Evaluation of Nonpoint Source Controls, an EPA/TNRCC Section 319 Grant Report Volume I

This report has a section on Waller Creek which includes a survey of resident aquatic macrobenthos life, algae, flora, geology and life on Waller Creek.EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: The City of Austin, Texas has been committed to building a comprehensive program of nonpoint source (NPS) pollution control since 1975. Based in part on the Nationwide Urban Runoff Project (NURP) study (Engineering Science and COA, 1983) recommendations, the City developed a stormwater monitoring and evaluation program specifically targeted at NPS pollution indicators. A variety of Best Management Practices (BMPs) have been monitored and evaluated by the City including wet ponds, filtration ponds, and detention ponds. In 1986, the City passed the Comprehensive Watersheds Ordinance or CWO (COA, 1986a) to control NPS pollution from all developing watersheds. This Ordinance requires a full range of BMPs including impervious cover limitations, buffer zones, protection of critical environmental features, limitation on disturbance of the natural stream, erosion control practices, and structural water quality controls. The City also conducts an ongoing public outreach and pollution prevention effort. However, controlling NPS pollution from urbanized watersheds is particularly difficult. Two primary BMPs used in the developing watersheds, impervious cover limitations and buffer zones, are typically not applicable in watersheds with extensive existing development. Structural BMPs are typically very costly since both construction and land costs are increased by the limited number and size of available sites. The advisory board for the City's NURP study recommended that storm loads from high density commercial areas be quantified and that costs and benefits of various structural control measures be obtained. None of the City's previous NPS activities had addressed these recommendations with respect to retrofitting BMPs in existing high density urban watersheds. Therefore, in 1990, the City of Austin Environmental and Conservation Services Department applied for and obtained a $150,000 EPA Section 319 Nonpoint Source Management Program matching grant. The project included storm water monitoring, evaluation of structural BMPs, and non-structural BMP studies such as public education, citizen monitoring, and technology transfer. It is expected that these 1 BMP projects should improve the quality of stormwater runoff to the City's receiving water bodies in the highly developed watersheds. The objectives of this grant study are to: • Develop a storm water monitoring program for studying structural BMPs. • Implement primary structural BMPs and evaluate the treatment or efficiency and cost effectiveness of such BMPs for urban NPS pollution control. • Establish various non-structural BMP programs as a pilot study for source control of urban NPS pollution. • Present the results and conclusions of this study to various communities as a technology transfer program.Waller Creek Working Grou

Storm Runoff and Baseflow Water Quality Modeling Studies for Austin Creeks

This report parallels information contained in "Stormwater Quality Modeling for Austin Creeks", adding drainage area data, percentage of impervious cover, and runoff data for Waller Creek at 38th street.EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: This study updates and summarizes the following City of Austin reports: 1. Stormwater Quality Modeling Study for Austin Creeks 2. Barton Springs Water Quality Trend Analysis 3. Baseflow Water Quality Trend Analysis for Austin Creeks. The objectives of this study are to determine the existing water quality conditions and trends of Austin area creeks, and the effects of urban development on water quality of the creeks. The creeks included in this study are Barton, Bull, Shoal, Boggy, Williamson, Waller, Walnut, Bear, Onion, and Slaughter. The results of the study can be applied to all creeks in the Austin area based on the degree of watershed imperviousness for each creek. The water quality parameters included in this study are solids, organics, nutrients, bacteria, metals, and a few toxic substances. Data (1975-1987)" were obtained mainly from the USGS/City of Austin cooperative monitoring program. The study used statistical methods such as univariate analysis, regression, and analysis of variance. The SAS software was used for the statistical analysis. The analysis consists of rainfall modeling, rainfall to storm runoff to pollutant load/concentration regressions, and baseflow concentration level and time trend studies. The development condition of a watershed is represented by watershed imperviousness. The runoff volumes, pollutant loads, and concentrations for individual storms and for average annual condition were correlated with watershed imperviousness. It was found that in general, both the storm runoff volume and pollutant load increase with increasing percent impervious cover. For several pollutant parameters, the storm event and baseflow mean concentrations also increased with imperviousness. There was either no significant time trend in storm event mean concentrations (EMC) or the EMC data are insufficient for time trend analysis. For most of the creeks and Barton Springs, the time trends of baseflow concentrations are not significant. However, there were significant time trends for some nutrient parameters at a few monitoring stations on Walnut, Williamson, and Onion Creeks. In summary, the water quality of Austin area creeks depends to a large extent on the quality and quantity of stormwater runoff, which in turn depend on percent impervious cover. As percent impervious cover increases, stormwater runoff, pollutant load, and possibly pollutant concentration, increased for any given rainfall. Therefore, the fully urbanized high impervious cover watersheds such as Shoal and Boggy Creeks represent the worst water quality condition. The least developed watershed such as Barton Creek has the best water quality condition. The effect accelerates as the rainfall depth of the storm event increases.Waller Creek Working Grou

