Opportunities for Collaboration on Water- Quality Issues in the Mississippi River Basin

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.