Download In Focus: Nutrient Management in Our Water Resources

Great Lakes Watershed Ecological Sustainability Strategy:
Transactions for Agricultural Ecosystem Services
As discussed elsewhere in this newsletter, the summer
of 2011 saw a Harmful Algal Bloom (Microcystis sp.) of
unprecedented size and severity in the Western Basin of
Lake Erie. This bloom was primarily fueled by agricultural
runoff from the Maumee Watershed, which has about
80% agricultural land use. Similar coastal eutrophication
problems have been evident in other predominantly
agricultural Great Lakes watersheds, including Saginaw
Bay, Green Bay, and the Bay of Quinte. Fish and benthos
community health and diversity problems have also
been evident in the stream networks that drain these
agricultural watersheds. To help address this problem,
a team of researchers led by The Nature Conservancy
and including Michigan State University and LimnoTech,
have undertaken a large project funded by the Great
Lakes Protection Fund to target and incentivize
environmentally beneficial conservation practices in
Great Lakes agricultural watersheds. The overall goal of
this project is to explore methods for identifying and
then implementing agricultural conservation and best
management practices that will lead to the greatest
possible reduction in damaging environmental impacts
without placing undue risk on farm productivity.
The project will create a framework of the information
and tools necessary for managing agricultural
landscapes, to move toward optimal ecosystem
improvement returns and understand the return
on investments. At the core of the framework are
modeling tools that compute the dose-response curve
relationships between ecosystem improvements and
the placement, timing, and type of agricultural best
management practices. Used properly, this framework
can inform producers, agricultural agencies, agribusinesses, and governing bodies so that they can
set, and then farm for, measurable contributions to
aquatic ecosystem improvement goals. By extension,
this framework can inform agricultural policies, and
pay for performance transactions, certification, or other
non-monetary awards that lead to environmental
improvements/outcomes resulting from improved flows
of water across and through agricultural lands in the
Great Lakes region.
proposed transaction being tested would reduce
farm drainage assessments by an amount equivalent
to the ecosystem improvement that the landowner
makes (pay for performance).
US Postage Paid
Permit #87
Ann Arbor, MI
ADDRESS SERVICE REQUESTED
66 Farmer Willingness to Provide Environmental
Services – This transaction would gauge the amount
of reimbursements that farmers would be willing to
accept to install various types of best management
practices (BMPs) on their land. This transaction will
be tested using a reverse auction process whereby
farmers offer to implement BMPs on their land for
a given price per acre. The various bids are then
prioritized and selected for implementation by
normalizing the price per acre bid by the relative
ecological benefit (e.g., reduction in harmful algal
blooms in Lake Erie). Of course, the ecological
benefits will depend not only on the type of BMP but
also on its location in the watershed relative to the
delivery of nutrients to the lake.
66 Supply Chain Certification Programs –
Certification programs are being investigated at
three points in the overall supply chain: Product
Certification (e.g., producers of products made from
corn, soybeans, or wheat); Farmer Certification (e.g.,
the State of Michigan has a Michigan Agricultural
Environmental Assurance Program [MAEAP]); and
Agri-retailer Certification (we are working with a
committee to establish a 4R nutrient management
program being tested in Ohio).
We are pleased to contribute to this ground-breaking
project that we anticipate will lead to a comprehensive,
science-based strategy for ecological sustainable
agriculture in the Great Lakes Basin and beyond.
•Re-Eutrophication
of the Great Lakes
•Modeling Guidance
to Establish SiteSpecific Nutrient
Goals
Cover Let ter (cont .)
Currents is published for our clients and
associates by the employees of LimnoTech.
involve setting target levels for nitrogen and phosphorus concentrations
in the waterbodies themselves.
This newsletter and past issues may be
viewed on our website at:
Highlighted in this newsletter are some of LimnoTech’s efforts to advance
our understanding and solve water quality problems pertaining to
nutrient pollution in the Great Lakes, both on land and in water. Also
included is a recently completed effort by LimnoTech to provide practical
and scientifically sound guidance to both regulators and the regulated
community for establishing site-specific nutrient goals through the use of
nutrient load-response models.
We hope that you will find the topics in this newsletter interesting and
informative. Please contact us with any questions or comments you may
have about these articles.
Victor J. Bierman, Jr., Ph.D., BCEEM
Senior Scientist
[email protected]
Modeling analysis has indicated that ephemeral gully erosion is a
significant contributor of nutrients and sediments in Great Lakes
watersheds. (Photo courtesy of USDA NRCS)
Currents
Inside
This Issue...
www.limno.com/publications
•Sustainable
Strategies for
Agricultural
Ecosystems
For more information please contact:
Tim Bertsos, Editor
[email protected]
Contributors to this issue:
Joseph V. DePinto, Ph.D.
[email protected]
Victor J. Bierman, Jr., Ph.D., BCEEM
[email protected]
Wendy M. Larson
[email protected]
Penelope E. Moskus
[email protected]
Reproduction of material by permission only.
We are examining three basic categories of transactions
that will be valued on the basis of their relative ecological
performance:
66 County Agricultural Drain Management
Systems – Nearly every acre of farmland in the
lower Great Lakes is served by a drainage network
that is locally governed and administered to
collect, gather, and remove excessive water from
agricultural lands to optimize farm production. The
FIRST CLASS
LimnoTech
501 Avis Drive
Ann Arbor, MI 48108
LimnoTech Office Locations:
Headquarters
Ann Arbor, Michigan
734-332-1200
Mid-Atlantic Office
Washington, D.C.
