spring 2002 water news delaware water resources

8/9/2019 Spring 2002 Water News Delaware Water Resources

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S P R I N G 2 0 0 2 V O L U M E 3 I S S U E 1

In this Issue:For Delaware Drought Information 1

A Historic Drought for Delaware 1

Storing Water Reserves 2

WSCC Water Conservation Tips 3

Jobs in Water Resources 3DNS NWF Backyard Habitat Program 3

Scarcity Pricing for Water Conservation 4

Menhaden Murder Mystery Solved 4

2000 2003 DWRC Fellow Jennifer JenningsStudies Excess Nutrients in the Inland Bays

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New 2002 2003 DWRC Undergraduate Interns 6

UD Marine Policy Fellowship Winners 6

DWRC Annual Meeting & Intern Poster Session 7

DE Nutrient Management Commission Update 7

DWRC History, Goals and 2002 Advisory Panel 8

Water News and DWRC Contact Information 8

For Drought Information Visit the

Delaware Water Resources Center (DWRC) site:http://ag.udel.edu/dwrc/news.html

Our link is to the Delaware River Basin Commission (DRBC) drought web site maintained by the State of New Jersey at http://www.state.nj.us/drbc/ . Click

Drought Information to find Delaware-related links:

o DNREC drought information atwww.dnrec.state.de.us/DNREC2000/drought.asp

o DRBC recent press releases describing theprogression of drought declarations and currentdrought actions for the region

o US and Delaware Geological Surveys (USGS / DGS) measured stream flows and groundwater levels [see the USGS District web page athttp://md.water.usgs.gov for real-time data]

o National Weather Service weather forecastso and more, including a kids drought page.

A Historic Drought for DelawareDelaware Water Supply Coordinating Council

Seeks Cooperative Water Supply Solutions The following three articles were contributed by

Gerald J. Kauffman PE, State Water Coordinator at the University of Delaware, College of Human

Services, Education and Public Policy, Institute for

Public Administration, Water Resources Agency. [email protected] 302-831-4929 www.wr.udel.edu

Delaware and surrounding Mid-Atlantic watershedshave just experienced a rare winter drought of historic proportions. The second half of 2001 was thedriest ever at Wilmington Airport, according to raingage records kept since 1895. The record-breakingwarm winter added to the dryness by increasingevaporation from streams and soil layers. DuringFebruary 2002, daily stream flows along WilmingtonsBrandywine Creek were the lowest on record datingto World War II. Experiencing drought conditions soearly in the year, when residents have not yet begunwatering lawns or washing cars, is cause for specialconcern because the recent droughts of 1995 and1999 deepened only during the late summer months.

Ensuring reliable delivery of drinking water toDelaware residents is complicated by the fact thatpolitical jurisdictions and water supply franchise areasdo not coincide with topographical and aquiferdrainage divides. Delaware shares its aquifers andstreams with the watersheds of the Delaware Riverand Chesapeake Bay basins found in Maryland, New

Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania, and additionallyamong over 20 water purveyors ranging from themunicipally-owned Cities of Wilmington, Dover, andLewes, to the investor-owned Artesian WaterCompany, Tidewater Utilities, and United WaterDelaware. Water scarcity, therefore, has thepotential to create water supply conflicts betweendifferent political jurisdictions and between publicand private water purveyors.

A number of actions have been taken to fostercooperation among states and (continued page 2)


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2 D E L A WA R E WAT E R R E S O U R C E S C E N T E R

(Historic Drought, continued from page 1) State Water Coordinator Gerald Kauffman

between municipal and private water purveyors. The Delaware River Basin Commission (DRBC) and Christina Basin Drought Management Committee are two examples of

watershed-based governance organizations that work to ensure that water is sharedequitably within each state and across state lines. The DRBC, the nations first agency topartner the federal government with states for purposes of river basin planning anddevelopment, currently regulates water pollution abatement, water supply allocation, usepermits, water conservation initiatives, regional planning, drought management, flood controland recreation in the four-state Delaware River Basin. When the DRBC declared a droughtemergency in late 2001, the four surrounding states issued drought assessments rangingfrom emergency, to warning, to no advisory at all, despite the shared watershed system.However, by March 12, when Delaware Governor Minner declared a statewide drought warning requesting citizenvoluntary water conservation, more cooperative efforts by organizations such as the DRBC had resulted in moreuniformity among state drought declarations, and there was a clear understanding that water supply would be aserious regional problem in 2002.