Building Capacity for Protection of Wetland Resources in Virginia - Track One

DEQ continues to make significant progress in the development of a comprehensive nontidal wetland regulatory program; refinement of our permitting/compliance database to track impacts, compliance, and compensation by watershed; and continued refinement of our wetland monitoring and assessment tools for use in management decision-making and integration within our water quality programs. This project focused on development of strategies and extension of outreach to improve understanding and protection of high ecological value aquatic resources such as headwater resources and wetlands that may provide added value in improving impaired waters in Virginia. Project activities specifically addressed three of the priority elements in Virginia’s approved state wetlands plan. First, it has extended the current online Virginia Wetlands Condition Assessment Tool (WetCAT) to include data from the US Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) ORM database, a modification specifically requested by various user groups, and an upgrade of WetCAT to the Java Script platform. Second, the project provided reports for projects that impact high value aquatic resources, coordinated between aquatic stream biologists and wetland staff in wetland and stream surveys. Third, the project provided continued landuse/wetland calibration for wetland condition models. The WetCAT online tool is available for use by agency personnel and the general public http://www.deq.virginia.gov/Programs/Water/WetlandsStreams/MonitoringAssessmentStrategy.aspx. In addition, new outreach strategies were developed targeting local government decision makers and the public. The overarching goal of this grant was to have the project outputs facilitate coordination across all levels of government, educate the public, and provide protection for high ecological value aquatic resources. The Center for Coastal Resource Management, Virginia Institute of Marine Science assisted the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality in the following work products

A review of mercury in the environment : (its occurrence in marine fish)

A recent mercury advisory on consumption of king mackerel in South Carolina has resulted in numerous questions and concerns by the fishing public as well as the general public. To address these questions and concerns, the Department of Natural Resources determined that a workshop for regional managers, biologists, the fishing public and the general public should be convened in early 2001. This document is a first step in planning that workshop. This paper is intended to collect facts and to objectively state the issues in terms that the layman can understand. Additionally, this report will serve as a guide for DNR and South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control in selecting the workshop's topics and speakers

Environmental Systems and Local Actors: Decentralizing Environmental Policy in Uganda

In Uganda, environmental and natural resource management is decentralized and has been the responsibility of local districts since 1996. This environmental management arrangement was part of a broader decentralization process and was intended to increase local ownership and improve environmental policy; however, its implementation has encountered several major challenges over the last decade. This article reviews some of the key structural problems facing decentralized environmental policy in this central African country and examines these issues within the wider framework of political decentralization. Tensions have arisen between technical staff and politicians, between various levels of governance, and between environmental and other policy domains. This review offers a critical reflection on the perspectives and limitations of decentralized environmental governance in Uganda. Our conclusions focus on the need to balance administrative staff and local politicians, the mainstreaming of local environmental policy, and the role of international donors

Progressing quality control in environmental impact assessment beyond legislative compliance: An evaluation of the IEMA EIA Quality Mark certification scheme

The effectiveness of Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) systems is contingent on a number of control mechanisms: procedural; judicial; evaluative; public and government agency; professional; and development aid agency. If we assume that procedural and judicial controls are guaranteed in developed EIA systems, then progressing effectiveness towards an acceptable level depends on improving the performance of other control mechanisms over time. These other control mechanisms are either absent, or are typically centrally controlled, requiring public finances; this we argue is an unpopular model in times of greater Government austerity. Here we evaluate a market-based mechanism for improving the performance of evaluative and professional control mechanisms, the UK Institute of Environmental Management and Assessments' EIA Quality Mark. We do this by defining dimensions of effectiveness for the purposes of our evaluation, and by identifying international examples of the approaches taken to delivering the other control measures to validate the approach taken in the EIA Quality Mark. We then evaluate the EIA Quality Mark, when used in combination with legal procedures and an active judiciary, against the effectiveness dimensions and use time-series analysis of registrant data to examine its ability to progress practice. We conclude that the EIA Quality Mark has merit as a model for a market-based mechanism, and may prove a more financially palatable approach for delivering effective EIA in mature systems in countries that lack centralised agency oversight. It may, therefore, be of particular interest to some Member States of the European Union for ensuring forthcoming certification requirements stemming from recent amendments to the EIA Directive