202-833-9140
Central Region Office
Oakdale, MN
651-330-6038
Los Angeles Region Office
Manhattan Beach, CA
418-704-0095
www.limno.com
www.limno.com
A publication of
Vol. 14, No. 2 - Fall 2013
In Focus: Nutrient Management in Our
Water Resources
Nutrient pollution, caused by excessive
amounts of nitrogen and phosphorus, is
one of the most widespread, costly and
challenging water quality problems in the
United States. Nutrients occur naturally
in aquatic ecosystems and support the
growth of algae and aquatic plants, which
provide food and habitat for fish, shellfish
and other organisms. However, when too
much nitrogen and phosphorus enter
the environment, there can be adverse
environmental, human health, and
economic impacts.
Excessive nitrogen and phosphorus in the
water can cause algae to grow faster than
ecosystems can handle. Significant increases
in algae can harm water quality, food
resources, and habitats, and can decrease
the oxygen that fish and other aquatic life
need to survive. Large “blooms” of algae can
severely reduce or eliminate oxygen in the
water, and can lead to reduced productivity
and even death of large numbers of fish.
They can also produce thick, green scums
that impact recreation, businesses, and
property values. Some algal blooms produce
elevated levels of certain toxins that can
make people sick if they come in contact
with polluted water, consume tainted fish or
shellfish, or drink contaminated water. These
harmful algal blooms also divert energy
from healthy fish production in aquatic
systems.
Excessive nutrients that find their way into
waterbodies are often the direct result of
human activities. The primary sources of
these excessive nutrients are agriculture,
stormwater, wastewater, fossil fuels, and
various materials from in and around our
homes, including fertilizers, yard and pet
waste, and certain soaps and detergents.
In recent years, agriculture has drawn
increased attention because animal manure,
excess fertilizer applied to crops and fields,
and soil erosion make this sector one of the
largest sources of nitrogen and phosphorus
pollution in the country. When precipitation
falls on cities and towns, it runs across
impervious surfaces like rooftops, sidewalks
and roads, and carries nutrients into local
waterways. Wastewater treatment plants
and septic systems do not always remove
enough nitrogen and phosphorus before
discharging their effluents into waterways.
Electric power generation, industry, and
transportation have all increased the
amount of nitrogen in the air through the
use of fossil fuels.
Both regulatory agencies and the regulated
community have been challenged by
the need to find solutions to nutrient
pollution because there is wide variability
in how individual waterbodies respond to
excessive nutrient inputs, and because the
adverse impacts of these nutrient inputs
can be manifested in a variety of different
symptoms. In recent years, controversies
surrounding regulatory attempts to develop
numeric nutrient criteria (NNC) have
highlighted both the scientific limitations
of available methods for deriving NNC
and the widespread social, political, and
economic implications of nutrient controls.
The need for technically sound methods
also applies to other nutrient regulatory
activities such as Total Maximum Daily
Loads (TMDLs) and the National Pollutant
Discharge Elimination System (NPDES). The
TMDL and NPDES approaches are directed
at controlling nutrient loads that enter
waterbodies, as opposed to NNC, which
(Continued on back page)
Guidance and Tools for Selecting, Developing, and Applying Nutrient
Load-Response Models to Establish Site-Specific Nutrient Goals
The Re-Eutrophication of the Great Lakes
In the 1970s the Great Lakes community undertook a
highly successful program of research, data collection,
and modeling to establish target phosphorus loads for
addressing eutrophication reduction goals for the system.
Once these loading targets, established through wholelake modeling conducted in the 1970s, were officially
instituted in the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement
(GLWQA) and largely met, the Great Lakes no longer
experienced blue-green and nearshore benthic algal
blooms through the 1980s. Beginning in about the mid1990s, however, the Great Lakes began experiencing
what many are calling a “re-eutrophication.” We are
seeing the return of Harmful Algal Blooms (HABs), mostly
cyanobacteria such as Microcystis sp., and the return
of nearshore nuisance benthic algae (Cladophora sp.)
that cause recreation, aesthetic, and shoreline fouling
impacts. At the same time, the open offshore waters of the
deeper lakes are experiencing a deficiency of nutrients,
called “desertification” by many, which threatens the
coldwater fisheries in these lakes. Considerable research
has pointed to a number of changes in the Great Lakes
basin as leading causes of these phenomena. Of particular
note is the change in the ecosystem structure and
function resulting largely from the introduction of aquatic
invasive species, in particular the infestation of all the
lakes except Lake Superior by zebra and quagga mussels
(Dreissenids). Another important factor is the increase
of nutrient loading to the nearshore areas of these lakes
from agricultural land use. And the increased loading
of phosphorus is in the form of the highly bioavailable
dissolved reactive phosphorus.