In Delaware, the Governor and State Legislature recognized the complexity of developing a long-term approach tomanage the states water supply and unanimously passed a law after the drought of 1999 appointing a StateWater Coordinator and Delaware Water Supply Coordinating Council (WSCC). The WSCC serves as a governancestructure to work with public and private water utilities to overcome the conflicts that rise during times of waterscarcity, and to build 1 billion gallons in reserve storage in northern New Castle County by the end of 2003. TheWSCC s goal is to build the successful cooperation across political and water franchise boundaries that is needed toprovide safe and plentiful drinking water to Delaware residents and businesses, even during times of recorddrought.

Meeting the Demands of Drought:Storing Water Reserves

Delaware's largest and only reserve water storage facility is the City of Wilmingtons Colonel E. M. Hoopes Memorial Reservoir which holds 1.8 billiongallons of useable water, equal to about 2 to 3 months of reserve water storage.Hoopes Reservoir was constructed in 1932 for $3 million ($ 33 M in 2002dollars). The reservoir work cleared 480 acres of land, making this one of thelargest public works projects in Delaware history.

The water purveyors on the Delaware Water Supply Coordinating Council havemade many improvements since the droughts of 1995 and 1999. United WaterDelaware installed the inflatable Tidal Capture Structure along the White ClayCreek at Stanton, which stored 700 million gallons during the drought of 1999.

Proposed Newark Reservoir (317 mg) Artesian Water Company drilled several new wells north of the Canal.

Today, five projects receive WSCC's greatest priority. Construction is targeted by the City of Newark for early 2003for the new 317 mg Newark Reservoir off Paper Mill Road and also the 60 mg South Well Field Iron Removal Planton Rt. 72 near I-95. The City of Wilmington has made available 500 mg of water from the top wedge of HoopesReservoir for surrounding water purveyors who elect to pay for a stake in the water. Artesian Water Company haspumped 100 mg of water into new Aquifer Storage and Recovery wells and is drilling new wells which will provide120 mg during a 60-day drought. When these priority projects are built by 2003, northern New Castle Countyshould be 99% reliable against drought through 2020.

Back-up water supply projects are also under consideration and include the proposed Bread and Cheese IslandReservoir, a pipeline under the C&D Canal, a Philadelphia to Delaware Pipeline, a Desalination facility, and theThompson Station Reservoir. However, many economic, environmental, and institutional constraints must beovercome to make any of these projects a reality.


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Residential Water inNorthern New Castle County:

Scarcity Pricing for ConservationDr. Joshua Duke and Robert Ehemann

UD Department of Food and Resource Economics

During the drought of the summer of 1999, no priceincrease for residential water was implemented toencourage conservation. Residents were insteadfined if they violated drought-imposed restrictions.

In the following year, Robert Ehemann, then aDWRC undergraduate intern working with advisorDr. Joshua Duke, Assistant Professor in the UDCollege of Agriculture and Natural ResourcesDepartment of Food and Resource Economics,conducted research to determine whether increasingthe cost of water is an efficient and fair method for

allocating water in times of scarcity. The team,which at the time coordinated efforts with the UDWater Resources Agency , additionally evaluatedwhether conservation measures, including thosewhich result from the increased cost of water, willeliminate the need to expand water supplies.

Duke and Ehemann, who is now a Delaware stateparks planner working for DNREC , have completed athird publication either directly sponsored orencouraged by the DWRC . They conclude thateffective water management requires pricing forconservation purposes be used in combination withother efforts targeting reduced usage. Consumersunderstand scarcity pricing for other goods such asspecialty foods or gasoline, and thus will choose topay a premium for less essential outdoor use, or toconserve and pay a lower bill. The team reports that

the current system, in contrast, offers confusingsignals when droughts occur but price remains fixed.Simultaneously, consumers have an incentive toover-consume waterbecause its cost is below themarket value of the resourcewhile governments arecalling for conservation. Governments may requestvoluntary reductions or, in severe droughts,mandatory restrictions on outdoor use. After adrought, consumers may face higher pricesthoughwater is plentifulso suppliers can recover fromlosses incurred during the drought. When scarcitypricing is not used, consumption is encouraged whenit should be discouraged, and discouraged when itshould not.

