ABSTRACT:In 1972, the U.S. Geological Survey began a pilot program of river‐quality assessments. The objectives of the program are (1) to define the character, interrelationships, and apparent causes of existing river‐quality problems, and (2) to devise and demonstrate the analytical approaches and the tools and methodologies needed for developing water‐quality information that will provide a sound technical basis for planners and managers to use in assessing river‐quality problems and evaluating management alternatives.The most noteworthy finding of a pilot assessment of the Willamette River basin, Oregon, was that across‐the‐board advanced waste treatment was not the answer to the problem of meeting stringent water‐quality standards established for the river. The assessment also found that existing water‐quality data generally are inadequate for defining the critical cause‐effect relationships that control river‐quality problems and that intensive, synoptic surveys keyed to local problems and conditions would be required in most river basins to develop an adequate information base for managing important river‐quality problems. The study illustrated that rigid nationwide standards and regulations are likely to result in unneeded expenditures in some river basins and in undesira
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