The recently released 2012 Protocol of the Great Lakes
Water Quality Agreement expresses the urgent need
to develop a quantitative relationship between these
stressors of the re-eutrophication problem and the severity
of the in-lake responses being observed. To help address
that need, LimnoTech has undertaken several projects to
develop models in priority areas of the lakes to explain the
cause-effect relationships and to establish the necessary
load-response relationships needed to manage the
problems. LimnoTech and its project collaborators have
leveraged funding from the USACE-Buffalo District, NSF,
NOAA, and the Great Lakes Protection Fund to develop
a linked hydrodynamic–sediment transport–advanced
ecosystem modeling framework (EFDC-A2EM) and to
apply it to three priority Great Lakes systems: Saginaw Bay,
the Western Basin of Lake Erie, and the Central Basin of
Lake Erie. These applications have produced a number of
important findings, including:
In addition to the in-lake modeling, LimnoTech has
undertaken several modeling projects in the agricultural
watersheds that drain into these problem embayments/
basins. Three projects funded by the USACE-Buffalo
District and the Great Lakes Protection Fund have allowed
LimnoTech and its project team members to:
66 Develop fine-scale watershed models including
ephemeral gully contribution to improve our ability to
better understand the relative contribution of several
factors to increased dissolved reactive phosphorus
export from agricultural lands.
66 Develop the ability to target the placement and type
of agricultural best management practices to develop
the most cost-effective approach to achieving desired
environmental endpoints in these watersheds.
66 Work with agricultural economists and agricultural
managers to explore ways to incentivize best
management practices and conservation actions that
will optimize environmental benefits.
One of LimnoTech’s linked hydrodynamic-sediment transporteutrophication modeling efforts in the Great Lakes focuses on
quantifying the relationship between sediment and nutrient loading
to the Western Basin of Lake Erie and blooms of the blue-green algae,
Microcystis, such as the one depicted in this satellite image.
(Photo: Michigan Sea Grant, 2011)
66 By not filtering cyanobacteria in preference to other
phytoplankton classes, and by altering the spatial and
temporal distribution of bioavailable phosphorus in
these systems, the presence of Dreissenids makes a
significant contribution to the re-occurrence of HABs.
66 Significant increases in highly bioavailable dissolved
reactive phosphorus from dominantly agricultural
watersheds that drain into these systems is also a
major contributor to the re-occurrence of HABs.
66 The combination of Dreissenid filtering of particulate
matter, which greatly increases nearshore water clarity,
and the runoff of phosphorus to nearshore waters, has
led to the resurgence of nuisance benthic algae (e.g.,
Cladophora).
66 Lake Erie Central Basin hypoxia, which has also
become worse since the mid-1990s, is the result of a
combination of hydrometeorological stressors on the
Central Basin and excessive phytoplankton production
from the increased loading of bioavailable phosphorus
to the lake.
Taken together, the development of linked watershed-lake
response models will allow us to quantify the relationship
between conservation actions on land and eutrophication
responses in the lake. We will thereby be able to estimate
not only the level of agricultural conservation practices
required to achieve aquatic ecological goals but also the cost
of achieving those goals. We will also be able to estimate the
extent that projected future climate change will exacerbate
the re-eutrophication problem in the Great Lakes.
The development of linked
watershed-lake models will
allow managers to quantify
the relationship between
conservation actions on
land and eutrophication
responses in the lake.
More than 100,000 miles of rivers and streams, close to 2.5
million acres of lakes, reservoirs and ponds, and over 800
square miles of bays and estuaries in the United States
have poor water quality because of excess nutrients,
making nutrient over-enrichment one of leading causes
of waterbody impairment in the nation (www2.epa.gov/
nutrientpollution/where-nutrient-pollution-occurs).
EPA has been calling on states to develop numeric nutrient
criteria (NNC) for more than a decade, but progress has
been slow. This is caused, in part, by the complicated
relationship between nutrients and endpoints of concern.
The response of aquatic plants to nutrient loads is highly
dependent on site-specific factors such as clarity, shading,
habitat, and hydrology. Furthermore, there are multiple
potential endpoints, including hypoxia, harmful algal
blooms, and aesthetics. Finally, the multiple levels of
relationships that may develop among these endpoints
must be considered. Because of this, both regulatory
agencies and the regulated community have been
challenged by the need to find regulatory solutions
to nutrient issues while also acknowledging the wide
variability in individual waterbody response to nutrient
enrichment.
With funding support provided by the Water Environment
Research Foundation (WERF), LimnoTech and a team of
researchers developed nutrient load-response modeling
guidance for establishing site-specific nutrient goals
based on endpoints of concern. The LimnoTech team also
developed a user-friendly Nutrient Modeling Toolbox
(Toolbox) that facilitates the selection of an appropriate
nutrient model(s) based on site-specific, technical, and
regulatory needs.
This Toolbox and associated guidance complement
existing regulatory guidance on non-modeling approaches
for deriving NNC, such as reference condition and stressorresponse approaches. A basic premise of this research is
that properly conducted, process-based, load-response
modeling approaches have more power than simpler
methods to account for waterbody-specific characteristics
and to resolve the effects of multiple confounding factors
on ecological responses. Generally, modeling approaches
require more resources (data, time, funding, expertise, etc.)
than simpler methods.
The Toolbox and guidance were developed with input
from WERF’s advisory committee and a stakeholder
advisory panel to ensure that they would be useful to both
regulators and the regulated community. Additionally,
LimnoTech and WERF
have developed a
user-friendly nutrient
modeling "Toolbox" to
guide stakeholders in
selecting appropriate
nutrient models based
on multiple factors.
States and EPA regions were surveyed to identify the most
commonly used endpoints of concern and modeling
approaches being used.
