Act Section 106 Tribal Guidance website.

1. Monitoring Strategy

• CWA Section 106 Tribal Guidance Supplement
  Developing a Tribal Water Quality Program Monitoring Strategy (pdf) (808.62 KB)
  This document is intended to supplement the CWA Section 106 Tribal Guidance by providing useful suggestions and examples for Tribes on how to establish a data management system that reflects tribal water quality goals and manage the system so data is accessible and reliable.
• EPA Region 9 Fact Sheet: CWA §106 Water Pollution Control Program Monitoring Strategy Requirement (pdf) (176.31 KB, April 11, 2013)
  This document outlines components of a monitoring strategy and provides resources to use while developing a monitoring strategy.
• Managing the Quality of Environmental Data in EPA's Pacific Southwest (Region 9) (quality assurance project plan guidance)

2. Water Quality Assessment Report (WQAR)

• Chapter 6 of Clean Water Act Section 106 Tribal Guidance (pdf) (4.12 MB)
• Water Quality Assessment Report Guidance Documents for Region 9 Tribes
• Region 9 Water Quality Assessment Report
  • Region 9 WQAR Template (xlsx) (498.11 KB, October 2024)
    This updated template fulfills the annual water quality assessment reporting requirement per CWA 106 Guidance. To meet this requirement, use the most current tribal water quality data available (i.e. data in STORET-compatible format) to write the narrative and fill out this template.
  • 2011 Interactive WQAR Tutorial (PPSX) (ppsx) (4.98 MB, 2011)
    Interactive Water Quality Assessment Report tutorial.
  • EPA Region 9 CWA §106 WQAR Template Pilot (pdf) (149.82 KB, September 2010)
    This document describes the purpose of the Water Quality Assessment Report (WQAR) template to provide information on water quality improvement in tribal waters monitored under the CWA 106 Water Pollution Control program in EPA's Region 9.
    • Frequently Asked Questions: EPA Region 9 CWA §106 WQAR Template Pilot (pdf) (137.7 KB, October 2010)
      Contains questions and answers about the Water Quality Assessment Report Template for the use of tribal water quality programs under Clean Water Act Section 106 Tribal grants program.
    • User Tutorial: WQAR Template (pdf) (350.76 KB, 2010)
      User tutorial for pilot electronic template, which fulfills one of three parts of annual Water Quality Assessment Reports for tribal water quality programs under CWA 106 Tribal grants program.
    • WQAR Template Webinar Materials

3. WQX Data

• Guidance Supplement: Tribal Data Management for WQX Submission (pdf) (1.17 MB)

Understanding Data Management

• Roadmap to Data Management (pdf) (132.05 KB, 2013)
  Flowchart for collecting field and lab data for the use of tribal water quality programs under the Clean Water Act Section 106 Tribal grants program.
• Getting Started with Microsoft Excel: Organizing Your Water Quality Data (pdf) (1.34 MB, 2013)
  Tutorial on one of many readily available resources that can help you organize your water quality monitoring data into a manageable, user-friendly format.
• How Is Your Field and Lab Data Stored and Managed? (pdf) (86.26 KB, 2013)
  Table for tribal water quality programs under CWA 106 Tribal grants program. Contains information about ways of storing and managing tribal field and lab data.
• Water Quality Data Submission Tools Comparison (pdf) (26.39 KB, 4/6/2012)
  This table provides information about the pros and cons of various water quality data submission tools.
• A Guide to the STORET/WQX Transition (pdf) (44.46 KB, April 2013)
  Contains information about the STORET/WQX transition.

Using the STORET/WQX Data Template (Tutorials and User Guide)

• Checking Your Data for Compatibility to STORET/WQX (pdf) (143.78 KB, April 2012)
  Use this Checklist to determine how the water quality monitoring data you’ve collected can be organized in the STORET / WQX-compatible format.
• Instructions For STORET/WQX Exercises (pdf) (155.54 KB, April 2013)
  Exercises for tribal water quality programs to help organize a tribe's water quality data into a STORET/WQX compatible format.
• STORET/WQX Workshop 2008 Presentations

WQX Web Resources

• User Guide and Upload Resources
• Recorded WQX Webinars
• Water Quality Exchange Web Template files
• WQX Nutrient Data Best Practices Guide
• Tribal Water Quality Data Roadmap Fact Sheet (pdf) (113.31 KB, May 2018)
  This fact sheet describes the Tribal Water Quality Data Roadmap project, its goals, resources used, outcomes, and key contacts.

Fact Sheets on Water Quality Parameters

Water quality parameter fact sheets have been developed to provide an introduction to monitoring common parameters: Temperature, Dissolved Oxygen, pH, Turbidity, Macroinvertebrates, E. coli and Nutrients.