Institute: West Virginia
Year Established: 2019 Start Date: 2019-05-31 End Date: 2020-05-30
Total Federal Funds: $20,000 Total Non-Federal Funds: $41,307
Principal Investigators: Benjamin Pursglove
Project Summary: USGS 104b seed funding received in 2009 for the WRI 119 project provided the launch for Three Rivers QUEST (3RQ). Now monitoring throughout the Upper Ohio River Basin, 3RQ is a joint project consisting of Research Partners: West Virginia Water Research Institute at West Virginia University, the Center for Environmental Research and Education (CERE) at Duquesne University, Wheeling Jesuit University, and RedHorse Environmental, LLC, and is currently funded by the Colcom Foundation. The project includes an outreach program titled 3RQ REACH (Research Enhancing Awareness via Community Hydrology). Through online mapping and the 3RQ database, the program serves to display and manage water quality data collected throughout the Ohio River Basin. In addition to routine sampling, 3RQ Targeted Studies provide sound science to serve as the basis for implementing solutions to water quality programs throughout outreach and awareness by engaging community, regulators, and other parties of interest. Current monitoring regime includes Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) monitoring on a monthly basis at 42 site locations. The program would like to reestablish monitoring at locations formerly included in the routine sampling as well as monitor for Total Suspended Solids (TSS).