Addressing Uncertainty in TMDLS: Short Course at Arkansas Water Resources Center 2001 Annual Conference

Management of a critical natural resource like water requires information on the status of that resource. The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) reported in the 1998 National Water Quality Inventory that more than 291,000 miles of assessed rivers and streams and 5 million acres of lakes do not meet State water quality standards. This inventory represents a compilation of State assessments of 840,000 miles of rivers and 17.4 million acres of lakes; a 22 percent increase in river miles and 4 percent increase in lake acres over their 1996 reports. Siltation, bacteria, nutrients and metals were the leading pollutants of impaired waters, according to EPA. The sources of these pollutants were presumed to be runoff from agricultural lands and urban areas. EPA suggests that the majority of Americans-over 218 million-live within ten miles of a polluted waterbody. This seems to contradict the recent proclamations of the success of the Clean Water Act, the Nation\u27s water pollution control law. EPA also claims that, while water quality is still threatened in the US, the amount of water safe for fishing and swimming has doubled since 1972, and that the number of people served by sewage treatment plants has more than doubled

Simulating and Optimizing Storm Water Management Strategies in an Urban Watershed

Land development transforms the natural landscape and impacts in stream ecosystems and downstream communities as it alters the natural flow regime. An increase in impervious areas results in higher volumes of storm water runoff, reduced time to peak, and more frequent flooding. Best Management Practices (BMP) and Low Impact development (LID) are a few of the set of measures which are used to mitigate the impact of urbanization. Peak flow, runoff volume are few of the conventional metrics which are used to evaluate the impact and performance of these storm water management strategies on the watershed. BMP are majorly used to control the flood runoff but results in the release of large volumes of runoff even after the flood wave passed the reach and LIDs are used to replicate the natural flow regime by controlling the runoff at the source. Therefore need to incorporate a metric which includes the timing and area being inundated needs to be considered to study the impact of these strategies on the downstream. My proposed research will focus on simulating the Low Impact Development (LID) techniques like permeable pavements and rainwater harvesting on an urbanized watershed using a curve number approach to quantify the hydrologic performance of these strategies on the watershed. LID, BMPs, and combined strategies are introduced for retrofitting existing conditions and their hydrologic performance is accessed based on the peak flow and a new metric Hydrologic Footprint Residence. A simulation optimization framework would be developed which identifies cost effective LID options that maximize the reduction of peak flow from the existing condition design storms while meeting budget restrictions. Further LID and BMP placement is included in the optimization model to study the impact of the combined scenario on the storm water management plans and their performance based on different storms and corresponding budget. Therefore a tradeoff can be illustrated between the implementation cost and the hydrological impact on the watershed based on the storm water management approach of using only LID and combination of LID and BMP corresponding to varied spectrum of design storm events

Modelling the impacts of agricultural management practices on river water quality in Eastern England

Agricultural diffuse water pollution remains a notable global pressure on water quality, posing risks to aquatic ecosystems, human health and water resources and as a result legislation has been introduced in many parts of the world to protect water bodies. Due to their efficiency and cost-effectiveness, water quality models have been increasingly applied to catchments as Decision Support Tools (DSTs) to identify mitigation options that can be introduced to reduce agricultural diffuse water pollution and improve water quality. In this study, the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) was applied to the River Wensum catchment in eastern England with the aim of quantifying the long-term impacts of potential changes to agricultural management practices on river water quality. Calibration and validation were successfully performed at a daily time-step against observations of discharge, nitrate and total phosphorus obtained from high-frequency water quality monitoring within the Blackwater sub-catchment, covering an area of 19.6 km2. A variety of mitigation options were identified and modelled, both singly and in combination, and their long-term effects on nitrate and total phosphorus losses were quantified together with the 95% uncertainty range of model predictions. Results showed that introducing a red clover cover crop to the crop rotation scheme applied within the catchment reduced nitrate losses by 19.6%. Buffer strips of 2 m and 6 m width represented the most effective options to reduce total phosphorus losses, achieving reductions of 12.2% and 16.9%, respectively. This is one of the first studies to quantify the impacts of agricultural mitigation options on long-term water quality for nitrate and total phosphorus at a daily resolution, in addition to providing an estimate of the uncertainties of those impacts. The results highlighted the need to consider multiple pollutants, the degree of uncertainty associated with model predictions and the risk of unintended pollutant impacts when evaluating the effectiveness of mitigation options, and showed that high-frequency water quality datasets can be applied to robustly calibrate water quality models, creating DSTs that are more effective and reliable

