Water Management and River Basin Planning in the US

1. Water Management and River Basin Planning in the US Elizabeth Albright Doctoral Candidate Duke University Fulbright Scholar

2. Mississippi River Basin http://www.epa.gov/msbasin/subbasins/index.htm

3. Chesapeake Bay • The Chesapeake Bay is the largest of 130 estuaries in the United States. • Includes parts of six states (Delaware, Maryland, New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and West Virginia) and all of the District of Columbia. • 64,000 square-mile drainage basin or watershed (163,480 square kilometers) • Chesapeake Bay Program partnership • Issues: nutrients, oysters, toxics http://www.chesapeakebay.net/

4. Columbia River Basin • Fourth Largest Basin 250,000 square miles • Main issues: • Dams, Salmon • There are over 250 reservoirs and around 150 hydroelectric projects in the basin. http://www.nwd.usace.army.mil/ps/colrvbsn.htm

5. North Carolina River Basins

6. Water Management in the United States • Federal/ National Level Management • State Management • Local Management

7. Federal System of Management • Federal Law • Clean Water Act • Safe Drinking Water Act • National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA) • Environmental Impact Statements • Federal Agencies • United States Environmental Protection Agency • US Department of Agriculture • Non-point source controls • Wetlands • Army Corps of Engineers • River regulation • Department of Interior • Endangered species • National Parks • United States Geological Survey • Flow Monitoring

8. US Clean Water Act • Goals of Clean Water Act • Federal Water Pollution Control Act Amendments of 1972, 1977, 1987 • „The objective of the Act is to restore and maintain the chemical, physical, and biological integrity of the Nation’s waters.” • Discharge of pollutants into the navigable waters be eliminated by 1985 • The Act does not deal directly with ground water nor with water quantity issues

9. Point Source Pollution http://www.epa.gov/watertrain/cwa/cwa38.htm

10. Non-Point Source Pollution • Voluntary programs • Total Maximum Daily Load • During the last decade more attention has been given to physical and biological integrity.

11. Big Picture of Water Quality Management

12. State Water Management • Monitor water quality • Chemical parameters • Dissolved oxygen, nutrients, heavy metals, fecal coliform, pH, chlorophyll a, turbidity • Aquatic Toxicology • Biological Assessment • Develop water quality standards for all water bodies • Different uses of waters • Recreation, drinking water supply, biological integrity, High Quality Waters, fish consumption • Approved by EPA • Designate Waters as Impaired • Similar to EUWFD „good status” • Chemical Impairment (e.g., dissolved oxygen, fecal coliform) • River Basin Management Plans

13. State River Basin Management Plans • River basin plans developed on rotating basis • In North Carolina, plan developed every five years (17 basins) • The goals of basinwide planning are to: • Identify water quality problems and restore full use to Impaired waters. • Identify and protect high value resource waters. • Protect unimpaired waters yet allow for reasonable economic growth. • DWQ accomplishes these goals through the following objectives: • Collaborate with other agencies to develop appropriate management strategies. • Assure equitable distribution of waste assimilative capacity. • Better evaluate cumulative effects of pollution. • Improve public awareness and involvement. http://h2o.enr.state.nc.us/basinwide/

14. List of Impaired Waters 303(d) http://www.epa.gov/watertrain/cwa/cwa27.htm

15. Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) Program • Clean Water Act: Mandates that TMDL must be developed for all impaired water bodies • A TMDL or Total Maximum Daily Load is a calculation of the maximum amount of a pollutant that a waterbody can receive and still meet water quality standards, and an allocation of that amount to the pollutant's sources. • http://www.tmdls.net/ • Weaknesses: • How to deal with water bodies that are biologically impaired but meet chemical standards (e.g., erosion, sedimentation, loss of stream habitat, channelization) • Frequently no implementation • Lawsuit driven

16. Local Water Management (City and County) • Wastewater Treatment Plant Facilities • Drinking Water Facilities • Additional Monitoring • Storm Water Management • Land Use Planning

17. Status of Water Bodies throughout United States http://www.epa.gov/305b/2000report/factsheet.pdf

18. Challenges to Water Quality Management • Fiscal concerns • State versus Federal funding responsibility? • Non-Point Source Pollution • Current voluntary programs versus mandatory programs • Storm water controls • Monitoring Networks • Frequently monthly monitoring • Spatial extent of monitoring • Uncertainty • Interstate Cooperation • Different water quality standards, monitoring, values, pollutants, financial resources • Wetland and stream buffer protection • Private property versus common good debate • Dam and levee maintenance • Dam removals

19. Comparison of CWA and EUWFD • Similar goals • WFD „Good Water Status” • Ecological status • Chemical • US CWA • More vague on description • Does not list specific parameters to monitor • Similar focus on water quality • EUWFD subsidiarity principle versus US Federalist approach • Monitoring • CWA leaves it to the state and EPA, offers little guidance • EUWFD—Annex 5, sampling parameters • River Basin Planning • EUWFD mandates river basin plans • CWA does not require river basin plans per say, TMDLs