The nutrient load-response guidance describes the
process for developing, calibrating, and applying models
to support development of site-specific nutrient goals and
criteria. It also includes case studies illustrating the nutrient
modeling process for six different sites, and describes
how regulatory considerations affect the different steps
of the modeling process, from model selection to model
application, for deriving NNC and/or allowable nutrient
loads. A summary of data and research needs is also
provided for further improvement of nutrient models.
The Toolbox contains 30 publicly available process-based
and empirical models that link nutrients to ecological
response indicators for aquatic systems. Accompanying
the Toolbox is a user-friendly interface (Model Selection
Decision Tool) that helps users navigate the Toolbox to
identify an appropriate model(s), considering site-specific
factors such as waterbody type, ecological response
indicators (endpoints), type of application, and spatial and
temporal variability.
The stepwise nutrient modeling guidance and Toolbox
facilitates the use of models for deriving scientifically
sound nutrient goals. The guidance report, the Toolbox,
and Toolbox user’s manual can be obtained from WERF at:
http://www.werf.org/a/ka/Search/ResearchProfile.
aspx?ReportId=LINK1T11
The Toolbox is accompanied by a user-friendly interface that
helps users identify the correct model by considering sitespecific factors such as waterbody type, ecological response
indicators (endpoints), type of application, and physical and
temporal variability.
LimnoTech will be conducting a
workshop—Workshop W11: WERF
LINK1T11: Modeling Approaches to
Developing Site-specific Nutrient
Goals, Criteria, and Management—at
WEFTEC 2013 in Chicago on Saturday,
October 5 from 8:30-12:00. Workshop
attendees will have an opportunity to
use the Model Selection Decision Tool
to select appropriate models from the
Nutrient Modeling Toolbox.
Guidance and Tools for Selecting, Developing, and Applying Nutrient
Load-Response Models to Establish Site-Specific Nutrient Goals
The Re-Eutrophication of the Great Lakes
In the 1970s the Great Lakes community undertook a
highly successful program of research, data collection,
and modeling to establish target phosphorus loads for
addressing eutrophication reduction goals for the system.
Once these loading targets, established through wholelake modeling conducted in the 1970s, were officially
instituted in the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement
(GLWQA) and largely met, the Great Lakes no longer
experienced blue-green and nearshore benthic algal
blooms through the 1980s. Beginning in about the mid1990s, however, the Great Lakes began experiencing
what many are calling a “re-eutrophication.” We are
seeing the return of Harmful Algal Blooms (HABs), mostly
cyanobacteria such as Microcystis sp., and the return
of nearshore nuisance benthic algae (Cladophora sp.)
that cause recreation, aesthetic, and shoreline fouling
impacts. At the same time, the open offshore waters of the
deeper lakes are experiencing a deficiency of nutrients,
called “desertification” by many, which threatens the
coldwater fisheries in these lakes. Considerable research
has pointed to a number of changes in the Great Lakes
basin as leading causes of these phenomena. Of particular
note is the change in the ecosystem structure and
function resulting largely from the introduction of aquatic
invasive species, in particular the infestation of all the
lakes except Lake Superior by zebra and quagga mussels
(Dreissenids). Another important factor is the increase
of nutrient loading to the nearshore areas of these lakes
from agricultural land use. And the increased loading
of phosphorus is in the form of the highly bioavailable
dissolved reactive phosphorus.
The recently released 2012 Protocol of the Great Lakes
Water Quality Agreement expresses the urgent need
to develop a quantitative relationship between these
stressors of the re-eutrophication problem and the severity
of the in-lake responses being observed. To help address
that need, LimnoTech has undertaken several projects to
develop models in priority areas of the lakes to explain the
cause-effect relationships and to establish the necessary
load-response relationships needed to manage the
problems. LimnoTech and its project collaborators have
leveraged funding from the USACE-Buffalo District, NSF,
NOAA, and the Great Lakes Protection Fund to develop
a linked hydrodynamic–sediment transport–advanced
ecosystem modeling framework (EFDC-A2EM) and to
apply it to three priority Great Lakes systems: Saginaw Bay,
the Western Basin of Lake Erie, and the Central Basin of
Lake Erie. These applications have produced a number of
important findings, including:
In addition to the in-lake modeling, LimnoTech has
undertaken several modeling projects in the agricultural
watersheds that drain into these problem embayments/
basins. Three projects funded by the USACE-Buffalo
District and the Great Lakes Protection Fund have allowed
LimnoTech and its project team members to:
66 Develop fine-scale watershed models including
ephemeral gully contribution to improve our ability to
better understand the relative contribution of several
factors to increased dissolved reactive phosphorus
export from agricultural lands.
66 Develop the ability to target the placement and type
of agricultural best management practices to develop
the most cost-effective approach to achieving desired
environmental endpoints in these watersheds.
66 Work with agricultural economists and agricultural
managers to explore ways to incentivize best
management practices and conservation actions that
will optimize environmental benefits.
One of LimnoTech’s linked hydrodynamic-sediment transporteutrophication modeling efforts in the Great Lakes focuses on
quantifying the relationship between sediment and nutrient loading
to the Western Basin of Lake Erie and blooms of the blue-green algae,
Microcystis, such as the one depicted in this satellite image.
(Photo: Michigan Sea Grant, 2011)
66 By not filtering cyanobacteria in preference to other
phytoplankton classes, and by altering the spatial and
temporal distribution of bioavailable phosphorus in
these systems, the presence of Dreissenids makes a
significant contribution to the re-occurrence of HABs.
