reflections on nps management - neiwpcc · 0 5 10 15 # of rain events > 2" in 24 hours 1940...
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REFLECTIONS ON NPS MANAGEMENT
Towards a Healthy Casco Bay Watershed
Curtis C. BohlenDirector, Casco Bay Estuary Partnership
Buzzword Bingo!Buzzword
BINGOGreen
InfrastructureOpen Space Subdivision
LIDNonpoint Source
SRF Program
Smart GrowthImpaired Waters
Outreach RetrofitClimate Change
InfrastructurePorous
PavementWatershed(Free)
Fertilizer Use NPDES
TMDL Accountability OrdinanceWatershed
PlanStormwater
SustainabilityGroundwater
RechargeSocial
MarketingPhosphorus BMP
Casco Bay Estuary Partnership
One of 28 National Estuary Programs
Science basedWatershed focusedLocally ledCollaborative –A focus on partnership
People Want to Be on the Coasts
Coastal Counties Nationwide
13% land43% population40% employment49% economic output
Housing on Portland’s Waterfront
Marine Resources
Recreation
Transportation
A Sense of Place
Place in A Mobile Economy
People and businesses are increasingly free to locate almost anywhere
Sense of place becomes a key asset for a community
How does water quality management relate o building the places we want to live?
Casco Bay Watershed
985 Square Miles42 MunicipalitiesAbout 200 Square Miles of WaterMore than 575 miles of shoreline785 islands, islets and ledges3% Maine’s land area ~20% of population You are here
When I Look Upstream, I See…
Mostly forest~ 67% Upland Forest~ 5% Wetland~11% DevelopedOnly about 6% Impervious Cover
~250,000 people in the watershed (2000 census)Population Density ~ 255 people per square mile
That Ain’t So Bad….
Santa Monica Bay Restoration Commission (another NEP)
266-square mile Bay400-square mile watershed.1.9 MILLION population
Population Density of 4750 people / sq mile
Estimated to reach ~ 2.5 million by2020Significant portions of the watershed > 85% impervious
Photo: Marshall Astor, via Flickr.com
What’s Coming:Population Change 1950 - 2030
1950 : ~ 229,500 2030: ~405,5002005: ~ 363, 000
Developed Land in Maine is Changing Faster than Population
Source: Land and Water Resources Council, SPO
Urbanization is Hard on Streams
Roofs, roadways, parking lots speed water to the streamStreams channelized, floodplains filledRiparian vegetation removedWeakened connection between channel and floodplainOils, metals, road salts, fertilizer, pesticides, pet waste, sediment...
Time
Pre-developmentHydrograph
Post-developmentHydrograph
StreamDischarge
Contiguous Habitat Blocks
Key Question
What kind of a landscape do we wish to live in?In 2030
The watershed willhave more residentsThey will need services
Commercial centersRoads, Schools
How will that be work?
Smart Growth
Why is it so hard to get anyone to do it?Similar ideas have been around for 20+ years…
Success will come once the conversation moves beyond “protection”, even “restoration” building the landscapes we want to inhabit
We can not allow ourselves to get trapped in our Buzzword Bingo
Landscapes are Constructed
Source: The Manahatta Project http://themannahattaproject.org/
Landscapes are Constructed
The meaning of a landscape is not given
Humans build not only landscape, but meaning
Meaning is mutable
Meaning inspires what we do on the land
Two Landscape Extremes
Manhattan East Penobscot Forest
Human Dominated Systems Nature Dominated Systems
Landscape Ternary Diagram
Degraded
Maintained By Cultural Processes
Maintained By Natural Processes
Restoration
Capital Investment
Ecosystem Engineering
Increasing ecosystem services
Rules For Healthy Landscapes
Don’t export troubleWhat’s downstream?What’s downwind?
Mimic, or better yet, work with natural processes
Minimize export of troubleSelf-maintainingCost- effective
Trapezoidal Channels
1950s-60sGet Rid of Water as Fast as PossibleCombined SewersFence people out
BIG Holes in the Ground
1970s -1990sDump the water someplace out of the wayDrain it away slowlyFence people out
Focus on protecting peak flowsExporting problems
Shallower holes in the ground
1980s -2000sFocus on “treatment”Shallower systems
“Created wetlands”
Treatment and peak flow not just hydrologyExporting fewer problems
LID (Hosanna! Choirs of Angels!)
LID
Finally, we get it…. Right?Treat water at the sourceMimic natural hydrology
No. LID is still a set of technical toolsWe should be playing a part in shaping the purposes to which those tools are putEnvisioning the landscape, building its meaningCreating a compelling vision of the kind of landscape we wish to inhabit
Envisioning a Future for Long Creek
Envisioning Long Creek
Where could the Long Creek Watershed be in 25 years?
VISION:Long Creek as an amenityA healthy watershed attracts people to the commercial center
Hiking trailsParks
Reconnect people to placeReductions in car habitat, to build habitat for humans… and for other living things
Climate Change Makes it all Harder… But More Essential
0
5
10
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1940 1965 1990# o
f Ra
in E
vent
s >
2"
in 2
4 H
ours
Year
Extreme Rain Events, Portland
404244464850
1890 1910 1930 1950 1970 1990 2010Tem
pera
ture
(o F)
Year
Portland Temperature
253545556575
1890191019301950197019902010
Ann
ual
Prec
ipita
tion
(in)
Year
Portland Annual Precipitation
050
100150
1800 1850 1900 1950 2000
Julia
n D
ays
to Ic
e-O
ut
Year
Sebago Lake Ice- Out Date
Ice OutNo Ice-In
What’s this all about?
What would it take to restore anadromous salmon to Maine’s Rivers?Constructing landscapes in which cold water fish can thrive.The question is, how do we do that and accommodate ~ 15% more people in The Casco Bay watershed in the next 20 years?
What is this all about?
That’s me, after catching a 64 lb halibut off Jonesport in 1967That was a big enough fish to be newsworthy even thenMy son is 17. He won’t have a similar experience.Perhaps my grandson will.
What’s this All About?
China Lake, October, 2007
Algal blooms are a regular occurrence on many Maine lakesEnvision a future with (built and natural) landscapes that reduce P loadingNPS control, LID, BMPs, and the rest of the alphabet soup are tactics.
Frog in a Cement Pond
Storm Hydrographs
Time
Pre-developmentHydrograph
Post-developmentHydrograph
StreamDischarge
Effects of DevelopmentOn Storm Hydrograph
Side Flat, Woolwich, Maine
NPV of mudflat to bloodworm diggers ~ $19,700 per acre
Looking Upstream
(Yes, this is in the Long Creek Watershed)
Choices in Landscape Management
Rely on Natural Processes
Rely on Cultural Processes
Financial costs of maintenance
Low – Provided by Ecosystem Services
High –resist natural processes
System repair or restoration Difficult / Complex Easier
Primary tools Restoration, Preservation
Enhancement, Engineering
Most NPS technologies are hybrids – Technical on smaller scale,
Predicted Prices
Bangor dominated patternNote effect of neighborhood near the river
Landscape Diversity and Development