Ocean Policy Task Force: Water Quality Objective

1. National Water Quality Monitoring Council Herndon, VA 15 July 2010 Ocean Policy Task Force: Water Quality Objective Jawed Hameedi National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Silver Spring, MD

2. Ocean Policy Task Force -- Overview • Established by President’s memorandum, dated June 12, 2009 • The message is to collaborate on ocean-related [coasts, open water, the Great Lakes] issues and work within a unifying framework • Share knowledge and resources • Coordinate activities • Integrate toward common goals • Communicate

3. Ocean Policy Task Force – Initial Actions • Within 90 days develop recommendations for: • A National Policy • A US Framework for Policy Coordination • An Implementation Strategy • Completed: Interim Report, September 2009 • Within 180 days • A recommended framework for effective Coastal and Marine Spatial Planning • Completed: Draft interim framework, December 2009

4. Ocean Policy Task ForceNine (9) Priority Objectives • Ecosystem-based management • Coastal and marine spatial planning • Inform decisions and improve understanding • Coordinate and support • Resiliency and adaptation to climate change and ocean acidification • Regional ecosystem protection and restoration • Water quality and sustainable practices on land • Changing conditions in the Arctic • Ocean, coastal and Great Lakes observations and infrastructure

5. Eight (8) Water Quality Issues: Coastal waters and the Great Lakes (NWQMN) • Oxygen depletion • Nutrient over-enrichment; eutrophication • Toxic contamination • Sedimentation • Harmful Algal Blooms • Habitat degradation (freshwater availability; dredging impacts; shoreline armoring; etc.) • Invasion by non-indigenous species • Pathogens (indicator bacteria)

6. Ask me how – Successfully reducing nutrient input to alleviate eutrophication may be contributing to increased incidence of botulism in coastal birds, aided by expanding invasive species

7. Ocean Policy Task Force: Policy Coordination Framework [Draft] National Ocean Council Principals and Deputies Co-Chairs: CEQ/OSTP Governance Coordination Committee White House Councils and Offices (Climate, Economy, Security, etc.) Steering Committee Ocean Research and Resources Advisory Panel Ocean Resource Management IPC Ocean Science and Technology IPC IPC= Interagency Policy Committee

8. Presumptive Framework for Developing Strategic Action Plan: Water Quality NOC ORM-IPC; OST IPC Strategic Action Planning Committee Chair/co-Chairs Staff NOPC Interagency Work Group (workers, not representatives) Theme Teams Leaders Regional Teams Leaders Governance – 13 IOOS – 11 CMSP -- 9 O&C DI&T Science

9. Strategic Action Plan • Guidance from NOC; more specifically from ORM-IPC and OST-IPC • Plans -- one for each objective -- to include: • Actionable items – to do list -- with milestones, performance measures, and likely outcomes; • Small-scale and incremental opportunities to build upon existing activities; • Key lead and participating agencies; • Information gaps and needs in science and technology; and • Resource requirements and steps for collaboration (current and out-year budgets) • Also SWOT analysis Commitment to achieving the goal Apathy toward the goal Strength Weakness Agencyrequirements Opportunity Threat External needs

10. Actionable Items – examples • Identify contaminants of concern and their sources within the watershed • Document the nature, severity and putative cause(s) of water quality-related problems, e.g., seafood consumption advisories, habitats degradation (hypoxia, eutrophication, and shoreline alteration), toxins and infectious agents, and economic losses • Estimate contaminant input to the watershed and loading from the watershed (and airshed) to the receiving body • Develop methods and technologies to quantify transport, transformation and fate of contaminants in the watershed and receiving waters • Recommend and provide decision-support tools for more effective conservation practices and use efficiencies for improving water quality and quantity • Provide the knowledge and tools for monitoring the status and trends of water quality and assessing watershed condition