66 Significant increases in highly bioavailable dissolved
reactive phosphorus from dominantly agricultural
watersheds that drain into these systems is also a
major contributor to the re-occurrence of HABs.
66 The combination of Dreissenid filtering of particulate
matter, which greatly increases nearshore water clarity,
and the runoff of phosphorus to nearshore waters, has
led to the resurgence of nuisance benthic algae (e.g.,
Cladophora).
66 Lake Erie Central Basin hypoxia, which has also
become worse since the mid-1990s, is the result of a
combination of hydrometeorological stressors on the
Central Basin and excessive phytoplankton production
from the increased loading of bioavailable phosphorus
to the lake.
Taken together, the development of linked watershed-lake
response models will allow us to quantify the relationship
between conservation actions on land and eutrophication
responses in the lake. We will thereby be able to estimate
not only the level of agricultural conservation practices
required to achieve aquatic ecological goals but also the cost
of achieving those goals. We will also be able to estimate the
extent that projected future climate change will exacerbate
the re-eutrophication problem in the Great Lakes.
The development of linked
watershed-lake models will
allow managers to quantify
the relationship between
conservation actions on
land and eutrophication
responses in the lake.
More than 100,000 miles of rivers and streams, close to 2.5
million acres of lakes, reservoirs and ponds, and over 800
square miles of bays and estuaries in the United States
have poor water quality because of excess nutrients,
making nutrient over-enrichment one of leading causes
of waterbody impairment in the nation (www2.epa.gov/
nutrientpollution/where-nutrient-pollution-occurs).
EPA has been calling on states to develop numeric nutrient
criteria (NNC) for more than a decade, but progress has
been slow. This is caused, in part, by the complicated
relationship between nutrients and endpoints of concern.
The response of aquatic plants to nutrient loads is highly
dependent on site-specific factors such as clarity, shading,
habitat, and hydrology. Furthermore, there are multiple
potential endpoints, including hypoxia, harmful algal
blooms, and aesthetics. Finally, the multiple levels of
relationships that may develop among these endpoints
must be considered. Because of this, both regulatory
agencies and the regulated community have been
challenged by the need to find regulatory solutions
to nutrient issues while also acknowledging the wide
variability in individual waterbody response to nutrient
enrichment.
With funding support provided by the Water Environment
Research Foundation (WERF), LimnoTech and a team of
researchers developed nutrient load-response modeling
guidance for establishing site-specific nutrient goals
based on endpoints of concern. The LimnoTech team also
developed a user-friendly Nutrient Modeling Toolbox
(Toolbox) that facilitates the selection of an appropriate
nutrient model(s) based on site-specific, technical, and
regulatory needs.
This Toolbox and associated guidance complement
existing regulatory guidance on non-modeling approaches
for deriving NNC, such as reference condition and stressorresponse approaches. A basic premise of this research is
that properly conducted, process-based, load-response
modeling approaches have more power than simpler
methods to account for waterbody-specific characteristics
and to resolve the effects of multiple confounding factors
on ecological responses. Generally, modeling approaches
require more resources (data, time, funding, expertise, etc.)
than simpler methods.
The Toolbox and guidance were developed with input
from WERF’s advisory committee and a stakeholder
advisory panel to ensure that they would be useful to both
regulators and the regulated community. Additionally,
LimnoTech and WERF
have developed a
user-friendly nutrient
modeling "Toolbox" to
guide stakeholders in
selecting appropriate
nutrient models based
on multiple factors.
States and EPA regions were surveyed to identify the most
commonly used endpoints of concern and modeling
approaches being used.
The nutrient load-response guidance describes the
process for developing, calibrating, and applying models
to support development of site-specific nutrient goals and
criteria. It also includes case studies illustrating the nutrient
modeling process for six different sites, and describes
how regulatory considerations affect the different steps
of the modeling process, from model selection to model
application, for deriving NNC and/or allowable nutrient
loads. A summary of data and research needs is also
provided for further improvement of nutrient models.
The Toolbox contains 30 publicly available process-based
and empirical models that link nutrients to ecological
response indicators for aquatic systems. Accompanying
the Toolbox is a user-friendly interface (Model Selection
Decision Tool) that helps users navigate the Toolbox to
identify an appropriate model(s), considering site-specific
factors such as waterbody type, ecological response
indicators (endpoints), type of application, and spatial and
temporal variability.
The stepwise nutrient modeling guidance and Toolbox
facilitates the use of models for deriving scientifically
sound nutrient goals. The guidance report, the Toolbox,
and Toolbox user’s manual can be obtained from WERF at:
http://www.werf.org/a/ka/Search/ResearchProfile.
aspx?ReportId=LINK1T11
The Toolbox is accompanied by a user-friendly interface that
helps users identify the correct model by considering sitespecific factors such as waterbody type, ecological response
indicators (endpoints), type of application, and physical and
temporal variability.
LimnoTech will be conducting a
workshop—Workshop W11: WERF
LINK1T11: Modeling Approaches to
Developing Site-specific Nutrient
Goals, Criteria, and Management—at
WEFTEC 2013 in Chicago on Saturday,
October 5 from 8:30-12:00. Workshop
attendees will have an opportunity to
use the Model Selection Decision Tool
to select appropriate models from the
Nutrient Modeling Toolbox.
