Water Quality Standards Section

Water Permits Division

Office of Environmental Services

Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality

December 2, 2010

Nutrient Criteria

Development in Louisiana

OverviewNutrient Criteria Development

I. Background

II. LDEQ’s Plan to Develop Nutrient Criteria

III. Evaluation of Approaches (EPA Guidance)

IV. LDEQ Data Collection Efforts (Inland Rivers and Streams)

V. Data Summary (Inland Rivers & Streams)

VI. Other Issues and Studies

I. BackgroundLouisiana Water Quality Standards (WQS)

• Based on and authorized by Clean Water Act (CWA) Section 303(c)

• CWA Section 304 – Requires EPA to develop criteria as guidance which

Louisiana may use in adopting standards

• WQS are provisions of Louisiana State Law– Authorized by Section 2074 B (1) of the Louisiana

Water Control Law of the Environmental Quality Act (Louisiana Revised Statute, L.R.S. 30:2071-2078)

I. BackgroundRole of WQS in WQ Management• Set and revise WQS for state waters• Used to assess use attainment

– 305(b) Report

• Endpoint for:– Total Maximum Daily Loads (TMDLs)– Wasteload Allocations (WLAs)– Load Allocations (LAs)

• Permit limits

I. BackgroundSuspected Causes of Impairment• “Top” causes of impairment:

– Dissolved oxygen, fecal coliform and nutrients

• Nutrients: Nitrogen and Phosphorus– DRAFT 2008 303(d) List– Suspected Impairment in 10 Subsegments– Suspected Sources of Impairment:

• Natural Conditions• Natural Sources• On-Site Treatment Systems• Site Clearance (Land

Development or Redevelopment)

• Residential Districts• Forced Drainage Pumping • Upstream Source • Source Unknown

I. BackgroundNitrogen (N) and Phosphorus (P)• Man-caused contributions to N and P

– Overuse of fertilizer (residential and agricultural)– Rainfall flowing over cropland and pastures with

no Best Management Practices (BMPs)– Rainfall flowing over urban and suburban areas– Wastewater treatment plants discharge– Overflow from septic systems

II. LDEQ’s Plan for Nutrient Criteria Development• EPA’s 304(a) Technical Guidance:

– Water Body Specific• Rivers and Streams, Lakes and Reservoirs, Wetlands, and

Estuaries

– Describes several criteria development methods• Statistical and Relationships

– Recognizes an Ecoregional Framework• Ecoregion = area of relative homogeniety in ecological

characteristics• “Reference” condition – “least-impacted”

II. LDEQ’s Plan for Nutrient Criteria Development• States need a plan to:

– Develop the information set– Assess reference condition for nutrients– Develop criteria– Determine how to apply numeric criteria

• State plans considered by EPA to be commitment on the States part to:– Develop numeric nutrient criteria, and – Adopt quantitative nutrient standards

II. LDEQ’s Plan for Nutrient Criteria Development• LDEQ submitted 1st version of

plan in December 2001– Continued working toward

development of ecoregion-based numeric nutrient criteria for LA water bodies

• Submitted an updated and expanded version in December 2004

• Accepted as ‘mutually agreed upon’ by EPA on June 20, 2006

http://www.deq.louisiana.gov/portal/tabid/69/Default.aspx

II. LDEQ’s Plan Ecoregional Approach

II. LDEQ’s Plan Water Body Types• Freshwater

– Inland Rivers and Streams– Inland Wetlands– Lakes and Reservoirs

• Estuarine and Coastal Waters– Brackish and Saline Wetlands– Nearshore Gulf of Mexico

• Big Rivers and Floodplains Boundary Waters– Sabine, Red, Ouachita, and Pearl– Mississippi River and Atchafalaya River Basin

II. LDEQ PlanResearch in Louisiana Water Bodies

Project 1 •“Approaches for Developing Attainable Nutrient Criteria for Louisiana Waterbodies: Rivers and Streams” LSU (Lane & Day)

Project 2 •“Relationship Between Nutrients, DO Conditions, Habitat, and Fish Assemblage Composition in Louisiana Streams” LSU (Kelso & Rutherford)

Project 3 •“Effects-based Tools for Nutrient Criteria Development” EPA 6/USGS (Kiesling)

Project 4 •Louisiana Freshwater Wetlands Draft Data Report – Classification, Literature Review, and Development of Nutrient Criteria LSU (Hunter et al)