Duke and Ehemann propose a usage threshold thatwould protect the water consumers use for basicneeds from price increases and conservationrequirements. Consumption under the threshold ischarged a low, fixed price; above the threshold, the

unit price of water can increase to encouragedrought conservation practices. The political processused to set usage thresholds is able toaccommodate households with many occupants orextraordinary outdoor watering demands.

Photo by Jonathan Cox The report concludes by exploring how the mostefficient water price varies with changing waterdemand deficits, thresholds, and consumerresponsiveness. The result is improved informationabout scarcity water pricing that will most effectivelysignal the need for consumer conservation in times of drought. For more information on this report,contact Dr. Joshua Duke (302-831-1309,[email protected] ).

U. of D. College of Marine Studies News:Menhaden Murder Mystery Solved

Tracey Bryant [email protected] 302-831-8185Director, UD Marine Public Education Office

Visit us on the Web at http://www.ocean.udel.edu

Oceanography professor and expert in marinechemistry George Luther is working with colleaguesat DNREC to correct a chemical imbalance that killedmore than 2 million menhaden bait fish in theRehoboth Bay in the summer of 2000. Luther andhis research team had developed a sensor to test histheory that the deaths were caused by highconcentrations of dissolved hydrogen sulfide broughtto the surface during storms from deep holes in theBald Eagle Creek and manmade Torquay Canalsystem. Some holes, created when developers used

sand and mud from the bottom to build up soil forlocal housing developments in the 1960s, were asdeep as 18 feet and as large as a football field. Theyaffect water flow, causing stagnation and allowing forthe accumulation of dying algal blooms that had beencaused by excess nutrients from fertilizers, sewagetreatment and other sources. Bacterialdecomposition of the decaying algae and otherorganic materials creates the highly toxic hydrogensulfide. Filling in the holes to restore the overalldepth to Rehoboth Bays average of 6 feet may solvethe problem.


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The Role of Land Use and Land Coverin the Delivery of Nutrients to

Delawares Inland BaysJennifer Jennings, DWRC 2000 2003 Fellow

Dr. William Ullman and Mr. Joseph Scudlark, Advisors, College of Marine StudiesUniversity of Delaware

Photos by Jonathan Cox

Two years into her DWRC graduate fellowshipproject spanning 2000 2003, Jenn Jenningsremains enthusiastic about future applications anddevelopment of her research. As a nativeDelawarean, I was attracted to the idea of workingon a project that would one day lead to animprovement in our waters and ecosystems, Jennings says. I wasfurther interested in theidea of exploring how, or if,changes in the land usebrought about by humanencroachment in [the]coastal area [of DelawaresInland Bays] were affectingthe nutrient levels there,and if this rising trend couldbe reversed by improvedland management practices.

The fellowship project, one of three currently fundedby the DWRC , will determine baseflow and storm

nutrient loads, their seasonal variability, and the roleof surrounding land use and land cover in theattenuation and delivery of nutrients to the estuary.The research builds on efforts conducted by theUniversity of Delawares College of Marine Studies,Delaware Department of Natural Resources andEnvironmental Control (DNREC) and the U.S.Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) CoastalIntensive Site Network (CISNet) program.

Jennings was no stranger to water monitoring whenshe applied to the new DWRC fellowship program.She explains, As a UD undergraduate in Chemistry, Iconducted research with Dr. Tom Church on theenvironmental fate of arsenic and other metals. Partof that research effort, collecting and analyzing watersamples from the White and Red Clay Creeks in NewCastle County, expanded to include sampling of theInland Bays and their tributaries. I then met Dr. BillUllman who explained to me his analyses of the Bays water for another purpose evaluating the effects of nutrient over-enrichment on declining water quality.

Nutrient over-enrichment, or eutrophication, iscaused by elevated nutrient loadings from domestic,

municipal, industrial, and agricultural practices in theInland Bays surrounding watersheds. Thephenomenon has led to excess nitrogen andphosphorus fertilization of estuarine plants, changesin phytoplankton species, and noxious and toxic algal

blooms. Other effects of eutrophication on theecosystem include increases in turbidity anddecreases in dissolved oxygen concentrations, bothcausing reductions in biodiversity, habitat, and fishand shellfish viability.

