sarah hippensteel hall, phd manager, watershed ...no = 21.4% primary causes: nutrients sediment...
TRANSCRIPT
Sarah Hippensteel Hall, PhD
Manager, Watershed Partnerships
October 2014
Ohio’s Great Miami River Watershed
4,000 mi² / 15 counties
1.5 million residents
Major rivers:
Great Miami River
Stillwater River
Mad River
Excellent & abundant groundwater
> 70% of land use is in agriculture
Ohio’s Great Corridor “Vibrant city
waterfronts …land & water trails… picturesque farmland… exquisite natural areas.”
Annual River Summit
What’s GREAT about it? Cities protected from flooding
Water abundance
Excellent drinking water
Protected greenspace
World class fishing
Water & recreation trails
Economic opportunities
Our aquifer!
Ohio’s Great Corridor…key to workforce attraction & retention 300+ miles of recreation trails
270+ miles of water trails
River corridor access
Economic impact of outdoor recreation Nationally
6.1 million direct American jobs
$646 billion in direct consumer spending
$39.9 billion in federal tax revenue
Ohio:
$17.4 billion in direct consumer spending
$1.3 billion in state/local tax revenue
Piqua – 1.7 Million
Troy –2 Million
Dayton – 60+ Million
West Carrollton – 10 Million
Miamisburg – 20 Million
Middletown –1 Million
Hamilton –4.9 Million
US Army Corps of Engineers – largest ever riverfront study
New investment in Ohio’s Great Corridor
Dayton Water Street Development
Dayton…the hub of Ohio’s Great Corridor
Dayton…the hub of Ohio’s Great Corridor
What’s the problem? Too many nutrients
Downstream
Great Miami River
Watershed
Gulf hypoxia
Watershed Total Nitrogen Total Phosphorus
Upper Great Miami 27th 289th
Lower Great Miami 31st 58th
USGS load rankings for 818 subwatersheds (HUC8s) of the Gulf of Mexico
From: Supplement to Robertson et. al., 2009 Journal of the American Water Resources Association
Are we meeting water quality goals? Of our monitored streams:
Yes = 58.8%
Almost = 19.8%
No = 21.4%
Primary causes:
Nutrients
Sediment
Changes to shape of stream channel
New infographic
What’s the solution? Reduce nutrients
Market-based solution • WWTP upgrades = $422.5 million
• Trading = $46.5 million – Agriculture practices = $37.8 million – Data collection & transaction costs = $8.7 million
• Citizens & businesses save $376 million
Nutrient reducing projects Cover Crops
Conservation tillage
Rotation
Cover crops
Milk house/cow lot
Pasture seeding/prescribed grazing
Sod
Hayland
Manure storage
Filter strips
Grid sampling
Better environmental results Reduce nutrient impairment
Reduce other pollutants
Create habitat
Provide cooling effects
Enhance streambank stability
Decrease flow velocity
Create wetlands
Protect floodplains
Increase assimilative capacity
Benefit energy/greenhouse gases
Founding Investor’s Group City of Dayton
Butler County
Tri-Cities (Huber Heights, Vandalia, and Tipp City)
City of Englewood
City of Union
Pilot Program 11 reverse auctions (“rounds”)
Projects = 397
Nutrient reductions > 572 tons
Payment total = $1.697 million
Cost < $1.48 per lb.
Founding Investor’s Group
MCD’s origins
• Great flood of 1913
• Ohio Conservancy Act
– Signed into law in 1914
– Watershed-based political subdivision
– Broad authority primarily for water-related purposes
• MCD established 1915
Flood Protection 5 flow-through dams
55 Miles of levees
Protection to all cities from Piqua to Hamilton
Floodplain preservation 400,000 trees
Preserves behind each dam
And now? Public policy and regulation can be a barrier to
solutions.