opportunities for collaboration on water- quality issues in the mississippi river basin
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Opportunities for Collaboration on Water- Quality Issues in the Mississippi River Basin. Herb Buxton, Office of Water Quality. MR/GM Watershed Nutrients Task Force. CENR Science Assessment, May 2000. Task Force Action Plan, January 2001. Mississippi River - Gulf of Mexico Watershed. - PowerPoint PPT PresentationTRANSCRIPT
Opportunities for Collaboration on Water- Quality Issues in the Mississippi River Basin
Herb Buxton,Office of Water Quality
MR/GM WatershedNutrients Task Force
Task Force Action Plan,January 2001
CENR ScienceAssessment,
May 2000
Mississippi River - Gulf of Mexico Watershed“Hypoxia in the Northern Gulf of Mexico is caused primarily by excess N delivered by the MARB in combination with stratification of Gulf Waters.” – Integrated Assessment, 2000
Ohio32%
Missouri15%Upper
Mississippi10%
Middle Mississippi
28%
Arkansas/Red7%
Lower Mississippi
7%USGS Gaging Station
Nitrogen Loads,
1980-96
1500 Water-Quality Measurementson 9 large sub-basins.
1.6M metric tons per year
Yield on 42 small Sub-basins calculated from >4000 additional water-quality measurements.
Nitrogen Yield, 1980-96
Inc
rea
sin
g y
ield
Model Estimation of Total Nitrogen Delivered to the Gulf of Mexico (SPARROW)
A - Municipal and Industrial DischargesB - Atmospheric Deposition , and C - Fertilizer and Livestock Wastes.
A
CB
6% +/- 3
64% +/-2118% +/- 10
The Importance of Watershed Processes
Nitrate Yields, Mississippi Basin.
Hypoxia
• Agric. / Urban Runoff
• Tile Drainage
• GW Storage/Discharge
• Wetland denitrification
• Riparian zone filtering
• Atmospheric Dep.
• Climatic effects
Goals for the Gulf and the Basin
• Coastal Goal: By 2015, reduce the (5-yr) average size of the hypoxic zone to < 5,000 km2.
5,000 km2
Goals for the Gulf and the Basin
• Within Basin Goal: To restore and protect the waters of the 31 States and 77 Tribes in MARB.
High concentrationsin channels.
Low concentration in isolated backwaters.
Surface NO3
LTRMP
Raccoon River, IA(% of Days NO3 > MCL)
Goals for the Gulf and the Basin
• Quality of Life Goal: Improve the communities and economic conditions across the Gulf and Mississippi Basin.
Recreation
Fisheries
Habitat
Agricultural Productivity
A Science-based Action Plan
• Adaptive management.
• Comprehensive Management Action.
• Voluntary Basis.
Reducing Nutrient Loads
Decreasing
N losses
Filter Strips
Farm N Management
Drainage Management
Riparian Forest Buffers
Reducing Nutrient Loads
Reducing
Point Sources
and Urban Runoff
Restoring Wetlands
to Increase
Denitrification
Reducing Nutrient Loads
Lock & Dam
Management
Diversions to
Coastal Wetlands
Davis Pond Diversion Structure
Increasing Denitification
Monitoring, Modeling and Research Sub-committee
To develop a MMR strategy that provides a sound basis of scientific information to support implementation of the Action Plan in an adaptive-management framework
(through monitoring and periodic interpretations, and through continual improvement by supporting research.)
• Consider all potential causal and mitigating factors, including management actions (Indicators: Env., Eco. & Prog.).
• Reduce uncertainties in the measurements of adverse effects, causal factors, and underlying processes.
• Make maximum use of all existing monitoring activities.
• Monitoring should be designed to serve sub-basin implementation strategies.
Monitoring, Modeling and Research in the Action Plan
• Designed monitoring using modeling and other planned interpretations.
• Modeling should extrapolate monitoring at representative sites across the Basin.
• Periodic interpretations and reporting of monitoring, modeling and research results.
• A broad information dissemination policy.
• Quality Assurance.
• Peer Review.
Monitoring, Modeling and Research in the Action Plan
Upper Mississippi River Basin Protection Act of 2001 -- “The Kind Bill”
Leadership Role for USGS -- Science support for adaptive management. Establish a sediment and nutrient monitoring network and a modeling program
- Monitor significant sources of sediment and nutrient losses,
- Quantify transport processes,
- Target management actions.
Sediment and Nutrient Monitoring
- Establish guidelines for data collection and storage.
- Use of existing monitoring programs where practical.
- Coordinate with Long-term Estuarine Assessment Group (LEAG).
Modeling and Research
- Models to relate nutrient loss to landscape, land use, and land management practices.
- Models to relate sediment loss to landscape, land use, and land management practices.
- Models to define river channel nutrient transformation processes.
Overall
- Support management decision-making.
- Establish an Internet-based information dissemination system.
- Information headquartered at UMESC.
- Reporting: Annual on Monitoring Every 3 years on Modeling.
- NRC report on water-quality management.
The Director’s Annual Guidance
“Collaboration and joint planning among disciplines, science centers, and district offices involved in large river research should be increased, with emphasis on …
Mississippi River Basin -- to target resources on programs that will contribute to efforts to reduce nutrient contribution to the river system and the Gulf of Mexico.“
Opportunities
- Look basin wide, across state boundaries.
- Provide science as the basis for consensus for management decision-making.
- Increase reliance of other Fed’s on USGS information (USACE, USFWS, USEPA, …).
- Take an interdisciplinary approach.
- Target research on management tools.
- Work within existing resources.