Project 5

• Red River Nutrient Criteria Development Project, Phases I-III University of Arkansas/USDA/EPA 6 (Haggard and Loving) AR, LA, OK, NM and TX collaboration on nutrient criteria for the Red River Basin

III. Evaluation of ApproachesSummary of EPA Guidance Methods1. EPA Level III Ecoregion Nutrient

Criteria Recommendations based on 25th percentile of all streams in Louisiana

2. Evaluate the 75th percentile of reference streams in Louisiana

73

7475

65

34

35

USEPA. 2000. Nutrient Criteria Technical Guidance: Rivers and Streams

All Streams

ReferenceStreams

75% 25%

III. Evaluation of ApproachesSummary of EPA Guidance Methods3. Frequency distribution of all streams in Louisiana for arbitrary

determination of percentile breakpoints for least- and most-impacted streams

USEPA. 2000. Nutrient Criteria Technical Guidance: Rivers and Streams

III. Evaluation of ApproachesSummary of EPA Guidance Methods4. Trophic state classification (eutrophic, mesotrophic, and

oligotrophic) to define degree of plant material in a water body using percentiles and cluster analysis

5. Empirical models (simple and multiple linear regression) to determine relationships between nutrients and algal biomass

6. Impact of land use on in-stream nutrient concentrations

7. Identify relationships between dissolved oxygen, nutrients, and chlorophyll a

III. Evaluation of ApproachesLane and Day (2008)• Describe reference conditions for rivers and streams

in four targeted inland ecoregions

• Use previously collected and recent data for nutrients, dissolved oxygen, and other parameters in identified water bodies

• Analyze data and approaches for evaluating nutrient conditions in the least-impacted reference streams

• Compare water quality, primary productivity, and the EPA recommended variables

• TN, TP, Chlorophyll a, Transparency

IV. LDEQ Data Collection Efforts Inland Rivers and Streams• Historical data collection

– 1991 through 1996, 2 times in year (not monthly)• Data gap analysis

– Data Inventory• Recent data collection

– Monthly– Oct 2008 through Oct 2009

• Parameters measured:– Continuous Monitoring– Water Quality– Canopy Cover– Habitat Assessments– Biological (Fish)

V. Data Summary for Inland Rivers and Streams• Total Phosphorus (TP)

• Total Nitrogen (TN)– Sum of Nitrate-Nitrite (NO3NO2) and Total

Kjeldahl Nitrogen (TKN)

• Chlorophyll a (CHL A)

V. Data Summary Additional Considerations• Seasonal Differences

• Drainage Area– Small– Medium– Large

VI. Other Issues and Studies• Regulatory Issues/Rulemaking Requirements

– Fiscal and Economic Impact Statements (FEIS)• Required by L.R.S. 49: 953 for all rules (including WQS)

whether or not there is a fiscal and economic impact

– Economic Cost/Benefit and Small Business Flexibility• Act No. 820 of 2008 Regular Session

– Enacted R.S. 49:968.2-965.8 – Requires state agencies to prepare an economic impact

statement and a regulatory flexibility analysis prior to adoption of any proposed rule affecting small businesses

• Newer requirements not included in 2006 Nutrient Criteria Development Plan and may expand time necessary for promulgation process

VI. Other Issues and StudiesGulf of Mexico Alliance (GOMA)Action Plan II 2009-2014• Action 1: Characterize Nutrients and

Nutrient Impacts to Coastal Ecosystems in the Gulf of Mexico

• Action 2: Coordinate Efforts to Support State Development of Nutrient Criteria for Gulf of Mexico Coastal Ecosystems

• Action 3: Increase Regional Coordination to Reduce Hypoxia in Gulf of Mexico Coastal Waters and Estuaries

• Action 4: Reduce Excess Nitrogen and Phosphorus Inputs to Gulf of Mexico Coastal Waters and Estuaries

http://gulfofmexicoalliance.org

VI. Other Issues and StudiesCoastal Protection and Restoration• FY 2011-2012 Expenditures exceed $1 Billion• Protection

– Hurricane Buffers, Levees, etc.

• Restoration– Wetlands, Diversion, etc.

http://www.ocpr.louisiana.gov

Nutrient Criteria Development in Louisiana

CONTACT INFORMATION

Dugan Sabins (dugan.sabins@la.gov)Steph Braden (steph.braden@la.gov)Kristine Pintado (kris.pintado@la.gov)Amanda Vincent (amanda.vincent@la.gov)

Water Quality Standards Section

Water Permits Division

Office of Environmental Services

Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality