Transcript EPSCoR Water Dynamics Workshop Highlights from

EPSCoR Water Dynamics Workshop
Highlights from the Northeast and
Appalachian States
Michelle Daley
Research Scientist, University of New Hampshire
Associate Director, NH Water Resources Research Center
Urbanization/Suburbanization and
Climate Change
2000 to 2030
Timing of Spring Runoff in Maine
Percent Change in Total Population
2000 to 2030 by Northern New England
County
USGS Fact Sheet FS 2005-3001
Urbanization/Suburbanization and
Water Quantity
• New England is a water rich area and yet we still face
issues with water supply
• In stream flow rules to protect aquatic and terrestrial
biota and human use
Example Issues….
• Local cross basin transfers
• Global cross basin transfers – water bottling plants
• Unregulated private well withdrawals
• Artificial aquifer recharge
Urbanization/Suburbanization and Water Quality:
Road Salt Impacts on Stream Salinization
1000
Cl (mg/L)
Chronic Toxicity
r ² = 0.76; p<0.01
100
10
Southeast NH
Central NH
1
0.1
1
km Road km-2
Photo Credit: New Hampshire
Department of Transportation
Data from NH WRRC
10
Suburbanization and Water Quality:
Coastal Nitrogen Flux Driven by Population Density
Sub-basins of the Lamprey River Hydrologic Observatory
NO3-N kg ha-1 yr-1
10
1
0.1
r ² = 0.66; p<0.01
0.01
10
100
People km-2
What controls long-term N Balance?
Nitrogen Inputs and Outputs from the LRHO (2005)
Total N Input
15.4 kg N ha-1 yr-1
Food
Fertilizer
Rain and dry
deposition
3.1
1.8
10.5
Total N Retention
84% (or 13.0 kg N ha-1 yr-1)
Stored or lost to
atmosphere?
Total N Output
2.4 kg N ha-1 yr-1
0.82 kg DIN ha-1 yr-1
(5 % of N Inputs)
Lake Champlain –
A Truly Great Lake . . . .
Images courtesy of Mary Watzin, University of Vermont
With Some Challenges – Phosphorus Pollution
Toxic Cyanobacteria Blooms in a Northern Bay
Images courtesy of Mary Watzin, University of Vermont
Suburban Stormwater Management
in Vermont
• How sensitive are streams to stormwater
stressors?
• Are streams that are structurally impaired also
functionally impaired?
• How can scientific knowledge be used to manage
stormwater discharge to Vermont’s streams?
• How long will it take for streams recover from
stormwater impairment?
Research questions courtesy of Breck Bowden, UVM
Climate Change
?
1
Cl (mg/L)
NO3-N kg ha-1 yr-1
?
1000
10
0.1
0.01
100
10
1
10
100
People km-2
0.1
1
-2
km Road km
10
Future Challenges in the Northeast
• Impacts of climate change layered with
suburbanization
• Arsenic (interactions with other constituents)
• Pharmaceuticals and Personal Care Products
(PPCPs)
• Groundwater water rights
• Better interactions with society and policy makers
Challenges for the Appalachian States –WV, KY, TN
• Large river systems
- Ohio, Mississippi, Tennessee, Cumberland, and Kentucky
• Coal-Fired Power Plants
- CO2 production, metal deposition, thermal effluents
• Coal Mining
- acid mine drainage, sedimentation, metals
• Transportation
- habitat alteration, dredging, invasive species
Slide courtesy of Charles Somerville, WV
Ohio River
western WV