developed by: svendsen updated: 12-2003 u1-m1a-s1 why do we care about water??

Developed by: Svendsen Updated: 12-2003 U1-m1a-s1

Why Do We Care About Water??


What are the resources?

More than 3.5 million miles of rivers and streams (including intermittent streams)

www.noaa.gov/str-plan/images/river.gif


How do people use freshwater resources?

Beneficial uses of water

http://water.usgs.gov/pubs/circ/circ1156/circ1156.4D.html


Aquatic life and wildlife support Fish/shellfish consumption Drinking water supply Recreation Agriculture

Beneficial uses: Summary


Beneficial uses: Aquatic life and wildlife support

The waterbody provides suitable habitat for survival and reproduction of desirable fish, shellfish, and other aquatic organisms

http://www.pnl.gov/breakthroughs/images/fall02/fish.jpg

Don Breneman


The water body supports populations that do not pose a human health risk to consumers: Fish free from contaminants Shellfish free from toxicants and pathogens

Beneficial uses: Fish and shellfish consumption

http://seagrant.umn.edu/pubs/vgl/com3.html http://hawaii.gov/health/eh/food/


http://www.doh.wa.gov/ehp/dw/

Beneficial uses: Drinking water supply

The water body can supply safe drinking water with conventional treatment


Beneficial uses: Recreation

Primary contact recreation - Swimming People can swim in the

waterbody without risk of adverse human health effects (such as catching waterborne diseases from raw sewage contamination)

Secondary contact recreation People can perform activities

on the water (such as canoeing) without risk of adverse human health effects from occasional contact with the water

http://www.recreation.gov/FWSimgs/

http://www.recreation.gov/USACEimgs/


Beneficial uses: Agriculture

Agriculture The water quality is suitable for irrigating fields or

watering livestock

http://www.florence.ars.usda.gov/kidsonly/element/dirtcp3.jpg

http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/graphics/photos/jul02/k4117-15i.jpg


Other beneficial uses

Landscaping Power generation Industrial processing and/or cooling

http://www.sfwmd.gov/org/wsd/wateruse/images/sprinkler.jpghttp://www.seagrant.umn.edu/pubs/vgl/medium/168.jpg


How Might Water Quality be Damaged?


Water quality degradation

http://geo.arc.nasa.gov/sge/casa/california.html

http://lakeaccess.org/lakedata/lawnfertilizer/studydesign.htm

http://www.epa.gov/region09/features/animalwaste/images/fish.jpg

http://www.seagrant.umn.edu/pubs/vgl/medium/168.jpg


Beneficial uses: Aquatic life and wildlife support Fish/shellfish consumption Drinking water supply Recreation Agriculture

Water quality degradation

http://drinkingwater.utah.gov/


Percentage of assessed river miles impaired by leading pollutants or stressors: (39% or 269,258 miles impaired)

Water quality degradation: River stressors

Source: Based on 2000 state Section 305(b) reports.


Percentage of assessed river miles impaired by specific sources (39% or 269,258 miles impaired)

Water quality degradation: River pollutant sources

Source: Based on 2000 state Section 305(b) reports.


What is it? How does it differ from Point Source?

Nonpoint source (NPS) pollution

ehpnet1.niehs.nih.gov/docs/1994/ 102-9/focusnonpoint.JPG


Nonpoint source pollution: What is it?

