6 STAR

REPORT

Vol.2 Issue 4 June 1998 A product of the National Center for Environmental Research and Quality Assurance

WATER and WATERSHED RESEARCH

U.S. EPA Office of Research

and Development’s Science

To Achieve Results (STAR)

Research in Progress

In recent years, the U.S. Environmental

Protection Agency (EPA), other federal agencies

and the states have made an integrated “watershed approach” the cornerstone of their

water quality protection programs. This year,

in response to the Vice Presidential Clean

Water Initiative, EPA has developed a Clean

Water Action Plan, whose primary goals include placing greater emphasis on watershed

management. To help environmental agencies

better manage water quality by improving the

understanding of how watersheds function

and how people’s activities affect water quality,

EPA, through its “Science to Achieve Results”

(STAR) research program, joined forces with

the National Science

Foundation (NSF) and the Department of

Agriculture to support the “Water and Watersheds” research program. This program supports research that cuts across disciplines, to

elucidate important principles for assessing,

protecting and restoring watersheds. This

report summarizes research funded in 1995

through 1997. Findings will be available

starting in 1999 as the projects, typically supported for three to four years, complete data

analysis and peer review. In addition to

articles in professional journals,

summary research results

reports will be prepared

at that time.
 INTEGRATED RESEARCH:

EMPHASIZING THE HUMAN

DIMENSION

 Watersheds are the basic units of land, surface water and groundwater

that integrate water flow, ecosystem dynamics and water quality renewal. The

ecology of aquatic life is intimately coupled to conditions of a watershed’s

terrestrial ecosystems. We do not sufficiently understand how stresses from man’s

activities, such as land development, pollutant releases, deforestation, river

channelization and agricultural use, affect these linked watershed processes.

Consequently, there is a special focus in this program on research that integrates

socioeconomic studies, taking into account the human factors associated with

watershed stress along with analyzing data on ecological impacts.

BACKGROUND:

CURRENT U.S. WATER QUALITY

IMPACTS

 For 25 years, the United States has made a great deal of progress

cleaning up waters polluted by “point source” discharges such as sewage plants

and industrial facilities. However, states’ assessments find serious remaining water

quality problems in much of the nation. The most common causes of today’s

problems are “nonpoint sources” of pollution, such as runoff from agriculture,

forestry, land development or historic or current mining locations. While many

areas have far better water quality than at any time in the preceding century,

other areas are experiencing moderate to severe declines in surface- and groundwater quality. In these places, it is common to find serious impacts on fish and

wildlife, including decreased fish and shellfish catches, and in rarer cases there

have been documented risks to human health.

1) bans on fishing, shellfishing or recreational water use because waters violate health standards for

chemicals or fecal bacteria introduced from the watershed;

2) declines in numbers, health or reproductive success of fish, waterbirds and other aquatic life in

the lakes, rivers and streams of pollution-impaired watersheds;

3) coastal fish kills and human health risks from hazardous algal blooms that scientists believe can

be stimulated by excess nutrient loads from watersheds; and

4) declines in coastal fish populations due to oxygen-depleting pollution, such as the “dead zone”

off the Gulf Coast in which shrimp and fish landings sometimes decline to zero, thought to be

related to nutrients carried by the Mississippi River.

More information on these and other issues is available from EPA’s Clean Water Action

Plan website, http://www.epa.gov/cleanwater/.

Specific Problems:

 Current examples of such problems in the U.S. include:
RESEARCH SUPPORTED BY THE WATER AND

WATERSHEDS PROGRAM

 This program addresses multiple stresses affecting watersheds,

and early warning signals of emerging impacts. Included is research on

ecology, hydrology and environmental management. An important

criterion for project selection is that there is good promise for transferring

results from one area to others.

Integrated Watershed Projects Relevant to Multiple Land-Uses.

The University of Maryland is developing a complex ecosystem model

that takes into account economic factors, including land values under various

uses, in predicting aquatic ecosystem conditions in a mid-Atlantic watershed.