The Ecology and Sociology of the Mission-Aransas Estuary : An Estuarine and Watershed Profile

watershed profileThe Mission-Aransas National Estuarine Research Reserve (NERR) is one of 28 national estuarine reserves created to promote the responsible use and management of the nation's estuaries through a program combining scientific research, education, and stewardship. The purpose of this document is to provide researchers and resource managers with an adequate basis of knowledge to further development of scientific studies and applied management investigations. This document describes the different physical ecosystem components, ecological processes, habitats, and watersheds of the Reserve. The Mission-Aransas NERR is a complex of wetland, terrestrial, and marine environments. The land is primarily coastal prairie with unique oak motte habitats. The wetlands include riparian habitat, and freshwater and salt water marshes. Within the water areas, the bays are large, open, and include extensive wind tidal flats, seagrass meadows, mangroves, and oyster reefs. This site profile describes each habitat by their location, type, distribution, abundance, current status and trends, issues of concerns, and future research plans. Research within the Mission-Aransas NERR seeks to improve the understanding of the Texas coastal zone ecosystems structure and function. Current research includes: nutrient loading and transformation, estimates of community metabolism, water quality monitoring, freshwater inflow, climate change and fishery habitat. Harmful algal blooms, zooplankton, coliform bacteria, submerged aquatic vegetation, and marsh grass are monitored through the System- Wide Monitoring Program (SWMP). This document also describes the climate, hydrography and oceanography, geology, water quality, and endangered species within the Mission-AransasUniversity of Texas Marine Science InstituteMarine Scienc

Nonpoint Source Pollution Control Using a Multi-Objective Optimization Tool for Best Management Practices Selection and Spatial Placement in the Lower Bear River Watershed, Utah

This dissertation presents a set of approaches to help address water quality problems related to total phosphorus loads in water bodies. Water quality degradation is caused by many nonpoint sources such as agricultural runoff, fertilizers applications, and bank erosion. Three studies present methodologies for water quality protection from degradation in watersheds. The first study demonstrates the application of a watershed simulation tool that can quantify flows in the watershed, the amount of released pollutants and identify the areas contributing to the pollutants’ release in the watershed. The second study presents a simple combination tool that can pair potential management practices with the identified nonpoint sources areas to generate cost-effective combinations of management practices for reducing excess phosphorus loading to water bodies. The last study develops an optimization framework that recommends the area optimum sizes that are available for implementing management practices. These studies were applied to real-case problems to reduce excess nutrients within the Lower Bear River Watershed in northern Utah and expected to improve the management of nutrient control plans under the allocated funds

Harnessing Markets for Water Quality

This issue of IMPACT is devoted to exploring and understanding the opportunities and challenges of harnessing markets to improve water quality. It looks at how markets could be implemented to address the growing concern of nonpoint source pollution as well as point sources. Recently, the EPA proposed a water quality trading proposal, which is summarized, reviewed, and critiqued

Multi criteria decision support system for watershed management under uncertain conditions, A

2012 Summer.Includes bibliographical references.Nonpoint source (NPS) pollution is the primary cause of impaired water bodies in the United States and around the world. Elevated nutrient, sediment, and pesticide loads to waterways may negatively impact human health and aquatic ecosystems, increasing costs of pollutant mitigation and water treatment. Control of nonpoint source pollution is achievable through implementation of conservation practices, also known as Best Management Practices (BMPs). Watershed-scale NPS pollution control plans aim at minimizing the potential for water pollution and environmental degradation at minimum cost. Simulation models of the environment play a central role in successful implementation of watershed management programs by providing the means to assess the relative contribution of different sources to the impairment and water quality impact of conservation practices. While significant shifts in climatic patterns are evident worldwide, many natural processes, including precipitation and temperature, are affected. With projected changes in climatic conditions, significant changes in diffusive transport of nonpoint source pollutants, assimilative capacity of water bodies, and landscape positions of critical areas that should be targeted for implementation of conservation practices are also expected. The amount of investment on NPS pollution control programs makes it all but vital to assure the conservation benefits of practices will be sustained under the shifting climatic paradigms and challenges for adoption of the plans. Coupling of watershed models with regional climate projections can potentially provide answers to a variety of questions on the dynamic linkage between climate and ecologic health of water resources. The overarching goal of this dissertation is to develop a new analysis framework for the development of optimal NPS pollution control strategy at the regional scale under projected future climate conditions. Proposed frameworks were applied to a 24,800 ha watershed in the Eagle Creek Watershed in central Indiana. First, a computational framework was developed for incorporation of disparate information from observed hydrologic responses at multiple locations into the calibration of watershed models. This study highlighted the use of multiobjective approaches for proper calibration of watershed models that are used for pollutant source identification and watershed management. Second, an integrated simulation-optimization approach for targeted implementation of agricultural conservation practices was presented. A multiobjective genetic algorithm (NSGA-II) with mixed discrete-continuous decision variables was used to identify optimal types and locations of conservation practices for nutrient and pesticide control. This study showed that mixed discrete-continuous optimization method identifies better solutions than commonly used binary optimization methods. Third, the conclusion from application of NSGA-II optimization followed by development of a multi criteria decision analysis framework to identify near-optimal NPS pollution control plan using a priori knowledge about the system. The results suggested that the multi criteria decision analysis framework can be an effective and efficient substitute for optimization frameworks. Fourth, the hydrologic and water quality simulations driven by an extensive ensemble of climate projections were analyzed for their respective changes in basin average temperature and precipitation. The results revealed that the water yield and pollutants transport are likely to change substantially under different climatic paradigms. And finally, impact of projected climate change on performance of conservation practice and shifts in their optimal types and locations were analyzed. The results showed that performance of NPS control plans under different climatic projections will alter substantially; however, the optimal types and locations of conservation practices remained relatively unchanged

