watershed planning - lake and stream leaders 2013 kline-robach · 2017. 5. 5. · lake and stream...

Lake and Stream Leaders Institute - Session 1

1

Watershed Planning for Water Quality Management

Why Plan and Manage on a Watershed Basis?

Properly managing land activities protects water for designated and desired uses

Upstream activities impact downstream Builds on strengths of existing programs Leverage local resources Involves all stakeholders Address concerns in an integrated, cost

effective manner

A watershed approach helps to...A watershed approach helps to...

2. Facilitate Communication

and Partnerships

3. Provide Means of Cost-Effective Management

1. Encourage Sound Science

4. Focus on Environmental Results

The Watershed Planning Process

EPA’s Nine Elements for Plans

a. Identify causes & sources of pollutionb. Estimate load reductions expected c. Describe mgmt measures & targeted critical areasd. Estimate technical and financial assistance needed e. Develop education component f. Develop project schedule g. Describe interim, measurable milestonesh. Identify indicators to measure progressi. Develop a monitoring component

Source: US EPA, 2004 319 Supplemental Guidelines


2

CHAPTER 1

Identifying and Networking with Local Agencies and Citizens

Initial Steps

Identify your watershed concerns Identify groups/individuals with similar

concerns Conduct a stakeholder meeting Develop a watershed description

What is a stakeholder?

A group or individual who: has the responsibility for

implementing the decision. is affected by the decision. has the ability to impede or

assist in implementing the decision.

Why are stakeholders important to the process?

Ensures that concerns are factored into the decisions made

Shares the responsibility of the decision Enables partnerships to be formed to combine

financial resources Shares implementation of the decision Establishes a framework for planning and

conducting management activities

First stakeholder meeting Discuss all existing and perceived concerns Opportunity for everyone to state their

concerns Record concerns Assemble a steering committee

TIPA steering committee

provides overall direction.

Members include decision makers

and groups affected by the

change.


3

Identify a lead organization Ensures planning & implementation moves

forward Represents entire area Ideally, has staff & resources

Form a technical committee

TIPA technical

committee provides technical information to the

steering committee.

Members are experts in one or

more fields.

•Professional expertise

•Access to resources (maps, data)

Determine the boundaries and size of your watershed based on: concerns watershed characteristics manageable size

less than 150 square miles or 100,000 acres is recommended

Hydrologically Distinct Watershed

entire river system river tributary from headwaters to point

where joins main branch segment of river from headwaters to a dam,

or where a tributary joins the river lake watershed

Geographic Scope

Description of the watershed (page 7) Map with watershed boundaries and

location of all surface waters Watershed boundaries Location of all surface waters

(lakes, rivers, streams, wetlands)

Kalamazoo River Watershed Sub-basins• Gun River

• 4 Townships

• Battle Creek River

• Portage & Arcadia Creeks

• Davis Creek

• Rice Creek


4

Lake Allegan Gun Lake

Exercise:Gun River Watershed

Allegan/Barry Counties

107 sq. miles

Developing a watershed description

Gun River – Allegan/Barry Counties 107 square miles including State Recreation Area Increasing development pressure Two wastewater treatment plants Heavily drained and irrigated agriculture

Includes twelve miles of intercounty drain Agricultural lands flood frequently Base flows significantly reduced in summer

Gun Lake Fully developed and sewered, all-sports lake DNR access, parks and campground Invasive species: E. milfoil, zebra mussels

Includes designated coldwater fishery

Gun River WatershedThe Gun River Watershed (Watershed) encompasses an area of 73,272

acres in Allegan and Barry Counties, Michigan. The Gun River flows from Gun Lake through agricultural land into the urbanizing area of Otsego Township, Allegan County, where it joins the Kalamazoo River. The Gun River and its tributaries are impaired by nonpoint source (NPS) pollution. Previous studies have identified pathogens, phosphorus, polychlorinated biphenyls s (PCBs), mercury, nutrients, and poor macroinvertebrate communities as degrading the water quality in certain waterbodies within the Watershed. Other significant water quality impairments include degraded indigenous aquatic habitat, a decline of biotic diversity, and reduced fish populations caused by sedimentation.

