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USGS Urban Waters Portal

Donna Myers, Chief Office of Water Qualitydnmyers@usgs.gov (703) 648-5012

River Rally Charleston, SC

June 4, 2011 Great Falls of the Potomac River near Washington, D.C.U.S. Department of Interior

U.S. Geological Survey

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Goals of this Presentation

n Urbanization and Water Quality Trends

n Major Stories on Contaminants and Biota

n Scientific and Educational Tools for Watershed Organizations

n USGS Urban Waters Portal

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UrbanizationNew York City 1609

New York City 2009

National Geographic Society, September 2009 Issue

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USGS has investigated urban water quality across the Nation

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Problems for Urban Streams

Stormwater Contaminants, Litter, Altered Hydrology

0 20 40 60 80 0 20 40 60 80 0 20 40 60 80

Percent Urban Land Cover

5

20

35

5

20

35

Com

poun

ds d

etec

ted

y=0.283x+8.15

r2=0.63, p<0.0001

y=0.179x+8.65

r2=0.45, p<0.0001

y=0.170x+10.3

r2=0.71, p<0.0001

y=0.191x+1.88

r2=0.72, p<0.0001

y=0.070x+5.09

r2=0.17, p<0.05

y=0.186x+4.95

r2=0.53, p<0.0001

Raleigh Denver

Dallas Portland Milwaukee

Atlanta

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The number of chemical compounds detected was related to urban land cover (up to 140 Compounds)

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PESTICIDE CONCENTRATIONS FOLLOWSEASONAL AND LAND USE PATTERNS

(USGS Circular 1291)

Urban StreamsAgricultural Streams Herbicides

Insecticides

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Source: USGS Mineral Commodity Assessment

Salt Consumption or Use

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Trends in Chloride in Streams (1978-2003)

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Lead Trends in Lake Sediment Cores 1965 to Present

PAH (hydrocarbon) Trends in Lake Sediment Cores, 1970 to 2001

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q Produced by combustion of fossil fuels

qMany are carcinogenic, toxic, and mutagenic

qUrban sources:qUsed motor oilqExhaustq Industrial emissionsqAsphaltqCoal tarqTires

PAHs Sources?(polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons)

qSealcoat Benzo (a) pyrene

Pyrene

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Refined Coal Tar Sealcoat

… and long after

DuringBefore …

After

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54

15,000

3,500

620

Urban Lakes12 mg/kg

Charles R. MA66 mg/kg

Black R. Ohio1,100 mg/kg

(Superfund site)Used Oil600 mg/kgTires80-200 mg/kg

Asphalt2-10 mg/kg

PAHs in Parking Lot Runoff

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q Austin, TX, Dane County, WI, Washington D.C., State of Washington, and several small municipalities ban CT sealcoat (2006-11)

Policy Relevance

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How do stream ecosystems respond to urbanization?

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The effects of urbanization vary by City, but why?

DENVER

y = -0.0052x + 1.6646R2 = 0.0477

-0.5

0

0.5

1

1.5

2

2.5

3

0 30 60 90 120

BOSTONy = -0.0271x + 2.5184

R2 = 0.8179

-0.50

0.51

1.52

2.53

0 30 60 90 120

NM

DS

Axi

s 1

URBAN INTENSITY INDEXCuffney and others, 2008

Inde

x of

Pol

lutio

n Se

nsiti

ve A

quat

ic In

sect

s

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Previous land cover sets the baseline for the effects of urbanization on aquatic organisms

0

20

40

60

80

100

Atlanta

Birming

ham

Boston

Raleigh

Dallas

Denve

r

Milwau

kee

Portla

nd

Salt Lak

e

Perc

ent B

asin

Are

a

Forest + shrublandsAgriculture + grasslands

LAND COVER AT BACKGROUND SITES (UII<20)

EAST CENTRAL WESTCENTRAL

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http://co.water.usgs.gov/nawqa/urbanPortal/index.html

Urban Water-Quality Issues Addressed through Multiple Studies

"Stream protection and management is a top priority of state and local officials, …," said Tom Schueler, Chesapeake Bay Storm Water Network coordinator. "The USGS information has been useful in helping us to predict and manage the future impacts of urban development on streams and reinforces the importance of having green infrastructure to control storm water runoff and protect aquatic life."

USGS Urban Waters Portal