SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA COASTAL WATER RESEARCH PROJECT (SCCWRP) Stephen B. Weisberg Executive Director.

SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA COASTAL WATER RESEARCH PROJECT

(SCCWRP)

Stephen B. WeisbergExecutive Director

WHAT IS SCCWRP?

• Joint Powers Agency founded in 1969

• Initiated to address regional monitoring and research needs

-- Cumulative impact assessment-- Methods development-- Data Integration

• Member organizations include city, county, state, and federal agencies

-- Unique combination of regulators and regulated

MEMBER ORGANIZATIONS

City of San Diego

City of Los Angeles

Orange County Sanitation District

Los Angeles County Sanitation Districts

San Diego Regional Water Quality Board

Santa Ana Regional Water Quality Board

Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Board

State Water Quality Board

U.S Environmental Protection Agency

SCCWRP’S GOALS

• To develop, participate in, and coordinate programs to understand ecological systems in the coastal waters and to document relationships between these systems and human activities;

• To answer the questions regarding the southern California coastal waters: (a) Is it safe to swim? (b) Is it safe to eat the fish? (c) Is the ecosystem healthy? (d) Are the natural resources being protected?

• To effectively communicate our research findings and recommendations, through a variety of media to decision makers and other stakeholders;

• To serve as a catalyst in forming partnerships and alliances which further these goals; and

• To provide an information management system to archive, retrieve, analyze, and display SCCWRP data in order to achieve the above goals and enhance our understanding of the Southern California Bight.

SOME FOCAL POINTS OF CURRENT SCCWRP RESEARCH

• Source estimation

• Regional monitoring

• Stomwater assessment

• TMDL development

WHY STUDY MASS EMISSIONS?

• Relative risk among sources

-- Where do the largest proportion of pollutants come from??

• Changes over time

-- Were management actions effective at reducing loads?

TYPES OF SOURCES YEAR OF LAST ESTIMATE

Publicly Owned Treatment Works (POTW) ongoing

Power generating stations 1995

Industrial dischargers 1995

Hazardous material spills 1989

Urban runoff ongoing

Dredged material disposal/ocean dumping 1997

Oil platforms 1996

Atmospheric deposition ongoing

Vessel bottom points an anodes ongoing

Oceanic currents 1973

Year

1900 1920 1940 1960 1980 2000

Po

pu

lati

on

(m

illio

ns)

0.1

1

10

An

nu

al D

isch

arg

e V

olu

me

(bill

ion

lite

rs)

10

100

1000Population

Wastewater Flow

LA River

Year

1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995

Was

tew

ater

Vo

lum

e(b

illio

n li

ters

)

1600

1800

2000

2200

2400

Su

spen

ded

So

lids

(th

ou

san

ds

met

ric

ton

s)

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

Wastewater Flow

Suspended Solids

Year

1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995

Mas

s E

mis

sio

ns

(met

ric

ton

s)

0

200

400

600

800

Chromium Copper

1971 - 1972

0

20

40

60

80

100

Urban Runoff

POTW Wastewater

1994 - 1995

Flow

Sus

pend

ed S

olid

s

Chr

omiu

m

Cop

per

Nic

kel

Lead

Zinc

Pe

rce

nt

Co

ntr

ibu

tio

n t

o O

ce

an

0

20

40

60

80

100A

mm

onia

Pho

spho

rous

SANTA ANA RIVER PROJECT

• Collected water samples every 15 minutes for an entire year-- Automated sampler

• Almost 2000 samples-- Measured TSS on all-- Measured metals/organics on approximately 200

• Several project goals-- Accurately estimate mass emission for the year-- Compare our estimate from intensive sampling with that of routine sampling frequencies-- Use simulation approach to identify optimal subsampling strategy

Ballona Creek Land UseAgricultureCommercialIndustrialOpenOtherResidentialWater

REGIONAL MONITORING

• Nearly $20M/year is spent on routine marine monitoring in southern California-- >80% is associated with discharge permits

• Despite this expenditure we can’t provide a regional assessment of condition

• Most monitoring is site-specific-- Less than 5% of the southern California coast is monitored

• Existing data can’t be easily integrated-- Different parameters-- Different methods-- Inaccessible data

WHAT ARE WE DOING TO ADDRESS THE PROBLEM?

• Two cooperative regional monitoring surveys-- $3M effort in 1994 involved 12 organizations

-- $8M effort in 1998 involving 62 organizations

• Unique funding mechanism-- Regulators modified permits reallocating sampling effort towards

regional monitoring

-- Helps keep costs nearly neutral for participants

• Dischargers work jointly with regulators to define most appropriate methodologies-- Pooling of expertise

-- Increase in communication

200 m200 m200 m200 m200 m200 m200 m200 m200 m

200 m200 m200 m200 m200 m200 m200 m200 m200 m

oo119 00' W 118 00' W

o33 00' N

o

o

120 00' W

34 00'34 00'34 00'34 00'34 00'34 00'34 00'34 00'34 00'

606060606060606060303030303030303030000000000

KilometersKilometersKilometersKilometersKilometersKilometersKilometersKilometersKilometers

LOS ANGELESLOS ANGELESLOS ANGELESLOS ANGELESLOS ANGELESLOS ANGELESLOS ANGELESLOS ANGELESLOS ANGELES

SAN DIEGOSAN DIEGOSAN DIEGOSAN DIEGOSAN DIEGOSAN DIEGOSAN DIEGOSAN DIEGOSAN DIEGO

DanaDanaDanaDanaDanaDanaDanaDanaDanaPointPointPointPointPointPointPointPointPoint