CHAPTER 2

Getting to Know Your Watershed

Steps Identify designated & desired uses Identify pollutants, sources and causes Estimate pollutant loads Develop goals based on designated/desired

uses and desired load reductions Develop an initial water quality summary


5

Designated Uses Agriculture Industrial water supply Public water supply Navigation Warmwater fishery* Other indigenous aquatic life & wildlife Partial body contact recreation Total body contact recreation (May 1- Oct 31)

*Some water bodies - coldwater fishery

Is your waterbody meeting designated uses?

TIP Contact DEQ

staff, or local agencies for assistance.

•Identify designated use that corresponds to each watershed concern

•Determine if the waterbody is impaired

Example Watershed – page 8Concerns

Algal blooms

Eroding road-stream crossings, river flooding

Livestock in streams, poor fishing

Designated UsesPartial body contact recreation, warmwater fishery

Aquatic life/wildlife

Warmwater fishery

Desired Uses

How you want to use your watershed

Go beyond water quality concerns

Exercise 2:

Gun River Watershed


107 sq. miles

Relating watershed concerns with designated uses


6

Impaired Designated Use

Warmwater fishery

Threatened Designated Use

Public groundwater supply

Pollutants

Sediment (k) nutrients (k) hydrologic flow (s) and pesticides (s)

______________________

Nutrients - nitrates in drinking water (k)

Identify known (k) or suspected (s) pollutants of concern in your watershed

Identify known (k) or suspected (s) sources of pollutants in your watershed

Pollutants

Sediment (k) nutrients (k) hydrologic flow (s)

__________________


Sources

Road-stream crossings(k), eroding stream banks (k), urban stormwater(s)

_____________________

Livestock manure (s), nitrogen fertilizers (s), septic systems (s)

Identify known or suspected causes of the sources of pollutants in your watershed

Pollutants

Sediment (k) nutrients (k) hydrologic flow (s)

________________


Sources

Road crossings(k), stream banks (k), urban stormwater (s)

_________________

Livestock manure (s), nitrogen fertilizers (s), septic systems (s)

Causes

Undersized culverts (k), flashy flows(s), poor mgt.practices(s)

_______________

Over application/lack of soil testing(s), poor design & maintenance(s)

Understanding pollutants, sources and causes

Definition:Cause is the condition that is creating the

source of the pollutant

NOTE: To design a successful pollution control measure, you must understand the cause.

Table of known (k) or suspected (s)pollutants, sources and causes

Pollutant Source Cause

E.coli bacteria(k) Livestock in stream(k),

Failing septic systems(s)

Unrestricted access(k)

Poor design and maintenance(s)

Exercise 3

Create a list of preliminary pollutants, sources and whether they are known or suspected. If they are

known, how do you know?


7

Exercise 3

Gun River Watershed


107 sq. miles

Identifying pollutants, sources and causes

Estimating Pollutant Loads

Why is Pollutant Load Estimation Necessary?

Identify relative magnitude of contributions from different sources

Determine whether locations of sources are critical

Evaluate timing of source loading

Target future management efforts Plan restoration strategies

Project future loads under changing conditions

Develop a mechanism for quantifying potential improvement

Pollutant Load Estimation Approaches

Has it already been done? Total Maximum Daily Loads (TMDLs)

Other local and regional studies

If not… Data-driven approaches

Best when detailed monitoring data is available

Models Provide greater insight into impact of sources (temporally

and spatially)

Readily allow for evaluation of future conditions

Data-driven Approaches

Estimate source loads using: Monitoring data

Periodic water quality concentrations and flow gauging data

Facility discharge monitoring reports

Literature Loading rates, often by landuse (e.g., lbs/acre/year)

Typical facility concentrations and flow

If a Data-driven Approach Isn’t Enough…Models are Available

A theoretical construct, together with assignment of numerical values to

model parameters, incorporating some prior observations drawn from

field and laboratory data, and relating external inputs or forcing functions to

system variable responses

* Definition from: Thomann and Mueller, 1987

What is a Model?


