Accessibility Icon We are committed to ensuring our website complies with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and applicable web accessibility standards. We are actively working to improve the accessibility and usability of our online content. If you experience difficulty accessing any part of this website or require an accommodation, please contact us at DEQ@nd.gov.
  1.  DEQ Home
  2.  DoWQ
  3.  Watershed Management Program
  4.  Water Quality Monitoring

Water Quality Monitoring & Assessment

Just looking at a lake or stream is not enough when trying to measure water quality. Sampling for specific water quality variables will give you proper insight into the health of a surface water. In turn, land management practices can be evaluated for changes that will positively influence the health of the water body. If a stream sample has results indicating a high fecal coliform count, practices such as livestock feedlot location, municipal wastewater treatment and urban runoff should be examined.

ND Assessment Methodology

Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs)

Standard operating procedures (SOPs) outline the proper methods for sample collection and preservation in order to obtain scientifically valid results from water quality sample collection.

Chain of Custody Forms


List of Common Analytes Requested

Sample Log Forms

NDCC 61-28-01 Control, Prevention, and Abatement of Pollution of Surface Waters

NDAC 33.1-16-02.1 Water Quality Standards

Index of Biotic Integrity

  Macroinvertebrate IBI Reports

    Lake Agassiz Plain Ecoregion IBI

    Northern Glaciated Plains Ecoregion IBI

Other Links

  State

    ND - Online Macro Key - Valley City State Univ.

    MN - Fishes of Minnesota - Distribution Table

    IA - Fishes of Iowa

    NH - Biomonitoring

  Federal

    USDA - Integrated Taxonomic Information System

    EPA - History of IBI

    Biological Assessment Program

    Biological Assessment Protocol

NDWQ Monitoring Council

Biological Indicators

Coliform Bacteria

Dissolved Oxygen

Eutrophication

Nitrates

Phosphorus

Riparian Areas

Total Suspended Solids

Watershed Basics

Water Quality Monitoring

Ambient Stream Monitoring Network

Typically, surface water samples are taken for the following variables: total suspended solids, dissolved oxygen, nitrates, phosphorus and fecal coliform bacteria. One variable that is becoming more widely used is biological indicators. Biological indicators are the animals and plant life that inhabit a particular surface water. Additional variables may be examined if they are thought to be present or cause a problem.

River factsheets were created to summarize the characteristics, water quality trends, river health, and on-the-ground efforts being done to improve water quality in the major river systems in North Dakota. These factsheets can be viewed by using the drop-down menu below.

Lake Water Quality Assessment (LWQA)

Once samples are taken and have been analyzed by a laboratory, the results must be interpreted. Results are compared to the State Water Quality Standards, and individual stream characteristics are taken into consideration. Reports generated from sampling results will list suspected causes of and solutions for excess pollutants that may be found.

Lake factsheets can be viewed by using the drop-down menus or the interactive map below.

 

 Contacts

Water Quality Division Employee Email List (click to expand)

Filter 
Last Name First Name E-Mail Address Program Phone
Ahlstedt Carter ahlstedtcarter@nd.gov WQ Ground Water Monitoring 701-328-9172
Anderson Carl cjanders@nd.gov WQ Ground Water Monitoring 701-328-5213
Anderson Eric eric.anderson@nd.gov WQ Watershed Management 701-328-6092
Becker Sarah sebecker@nd.gov WQ Spill Investigation 701-328-9151
Brazil Emily ebrazil@nd.gov WQ Watershed Management 701-328-5296
Delzer Alexis adelzer@nd.gov WQ NDPDES Permitting 701-328-5282
Dettling Kylee kdettling@nd.gov WQ NDPDES Permitting 701-328-5187
Dunbar Megan msdunbar@nd.gov WQ NDPDES Permitting 701-328-1427
Espe Brady bespe@nd.gov WQ NDPDES Permitting 701-328-5228
Figaro Katherine kfigaro@nd.gov WQ NDPDES Permitting 701-328-7338
Gilley Cameron cgilley@nd.gov WQ NDPDES Permitting 701-328-5210
Gross Joe jlgross@nd.gov WQ Watershed Management 701-328-5292
Grossman Dallas dgrossma@nd.gov WQ NDPDES Permitting 701-328-5242
Haroldson Marty mharolds@nd.gov Water Quality Division 701-328-5234
Houle Brian bHoule@nd.gov WQ Watershed Management 701-328-5193
Kruske Montana mkruske@nd.gov WQ NDPDES Permitting 701-328-5172
Libunao Tate tlibunao@nd.gov WQ Special Projects 701-328-9182
McCauley Jenna Jenna.McCauley@nd.gov WQ Watershed Management
Miller Meridith meridith.miller@nd.gov WQ Watershed Management 701-328-5166
Novak Emilee ejnovak@nd.gov WQ Watershed Management 701-328-5240
Peterson Nicole nipeterson@nd.gov WQ Spill Investigation 701-328-1676
Schick McKenzie mschick@nd.gov WQ Watershed Management 701-328-5288
Schiwal Alyssa aschiwal@nd.gov WQ Ground Water Monitoring 701-328-5159
Schuett Patrick pschuett@nd.gov Water Quality Division 701-328-5235
Smith Elizabeth ecsmith@nd.gov WQ Watershed Management
Stockdill Scott sjstockdill@nd.gov WQ Spill Investigation 701-328-5241
Strommen Rachel rstrommen@nd.gov WQ NDPDES Permitting 701-328-5244
Suess Bill bsuess@nd.gov WQ Spill Investigation 701-328-5216
Suggs Shannon ssuggs@nd.gov WQ Ground Water Monitoring 701-328-6409
Waldron Feld Sarah sfeld@nd.gov WQ NDPDES Permitting 701-328-5237
Wallery Paige pWallery@nd.gov WQ Spill Investigation 701-328-5243
Wek Nicole nwek@nd.gov Water Quality Division 701-328-7969
Wert Joshua jewert@nd.gov WQ Watershed Management 701-328-5014
Westercamp Benjamin bwestercamp@nd.gov WQ NDPDES Permitting 701-328-6032
Woutat Tanner twoutat@nd.gov WQ Ground Water Monitoring 701-328-5233
Department of Environmental Quality
4201 Normandy Street
Bismarck, ND 58503-1324
 P: 701-328-5150
 F: 701-328-5200
 E: deq@nd.gov
NDDEQ Facebook NDDEQ on X NDDEQ LinkedIn NDDEQ Instagram GovDelivery Subscriptions Suicide & Crisis Lifeline
 Contact Us
 About Us
 Accessibility
 Jobs
 FAQs
 Local Public Health Units
 Intranet

Copyright © 2026

Icon fonts generated by flaticon.com under Creative Commons BY. The authors are: Freepik, OCHA, Icomoon, Stephen Hutchings, Rami McMin, Yannick, SimpleIcon, TutsPlus, Vaadin, GraphBerry, Daniel Bruce, Vectorgraphit, Ema Dimitrova, Amit Jakhu, Tintins, and Plainicon.
Accessibility Icon We are committed to ensuring our website complies with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and applicable web accessibility standards. We are actively working to improve the accessibility and usability of our online content. If you experience difficulty accessing any part of this website or require an accommodation, please contact us at DEQ@nd.gov.