During 2008 and 2009 the agency sampled almost 2000 waterways looking for for such things as physical disturbances, mercury levels in fish, faecal bacteria and nutrients from fertilizers.
From the report....
"Twenty-one percent of the nation’s river and stream length is in good biological condition, 23% is in fair condition, and 55% is in poor condition, based on a robust, commonly used index that combines different measures of the condition of aquatic benthic macroinvertebrates (aquatic insects and other creatures such as crayfish). Of the three major climatic regions (Eastern Highlands, Plains and Lowlands, and West) discussed in this report, the West is in the best biological condition, with 42% of river and stream length in good condition. In the Eastern Highlands, 17% of river and stream length is in good condition; in the Plains and Lowlands, 16% is rated in good condition."
It also seems that nutrients from fertilizer runoff is one of the major problems with levels of phosphorus and nitrates that will persist for decades.
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