In the coming year, Jennings (below, at the InlandBays Bundicks Branch sub-watershed monitoringsite) will calculate actual loads for her samplingperiods, analyze a large existing database to deriveloads for past years, and finally develop a model forestimating total annual storm loads. The mainobjective of my research, she states, is to use these

actual water measurements to calculate the totalnitrogen load to the Inland Bays and compare myresults to levels estimated by Horsley & Witten, Inc.,an environmental consulting firm, in a 1998 reportprepared for the Center for the Inland Bays .

By applying her findings to other sub-watersheds of the Inland Bays Basin, Jennings hopes to provideenvironmental managers with a better understandingof nutrient cycles and trends to permit developmentand improvement of watershed land use practices,thereby reducing the occurrence and severity of eutrophic events.

(See next page for preliminary findings)


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Daily Nitrogen Loads at Bundicks Branch

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40.00

60.00

80.00

100.00

120.00

25-Feb-01 04-Mar-01 11-Mar-01 18-Mar-01 25-Mar-01

L o a d

( k g

/ d a y

)

Measured

H&W Estimated

(Jennifer Jennings, continued from page 5)Of some preliminary findings (below), she says A hydrological balance suggests that a substantialfraction of the water from the Bundicks Branchwatershed discharges through the groundwaterbelow our surface water gauging station. As a result,measured nitrogen loads at the gauging stationunderestimate the true measured nitrogen loads fromthe watershed to the Inland Bays, which may becomparable to the Horsley & Witten estimates. Formore information, contact Jennings at [email protected].

DWRC Announces 2002 - 2003Undergraduate Interns

Six University of Delaware junior undergraduatestudents were selected in April by the Delaware Water Resources Center (DWRC) Advisory Panelto participate in the 2002 DWRC undergraduateinternship program. Through DWRC 's uniqueprogram, students and faculty from a variety of disciplines work together in research and educationprograms addressing water resource related issues of critical importance to Delaware and the Mid-Atlanticregion.

Laura Boyer , an Environmental Science major withminors in Spanish and Biology, was a Science andEngineering Scholar with the UndergraduateResearch Program this past year. She will beworking on Chemistry of Phosphorus in the Erodible Fraction of Delaware Soils , with the goal of moreaccurate water quality modeling to prevent nonpointsource phosphorus pollution of Delawares surfacewaters. Lauras project advisor will be Dr. Tom Simsof UDs Plant and Soil Sciences Department.

Alexander M. DeWire s internship project willstudy Implementation of Riparian Buffers in Southeastern Pennsylvania, Delaware, and Eastern Maryland under the advisement of Dr. Janet B.Johnson of the UD Department of Political Science.

An Honors Program Natural Resource Management

major minoring in Political Science, Alexander hopesto measure the extent of streamside reforestation byproperty owners to reduce nonpoint pollution,notably in the Chesapeake Bay watershed, and todevelop a means for tracking these efforts bycoordinating organizations.

Kerrie Smith , a Mechanical Engineering studentminoring in Mathematics and Physics, will team withadvisor Dr. James Glancey of the UD Departments of Mechanical Engineering and Bioresource Engineeringto study the Development of a Real-time Measurement and Monitoring System for Microorganisms in Delaware Waterways. She aimsto develop an in-field sensor that can detectpotentially harmful aquatic microorganisms, such aspfiesteria and algae, and then integrate her detectionmethodology into a system capable of recording andtransmitting water quality data.

Understanding the Mechanisms of the Spread of Phragmites: For Better or For Worse is the projectMichael T. League hopes will provide valuableresearch experience supporting improved wastewatertreatment methodologies as well as wetlandsprotection and restoration. His internship advisor willbe Dr. John L. Gallagher of the UD College of MarineStudies. Michael is majoring in Biological SciencesEducation in the Honors Program, with aconcentration in Marine Studies.

Kristen A. Sentoff , an Honors Program student andNatural Resource Management major, will beresearching aspects of "Managing Wetlands in Delaware in a Changing Legal Environment" for herinternship. Her project advisor is Dr. Joshua Duke of the UD Department of Food and ResourceEconomics.

Accelerated Pollutant Biodegradation by Electrode Use is the title of Aditya Sharma s proposedresearch project on design and use of bioremediationsystems. A Howard Hughes Medical InstituteScholar with the UD Undergraduate ResearchProgram last year, Aditya is majoring both inBiochemistry and Biology / Psychology. His advisorsare Dr. Steven Dentel and Dr. Pei Chiu of the UD Civiland Environmental Engineering Department.