8

Is a Model Necessary? It depends what you want to know… What are the loads associated with individual

sources? Where and when does impairment occur? Is a particular source or multiple sources generally

causing the problem? Will management actions result in meeting water

quality standards? Which combination of management actions will

most effectively meet load targets? Will future conditions make impairments worse? How can future growth be managed to minimize

adverse impacts?

Probably Not

Probably

Develop goals based on…. Designated uses

Threatened Impaired

Desired uses Desired load reductions

Example: Reduce soil erosion and sedimentation to protect the warm water fishery.

Chapter 3

Defining the Critical Area in Your Watershed Plan

or Getting the biggest bang for your

buck!

What is A Critical Area?

The geographic portion of the watershed that contributes a majority of the pollutants and is having a significant impact on the water body.

What Are the Purposes for Defining the Critical Area?

• Identifies the geographic area that will be inventoried in detail

•Determines the geographic area that will have water quality improvement practices installed

Ways to identify the Critical Area:

Corridor

Subwatershed

Entire Watershed

Combination


9

Delineate Critical Area based on data analysis such as:

Designated Uses

Pollutant Loads and their Sources

Pathway of the Pollutants & Distance to the Water Body

Topography Soils Land Use and Management

Chapter 4

Surveying the Watershed to Inventory Your Critical Area

Reasons for the Inventory

1) Refine the list of known and suspected pollutants, sources and causes

2) To locate the sources of pollution on a watershed map

3) Quantify or categorize the sources of pollution4) To move the Steering and Technical

Committees to a position of knowledge5) Refine the Critical Area

What Methods Are Available For Inventorying the Critical Area?

Visual Public Surveys Computer Modeling Monitoring

Monitoring

1) Habitat Monitoring

2) Chemical Water Quality Monitoring

3) Hydrologic Monitoring

At this point….. Defined a critical area Conducted an inventory of that critical area Updated and refined your table of: pollutants,

sources and causes and pollutant loads Added numbers and locations of sites

corresponding with each source Documented the method(s) used to conduct your

inventory. Developed initial goals.


10

CHAPTER 5

Prioritizing Pollutants, Sources and Causes

Exercise 4:

Gun River Watershed


107 sq. miles

Prioritizing pollutants, sources and causes within the critical area

Questions?CHAPTER 6

Determining Objectives for Your Watershed Goals

Develop objectives for each of your watershed goals

Review initial goals & determine how you will reduce pollution from a source to protect or restore a designated/desired use

Example WatershedObjectives for One Goal

GoalRestore the

warmwater fishery

ObjectivesReduce the amount of sediment by: Stabilizing eroding road-stream

crossings Stabilizing eroding stream banks Restricting livestock from the

stream


11

Chapter 7

Identify BMPs for each source or cause of pollution in the watershed

Combine BMPs into Systems

What are BMPs?

Best Management Practices (BMPs) are measures and actions that interrupt the detachment, transport and delivery of pollutants. BMPs prevent or reduce pollution from nonpoint sources.

Structural

Vegetative Managerial


12

BMPs are typically planned and applied as systems. Quantifying BMPs

Quantifying potential impacts from BMPs is critical to watershed planning! Provides a guide toward achieving load reduction goal

Informs selection of a management strategy

Spreadsheet and modeling tools are available Spreadsheet tools

Most useful for watershed-scale analysis

Operate on a large time step

Watershed/site-scale models Useful for local scale, as well as watershed-scale

Can operate on a short time-step (including individual storms)

Provide a key first step for engineering design

BMP Optimization

What is optimum? Minimize cost Maximize pollutant flow and/or load reduction Combination of the above

Find optimum BMP placement and selection strategies based on pre-selected potential sites and applicable BMP types

Identify Specific BMP Options Guidance Manuals:

Guidebook of Best Management Practices for Michigan Watersheds

Water Quality Practices on Forest Land Storm Water Management Guide Book Natural Resources Protection Strategy for

Michigan Golf Courses National Mgmt Measures to Control NPS

Pollution from Agriculture


13

CHAPTER 8

Identifying and Analyzing Projects, Programs and Ordinances

Steps

Identify the local programs, projects, ordinances and design standards that currently impact water quality