Great Lakes Watershed Ecological Sustainability Strategy:
Transactions for Agricultural Ecosystem Services
As discussed elsewhere in this newsletter, the summer
of 2011 saw a Harmful Algal Bloom (Microcystis sp.) of
unprecedented size and severity in the Western Basin of
Lake Erie. This bloom was primarily fueled by agricultural
runoff from the Maumee Watershed, which has about
80% agricultural land use. Similar coastal eutrophication
problems have been evident in other predominantly
agricultural Great Lakes watersheds, including Saginaw
Bay, Green Bay, and the Bay of Quinte. Fish and benthos
community health and diversity problems have also
been evident in the stream networks that drain these
agricultural watersheds. To help address this problem,
a team of researchers led by The Nature Conservancy
and including Michigan State University and LimnoTech,
have undertaken a large project funded by the Great
Lakes Protection Fund to target and incentivize
environmentally beneficial conservation practices in
Great Lakes agricultural watersheds. The overall goal of
this project is to explore methods for identifying and
then implementing agricultural conservation and best
management practices that will lead to the greatest
possible reduction in damaging environmental impacts
without placing undue risk on farm productivity.
The project will create a framework of the information
and tools necessary for managing agricultural
landscapes, to move toward optimal ecosystem
improvement returns and understand the return
on investments. At the core of the framework are
modeling tools that compute the dose-response curve
relationships between ecosystem improvements and
the placement, timing, and type of agricultural best
management practices. Used properly, this framework
can inform producers, agricultural agencies, agribusinesses, and governing bodies so that they can
set, and then farm for, measurable contributions to
aquatic ecosystem improvement goals. By extension,
this framework can inform agricultural policies, and
pay for performance transactions, certification, or other
non-monetary awards that lead to environmental
improvements/outcomes resulting from improved flows
of water across and through agricultural lands in the
Great Lakes region.
proposed transaction being tested would reduce
farm drainage assessments by an amount equivalent
to the ecosystem improvement that the landowner
makes (pay for performance).
US Postage Paid
Permit #87
Ann Arbor, MI
ADDRESS SERVICE REQUESTED
66 Farmer Willingness to Provide Environmental
Services – This transaction would gauge the amount
of reimbursements that farmers would be willing to
accept to install various types of best management
practices (BMPs) on their land. This transaction will
be tested using a reverse auction process whereby
farmers offer to implement BMPs on their land for
a given price per acre. The various bids are then
prioritized and selected for implementation by
normalizing the price per acre bid by the relative
ecological benefit (e.g., reduction in harmful algal
blooms in Lake Erie). Of course, the ecological
benefits will depend not only on the type of BMP but
also on its location in the watershed relative to the
delivery of nutrients to the lake.
66 Supply Chain Certification Programs –
Certification programs are being investigated at
three points in the overall supply chain: Product
Certification (e.g., producers of products made from
corn, soybeans, or wheat); Farmer Certification (e.g.,
the State of Michigan has a Michigan Agricultural
Environmental Assurance Program [MAEAP]); and
Agri-retailer Certification (we are working with a
committee to establish a 4R nutrient management
program being tested in Ohio).
We are pleased to contribute to this ground-breaking
project that we anticipate will lead to a comprehensive,
science-based strategy for ecological sustainable
agriculture in the Great Lakes Basin and beyond.
•Re-Eutrophication
of the Great Lakes
•Modeling Guidance
to Establish SiteSpecific Nutrient
Goals
Cover Let ter (cont .)
Currents is published for our clients and
associates by the employees of LimnoTech.
involve setting target levels for nitrogen and phosphorus concentrations
in the waterbodies themselves.
This newsletter and past issues may be
viewed on our website at:
Highlighted in this newsletter are some of LimnoTech’s efforts to advance
our understanding and solve water quality problems pertaining to
nutrient pollution in the Great Lakes, both on land and in water. Also
included is a recently completed effort by LimnoTech to provide practical
and scientifically sound guidance to both regulators and the regulated
community for establishing site-specific nutrient goals through the use of
nutrient load-response models.
We hope that you will find the topics in this newsletter interesting and
informative. Please contact us with any questions or comments you may
have about these articles.
Victor J. Bierman, Jr., Ph.D., BCEEM
Senior Scientist
[email protected]
Modeling analysis has indicated that ephemeral gully erosion is a
significant contributor of nutrients and sediments in Great Lakes
watersheds. (Photo courtesy of USDA NRCS)
Currents
Inside
This Issue...
www.limno.com/publications
•Sustainable
Strategies for
Agricultural
Ecosystems
For more information please contact:
Tim Bertsos, Editor
[email protected]
Contributors to this issue:
Joseph V. DePinto, Ph.D.
[email protected]
Victor J. Bierman, Jr., Ph.D., BCEEM
[email protected]
Wendy M. Larson
[email protected]
Penelope E. Moskus
[email protected]
Reproduction of material by permission only.
We are examining three basic categories of transactions
that will be valued on the basis of their relative ecological
performance:
66 County Agricultural Drain Management
Systems – Nearly every acre of farmland in the
lower Great Lakes is served by a drainage network
that is locally governed and administered to
collect, gather, and remove excessive water from
agricultural lands to optimize farm production. The
FIRST CLASS
LimnoTech
501 Avis Drive
Ann Arbor, MI 48108
LimnoTech Office Locations:
Headquarters
Ann Arbor, Michigan
734-332-1200
Mid-Atlantic Office
Washington, D.C.