•ehpnet1.niehs.nih.gov/docs/1994/ 102-9/focusnonpoint.JPG

ehpnet1.niehs.nih.gov/docs/1994/ 102-9/focusnonpoint.JPG


NPS pollution: Characteristics

Occurs over extensive areas

Enters receiving water in a diffuse manner

Carried by water over land or through soil profile to receiving water

Difficult to trace to point of origin

Magnitude related to climatic events

http://dnr.metrokc.gov/wlr/watersheds/green/img/Green-River-Flooding-1995.jpg


NPS pollution: Sources of pollutants


NPS pollution: Impact from leading stressors


NPS pollution: Urban storm water

From streets, yards, buildings, and construction sites

Grease, salts, animal wastes, nutrients, sediments, lead, others

http://www.lanl.gov/orgs/pa/News/ParkingClosed.jpg

http://www.planthealth.gov.mt/pest03.JPG

http://lakeaccess.org/lakedata/lawnfertilizer/studydesign.htm

http://www.mqtinfo.org/media/planningeduc/runoff_1.jpg


NPS pollution

Agricultural Nutrients, sediment, pesticides, herbicides

http://www.usda.gov/oc/photo/b93c3671.jpg

http://biology.usgs.gov/s+t/SNT/images/wu108f08.jpghttp://www.ers.usda.gov/Briefing/biotechnology/Images/b94c3886.jpg

http://www.iird.vic.gov.au/Web/ORR/ORR.nsf/ImageLookup/Graphics4/$file/spraying.gif

http://pwa.ars.usda.gov/pendleton/cpcrc/snowmelt.gif


NPS pollution

Forestry / Logging Sediments Pesticides

http://www.em.gov.bc.ca/mining/Geolsurv/Surficial/landslid/plate3.jpg logged

http://www.nps.gov/jofl/resources/connie200x150.jpg


NPS pollution

Mining Sediments Drainage waters with

low pH Heavy metals and

other hazardous mineral

http://www.algor.com/news_pub/cust_app/Colorado_Mines/images%5Cosmre-gov-photo147.jpg


NPS pollution

Atmospheric deposition Carbon dioxide - acid rain Pesticides, herbicides Sediment Mercury, PCBs, others


Fracking


How Do We Protect Our Water?


What can be done to manage the problem?

Nonpoint source pollution: NPS


How Do We Know if We Are Successful?


Monitoring and Assesment


Beneficial uses:

Water quality for the beneficial uses can be degraded by human actions or natural events

The US Environmental Protection Agency is a major federal agency responsible for monitoring and assessing water quality


Beneficial uses: Monitoring program questions

What is the overall quality of waters in the State? To what extent is water quality changing over

time? What are the problem areas and areas needing

protection? The State must identify impaired waters. The State should also identify waters that are

currently of high quality and should be protected from degradation

What level of protection is needed? How effective are clean water projects and

programs?


Beneficial uses: Five levels of water use

1. Fully supporting overall use All designated beneficial uses are fully supported

2. Threatened overall use One or more designated beneficial uses are threatened

and the remaining uses are fully supported

3. Partially supporting overall use One or more designated beneficial uses are partially

supported and the remaining uses are fully supported


Beneficial uses: Five levels of water use

4. Not supporting overall use One or more designated beneficial uses are not

supported

5. Not attainable The State has performed a use-attainability study

and documented that use support of one or more designated beneficial uses is not achievable due to natural conditions or human activity that cannot be reversed without imposing widespread economic and social impacts


Water quality degradation: River use support


Water quality: Assessments problems

Not all bodies of water are assessed Only a small

percentage per yearSupposedly all within a 5 to 10 year window


Water quality: Assessments problems

Intermittent and small tributaries are either not assessed or are very infrequently measured

States tend to focus on known problems Random surveys are rare

States have varying standards Concentration on 2 of 6 use supports Fish advisories not included


What would You Assess?

What data would you want?


Can You Put Your Data in Categories?


Proposed Categories

Physical Chemical Biological


Are These Independent Variables?

How might they relate…if they do?


Building Your Stream Model

Emphasize Relationships Visualize Your Stream

The memory map


Four dimensions: Longitudinal Lateral Vertical Time

Lotic systems

www.aquatic.uoguelph.ca/rivers/chintro.htm

The four dimensions of a lotic system


The shape, size and content of a river are constantly changing, forming a close and mutual interdependence between the river and the land it traverses.

www.aquatic.uoguelph.ca/rivers/chintro.htm

Variation in time and space


The Delaware River Watershed Initiative

DRWI You will be submitting data to ANS

Academy of Natural Sciences Data retained forever

You will be presenting your data Best presentation recognized by DRWI/ANS/PKC

You will work to protect our water Part of something big

You Matter!


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developed by: svendsen updated: 12-2003 u1-m1a-s1 why do we care about water??

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