Water Quality Trading and Offset Initiatives in the U.S.: A Comprehensive Survey

This document summarizes water quality trading and offset initiatives in the United States, including state-wide policies and recent proposals. The following format was used to present information on each program. We attempted to have each program summary reviewed by at least one contact person for program accuracy. In the cases where this review occurred, we added the statement "Reviewed by.." at the end of the case summary

Assessment of Phytoplankton Assemblages and Harmful Algal Blooms in New Jersey

Urbanization, industrialization, and climate change have played a major role in the pollution of waterways, leading to a global increasing trend of harmful algal blooms (HAB) while jeopardizing water quality. Phytoplankton and HAB were evaluated within the highly urbanized and historically polluted state of New Jersey to help provide statewide baseline data for HAB and water quality management. A total of three studies were included in this dissertation. In the first study, phytoplankton communities were characterized in freshwaters of New Jersey during the cyanobacterial HAB season and their relationships to water quality at both statewide and ecoregion levels were examined. This information was critical since there existed little knowledge of freshwater phytoplankton in New Jersey. Results showed that cyanobacteria were present in most of the selected waterbodies with urbanized ecoregions having higher nutrients and cyanobacteria. Furthermore, results showed that the fluorescence of phycocyanin could be used as a proxy for cyanobacterial HAB conditions. Continuous cyanobacterial HAB monitoring efforts should extend to include colder seasons to help improve management strategies. The second study documented cyanobacteria and cyanotoxins in selected source waters of five New Jersey drinking water treatment plants. Results showed that cyanobacteria were present in all source waters along with high total phosphorus concentrations exceeding the New Jersey Surface Water Quality Standards, and suggesting these waters are susceptible to future cyanobacterial HAB events. Active monitoring of New Jersey source waters is crucial to lessen the public health’s risk of exposure to cyanobacterial HAB. Lastly, in the third study, water quality and HAB were evaluated along the five rivers and two bays across the Hudson-Raritan Estuary (Estuary). Results showed that most rivers in the Estuary have more favorable water quality conditions for phytoplankton and HAB to grow. To improve management strategies of the Estuary, focus should be placed on addressing water quality and pollution in these rivers and bays while conducting long-term monitoring. Overall, the results of this study provide insight into the statewide phytoplankton and HAB conditions as an attempt to address eutrophication factors and water quality degradation in the highly urbanized state of New Jersey

Recovery of a US Endangered Fish

BACKGROUND: More fish have been afforded US Endangered Species Act protection than any other vertebrate taxonomic group, and none has been designated as recovered. Shortnose sturgeon (Acipenser brevirostrum) occupy large rivers and estuaries along the Atlantic coast of North America, and the species has been protected by the US Endangered Species Act since its enactment. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Data on the shortnose sturgeon in the Hudson River (New York to Albany, NY, USA) were obtained from a 1970s population study, a population and fish distribution study we conducted in the late 1990s, and a fish monitoring program during the 1980s and 1990s. Population estimates indicate a late 1990s abundance of about 60,000 fish, dominated by adults. The Hudson River population has increased by more than 400% since the 1970s, appears healthy, and has attributes typical for a long-lived species. Our population estimates exceed the government and scientific population recovery criteria by more than 500%, we found a positive trend in population abundance, and key habitats have remained intact despite heavy human river use. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Scientists and legislators have called for changes in the US Endangered Species Act, the Act is being debated in the US Congress, and the Act has been characterized as failing to recover species. Recovery of the Hudson River population of shortnose sturgeon suggests the combination of species and habitat protection with patience can yield successful species recovery, even near one of the world's largest human population centers

The use of a water quality model to evaluate the impacts of combined sewer overflows on the lower Hudson River

CSO discharges have long been recognized as a significant source of water pollution. While many sources of water pollution have been controlled over the past 20 years, CSOs continue to be a main environmental concern in several areas, especially in old cities. In the past, most CSO research focused on the CSO control processes, including floatables and suspended solids removal. Few studies have been conducted in the area of the impacts of CSO discharge on the receiving water quality. To achieve this purpose, a powerful water-modeling tool, WASP 6.1, is utilized in this study. The Lower Hudson River is selected as a case study. Data are collected from the US EPA, USGS, NYC DEP, and NJ DEP. After calibration, the receiving water quality model can be used to study the impacts of CSO with a series of scenarios, which include the major factors that would affect the water quality of the receiving water. DO, BOD, ammonia, fecal coliform, and mercury are the reference pollutants discussed in this study. The simulation results are able to predict the effect of various CSO abatement alternatives on water quality and to be used in the water quality management and planning processes

Sedimentary Processes Influencing Divergent Wetland Evolution in the Hudson River Estuary