202-833-9140
Central Region Office
Oakdale, MN
651-330-6038
Los Angeles Region Office
Manhattan Beach, CA
418-704-0095
www.limno.com
www.limno.com
A publication of
Vol. 14, No. 2 - Fall 2013
In Focus: Nutrient Management in Our
Water Resources
Nutrient pollution, caused by excessive
amounts of nitrogen and phosphorus, is
one of the most widespread, costly and
challenging water quality problems in the
United States. Nutrients occur naturally
in aquatic ecosystems and support the
growth of algae and aquatic plants, which
provide food and habitat for fish, shellfish
and other organisms. However, when too
much nitrogen and phosphorus enter
the environment, there can be adverse
environmental, human health, and
economic impacts.
Excessive nitrogen and phosphorus in the
water can cause algae to grow faster than
ecosystems can handle. Significant increases
in algae can harm water quality, food
resources, and habitats, and can decrease
the oxygen that fish and other aquatic life
need to survive. Large “blooms” of algae can
severely reduce or eliminate oxygen in the
water, and can lead to reduced productivity
and even death of large numbers of fish.
They can also produce thick, green scums
that impact recreation, businesses, and
property values. Some algal blooms produce
elevated levels of certain toxins that can
make people sick if they come in contact
with polluted water, consume tainted fish or
shellfish, or drink contaminated water. These
harmful algal blooms also divert energy
from healthy fish production in aquatic
systems.
Excessive nutrients that find their way into
waterbodies are often the direct result of
human activities. The primary sources of
these excessive nutrients are agriculture,
stormwater, wastewater, fossil fuels, and
various materials from in and around our
homes, including fertilizers, yard and pet
waste, and certain soaps and detergents.
In recent years, agriculture has drawn
increased attention because animal manure,
excess fertilizer applied to crops and fields,
and soil erosion make this sector one of the
largest sources of nitrogen and phosphorus
pollution in the country. When precipitation
falls on cities and towns, it runs across
impervious surfaces like rooftops, sidewalks
and roads, and carries nutrients into local
waterways. Wastewater treatment plants
and septic systems do not always remove
enough nitrogen and phosphorus before
discharging their effluents into waterways.
Electric power generation, industry, and
transportation have all increased the
amount of nitrogen in the air through the
use of fossil fuels.
Both regulatory agencies and the regulated
community have been challenged by
the need to find solutions to nutrient
pollution because there is wide variability
in how individual waterbodies respond to
excessive nutrient inputs, and because the
adverse impacts of these nutrient inputs
can be manifested in a variety of different
symptoms. In recent years, controversies
surrounding regulatory attempts to develop
numeric nutrient criteria (NNC) have
highlighted both the scientific limitations
of available methods for deriving NNC
and the widespread social, political, and
economic implications of nutrient controls.
The need for technically sound methods
also applies to other nutrient regulatory
activities such as Total Maximum Daily
Loads (TMDLs) and the National Pollutant
Discharge Elimination System (NPDES). The
TMDL and NPDES approaches are directed
at controlling nutrient loads that enter
waterbodies, as opposed to NNC, which
(Continued on back page)
Great Lakes Watershed Ecological Sustainability Strategy:
Transactions for Agricultural Ecosystem Services
As discussed elsewhere in this newsletter, the summer
of 2011 saw a Harmful Algal Bloom (Microcystis sp.) of
unprecedented size and severity in the Western Basin of
Lake Erie. This bloom was primarily fueled by agricultural
runoff from the Maumee Watershed, which has about
80% agricultural land use. Similar coastal eutrophication
problems have been evident in other predominantly
agricultural Great Lakes watersheds, including Saginaw
Bay, Green Bay, and the Bay of Quinte. Fish and benthos
community health and diversity problems have also
been evident in the stream networks that drain these
agricultural watersheds. To help address this problem,
a team of researchers led by The Nature Conservancy
and including Michigan State University and LimnoTech,
have undertaken a large project funded by the Great
Lakes Protection Fund to target and incentivize
environmentally beneficial conservation practices in
Great Lakes agricultural watersheds. The overall goal of
this project is to explore methods for identifying and
then implementing agricultural conservation and best
management practices that will lead to the greatest
possible reduction in damaging environmental impacts
without placing undue risk on farm productivity.
The project will create a framework of the information
and tools necessary for managing agricultural
landscapes, to move toward optimal ecosystem
improvement returns and understand the return
on investments. At the core of the framework are
modeling tools that compute the dose-response curve
relationships between ecosystem improvements and
the placement, timing, and type of agricultural best
management practices. Used properly, this framework
can inform producers, agricultural agencies, agribusinesses, and governing bodies so that they can
set, and then farm for, measurable contributions to
aquatic ecosystem improvement goals. By extension,
this framework can inform agricultural policies, and
pay for performance transactions, certification, or other
non-monetary awards that lead to environmental
improvements/outcomes resulting from improved flows
of water across and through agricultural lands in the
Great Lakes region.
proposed transaction being tested would reduce
farm drainage assessments by an amount equivalent
to the ecosystem improvement that the landowner
makes (pay for performance).
