在项目设计、方法、数据分析和数据管理方面的重大差异，往往使来自不同项目的水资源监测信息难以被其他潜在的数据用户共享。为了解决这一困难，1997年联邦咨询委员会成立了国家水质监测委员会和方法与数据可比性委员会。委员会的任务是促进和协调可比水质数据的收集。本文描述了在方法委员会监督下的几个项目活动，包括:在监测设计和方法选择中使用数据质量目标过程；现场方法性能质量和初步研究，以确定现场方法的可比性；介绍和设计试点项目，展示基于性能的水监测系统的实施情况；评估国家实验室认证计划的必要性，尤其是联邦实验室； 开发基于网络的公共国家环境方法指数，用于描述和比较实验室和现场方法；为所有与水监测相关的实验室测量开发一套核心水质数据元素；以及公共外联活动，旨在向监测社区传达和传播有关方法问题的信息。包括9个参考文献、表格、图表。

Critical differences in project design, methods, data analysis, and datamanagement have often made it difficult for water resources monitoring information from various projects to be shared by other potential data users. In order to address this difficulty, the National Water Quality Monitoring Council and the Methods and Data Comparability Board were chartered under the Federal Advisory Committee in 1997. The mission of the Board is to promoteand coordinate the collection of comparable water quality data. Several project activities, under Methods Board oversight, are described in this paper including: use of the Data Quality Objectives process in monitoring design and method selection; field method performance quality and pilot studies to determine field method comparability; the description and design of pilots demonstrating the implementation of performance-based systems in water monitoring; evaluation of the need for national laboratory accreditation programs, particularly for federal laboratories; development of a public web-based National Environmental Methods Index for describing and comparing laboratory and field methods; development of a core set of Water Quality Data Elements for all water monitoring related laboratory measurements; and, public outreach activities designed to communicate and disseminate information on methods issues to the monitoring community. Includes 9 references, table, figure.