Consistent shoreline development and urbanization have historically resulted in the loss of wetlands. However, some construction activities have inadvertently resulted in the emergence of new tidal wetlands, with prominent examples of such anthropogenic wetlands found within the Hudson River Estuary. Here, we utilize two of these human-induced tidal wetlands to explore the sedimentary and hydrologic conditions driving wetland development from a restoration perspective. Tivoli North Bay is an emergent freshwater tidal marsh, while Tivoli South Bay is an intertidal mudflat with vegetation restricted to the seasonal growth of aquatic vegetation during summer months. Using a combination of sediment traps, cores, and tidal flux measurements, we present highly resolved sediment budgets from two protected bays and parameterize trapping processes responsible for their divergent wetland evolution. Utilizing a 16-year tidal flux dataset, we observe net sediment trapping in Tivoli North for most years, with consistent trapping throughout the year. Conversely, sediment flux measurements at Tivoli South reveal net sediment loss over the study period, with trapping constrained to the summer months before being surpassed by large sediment exports in the fall and early spring. The timing of the transition from sediment import to export marks the end of the invasive water chestnut growing season and the onset of the associated exodus of both sediment and organic material from Tivoli South. When sediment cores collected for this study are compared to sediment cores collected in 1996, 137Cs profiles confirm little to no sediment accumulation in Tivoli South over the previous two decades. These results support the hypothesis that water chestnut is serving to inhibit sediment trapping and facilitate sediment erosion, preventing marsh development in Tivoli South. The longevity of this dataset highlights the capacity of aquatic vegetation to regulate sediment exchange and geomorphology in enclosed bays when provided an opportunity to colonize. Results of this project provide evidence to inform the management of restoration projects in river systems with freshwater tidal wetlands, especially those affected by invasive species of aquatic vegetation. In bays where tidal sediment supply is not limited, water chestnut removal may present a viable strategy to facilitate marsh restoration

Assessment of recent eastern oyster (Crassostrea virginica) reef restoration projects in the Great Bay Estuary, New Hampshire: Planning for the future

Current oyster populations in New Hampshire total less than 10% of what they were in the 1980s, and the causal factors for the declines include disease, sedimentation, and human harvest. The two major results from a population ecology perspective have been dramatic losses of oyster shell (the major substrate on which oyster larvae typically settle) as well as juvenile annual recruitment to the remaining reefs. Experimental scale oyster restoration projects addressing these two limitations (substrate and natural recruitment) were initiated in the state in the early 2000s by scientists at the University of New Hampshire (UNH). Since the mid-2000s, the focus has been on full restoration-scale projects, and beginning in 2009 most projects have been collaborative efforts by UNH and The Nature Conservancy (TNC). The present study assessed nine recent collaborative efforts, and provided a comprehensive assessment of restoration success with the goal of determining how the restoration process might be improved

Katrina\u27s Lament: Reconstructing Federalism

The subject of stormwater management raises threshold questions about the federal system. Is the regulation of stormwater runoff and the environmental pollution it causes within the federal government\u27s legal jurisdiction? Is it a matter reserved to the states under the Tenth Amendment? Or is it a joint responsibility and, if so, precisely how is federal and state authority shared? How does the delegation of power by states to local governments to regulate the use of privately owned land affect the federal-state division of power? What limits should there be on local control of land uses that cause “nonpoint source” pollution, the principal culprit to be controlled in stormwater management? Stormwater runoff is one of the most serious causes of water pollution in the United States; in many locales, the contamination caused by the runoff exceeds what is caused by more visible and direct commercial and industrial facility wastewater. Stormwater runs off from development sites-- carrying sediment from the disturbed soils--and from developed properties, where lawns and vegetation and paved surfaces and buildings are loaded with harmful substances. Water runoff from storm events carries with it algae-promoting nutrients, floatable trash, used motor oil, suspended metals, sediments, raw sewage, pesticides, and other toxic contaminants. These contaminants flow with the stormwater from their source to streams, rivers, lakes, estuaries, and oceans. The regulation of construction and development, and resultant stormwater runoff, is understood to be within the province of local governments, under power delegated to them by state legislatures. Yet municipal sewer systems collect and dispose of stormwater through effluent pipes identified as point sources subject to federal jurisdiction. As a result, the regulation of stormwater runoff is confused as a matter of law

Acoustic and sedimentological investigations of seabed conditions and related bio-geological parameters in a tidally energetic, fine-grained environment: York River Estuary, Virginia

The transport and fate of fine-grained sediments is a critical factor affecting the physical, chemical, and biological health of estuaries, coastal embayments, riverine, lacustrine, and continental shelf environments. A geophysical and sedimentological study of the York River as a part of the NSF Multi-disciplinary Benthic Exchange Dynamics (MUDBED) project was conducted to determine: 1) the primary drivers of sediment erodibility within a fine-grained system, 2) if these drivers can be accurately measured through sedimentological and acoustic information, and 3) the spatial and seasonal variability of erosion within the estuary. Previous studies indicate that increased erodibility within the York River Estuary is mainly due to recent ephemeral deposition, whereas lower erodibility is associated with eroded or biologically reworked conditions. By studying key physical and biological parameters in the York River estuary, we can more generally apply knowledge gained on relationships among sediment facies, seabed erodibility, and the recent history of deposition, erosion, consolidation, and biological reworking. Three different experiments were conducted to look at erosion, deposition, consolidation, and biological reworking in the Clay Bank region of the York River Estuary, each highlighting varying scales of temporal change. The first experimental approach utilized an Imagenex 881A rotary sonar for one- to three-month deployments to examine surficial changes of the seabed, from hourly to monthly timescales, and allow scientists to track movement of sediment in and out of the system using sonar imagery. Optimized parameters were determined for cohesive sediment environments and a real-time observing rotary sonar was created to analyze the seabed on an hourly basis. In the second experiment, cores were collected on a weekly basis to investigate relationships between sediment properties and erodibility during the post-freshet dissipation of the mid-estuary turbidity maximum as well as over the spring-neap cycle. Grain size, water content, abundance of resilient pellets, the occurrence of 7Be, and x-radiographs were analyzed and compared to the results of Gust microcosm erosion tests to further constrain the controls on erodibility. The third experimental approach utilized seven high-resolution bathymetric surveys conducted between September 2008 and August 2009 within a 3.75 km 2 region at Clay Bank. Seabed height was shown to vary both spatially and temporally in association with the spring freshet, likely related to the presence and migration of a local secondary turbidity maximum