watershed planning - lake and stream leaders 2013 kline-robach · 2017. 5. 5. · lake and stream...
TRANSCRIPT
-
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
-
Lake and Stream Leaders Institute - Session 1
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.
-
Lake and Stream Leaders Institute - Session 1
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
-
Lake and Stream Leaders Institute - Session 1
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
-
Lake and Stream Leaders Institute - Session 1
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
Allegan/Barry Counties
107 sq. miles
Relating watershed concerns with designated uses
-
Lake and Stream Leaders Institute - Session 1
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)
__________________
Nutrients - nitrates in drinking water (k)
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)
________________
Nutrients - nitrates in drinking water (k)
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?
-
Lake and Stream Leaders Institute - Session 1
7
Exercise 3
Gun River Watershed
Allegan/Barry Counties
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?
-
Lake and Stream Leaders Institute - Session 1
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
-
Lake and Stream Leaders Institute - Session 1
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.
-
Lake and Stream Leaders Institute - Session 1
10
CHAPTER 5
Prioritizing Pollutants, Sources and Causes
Exercise 4:
Gun River Watershed
Allegan/Barry Counties
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
-
Lake and Stream Leaders Institute - Session 1
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
-
Lake and Stream Leaders Institute - Session 1
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
-
Lake and Stream Leaders Institute - Session 1
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?
-
Lake and Stream Leaders Institute - Session 1
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
-
Lake and Stream Leaders Institute - Session 1
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
-
Lake and Stream Leaders Institute - Session 1
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