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The following links provide useful information but may be outside the EPA.gov domain. 
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For more information, contact: Gretchen Hayslip (hayslip.gretchen@epa.gov)
What is Aquatic Bioassessment?
Aquatic biological assessment (bioassessment) is the use of resident biota to determine the condition of aquatic resources. Information on this page concentrates primarily on the use of macroinvertebrate, periphyton and fish assemblages in rivers and streams, although many of the principles apply to wetland and lake ecosystems as well.
Workgroup MeetingsYou will need Adobe Reader to view some of the files on this page. See EPA's PDF page to learn more.
2012 Annual Meeting
The 2012 meeting will be held in Idaho in the Boise area. The dates are tentatively Oct. 24-26, 2012.
2011 Annual Meeting - October 26-28, 2011
The 2011 Annual Meeting was held on October 26-28 (started at 1:00pm on Weds. and ended at noon on Fri.). It was held at Skamania Lodge in Stevenson, WA.
Previous Annual Meetings' Notes and Abstracts
- 22nd Annual Meeting Abstracts - October 26-28 (PDF) (11 pp, 124K) - Stevenson, WA
- 21st Annual Meeting Abstracts - October 26-28 (PDF) (8 pp, 141K) - Astoria, OR
- 20th Annual Meeting Abstracts - November 4-6, 2009 (PDF) (8 pp, 51K) - McCall, ID
- 19th Annual Meeting Abstracts - November 12-14, 2008 (PDF) (7 pp, 167K) - LaConner, WA
- 18th Annual Meeting Abstracts - November 7-9, 2007 (PDF) (11 pp, 166K) - Cannon Beach, OR
- 17th Annual Meeting Abstracts - November 1-3, 2006 (PDF) (7 pp, 110K) - Post Falls, ID
- 16th Annual Meeting Abstracts - November 2-4, 2005 (PDF) (8 pp, 89K) - Port Townsend, WA
- 15th Annual Meeting Abstracts - November 3-5, 2004 (PDF) (7 pp, 28K) - Hood River, OR
- 14th Annual Meeting Abstracts - October 29-31, 2003 (PDF) (3 pp, 32K) - Priest Lake, ID
- 13th Annual Meeting Abstracts - November 6-8, 2002 (PDF) (6 pp, 41K) - Long Beach, WA
- 12th Annual Meeting - November 2001 (PDF) (15 pp, 55K) - Cannon Beach, OR
- Annual Meeting Notes from the first 11 years (PDF) (49 pp, 383K)
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Who are we? The Northwest Biological Assessment Workgroup
The purpose of the Northwest Biological Assessment Workgroup (NBAW) is to promote better understanding of the biotic communities in freshwater aquatic ecosystems of the northwest. The NBAW was founded in 1990. The NBAW encourages and facilitates the use of benthic macroinvertebrates and fish assemblages and other biota in the assessment of the condition of freshwater aquatic resources and other environmental and natural resource management decision-making. Membership is open to anyone who is interested in freshwater biotic communities and their role in aquatic ecosystems in the Northwest (generally, but not limited to: Alaska, British Columbia, Idaho, Oregon, Washington, and Northern California).