This will support projections of how policy alternatives would influence land

use and ecological quality. A similar multidisciplinary project, to inform state

policy decisions about land use planning alternatives for the Illinois River

watershed, is being conducted by a team from the University of Oklahoma

and Oklahoma State University. A project on multiple land uses, water

quality and ecological conditions at the University of Georgia will predict

aquatic impacts in Georgia, using a refined set of technical indicators for

stream ecosystem health.

Estuarine and marsh ecosystems can be severely impaired by increased

nitrogen inputs, diminishing fish survival and otherwise degrading the

ecoysystem. The Marine Biological Laboratory of Woods Hole is conducting field studies to refine models of impacts on juvenile fish and other aspects

of the food web due to increased nitrogen inputs in the watershed. In a

second phase, these researchers are working with the University of Connecticut and the Social and Environmental Research Institute of Leverett,

Massachusetts to determine how their coastal ecological modeling can best

be made useful to local planners and citizens making coastal zone land use

decisions.

The University of Oregon and

Oregon State University are studying

effects of changes in flow, sediment loads and

food chain ecology on Columbia River

salmon stocks, some of which are

endangered. Salmon recovery will

depend on the availablity

of stream habitat with

coldwater patches,

needed prey organisms

and other factors. This

study will help

determine how the “carrying capacity” of

streams for salmon can best be defined

based on physical and biological characteristics. Another study supporting

habitat restoration for at risk fish stocks is

being conducted by the University of

California at Davis. They are focusing on

striped bass, salmon and smelt in the

lower Sacramento River, and will will

predict likely outcomes of water quality

management alternatives by developing a

model that includes hydrology, water

quality and biological factors. Potential

remedies include restoring streambank

habitats, curtailing or rescheduling water

diversions and reducing specific pollutant

sources.

Sedimentation is being studied by

the University of Minnesota, using

models based on observed impacts of

forestry, mining and road building. The

University of North Carolina is assessing

the success of local jurisdictions’ regulatory programs to reduce impacts of

erosion from housing construction, road

building and agriculture on the ecological

health of watersheds. They are comparing streams’ biological conditions to

determine which regulatory approaches

are most effective. Stream reforestation

research is being conducted in the

mid-Atlantic region by the University

of Delaware, Pennsylvania State

University and the Academy of

Natural Sciences of Philadelphia.

They will document ecological

benefits of wooded streams compared to those where

woods are cleared,

together with

gathering information about the pros
and cons of reforestation strategies

from the perspectives of area landowners.

The University of Illinois is

conducting research on restoring the

ecology and productive human uses of

floodplains and floodplain rivers. They

are working with state agriculture,

water and natural history agencies to

assess economic factors such as farm

production, recreation values and

flood damages along with the natural

factors of hydrology and floodplain

forest ecology for a portion of the

Illinois River. Results are expected to

help agencies better balance costs and

benefits of floodplain management

and restoration options.

Reducing acidification of high

elevation lakes and their watersheds is

one objective of programs to control

air emissions of nitrogen and sulfur, as

mandated by the Clean Air Act. Ongoing monitoring is tracking atmospheric deposition and its impacts. To

support extrapolations of regional

conditions based on data from

intensively monitored lakes, the

University of Maine and the University of Virginia are jointly developing

analytic and modeling tools. These

will support assessments and predictions of water quality and forest

productivity for use by EPA, states and

regulated industries in impact

assessments.

The University

of Washington is

comparing watershed

processes in west Pacific basins to

improve the ability to predict largescale runoff of dissolved and particulate materials based on climate,

geology, ecology and land use. Model

development will be compared and

coordinated with related research

through an international network of

scientists and water resource managers. Another collaborative international project involves Pennsylvania

State University and the Bulgarian

Academy of Sciences. Techniques for

modeling multireservoir hydrologic

systems, developed by an international

institute, will be combined with

Pennsylvania State’s existing geographic information system-based

watershed models to better predict

locations of water quality improvements based on pollution reductions

in upstream locations.