11. Focus on “nonpoint” pollution sources • Agriculture – nutrients, pesticides, pharmaceuticals, sediment • Forestry – pesticides, sediment, temperature • Hydromodifcation and habitat alteration – channelization, dams, beach armoring – sediment, contaminants, hydrology • Ports, marina and boating – petroleum hydrocarbons, solid waste, sediment, fish processing waste, boat cleaning, antifouling chemicals, and coastal armoring • Roads, highways and bridges – heavy metals, oils, sediments, etc. • Urban areas – sediments, oils, fertilizers, pharmaceuticals, toxic metals and chemicals, thermal pollution, road salt, viruses and other pathogens • Regional emissions and deposition of sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, and ammonia • Wetland and riparian management – thermal pollution, nutrients, contaminants, sediments, etc. • Abandoned mine drainage – e.g., acidic waters with high metal content

12. Other pollution sources cannot be ignored • Municipal wastewater discharge • Industrial effluents and plumes • Smokestacks – power plants, factories and ships – does a ship constitute a point source? • Aquaculture impacts – where does this fit? • Ballast water – where does this fit? • Oil spills • Marine debris

13. Strawman phased implementation plan NOC organizes PHASE I (1-12 months) Phase II (9-24 months) Governance Adv Comm Phase III (18 monhts-5 years) NOC Strategic Action Plan Scientific guidance and information mgmt plan Regional planning bodies formed Fed agency coordination Implement regional steps Coordinate with states; workshops Capacity assessment Work plan to NOC Funding and support Plan implementation, reviews, feedback

14. Key federal partners • NOAA • EPA • US Forest Service • Agriculture Research Service • US Geological Survey • National Park Service • US F&WS Coastal Program • US Army Corps of Engineers

15. Thank You For more information: http://www.whitehouse.gov/administration/eop/ceq ... http://www.cmsp.noaa.gov Your comments and suggestions are welcome Jawed.Hameedi@noaa.gov

16. Strawman Plan Objective Water Quality and Sustainable Practices on Land: Enhance water quality in the ocean, along our coasts, and in the Great Lakes by promoting and implementing sustainable practices on land

17. Performance Measures • Develop and transfer technology and implement practices to reduce delivery of contaminants from the watershed to coastal waters, and document water quality improvements: • Initial: demonstration of technologies, practices and improvements in at least one of nine regions • Cumulative: demonstration of technologies, practices and improvements in each of nine regions

18. Key Measurable Outcomes Improved water quality as demonstrated by reduced accumulation of contaminants in the environment and sentinel biota, improvements in eutrophication and hypoxic conditions, recovery of natural habitat and biodiversity, and enhanced economic benefits [Note: in the context of “ecosystem-based” management, regional differences are acknowledged, so the outcomes will relate to specific water quality-related issues or scientific questions in a particular study area].

19. NOAA does not develop regulations for toxic substances or water quality criteria • Regulations • U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) • Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) • Food and Drug Administration (FDA) • Recommendations or guidelines [cannot be enforced by law] • Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) • National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) • NOAA, e.g. Sediment Quality Guidelines

20. NOAA’s Water Quality Data Needs Establishing connections between water [and air] quality and undesirable ecosystem conditions or outcomes (e.g., nuisance or harmful algal blooms, eutrophication, fish diseases and deformities, hypoxic conditions, and loss of species, habitats and biodiversity)

21. Water Quality Data Needs – contd. Understanding the role of physical processes (including episodic events, decadal changes, and global warming) on coastal and Great Lakes ecosystems. TSS Chl Loading from a Runoff Event in Chesapeake Bay, March 2008 (High-Resolution Ocean Color Satellite Data) http://coastwatch.noaa.gov/

22. Water Quality Data Needs – contd. • Fostering collaboration between NOAA, universities, and states • Enhancing environmental literacy (through education, outreach and training) Impervious surface area; ISAT; Rutgers COOL; Teachers at Sea

23. NOAA’s approach: Healthy Coastal Ecosystems • NOAA will use the full range of its capabilities (research, assessment, monitoring, management , technology transfer, education and outreach) to achieve: • Greater understanding of interactions among the components of healthy coastal ecosystems • Designing and implementing management solutions that are comprehensive, integrated and geographically focused over a variety of time scales • Synthesizing and communicating information to coastal decision-makers and stakeholders