Water Quality in the Middle Grand River Andrea Stay Eaton Conservation District
Feb 25, 2016
Water Quality in the Middle Grand River
Andrea StayEaton Conservation District
Middle Grand River Watershed
9 subwatersheds~ 258 sq. miles~ 165,000 acres
Data CollectionCompleted by ECD staff and volunteersMay-September 2012Only one field season
1) Macroinvertebrate collection2) Ag Practices Survey3) E-coli sampling4) Social Indicator Survey
http://dumais.us/newtown/blog/?p=8300
www.nrtz.govt.nz
www.vernier.com
www.fs.fed.us
www.wjbc.com
Macroinvertebrate Sampling
Agricultural Practices Survey
Ag Inventory: Preliminary Results
E. coli Sampling
Schedule4 consecutive weeks July 10-314 consecutive weeks August 14 – September
421 sites total; 3 samples/site
Bacterial Source Tracking September 1311 sites
Colony Concentration Human sewage presence/absence DNA genotyping (bovine and equine)
July E. coli Monitoring Results
August E. coli Monitoring Results
Source tracking day # of Samples collected at each site3 for colony concentration4 for DNA source tracking1 for canine detection
+blanks and duplicates
Source Tracking
Lab Costs of E. coli sampling E. coli Colony Count (surface water)
$15 for 10-10,000 colonies$25 for 10-1,000,000 colonies
Human presence/absenceCouple hundred dollars for a few hours. Depends on the
scope of the projectSource Tracking
$150/site /marker X 2 - bulk discounts based on qtySource Tracking by percentage
Cost prohibitiveBlanks and duplicates for each
Other costs: Staff time, supplies, mileage, and postage
Identified E. coli Sources
Social Indicator Survey
Why care about stakeholder perceptions?Land users who affect water qualityBarriers or motivations to improve water
qualityBaseline information to determine efficacy of
engagement efforts
Response RateAgriculture Producers
Exurban Residents
Urban Residents
Surveys Sent 411 945 945
Response 38% 42% 26%
•Interns have been making phone call follow ups to reach 40% across all audiences. •January 2013 will complete data merge and finalize findings
Perceptions: Sources of water pollution
Agricultural Producers1. Waterfowl
droppings2. Improper
HHW disposal3. Sewage
treatment Discharge
Rural1. Excessive
lawn fertilizer/ pesticide
2. Waterfowl Droppings
3. Excessive crop production fertilizers
Urban1. Excessive
lawn fertilizer/ pesticide
2. Improper HHW disposal
3. Excessive Crop production fertilizers
and (tied) Street Runoff
Top 3 in each category pulled from preliminary executive summary, completed by Heather Triezenberg
Trusted Sources of InformationAgricultural
Producers1. MSUE (80%)2. Conservatio
n Districts (77%)
3. Neighbors or friends (75%)
Rural1. MSUE (71%)2. Local
government (62%)
3. MDNR (61%)
Urban1. MSUE (75%)2. MDNR (66%)3. US EPA
(64%)
Users could select all that apply. Top 3 in each category pulled from preliminary executive summary, completed by Heather Triezenberg
Public Education ProgramWhy have 4 versions of outreach
materials talking about water quality?
Similar land use and water quality concerns
Regional media (print, tv, and radio) covers multiple watersheds
MGROW=regional outreach strategy
Moving forwardVolunteer and stakeholder involvementReaching agriculture audienceAdditional data collectionConsistent message
Thank you!
Questions?