envbio.waterquality

Water Resources: local issues and compliance tools

1. Review of Water Resources

Sources

Precipitation

Seasonal
Droughts

Groundwater

Can be sources for streams, springs and lakes
Wells

Surface water

Storage in reservoirs and lakes
Intakes from streams

How are they connected?

2. How do you balance water use within the watershed?

Human water use

Irrigation for lawns, golf courses, industries, agriculture
Homes, hotels and resorts

Laundry
Food prep
Pools
Bathrooms

Wildlife water needs: clear and clean water in sufficient quantity to maintain normal flows
Future: what happens when you withdraw more than is recharged?

3. Great Wolf Lodge Cited for Violation

4. Stink at the Wolf: info from the Pocono Record

Hotel with 400 rooms

80 % occupancy but only projected for 65%
Sewage treatment plant had inadequate grease trap -- killed the bacteria that was supposed to break down the sewage in the treatment plant
Problems since Dec. 9 - won’t be able to install additional trap until March 29

Other fixes: collect kitchen grease so it doesn’t go into the treatment system
Skim grease from the sewage tank
Divert stormwater to reduce treatment plant’s load
Outsource laundry to reduce wastewater

5. Picture of Great Wolf Lodge Outfall; Scotrun, March 18, 2006
6. Are there other local problems?

Deforestation of watershed
Impervious cover
Storm water runoff
Turbidity from gravel roads
Mining of ground water

removing from the upper part of the watershed
discharging in the lower part of the watershed

7. What constitutes water pollution?

Turbidity: cloudiness of water
Nutrient pollution

NO2, NO3, NH4
PO4

Toxic chemicals

Heavy metals: copper, arsenic, lead, mercury
Organics: PCBs, pesticides, petroleum products

Thermal pollution
Biological Contamination

Fecal coliform bacteria

8. Some legal water quality definitions: Fauna

CWF: cold water fishes, including salmonidae (trout in this family) and other fauna native to cold water habitat
WWF: warm water fishes
MF: migratory fishes, move up flowing waters to complete life cycle
TSF: Trout stocking, maintenance of stocked trout from Feb. 15 to July 31, and other fauna for maintenance and propagation

9. Water Supply definitons

PWS: Potable water supply, used by public and defined by the Federal Safe Drinking Water Act - after conventional treatment
IWS: Industrial Water Supply
LWS: Livestock Water Supply
AWS: Wildlife water supply
IRS: Irrigation

10. Recreation & Fish Consumption

B: Boating, for recreational purposes when surface water flow or impoundment conditions allow
F: fishing, use for the legal taking of fish, for recreation or consumption
WC: water contact sports: use for swimming and related activities
E: Esthetics, use as an esthetic setting to recreational pursuits

11. Special Protection

HQ: high quality waters
EV: exceptional value waters
N: Navigation

12. How does a stream qualify as High Quality?

Long-term water quality
Based on at least 1 year of data which exceeds levels necessary to support the propagation of fish, shellfish and wildlife and recreation in and on the water
by being better than the water quality criteria at least 99% of the time

13. Water Quality Parameters: HQ

Chemical: does not exceed maximums for

Dissolved oxygen
aluminum
Iron
dissolved nickel
Dissolved copper
dissolved cadmium
Temperature
pH
Dissolved arsenic
dissolved lead
Ammonia nitrogen
dissolved zinc

Biological:

Integrated benthic macroinvertebrate score of at least 83%
PAFBC: designation as a Class A wild trout stream

13. Focus on some specific water quality parameters from Title 25 Pennsylvania Environmental Protection Code, Chapter 93: Water Quality Standards (These is only part of the WQS for PA)

Specific Water Quality Criteria: 25 PA. Code x 93.7

Parameter	Symbol	Criteria	Critical Use
Bacteria	Bac1	Fecal coliforms/100 ml during swimming season (May 1 - September 30) - max geometric mean of 200, 5 consecutive samples during 30 day period, no more that 10% exceed 400	WC
		For non-swimming season, max geometric mean of 2,000/100 ml based on minimum of 5 consecutive samples collected on different days during 30 -day period.	WC
	Bac2	Max of 5,000/100 ml as a monthly average, no more than this in more than 20 of the samples, nor more than 20,000/100 ml in more than 5% of the samples	PWS
Dissolved Oxygen	DO1	For flowing waters: minimum daily average 6.0 mg/l, minimum 5.0 mgl/l For lakes, pounds, impoundments: minimum 5.0 mg/l	CWF HQ-WWF HQ- TSF
	DO2	Minimum daily average 5.0 mg/l, minimum 4.0 mg/l	WWF
NO2 + NO3	N	Maximum 10 mg/l at nitrogen	PWS
pH	pH	From 6.0 - 9.0	CWF, WWF, TSF, MF
Total Dissolved solids	TDS	500 mg/l as a monthly average, maximum 750 mg/l	PWS

14. Other Tools: TDMLs

Total Maximum Daily Load
Identifies allowable pollutant loads to a waterbody from both point and non-point sources that will prevent a violation of water quality standards
Includes a margin of safety to ensure protection of the water

15. Legal Background

Section 303(d) of the Federal Clean Water Act

states must ID, list and prioritize all waters where technology-based treatment requirements will not attain and/or maintain applicable water quality standards
Total Maximum Daily Loads (TMDLs) must be established for these waters to ensure attainment of water quality standards
from: PA DEP slide presentation at: www.dep.state.pa.us

16. EPA Lawsuit

EPA Region III was sued by environmental groups for not requiring PA to complete TMDLs
Settlement agreement between EPA and litigants reached in April 1997
EPA and DEP entered into a MOU (memorandum of understanding) to complete TMDLs on a schedule

17. Clean Water Act Framework: flow chart

Water Quality Standards ->
Monitor/Assess WQS Attainment ->
List Impared Waters ->
TMDL Minimum Elements: Identify watershed, ID and locate pollutant sources, estimate existaing pollutant loading, determine assimilative capacity ->

Develop Integrated watershed plan ->
Issue Point source NPDES permits ->
Control nonpoint sources

18. " Unassessed Waters" Action Summary through Year 2002

Miles of streams: 83, 161 mi
Assessed: 52,889 (63.6%)
Supporting uses: 44,504 mi
Impaired: 8,385 mi (16% of assessed)
From 2002 305(b) report

19. Leading Sources of impairment - based on 202 305 (b) Report

agriculture - 37.3%
acid mine drainage - 37.2%
urban runoff - 16.1%

20. Leading Causes of Impairment

siltation - 47%
metals - 34%
mutrients - 26%
pH - 21%
organic enrichement / low Dissolved Oxygen - 11.8%
flow alterations - 10.2%
habitat alterations - 9%

21. Web Site information
http://www.dep.state.pa.us, direct link: "TMDL"