Urbanized Watersheds

The University of Washington

is developing rehabilitation methods

for channelized streams in older and

newly urbanizing areas. Factors

considered include aesthetic preferences, degrees of aquatic ecological

protection and costs for alternate

designs. Marquette University is

refining methods for assessing benefits

of flood control and restoration

projects in urban and suburban

watersheds near Milwaukee, to better

balance flood control needs with

the ecological benefits of

preserving or restoring

habitat.

Almost the entire drainage area

of the Los Angeles basin is urbanized,

with most wetlands eradicated. The

University of California at Los

Angeles is analyzing the many

pollution sources that threaten coastal

water quality and the ecological

integrity of small remaining areas of

habitat such as salt marshes. Data

include levels and impacts of DDT,

trace metals, industrial organic

chemicals, nutrients and other

pollutants from sewage, industrial

disposal, street runoff and airborne

sources. Results will be incorporated

with runoff and hydrology models to

help local managers set remediation

priorities.

Several other studies involve

simultaneously assessing socioeconomic and ecological aspects of urban

impacts. The University of Georgia

and Georgia Institute of Technology

are testing hypotheses that citizens’

values and commitments to preserving

watershed conditions are influenced

by their perceptions of how rapidly

impacts are occuring, and of the

degree to which they expect that

desirable future environmental

conditions can be attained or maintained over various time scales,

including conditions to be experienced

by future generations. Boston

University, working with the Marine

Biological Laboratory at Woods

Hole, is involving stakeholder groups

in a Boston area watershed
to develop management models

applicable to land-use decisions at

multiple spatial scales. Other urbanization impact assessment methods are

being developed by the Virginia

Polytechnic Institute and State

University, for the upper Roanoke

River watershed, the Institute for

Ecosystem Studies of Millbrook, New

York, for a Baltimore area subwatershed, and Cornell University,

which is developing a river and aquifer

simulation model intended to be

applicable to many Northeastern

watersheds. Yale University is

surveying peoples’ attitudes about

nature and economic conditions in

watersheds with various combinations

of urbanization and environmental

quality, with an eye to evaluating how

restoring degraded watersheds can

contribute to improved socioeconomic

conditions.

Lake Tahoe, on the border of

California and Nevada, is a model for

the growing number of lake watersheds on boundaries between

urbanizing areas and pristine mountain landscapes. This watershed

presents intense needs to reconcile

multiple uses. The Lake and undeveloped lands are unique ecological and

recreational resources, while developed and partially developed lands are

very highly valued for current and

potential resort, vacation home, other

commercial and urban uses. The

University of California at Davis is

building on a large body of previous

ecosystem research to address the

specific scientific questions involved in

developing an ecologically sound and

economically feasible erosion control

management plan for the area.

Agricultural Watersheds

In the agricultural midwest,

perhaps the single greatest impact on

water quality is from stream

channelization, which increases

erosion, destroys vegetation and

eliminates or reduces abundance of

many fish. The University of Illinois is

surveying drainage district commissioners and farmers to assess current

practices in channelization and

associated watershed usage and

maintenance factors. Researchers will

compare this information with data

from state-wide fisheries collections.

Results will be of immediate use in

discussions among drainage district

managers, state fish and wildlife

managers and farmers on the most

effective practices to meet farmers’

needs while preserving or improving

stream fishery conditions.

Also in the “cornbelt plains”

ecoregion, Ohio State University is

correlating remote sensing data with

biological data to assess risks to

streams affected by channelization,

streambank defoliation and changing

land use. The “index of biotic

integrity” applied in this study

incorporates data on aquatic food

chains and streambank habitat

condition. Iowa State University, the

University of Michigan, the University of Minnesota and Oregon State

University are attempting to develop

an “alternative landscape design” to

support watershed planning for the

western corn belt. They are incorporating data on terrestrial vegetation,

birds, stream condition and aquatic life

with hydrology and agrichemical

tranport modeling. They will project

potential crop and land use scenarios

for 25 years to predict impacts on

water resources, ecosystem function

and socioeconomic conditions.

