Catalog of SWMP Water Quality to Decision Making Case Studies Project Summary and Contacts Reserve Audience Summary Contact Apalachicola NERR Regulatory staff Numeric nutrient endpoint research informs EPA. Oyster population crash due to water diversions/nutrient reductions – declaration of commercial fishery disaster by NOAA. Lauren Levi Lauren.Levi@dep.state.fl.us Elkhorn NERR Regulatory staff SWMP data informs regulatory policy for setting Total Maximum Daily Loads for nitrogen. Grey Hayes grey@elkhornslough.org Grand Bay NERR Regulatory staff SWMP data used in enforcement action against phosphate processing facility where a spill occurred into the estuary Kimberly Cressman Kimberly.Cressman@dmr.ms.gov Great Bay NERR Regulatory staff SWMP data used to inform policy Steve Miller Steve.Miller@wildlife.nh.gov Great Bay NERR Community State of the Estuary report Steve Miller Steve.Miller@wildlife.nh.gov Lake Superior NERR Regulatory staff Creating a phosphorous model for the State of Wisconsin in consideration of adding phosphorous to wastewater discharge permits. Tracy Ledder tracey.ledder@ces.uwex.edu Mission Aransas NERR Local communities New SWMP-like system installed to serve community needs, spurring increased community communications including a highlighted water quality report card. Sally Palmer sally.palmer@utexas.edu Mission Aransas NERR Regulatory staff EPA funded project to help establish numeric nutrient criteria (NNE) nutrient data in the Bay. Rae Mooney raemooney@utexas.edu South Slough NERR Regulatory staff State of the watershed assessment as part of a NERRS Science Collaborative; applying SWMP abiotic data for EPA and State policy standard consideration. Ali Helms alicia.r.helms@dsl.state.or.us South Slough NERR Scientists SWMP data improving understanding of circulation within estuary John Bragg Wells NERR Watershed managers Buffers efficacy to reduce pollutants Jeremy Miller jmiller@wellsnerr.org Trends
Trend Notes Places Setting water quality policy, now Numeric Nutrient Endpoints (NNE) Total Maximum Daily Loads (TMDL) Narrative Nutrient Endpoints North Inlet/Winyah Bay Mission-Aransas Elkhorn Wells NERR is reference site for water quality More pristine estuaries serve as reference sites for water quality North Inlet/Winyah Bay Concerns Concern Notes Places Concern about other agencies accepting the quality of NERR data EPA ‘certification’ of QA/QC of water quality data via “Quality assurance project plans” Annual renewal fee can be pricey: $1K/year pH checks need to take place every 3 hours SWMP turbidity probe instruments are not the approved equipment list Data may not otherwise be defensible in court, otherwise (per lawyers) Jacques Cousteau Elkhorn Grand Bay Wells Tidal movement complicates pollutant load calculations USGS loudest model might help calculate load Mission-Aransas Elkhorn Data have to go both into CDMO and State database Often doubles the labor Great Bay Elkhorn How do you make SWMP data compatible with other monitoring networks, to leverage rigorous emergent strength in analysis? Municipalities and others are required to monitor ‘end of pipe’ – how can we assure that these and other efforts are coordinated? Great Bay Elkhorn Water quality concerns are not part of the SWMP monitoring system Fecal coliform bacteria North Inlet/Winyah Bay Elkhorn Political concerns about water quality regulation Scale and specificity of data are politically sensitive issues Anti-regulatory sentiments various (unnamed due to political sensitivity) Need community education/ support Communities may not recognize how water quality concerns affect their quality of life and economic health Great Bay Elkhorn Kachemak Bay