National Wildlife Refuge System Friends Academy October 27, 2009

1. National Wildlife Refuge System Friends AcademyOctober 27, 2009 Resource Challenge Contaminants/Water Quality George Noguchi USFWS - Division of Environmental Quality Arlington, VA Pete Tuttle, USFWS Pete Tuttle, USFWS Bon Secour NWR Bon Secour NWR

2. Learning Objectives • Explain why contaminants and water quality are prominent threats to wildlife conservation on refuges • Explain what is causing degraded water quality on refuges • Explain some of the challenges to addressing improved water quality on refuges

3. Understanding Contaminant and Water Quality Threats to Wildlife Conservation on Refuges • History of partnership between Refuges and the Environmental Contaminants Program • Types of contaminants / water pollutants • Sources • Types of effects • Water quality (Clean Water Act) basics

4. Environmental Contaminants – Refuges Partnership • Early contaminant issues on NWRs: Wheeler NWR, AL; Great Swamp NWR, NJ; Kesterson NWR, CA • Emerging Federal laws Clean Water Act 1977 CERCLA* (Superfund) 1980 TSCA (Toxic Substances Control Act) 1982 • Environmental Contaminants Program ~ 1982 * Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensations and Liability Act

5. Environmental Contaminants – RefugesActivities • Contaminant Assessment Process (CAP) • On-Refuge Contaminant Investigations • Contaminant Cleanup on Refuges • Pre-Acquisition Contaminant Surveys • Oil and Hazardous Material Response • Integrated Pest Management (IPM) and Pesticide Use Proposal (PUP) Review • Natural Resource Damage Assessment and Restoration • Environmental Compliance Audits • Amphibian Surveys

6. Types of Contaminants/Water Pollutants that have affected or may affect NWRs • Legacy Pollutants (PCBs, DDT, Dieldrin, etc) • Heavy Metals (mercury, lead, copper, etc) • Trace Elements (selenium) • Current Use Pesticides (atrazine, diazinon, etc) • Oil and Gas related • “Conventional” water pollutants (ammonia, dissolved oxygen, temperature, coliform bacteria) • Emerging Contaminants Other Industrial (flame retardants - PBDEs) Pharmaceuticals and Personal Care Products (PPCPs) Endocrine Disrupting Compounds (EDCs)

7. Sources of Contamination • Industrial; direct and indirect discharges • Municipal; direct discharge, biosolids • Landfills • Agricultural; runoff, irrigation return waters, pesticide spray drift, leaching, Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFO), biosolids • Mining; runoff, valley fill • Oil and gas • Urban runoff • Changes in land use practices • Atmospheric deposition (Clean Air Act) Oil and gas operations at Delta NWR (Billy Umsted, FWS)

8. Biological EffectsAcute and Chronic Acute Effects: • Occur rapidly (within hours or days) • Poisonings, spills, high concentration exposures • Death (fish kill) or rapid onset of sublethal impairments

9. Chronic Effects • Effects occur later in time (weeks, months, years) Long term exposure to low concentrations Short term exposure during early development, but effects occur later Types of effects • Reproductive • Neurological (behavioral) • Immunological (disease resistance) • Cancer • Wasting

10. Effects on ReproductionSelenium (Se) – Joe Skorupa, FWS Abnormal Redhead Duck embryo (middle) caused by Se, Ouray NWR, UT Black-neck stilts; left 14-d old from Se-normal egg, right 13-d old from Se contaminated egg; retarded growth from embryonic exposure, Tulare Basin, CA Mike Saiki, USGS Normal and deformed mosquito fish fry from San Luis Drain, a source of water for the Kesterson NWR, CA. Effects later shown to be due to Se.

11. Behavioral EffectsJay Davis, Western Washington FO, WA • Carbaryl (insecticide) used to control burrowing/ghost shrimp on oyster beds in Willapa Bay and Grays Harbor, WA • Summer rearing habitat for anadromous salmonids • Laboratory tests showed: • Cutthroat unable to “smell” carbaryl (no avoidance) • Reduced acetylcholinesterase activity in brain and muscle • Reduced swimming performance • Reduced predator avoidance

12. Endocrine Disruption: Potomac R. & TributariesChris Guy and Fred Pinkney, Chesapeake Bay FO, MD Intersex a a Dr. Vicki Blazer, USGS a a Testes with numerous oocytes (arrows) Normal testes with mature sperm (a)

13. Clean Water Act Basics • Administered by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) • Implemented by EPA, States, and Tribes • Major Elements Water Quality Standards Pollution Discharge Permits Monitoring and Reporting

14. Water Quality Standards • Designated Uses (“fishable/swimmable”, drinking water, etc) • Numeric and narrative standards (to protect uses) • Antidegradation • Other (i.e. mixing zones, variances)

15. Pollution Discharge Permits • Regulate pollution discharges from point sources • Stormwater (industrial, construction, municipal) • Non-point sources do not require permits • Federal Permits issued by EPA – NPDES (National Pollution Discharge Elimination System) • State-issued permits (most states)

16. Monitoring and Reporting • Monitoring surface waters • Biennial reporting (305b reports) • Identification of impaired waters (303d list) • Develop TMDL (total maximum daily load) for impaired waters National Water Quality Inventory: Report to Congress - 2004 Reporting Cycle, USEPA http://www.epa.gov/owow/305b/2004report/2004_305Breport.pdf

17. Impaired Waters ProjectFWS/EPA/USGS • Identify impaired waters and TMDLs within and adjacent to National Wildlife Refuges and National Fish Hatcheries • Conduct additional analyses and research on specific issues involving impaired waters and FWS properties that can further inform, guide, and accelerate restoration planning for impaired waters. • Use Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to analyze and summarize patterns in the spatial relationships of refuges and hatcheries relative to impaired waters, pollutants, and TMDLs.

18. Other Threats to Wildlife Conservation on Refuges • Exceedence of water quality standards • Impaired waters (303d) • TMDL (Total Maximum Daily Load) • Fish Consumption Advisories

19. Challenges to Addressing Improved Water Quality on Refuges 1. Identifying and mitigating biological/ecological impacts of contaminants on NWRs: > Understanding water quality requirements of Refuge resources (i.e. how sensitive are species to water pollutants) > Understanding how contaminants of emerging concern may affect Refuge resources > Ability to effectively reduce pollutant loadings and/or sources

20. Challenges to Addressing Improved Water Quality on Refuges 2. Managing regulatory requirements (CWA) associated with maintaining/improving water quality on Refuges and associated waters: > Understanding the mass balance of water pollutants on NWRs > Identifying land/water management practices that achieve Refuge mission/goals while fulfilling water quality requirements > Need for systematic approach for assessing WQ on NWRs and impacts to fish & wildlife (i.e. WQ monitoring program for NWRs)

21. Challenges to Addressing Improved Water Quality on Refuges 3. Climate Change - Identify Refuges where water quality/quantity is key climate vulnerability > Anticipated climatic changes: Increase/decrease precipitation Rising water tables Increasing temperatures > Implications for water quality: Increase/decrease in non-point source pollution (runoff) Exposure to new sources (new pathways) Temperature-related changes in pollutant toxicity and species sensitivity

22. New PoliciesFish Consumption Advisories Directors Order 190(4/26/07)

23. New Partnerships