Runoff from crops, livestock and

poultry production and sewage can

produce nutrient levels that exceed

natural uptake, depleting oxygen and

killing aquatic life. The University of

Louisville, the University of Michigan

and Transylvania University are

using stream data from EPA’s Environmental Monitoring and Assessment

Program to assess relationships

between nutrient enrichment and

ecological impacts across “ecoregions”

(areas with distinct geologic and

ecological characteristics). A team at

the University of Minnesota is

assessing streams in a number of

agricultural ecoregions, comparing

ecological conditions with each

watershed’s farm, forest, habitat

management and sewage treatment

practices. Results are expected to be

of use in local restoration decisions.

Research on reducing nutrient

enrichment impacts is also being

conducted by the University of

Wisconsin and the Ohio State

University. They are developing water

quality and socioeconomic analyses for

upper Mississippi River watersheds.

Agricultural runoff degrades this

region’s streams and rivers, and a

significant portion of the nutrients that

cause Gulf of Mexico oxygen depletion

are also believed to originate there.

Approaches under development are

intended to provide farmers and

resource managers with useful

information on specific soil and water

conservation systems most likely to

STAR: Building a foundation for sound environmental decisions
reduce excess nutrient release.

In Oregon’s Tillamook Bay

watershed, Oregon State University is

assessing water quality from forested

subwatersheds to the north to dairy

farming areas and partially urbanized

subwatersheds to the south. They are

studying local perceptions of aquatic

environmental health, which often

differ from scientific assessments, to

help support more effective planning

to protect water quality in the rivers

and the Bay.

Coliform bacteria tests used in

routine surface water monitoring do

not distinguish cells from sources likely

to pose health risks, such as human

sewage or livestock wastes, from those

from natural sources unlikely to also

carry human disease organisms. The

University of North Carolina at

Chapel Hill is using new genetic

typing methods to determine whether

it is possible to better distinguish

coliform sources that may indicate

health threats from those that may

not.

Pesticides can be carried long

distances through watersheds in their

original forms, or as breakdown

products that still pose health and

ecological risks. The University of

Virginia is studying the transport and

breakdown of atrazine, one of the

most widely used herbicides. Factors

considered will include rapid transport

through rock or soil flowpaths, and

enhancement by colloid particles,

which are more prevalent in some

geologic and agricultural settings than

in others.

Water quality in the tropics is

particularly impaired by agriculture

that fragments forests and reduces soil

and water retention. The University of

Hawaii and the East-West Center are

studying data on bamboo and other

farming practices in Vietnam to predict

impacts of various land use alternatives.

Statistical Design for

Watershed Research.

At Pennsylvania State University, a team of modelers, statisticians

and natural resource scientists is

refining statistical approaches to

watershed sampling design. The

objective is to take into account the

natural variability of biological and

physical data sets, so that sampling

can be targeted most cost-effectively.

The work has implications for hydrological, ecological and landscape

characterization data.

Groundwater Quality

Murray Sate University in

Kentucky is studying the interaction of

the relatively poorly understood

“hyporheic” zone where streams and

groundwater connect. Studies of

bacteria, algae and invertebrates will

gather basic data about how conditions in these zones can have important influences on streams’ ecological

condition.

The Baylor College of Medicine at the University of Texas and

the University of California at Irvine

are investigating chemical and physical

processes underlying natural disinfection of groundwater contaminated by

human gastrointestinal viruses. Viral

sources can include septic tanks and

groundwater recharge basins.

The New York State Department of

Health is studying rates at which

groundwater bacteria break down

sewage. Findings may help develop

ways to enhance natural

bioremediation of wastes. The

University of Illinois at UrbanaChampaign is also investigating

processes that could affect

bioremediation of industrial wastes

and sewage. They are modeling how

groundwater travelling waves affect

transport of soluble organic pollutants.

Successful modeling would provide

simpler ways to compute dispersion

and breakdown rates.

Stanford University is developing a hydrologic model of how

heterogeneity of soils and rocks affects

transport rates of dissolved substances.