U.S.-Mexico Int'l BorderU.S.-Mexico Int'l BorderU.S.-Mexico Int'l BorderU.S.-Mexico Int'l BorderU.S.-Mexico Int'l BorderU.S.-Mexico Int'l BorderU.S.-Mexico Int'l BorderU.S.-Mexico Int'l BorderU.S.-Mexico Int'l Border

SANTA BARBARASANTA BARBARASANTA BARBARASANTA BARBARASANTA BARBARASANTA BARBARASANTA BARBARASANTA BARBARASANTA BARBARA

PointPointPointPointPointPointPointPointPointConceptionConceptionConceptionConceptionConceptionConceptionConceptionConceptionConception

PointPointPointPointPointPointPointPointPointDumeDumeDumeDumeDumeDumeDumeDumeDume

PointPointPointPointPointPointPointPointPointDumeDumeDumeDumeDumeDumeDumeDumeDume

SantaSantaSantaSantaSantaSantaSantaSantaSantaMonicaMonicaMonicaMonicaMonicaMonicaMonicaMonicaMonica

BayBayBayBayBayBayBayBayBay

Total DDTng/dry g (No. sites)

500 to 2,500 (8) 50 to 500 (37) 10 to 50 (57) RL to 10 (102) Below RL (44)

Monthly Standards

0102030405060

Remainingshoreline

Within 100yards of outlet

Beach nearfreshwater

outlets

Per

cen

t o

f sh

ore

lin

efa

ilin

g s

tan

dar

ds

SANTA MONICA BAY SEDIMENT(Final Round)

Component LAB-1 LAB-2 LAB-3 LAB-4 LAB-5 LAB-6

Naphthalene 213 162 170 191 139 1932-Methylnapthalene 376 435 480 532 405 525Biphenyl 659 644 850 800 606 7962,6-Dimethylnaphthalene 403 212 255 343 228 269Fluorene 33 25 50 40 24 53Phenanthrene 116 131 145 130 109 1411-Methylphenanthrene 16 62 27 68 51 128Fluoranthene 152 280 150 135 87 183Pyrene 227 196 155 230 79 185Benz[a]anthracene 91 126 145 118 65 114Chrysene 113 88 121 152 83 145Benzo[e]pyrene 129 115 155 183 171 115benzo[a]pyrene 125 109 195 191 162 66Perylene 62 91 79 110 72 26benzo[g,h,I]perylene 30 100 nd nd 109 97

TOTAL 3,279 3,280 3,653 3,927 2,957 3,515

SANTA MONICA BAY SEDIMENT(First Round)

Component LAB-1 LAB-2 LAB-3 LAB-4 LAB-5 LAB-6 LAB-7 LAB-8 LAB-9

Naphthalene 54 171 279 27 139 259 54 211 872-Methylnapthalene 129 485 721 59 405 615 193 653 270Biphenyl 233 756 1,140 97 606 770 297 650 4372,6-Dimethylnaphthalene 131 217 401 37 228 203 94 356 138Fluorene 0 38 75 2 24 69 nd 26 19Phenanthrene 0 137 469 9 109 112 69 95 901-Methylphenanthrene 0 154 0 0 51 nd nd 31 52Fluoranthene 76 0 495 26 87 108 187 173 149Pyrene 91 0 1,120 28 79 111 153 165 158Benz[a]anthracene 0 0 284 30 65 38 140 100 122Chrysene 60 0 320 31 83 46 167 136 151Benzo[e]pyrene 0 0 367 11 171 63 117 195 138benzo[a]pyrene 0 0 409 13 162 nd 163 189 139Perylene 0 249 183 5 72 32 81 59 83benzo[g,h,I]perylene 0 0 60 0 109 30 160 163 nd

TOTAL 834 2,418 7,657 451 2,957 2,836 2,294 4,034 2,493

STORMWATER ASSESSMENT

• Where does the plume go?

• Is it toxic?

-- Seasonal patterns

• What are the causes of toxicity

-- Toxicity identification evaluation

Santa Monica Storm Drain

0

50

100

150

200

250

0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20

Time (minutes)

Dye

Co

nc

(pp

b)

25 meters

50 meters

100 meters

SeptOct

NovDec Jan

FebMar Jul

AugSept

OctNov

Dec JanFeb

MarApr

May

Cum

ulat

ive

Rai

nfal

l (in

)

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35T

oxic

Uni

ts

0

10

20

30

40Cumulative Rain

Toxic Units

1996 1997 1998

Ballona Creek Stormwater

DISSOLVED METALS

Median

EffectiveConcentration Ballona Creek

(ug/L) (ug/L) Cd1200 nd-1CU 31 3 – 28Zn 22 36 – 183Mn >40,000 1 – 114Pb nd – 16Ni 1 - 5

Dilution

Decay

Current

Beach

BacterialConcentration

Flow

Plume Dispersion Study

Storm Drain

Santa Monica Storm Drain

0

5

10

15

20

25

0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45

Time (minutes)

Dye

Co

nc

(pp

b)

25 meters

50 meters

100 meters

SOME SCIENTIFIC ASPECTS OFTMDL DEVELOPMENT

• Problem definition

• Source identification

• Model development

-- Hydrodynamic component

-- Rate processes

Source 1100,000 MPN/100mL

Slow Stream, Fast Degradation

Source 1100,000 MPN/100mL

Source 21,000 MPN/100mL

FLOW

10,000

5,000

1,000

200 900

Fast Stream, Slow Degradation

Source 21,000 MPN/100mL

FLOW

95,000

90,000

85,000

80,000 995

BACTERIAL DEGRADATION STUDY

• Six day study

-- Every six hours the first day

• Three bacteria plus virus

• Several potential factors

-- Type of inocculant (sewage, stormwater)

-- Temperature

-- UV radiation

-- Suspended solids

-- Nutrient concentration