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Pollutant Loads to the Bay: Measuring the “L” in TMDL

SPLWG discusses monitoring strategies and study proposals to evaluate pollutant loads in Bay Area water bodies for better management.

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Pollutant Loads to the Bay: Measuring the “L” in TMDL

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  1. Pollutant Loads to the Bay: Measuring the “L” in TMDL Lester McKee Sources Pathways and Loadings Workgroup and Watershed Program Manager SFEI RMP Annual Meeting, May 10th 2005

  2. RMP Annual Meeting 2005 SPLWG Achievements • 13 technical reports over the past 5 years including reports on urban drainage, atmospheric inputs, and sediment loads • Developed conceptual models and designed evaluation strategies for monitoring Hg, PCBs and OC pesticides in stormwater runoff • Implemented stormwater monitoring studies at Mallard Is. and Guadalupe R. • SPLWG - The leading source of loads information • Forum for discussion

  3. RMP Annual Meeting 2005 SPLWG - Systematic Plan Davis et al., 1999, 2000 • Watershed Characterization • Conceptual Model Development • Develop Evaluation Strategies • Establish Regional Network of “Observation Watersheds” • Extrapolate to Other Watersheds

  4. RMP Annual Meeting 2005 The Pathways of “L”… • Loads enter the Bay from 5 main pathways: • Urban stormwater • New Almaden mining area • Atmospheric deposition • Urban and industrial wastewater • Large Rivers 1 2000 2005 1 2 3 5 4 5 2 4 3 Total Mercury Inputs

  5. RMP Annual Meeting 2005 Why Else Study Loads? • Improve understanding of variation (both spatial and temporal) • Estimate loads in unmeasured places (extrapolation and modeling) • Measure change over time in relation to management activities

  6. RMP Annual Meeting 2005 Recent SPLWG Highlights • Completed technical reports on the Mallard Is. and Guadalupe River field studies • Submitted three papers to scientific journals • Began discussions on how to choose a location for another small tributaries loading study • Received 6 special and pilot studies proposals • Initiated the development of a new 5-year work plan

  7. RMP Annual Meeting 2005 Special and Pilot Studies Proposals #1: Small Tributaries Loading study (number two) #2: Design of a watershed RMP #3: Improving Bay Area hydrography for characterization and modeling stormwater flow #4: Storm drain outfall sediment characterization #5: Determining the ability for loadings studies to observe change #6: Enhanced isohyetal analysis of the SF Bay Area

  8. RMP Annual Meeting 2005 SPLWG 5-Yr Work Plan (2005-09)

  9. RMP Annual Meeting 2005 SPLWG 5-Yr Work Plan (2005-09)

  10. RMP Annual Meeting 2005 SPLWG 5-Yr Work Plan (2005-09)

  11. RMP Annual Meeting 2005 SPLWG 5-Yr Work Plan (2005-09)

  12. RMP Annual Meeting 2005 SPLWG 5-Yr Work Plan (2005-09)

  13. RMP Annual Meeting 2005 SPLWG 5-Yr Work Plan (2005-09)

  14. RMP Annual Meeting 2005 SPLWG 5-Yr Work Plan (2005-09)

  15. RMP Annual Meeting 2005 SPLWG 5-Yr Work Plan (2005-09)

  16. RMP Annual Meeting 2005 Next Steps and Philosophy • Receive written comments on the draft work plan • Revise work plan to reflect oral and written comments • Systemically update the work plan as new information is generated (i.e. a living document)

  17. Field Studies WY 2005 Highlights • Mallard Island Large Rivers Loading Study • Guadalupe River Small Tributaries Loading Study

  18. RMP Annual Meeting 2005 “The Mallard Island Study” Funding: RMP • SFEI: Management/sampling assistance/report • USGS SSC/turbidity data collection • RWQCB X-section variability • UCSC Sample collection/Hg and SSC analysis • AXYS Organic contaminant analysis

  19. RMP Annual Meeting 2005 “The Mallard Island Study”Location Map

  20. RMP Annual Meeting 2005 Suspended Sediment Loads 1.15 Mt

  21. RMP Annual Meeting 2005 Sampling for Trace Contaminants

  22. RMP Annual Meeting 2005 Total Mercury Loads

  23. RMP Annual Meeting 2005 Total Mercury Loads 191 kg

  24. RMP Annual Meeting 2005 PCB Loads

  25. RMP Annual Meeting 2005 “The Guadalupe Small Tributaries Loads Study” Funding: RMP, CEP, USACE/SCVWD, SCVURPPP • SFEI Management/trace contaminant sampling/report • USGS Suspended sediment and bed loads • MLML Trace element analysis of water and sediment • AXYS Organic contaminant analysis

  26. 51% “The Guadalupe Small Tributaries Loads Study” • SFEI WY 2005 field team • Nicole David • Jennifer Hayworth • Jennifer Hunt • Kristen Larned • Jon Leatherbarrow • Aroon Melwani • Sarah Pearce Samples collected outside of work time

  27. RMP Annual Meeting 2005 “The Guadalupe Small Tributaries Loads Study” Location Map

  28. RMP Annual Meeting 2005 Suspended Sediment Load Preliminary

  29. RMP Annual Meeting 2005 Sampling for Trace Contaminants

  30. RMP Annual Meeting 2005 Total Mercury Loads Max annual: 900 – 1,100 kg 5-yr mean: 6 – 440 kg

  31. RMP Annual Meeting 2005 PCB Loads

  32. RMP Annual Meeting 2005 Closing Comments • SPLWG efforts over the past 5 years has had a profound influence our perceptions of Bay functions • This emerging understanding has strongly influenced the development of the mercury and PCB TMDLs • To complete the circle, the TMDL recommendations are now influencing the planning process for new SPLWG studies • Without the dedicated field team at SFEI, much of this information would not have been generated

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