This will support more accurate

modeling of pollutant transport at

some contaminated sites.
Toxicology of Widespread

Aquatic Pollutants

A grant to Princeton University

supports fundamental research on

processes affecting the aquatic toxicity

of mercury. Mercury contamination

from a variety of industrial sources is

an especially widespread problem,

affecting aquatic food chains throughout the United States and leading to

many public health advisories against

fish consumption. Methods to

mitigate mercury pollution are a top

priority for EPA and the states. The

Princeton research will test whether

polysulfides increase the rate at which

bacteria methylate mercury in the

absence of oxygen. Investigators are

also determining the rates at which

mercury will be released to the

atmosphere. If confirmed, this

polysulfide hypothesis could be a

breakthrough in understanding the

factors that affect how toxic mercury

will be in natural food webs.

Gold mining, particularly using

cyanide extraction, can release toxic

chemicals to water bodies. Impacts

vary depending on interactions of

extraction techniques with local

hydrology and rock, soil and water

characteristics. Arsenic is a common

contaminant. The University of

Nevada, the Desert Research

Institute of Reno and the University

of California at Davis are studying

arsenic contaminated gold mining pit

lakes in the Humboldt River Basin.

Impacts include genetic damage in a

food chain species, indicating likely

long-lasting toxic impacts. The study

includes assessing options for dealing

with the contamination problem using

focus groups that include representatives of the mining industry, the

conservation community, farmers and

other area residents.

Cadmium is a highly toxic metal

associated with historic industrial

impacts and some on-going releases.

To analyze natural processes that may

diminish toxic impacts, the University

of Kansas and Wichita State University will study how humic and fulvic

acids released by soils and plants bind

cadmium and reduce toxicity under

various conditions. The University of

Southern Mississippi is conducting

laboratory studies and field work in the

Misssissippi River to test the hypothesis

that bacterial effects on manganese,

which is a model for toxic metals such

as lead, zinc, and others, are strongly

influenced by seasonal temperature

changes.

Another high risk group of

pollutants are chemicals containing

halogens, the chemical group that

includes chlorine. The most toxic

forms are haloaromatics. Artificial

haloaromatics include PCBs, DDT and

other industrial chemicals and

pesticides. The University of South

Carolina is investigating how some

organisms thrive in coastal sediments

heavily polluted by haloaromatics.

These include worms, bacteria and

other bottom-dwelling animals that

break down both artificial

and natural

haloaromatics.

The study will

attempt to identify the mechanisms

by which they detoxify the chemicals, looking at enzymes, gene

characteristics and antibody activity.

Aquatic Ecology

Cornell University is focusing

on a potentially critical component of

lake ecosystems’ recovery from

pollution: the dormant (diapaused)

eggs of planktonic animals. Eggs can

remain in bottom sediments for many

years and emerge in response to

natural or human-induced changes in

water quality. Some eggs remain alive

after more than two decades in

sediments polluted with mercury and

other contaminants. Comparisons of

sediment dating, showing when eggs

were deposited, to chemical data on

the history of lake pollution, will

answer questions about how

diapaused eggs may lead to faster

recovery of lake food webs following

long periods of pollution.

The University of Wisconsin

and the Institute of Ecosystem

Studies of Millbrook, New York are

studying how wetlands and other

sources of humic acids mitigate the

effects of excess phosphorus, the

principle nutrient that causes eutrophication and oxygen depletion in lakes.

Coastal Carolina University

and the Baruch Marine Laboratory,

both of South Carolina, are testing the

hypothesis that oyster reefs significantly affect the chemistry and biology

of shallow estuaries, helping to sustain

the bays’ food webs.
Public Policy and

Institutional

Arrangements

Three awards support institutional and policy studies for watersheds and regional water-use areas.

The University of Arizona and

Indiana University are comparing

water resource management practices

in Arizona, California and Colorado.

They will assess results of policies and

institutional arrangments for allocating

and storing surface water and

groundwater. One important factor

may be the degree to which coordinated (“conjunctive”) management of

surface and groundwater is central to a

state’s institutional approach.