Gulf Estuarine Research Society 2014 Meeting

Table of Contents: Thank You to Our Sponsors! (p. 3) -- About the Gulf Estuarine Research Society (p. 4) -- Student Travel Award winners (p. 5) -- Abbreviated Schedule (p. 7) -- 2014 Plenary Speaker – Dr. Michael Osland (p. 8) -- 2014 Plenary Speaker – Dr. Maggie Walser (p. 9) -- Full Schedule (p. 10) -- Poster Session Directory (p. 17) -- Oral Presentation Abstracts (p. 21) -- Poster Presentation Abstracts (p. 38) -- Things to Do in Port Aransas (p. 52) -- Greening the Meeting (p. 53) -- Map of University of Texas Marine Science Institute (p. 54)Coastal and Estuarine Research Foundation, Port Aransas, Gulf of Mexico Foundation, Coastal Bend Bays & Estuaries Program, Lotek Wireless Fish & Wildlife Monitoring, Sea Grant Mississippi-Alabama, Sea Grant Louisiana, Sea Grant Texas, The University of Austin Marine Science Institute, Mission-Aransas National Estuarine Research ReserveMarine Scienc

Seafloor characterization using airborne hyperspectral co-registration procedures independent from attitude and positioning sensors

The advance of remote-sensing technology and data-storage capabilities has progressed in the last decade to commercial multi-sensor data collection. There is a constant need to characterize, quantify and monitor the coastal areas for habitat research and coastal management. In this paper, we present work on seafloor characterization that uses hyperspectral imagery (HSI). The HSI data allows the operator to extend seafloor characterization from multibeam backscatter towards land and thus creates a seamless ocean-to-land characterization of the littoral zone

Texas Watershed Planning Short Course Final Report

Proper training of watershed coordinators and water professionals is needed to ensure that watershed protection efforts are adequately planned, coordinated and implemented. To provide this training, the Texas Watershed Planning Short Course was developed through a coordinated effort led by the Texas Water Resources Institute and funded by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency through the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. The Texas Water Resources Institute partnered with the Texas AgriLife Extension Service, Texas AgriLife Research, Texas State Soil and Water Conservation Board, Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Texas State University-River Systems Institute and the Texas Institute for Applied Environmental Research to develop and conduct this short course. Since 2008, four week-long Watershed Planning Short Courses have been hosted, providing training to over 160 watershed professionals on sustainable proactive approaches to managing water quality throughout the state. The Watershed Planning Short Course provides guidance on stakeholder coordination, education, and outreach; meeting the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s nine key elements of a watershed protection plan; data collection and analysis; and the tools available for plan development. Along with the Watershed Planning Short Courses, water professionals were invited to attend Texas Watershed Coordinator Roundtables, held biannually, to (1) provide a forum for establishing and maintaining dialogue between watershed coordinators, (2) facilitate interactive solutions to common watershed issues faced throughout the state, and (3) add to the fundamental knowledge conveyed at the short courses. More than 250 water professionals attended the four Texas Watershed Coordinator Roundtables held in Temple, Georgetown and Dallas. Topics of discussion included sustainable organizational structure for long-term watershed protection plan implementation; the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Region 6 review guide of watershed-based plans; strategies and expectations for demonstrating successful implementation and financing watershed protection plans. Additional workshops also offered to further familiarize watershed coordinators with watershed management tools provided by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency included Getting In Step Workshops and Key EPA Internet Tools for Watershed Management courses. The Getting In Step Workshop aims to improve the effectiveness of nonpoint source outreach in Texas and the internet tools course familiarizes users with online watershed management tools provided by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. More than 90 watershed professionals participated in four Getting In Step Workshops offered in Houston, Austin, Dallas and Georgetown. Nearly 40 watershed professionals participated in the two Key EPA Internet Tools for Watershed Management courses offered in San Marcos and Dallas. Also, the Texas Water Resources Institute coordinated with Wildland Hydrology to provide an Applied Fluvial Geomorphology Short Course with 40 water resource professionals participating to better understand the fundamentals and general principles of river behavior. To assist watershed professionals in searching for funding programs, the Texas Water Resources Institute worked with the Environmental Finance Center at Boise State University to update the Directory of Watershed Resources to include Texas-specific funding programs. The Environmental Finance Center Network is an EPA-sponsored, university-based program providing financial outreach services. The Directory of Watershed Resources is an on-line, searchable database for watershed restoration funding. The database includes information on federal, state, private, and other funding sources and assistance and allows Texas users to query information in a variety of ways including by agency sponsor or keyword, or by a detailed search. In total, the combined courses, workshops and meetings have reached out to more than 350 watershed coordinators and water professionals and will continue to do so by hosting biannual Watershed Coordinator Roundtable meetings and training opportunities