Evaluate them to see if they are consistent with the goals of your watershed plan

Identify opportunities to coordinate with or improve upon them

Clean Water Act - Stormwater

Regulates Municipal Separate Storm Sewers (MS4s)

Permit required since 2003

Owned/operated by a municipality or public agency

Discharges to surface waters of the state

Stormwater Permit Requirements

Public Participation Public Education Illicit Discharge Elimination Construction Stormwater Runoff Post Construction Stormwater Runoff Pollution Prevention and Good Housekeeping Water Quality Requirements (addressing Total

Maximum Daily Loads for specific pollutants)

Are existing programs, projects & ordinances consistent with the goals

of your watershed plan? Relate to the goals of the watershed? Effectively addressing water quality? If

not, what needs to change? What partnerships exist? How well are they

working? Opportunities for cooperation on new

activities?


14

Asking the right questions . . . Who can help implement the BMPs or controls?

Agencies, businesses, non-profits, citizens, producers

How can they be implemented? What has been done in the past? How well did it work? Can we do it (or adapt it) here?

When can we get started? Reasonable short-term actions Long-term or major actions

How do we know if it’s working? And what do we do if it’s not?

Chapter 9Informing and Involving

the Public

Developing info/ed activities Define overall goal and objectives Identify and characterize target audience Create message(s) for target audience(s) Package the messages for distribution Distribute messages to the audiences Evaluate the information/education effort

81

Delivering the Message

Some Pointers from Experience: Create an I/E Subcommittee Keep the message simple and straightforward Use graphics and photos to illustrate Events in the watershed give a sense of ownership Communicate and build partnerships Be visible in the watershed, partner meetings, and media Create a logo for the watershed and use it on everything

Develop a Public Participation Process for the Plan

Show the opportunities for public comment

Partners (stakeholders) involvement in developing the watershed plan


15

An Approvable Watershed Plan

Must include an I/E Strategy and a summary of the public participation process used in developing the plan. It should show the opportunity for public comment and how the partners were involved in developing the watershed plan.

Chapter 10

Evaluation

Develop an Evaluation Process

A description of the strategies that will be used to evaluate the effectiveness of implementing the plan and achieving its goals

Monitoring component to measure water quality changes over time

Why is an evaluation important?

• Tells whether or not your efforts are successful

• Provides a feedback loop for improvement

An evaluation can show…

• Changes in knowledge or awareness

• Changes in attitudes or behavior

• Which BMPs were adopted or not

• Changes in condition of the watershed

• Improvements in water quality

Establish indicators & targets for management objectives

INDICATOR = measurable parameter used to evaluate relationship between pollutant sources and environmental conditions

TARGET = value of indicator that is set as the goal to achieve


16

Other types of indicators Environmental Indicators:

# of occurrences of algal blooms miles of streambank restored or fenced off % increase in “healthy-stream” critters Increase in DO # of waterbodies restored

Administrative/programmatic indicators: # of BMPs installed # of newspaper stories printed # of people educated/trained # of public meetings held # of volunteers attending activities # of storm drains stenciled

Select an evaluation method that is right for your watershed

For each objective or task ask: “How can I measure effectiveness?”

Select an evaluation method that performs the desired measurement.

Chapter 11Write the Plan

Assemble the Plan Document

• Provides the “Big Picture” of the watershed

• Describes action-oriented tasks to address water quality in the watershed

Contents of a Watershed Plan Introduction

Plan area & description, partners, background

Water quality information & analysis WQ goals, monitoring/assessment results Key pollutants / sources, causes, current loads

Proposed management measures Load reductions needed, BMP types proposed Reductions expected from BMPs, installation sites

Implementation plan Public info/education & outreach/involvement plan BMP/$$/TA support sources, project schedule & costs

Monitoring and adaptive management approach Interim measurable milestones, load reduction criteria Evaluation framework, monitoring plan & partners

Implement the Plan• Monitor and encourage Partners/Stakeholders

to complete Assignments on Schedule

• Evaluate and Report Progress

• Celebrate Successes

• Update the Plan

watershed planning - lake and stream leaders 2013 kline-robach · 2017. 5. 5. · lake and stream...

Documents