A study of the Rio Grande/Rio

Bravo Basin is being conducted by the

Houston Advanced Resarch Center

and the Instituto Tecnologico y de

Estudios Superiores in Monterrey,

Mexico. The project brings together

scientists from the two nations to

complete analyses of surface and

groundwater availability and conditions. They will analyze potential

outcomes of alternate binational water

management scenarios, based on

future projections of socio-economic

and ecological factors.

A grant for market economics

research has been

awarded to the

University of

Arizona. Economists and water users

in California’s central valley will test a

computerized “smart market” for

allocating and exchanging water use

rights. The smart market integrates

more information, such as user needs

and willingness to pay, than do simpler

tools such as bulletin boards. About

50 water users have volunteered to

participate. Results will provide water

use managers with information on

whether prices to users, and efficiency

of water marketing, can be improved

with smart market tools.

Weather, Watershed

Hydrology and Climate

Change Modeling

Five grants have been

awarded for studies of watershed

impacts of precipitation, long-term

climatic shifts and other weather

phenomena. Utah State University is

developing a hydrologic model

applicable to the semi-arid areas that

compose much of the western U.S. It

is hoped that the model will better

predict streamflow in mountainous

western areas, where water availability

is often the most critical factor in

natural resource management.

A new way to model rainfall-runoff

relationships is being tested by

Kansas State University. This

“Geomorphological Artificial

Neural Network” approach may

improve abilities to predict watershed

runoff with less site-specific physical

data than is usually needed. The

University of Nebraska is refining a

model to predict climate-related

changes in flows, floods, sediment

transport and other hydrologic

characteristics over geologic time

frames. The University of California

at Davis is developing a rainfall model

based on very detailed time series data

of storm events. The approach used,

“fractal-multifractal” modeling, is

expected to increase accuracy in

predicting rain patterns.

The Marine Biological Laboratory at Woods Hole and the University of New Hampshire are undertaking a complete description of water

and nutrient inputs from land-based

sources into the Arctic Ocean, based

on 15 years of data on precipitation,

flow and material fluxes. Another

study of the delivery of materials from

major watersheds to the ocean is

being done by the University of

Washington. In this “test of concept”

grant, a model based on the Amazon

watershed is being tested with data on

flow and carbon delivery in East and

Southeast Asia. This may allow

scientists to better predict biogeochemical processes in large

watersheds based on data gathered

throughout the world.
 STAR Research Projects Described in this Report

1995 EPA Funding

University of Maryland

Integrated Ecological Economic

Modeling and Valuation of Watersheds

Marine Biological Lab (MA)

Tracing the Fate of Nitrogen Inputs

from Watersheds to Estuaries

Stanford University (CA)

Diffusion Rate Limitations in

Heterogeneous Porous Media:Model

Structure, Scale and Ecologic

Characterization

Ohio State University

Integrated Planning, Forecasting, and

Watershed Level Ecological Risk

Assessment Techniques: A Test in the

Eastern Cornbelt Plains Ecoregion of

Ohio

U. California-Irvine

Baylor College of Medicine (TX)

Norwalk Virus-like Particles (VLPs) for

Studying Natural Groundwater

Disinfection

Cornell University (NY)

The Role of Long-lived Zooplankton

Diapausing Eggs: Response and

Recovery of Impacted Lakes

University of Virginia

The Role of Colloidal Particles in the

Transport of Chemicals Through an

Agricultural Watershed

Oregon State University

University of Oregon

Geomorphic, Hydrologic and

Ecological Connectively in Columbia

River Watersheds: Implications for

Endangered Salmonids

University of South Carolina

Resistance of Communities to Chronic

Haloaromatic Contamination by

Biogenic and Anthropogenic Sources

University of Georgia

Influences of Watershed Land Use on

Stream Ecosystem Structure and

Function

APPLICATIONS OF RESULTS AND FUTURE DIRECTIONS FOR RESEARCH

The analyses of ecological and socioeconomic factors that are the cornerstone of the integrated watershed studies

supported by this program are producing planning and decision support tools based on scenarios of demographic and

economic changes expected in various watersheds. These results will be of use to regional and local environmental agencies

charged with planning for future environmental protection needs, and are particularly relevant to watershed management

programs to be sponsored under the new Vice Presidential Clean Water Initiative. It is already being found that in many

cases such assessment tools developed in particular watersheds are transferrable to other watersheds with similar ecological

and physical characteristics. In 1998, the water and watersheds program is continuing emphasis on the multidisciplinary

approach, based on the theme that the best watershed science is accomplished when researchers take into account the

human dimensions of environmental problems and solutions.