UD Marine Studies StudentsLand Prestigious Marine Policy

Fellowships

Gerhard Kuska and Gonzalo Cid, doctoral students inthe UD Marine Policy Program. are among 37nationwide receiving prestigious 2002 Knauss MarinePolicy Fellowships. They will work for one year at aWashington DC government agency. For details, seehttp://www.ocean.udel.edu/newscenter/knauss02.html


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2002 DWRC Annual Meeting andUndergraduate Interns Poster Session

The 17-member DWRC Advisory Panel convened forlunch and their annual meeting on April 19 on the UDcampus. DWRC Director Tom Sims described theCenters plans for 2002 with regard to researchfunding and public education through WATER NEWS and the newly established DWRC web site. Thepanel discussed ways to enlist support for researchand training efforts in water resources that are led bythe DWRC .

The DWRC s seven 2001 undergraduate internswere invited to present posters of their projectfindings with their advisors at an informal sessionsponsored by the UD Undergraduate ResearchProgram following the Advisory Panel lunch. Morethan 80 Science and Engineering Scholars joined theDWRC interns to present to a crowd in excess of 450visitors.

One of the seven, Tara Harrell, also recently gave anoral presentation on her project "Research Connecting the Link between Stream Quality and Land Use in the University of Delaware Experimental Watershed" at the annual proceedings of the NationalConference on Undergraduate Research on April 26at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater.

Nutrient Management News A regular update on DelawaresNutrient Management Program

http://www.state.de.us/deptagri/ nutrients/index.htm

The DWRC is supporting three 2000-2003 graduatefellowships that provide scientific support to theDelaware Nutrient Management Commission (DNMC)'s State Nutrient Management Program . Thisprogram is designed to improve water quality inDelaware while preserving valuable agriculturalindustries through cost-sharing programs, theapproval of alternative-use projects, the education of

nutrient generators and handlers, and many othermeasures.

In its April 2002 Annual Report to Governor Minner,the DNMC summarized progress made in 2001toward its stated priority goals:

o Development of regulatory standards for the Concentrated Animal Feeding Operation(CAFO) permit program continues, affecting largefacilities such as poultry farms raising more than100,000 birds.

o Nutrient planning support andeducation included 70 free classes providing 4levels of nutrient management certification and 15nutrient management seminars for all sectors of theagriculture industry and commercial nursery, turf,and landscape industries, all conducted by the UDCollege of Agriculture and Natural Resources. Morethan 1500 participants are actively pursuing or havebeen issued a nutrient management certification, andsixty people representing 27 companies andorganizations are now certified as nutrientmanagement consultants. Nutrient managementplans were established for more than 122,000 acresduring 2001, bringing the total to date to nearly200,000 (40%) acres of agricultural crop land. Cost-sharing has defrayed costs of this planning for morethan 177,000 acres to date, and the DNMC is alsooffering reimbursement for soil sampling and manuretesting.

o DNMC -identified priority action areas forrelocation of excess animal nutrients (manure)now encompass about 70% of Sussex County,including the Inland Bays and the Nanticoke andPocomoke watersheds, based on DNRECs impaired-waters list and livestock production levels. Costassistance has been provided to relocate more than48,000 tons of excess poultry manure to date,30,000 tons of which were exported off the DelmarvaPeninsula, with the balance used in areas in need of nutrients or alternative use projects processing rawmanure into economically and environmentally soundproducts. For example, the new Perdue AgriRecyclePelletizing Plant has processed and exportedapproximately 15,000 tons of Delaware poultry litter.

o Promotion of Best ManagementPractices positively impacts water quality in theshort and long term. Cooperation among farmers,county conservation districts, and the DNMC hasbrought about the publication of a source book containing 53 recommended practices, such astesting soil before fertilizing, using proper timing andmethods for both commercial and manure fertilizerapplications, planting cover crops and vegetativebuffer strips, controlling erosion, disposing of deadanimals properly, and using general conservationpractices. Structural best management practiceshave been supported by the DNMC as follows:

ConservationPractices

NewCastle

County

KentCounty

SussexCounty

Manure storagestructures

3 10 52

Poultry carcasscomposters

0 6 28

Acres underconservation plans

10,625 14,630 16,268


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spring 2002 water news delaware water resources

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