How can findings be used by decision makers and stakeholders?
|Back to Top| SPARROW modeling and interpretations of model findings advance our understanding of the spatial differences in pollution sources and the environmental and hydrologic processes that control their transport and delivery to downstream waters. The findings have important relevance to policy making and management related to water-quality concerns. Model predictions and related information can help States, Federal agencies, and other stakeholders identify the nutrient contributions to streams from pollution sources and upstream drainages (e.g., sub-watersheds, States). One application of SPARROW results that can assist with improved understanding of stream nutrient loads and sources is their use in Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) assessments, especially in watersheds where little or limited stream monitoring data have been collected. For example, SPARROW results for the New England region were used previously in a TMDL assessment of nitrogen loadings from the Connecticut River