Princeton University (NJ)

The Role of HG(II) Reduction and

Chemical Speciation in Controlling the

Concentration of Mercury and its

Methylation in Natural Waters

University of Minnesota

Formation and Propagation of LargeScale Sediment Waves in Periodically

Disturbed ountain Watersheds

U. California-Davis

Modeling Temporal Rainfall Via a

Fractal Geometric Approach

University of Arizona

A Comparative Institutional Analysis of

Conjunctive Management Practices

Among Three Southwestern States

U. North Carolina-Chapel Hill

Detecting Fecal Contamination and its

Sources in Water and Watersheds

University of Louisville (KY)

An Ecoregion-Specific Comparison of

Stream Community Responses to

Nutrient Gradients Using Both Survey

Utah State University

Scaling Up Spatially Distributed

Hydrologic Models of Arid Watershed

U. Illinois-Urbana

Traveling Wave Behavior During

SubsurfaceTransport of Biologically Reactive Contaminants: Implications for

in situ Bioremediation

Murray State University (KY)

A Comparison of Agriculture vs.

Forested Basins: Carbon and Nutrient

Cycling within the Hyporheic Ecotone

of Streams

SUNY-Albany (NY)

In situ Assessment of the Transport

and Microbial Consumption of

Oxygen in Groundwater

Houston Advanced Research Center

(TX) Water and Sustainable

Development in the Binational Lower

Rio Grande/Bravo Basin

1995 NSF Funding

U. Wisconsin-Madison

Insstitute of Ecosystem

Studies (NY) Alternative

States of Lake

Ecosystems: Control by

Phosphorus, Humics,

and the Food Web

Coastal Carolina University (SC)

Baruch Marine Laboratory (SC)

Oyster Reefs as Structural and

Functional Components of Tidal

Creeks: an Ongoing Ecosystem

Experiment

Kansas State University

Development of Geomorphological

Artificial Neural Networks (GANNs) for

Modeling Watershed Runoff

University of Kansas

Wichita State University Metal

Binding and Aggregation of Fulvic

Acids

Marine Biological Laboratory (MA)

University of New Hampshire

Contemporary Water and Constituent

Balances for the Pan-Arctic Drainage

Sysstem: Continent to Coastal Ocean

Fluxes

University of Washington

Towards a Model of the Biogeochemistry of Large-Scale River Basins: An

Application to the Pacific Rim

University of Southern Mississippi

Variability of Dissolved Trace Elements

in Rivers and Streams: Seasonal Redox

Effects

University of Arizona

Water Market Design

U. Nebraska-Lincoln

Late Pleistocene to Modern Landscape

Evolution and Climatic Change, Loire

and Arroux Rivers, Burgundy Region of

France

1996 EPA Funding

University of California, Davis

An Integrated Approach to Assessing

Water Management Options in a

Major Watershed: Extending a

Hydrodynamic-Water Quality Model

to Include Biological and PoliticoEconomic Components

University of North Carolina

University of Maryland Development and Application of Spectroscopic Probes for Measurement of

Microbial Activity in Aquatic

Ecosystems

Pennsylvania State University

Large Scale Disturbances and Small

Scale Responses

University of Michigan

Carbon Exchange Dynamics in a

Temperate Forested Watershed

(Northern Michigan): A Laboratory

and Field Multidisciplinary Study

University of Minnesota

Integrating Modeling and

Management of AgriculturallyImpacted Watersheds, Issues of Spatial

and Temporal Scale

University of Washington

Urban Stream Rehabilitation in the

Pacific Northwest: Physical, Biological,

and Social Considerations

University of Nevada-Reno

Desert Research Institute

Geochemical, Biological and

Economic Effects of Arsenic and Other

Oxyanions on a Mining Impacted

Watershed
University of North Carolina

Effectiveness of Regulatory Incentives for

Sediment Pollution Prevention: Evaluation

Through Policy Analysis and

Biomonitoring

University of Illinois

Watershed Protection in Agricultural

Environments: Integrated Social,

Geomorphological, and Ecological

Research toSupport Ecosystem-based

Stream Management

Oregon State University

Iowa State University

University of MinnesotaModeling Effects

of Alternative Landscape Design and

Management on Water Quality and

Biodiversity in Midwest Agricultural

Watersheds

University of California-Los Angeles Integrated Urban Watershed Analysis: The

Los Angeles Basin and Coastal

Environment

1996 NSF Funding

Illinois State Water Survey

Strategic Renewal of Large Floodplain

Rivers

Academy of Natural Sciences,

Philadelphia (PA)

Streamside Reforestration: an Analysis of

Ecological Benefits and Societal

Perceptions

United States

Environmental Protection Agency

Mail Code 8701R

Washington, D.C. 20460

Offical Business

Penalty for Private Use

$300

EPA/600/F-98/017

University of Hawaii

East West Center (HI)

Influence of Forest Fragmentation on

Watershed Functions in Northern

Vietnam

1997 EPA Funding

University of Georgia

Community Values and the Long-Term

Ecological Integrity of Rapidly

Urbanizing Watersheds

Virginia Polytechnic Institute and

State University (VA) Landscapes

and Waterscapes: An Integrating

Framework for Urbanizing Watersheds

U. California - Davis

An Integrated Watershed Approach to

Evaluate and Model Ecosystem Effects of

Erosion and Pollutant Transport in

Urbanized Subalpine Landscapes

University of Wisconsin

An Integrated Ecological and SocioEconomic Approach to Evaluating and

Reducing Agricultural Impacts on Upper

Mississippi River Watersheds

University of Maine

Linking Watershed-Scale Indicators of

Changes in Atmospheric Deposition to

Regional Response Patterns

STAR: Building a foundation for sound environmental decisions

Oregon State University

A Study of Effects of Natural and

Anthropogenic Processes on Tillamook

Bay and its Watershed: An Integrated

Process Study and Land-Use Perspective

University of Oklahoma

Ecological Risks, Stakeholder Values and

River Basins: Testing Management

Alternatives for the Illinois River

Marquette University (WI)

 Risk Based Urban Watershed

Management - Integration of Water

Quality and Flood Control Objectives

Institute of Ecosystem Studies (NY)

Impact of Social Systems on Ecology

and Hydrology in Urban-Rural

Watersheds: Integration for Restoration

1997 NSF Funding

Yale University (CT)

Connecting Ecological and Social

Systems: Watershed Research Relating

Ecosystem Structure and Function to

Human Values and Socioeconomic

Behaviors

Marine Biological Laboratory (MA)

Social and Ecological Transferability of

Integrated Ecological Assessment

Models

Marine Biological Laboratory (MA)

Integrated, Ecological-Economic

Modeling of Watersheds and Estuaries

at Multiple Scales

Pennsylvania State University

Comprehensive Watershed Management: A Spatial Water Quality

Assessment System (SWQAS)

Cornell University (NY)

Development and Implementation of

Decision Support Systems for Predicting

Economic and Ecological Impacts of

Alternative Land and Water Management Policies in Urbanizing Regions

Further information is available from

the following Internet Websites:

EPA/NCERQA: http://www.epa.gov/

ncerqa

NSF, Environmental Research

Opportunities: http://www.nsf.gov/

geo/egch/envresop.htm

NSF, 1995 Water and Watersheds

awards: http://www.nsf.gov/geo/

egch/wws95awd.htm

NSF, 1996 Water and Watersheds

awards: http://www.nsf.gov/geo/

egch/wws96awd.htm