US Postage Paid
Permit #87
Ann Arbor, MI
ADDRESS SERVICE REQUESTED
66 Farmer Willingness to Provide Environmental
Services – This transaction would gauge the amount
of reimbursements that farmers would be willing to
accept to install various types of best management
practices (BMPs) on their land. This transaction will
be tested using a reverse auction process whereby
farmers offer to implement BMPs on their land for
a given price per acre. The various bids are then
prioritized and selected for implementation by
normalizing the price per acre bid by the relative
ecological benefit (e.g., reduction in harmful algal
blooms in Lake Erie). Of course, the ecological
benefits will depend not only on the type of BMP but
also on its location in the watershed relative to the
delivery of nutrients to the lake.
66 Supply Chain Certification Programs –
Certification programs are being investigated at
three points in the overall supply chain: Product
Certification (e.g., producers of products made from
corn, soybeans, or wheat); Farmer Certification (e.g.,
the State of Michigan has a Michigan Agricultural
Environmental Assurance Program [MAEAP]); and
Agri-retailer Certification (we are working with a
committee to establish a 4R nutrient management
program being tested in Ohio).
We are pleased to contribute to this ground-breaking
project that we anticipate will lead to a comprehensive,
science-based strategy for ecological sustainable
agriculture in the Great Lakes Basin and beyond.
•Re-Eutrophication
of the Great Lakes
•Modeling Guidance
to Establish SiteSpecific Nutrient
Goals
Cover Let ter (cont .)
Currents is published for our clients and
associates by the employees of LimnoTech.
involve setting target levels for nitrogen and phosphorus concentrations
in the waterbodies themselves.
This newsletter and past issues may be
viewed on our website at:
Highlighted in this newsletter are some of LimnoTech’s efforts to advance
our understanding and solve water quality problems pertaining to
nutrient pollution in the Great Lakes, both on land and in water. Also
included is a recently completed effort by LimnoTech to provide practical
and scientifically sound guidance to both regulators and the regulated
community for establishing site-specific nutrient goals through the use of
nutrient load-response models.
We hope that you will find the topics in this newsletter interesting and
informative. Please contact us with any questions or comments you may
have about these articles.
Victor J. Bierman, Jr., Ph.D., BCEEM
Senior Scientist
[email protected]
Modeling analysis has indicated that ephemeral gully erosion is a
significant contributor of nutrients and sediments in Great Lakes
watersheds. (Photo courtesy of USDA NRCS)
Currents
Inside
This Issue...
www.limno.com/publications
•Sustainable
Strategies for
Agricultural
Ecosystems
For more information please contact:
Tim Bertsos, Editor
[email protected]
Contributors to this issue:
Joseph V. DePinto, Ph.D.
[email protected]
Victor J. Bierman, Jr., Ph.D., BCEEM
[email protected]
Wendy M. Larson
[email protected]
Penelope E. Moskus
[email protected]
Reproduction of material by permission only.
We are examining three basic categories of transactions
that will be valued on the basis of their relative ecological
performance:
66 County Agricultural Drain Management
Systems – Nearly every acre of farmland in the
lower Great Lakes is served by a drainage network
that is locally governed and administered to
collect, gather, and remove excessive water from
agricultural lands to optimize farm production. The
FIRST CLASS
LimnoTech
501 Avis Drive
Ann Arbor, MI 48108
LimnoTech Office Locations:
Headquarters
Ann Arbor, Michigan
734-332-1200
Mid-Atlantic Office
Washington, D.C.
202-833-9140
Central Region Office
Oakdale, MN
651-330-6038
Los Angeles Region Office
Manhattan Beach, CA
418-704-0095
www.limno.com
www.limno.com
A publication of
Vol. 14, No. 2 - Fall 2013
In Focus: Nutrient Management in Our
Water Resources
Nutrient pollution, caused by excessive
amounts of nitrogen and phosphorus, is
one of the most widespread, costly and
challenging water quality problems in the
United States. Nutrients occur naturally
in aquatic ecosystems and support the
growth of algae and aquatic plants, which
provide food and habitat for fish, shellfish
and other organisms. However, when too
much nitrogen and phosphorus enter
the environment, there can be adverse
environmental, human health, and
economic impacts.
Excessive nitrogen and phosphorus in the
water can cause algae to grow faster than
ecosystems can handle. Significant increases
in algae can harm water quality, food
resources, and habitats, and can decrease
the oxygen that fish and other aquatic life
need to survive. Large “blooms” of algae can
severely reduce or eliminate oxygen in the
water, and can lead to reduced productivity
and even death of large numbers of fish.
They can also produce thick, green scums
that impact recreation, businesses, and
property values. Some algal blooms produce
elevated levels of certain toxins that can
make people sick if they come in contact
with polluted water, consume tainted fish or
shellfish, or drink contaminated water. These
harmful algal blooms also divert energy
from healthy fish production in aquatic
systems.
Excessive nutrients that find their way into
waterbodies are often the direct result of
human activities. The primary sources of
these excessive nutrients are agriculture,
stormwater, wastewater, fossil fuels, and
various materials from in and around our
homes, including fertilizers, yard and pet
waste, and certain soaps and detergents.
In recent years, agriculture has drawn
increased attention because animal manure,
excess fertilizer applied to crops and fields,
and soil erosion make this sector one of the
largest sources of nitrogen and phosphorus
pollution in the country. When precipitation
falls on cities and towns, it runs across
impervious surfaces like rooftops, sidewalks
and roads, and carries nutrients into local
waterways. Wastewater treatment plants
and septic systems do not always remove
enough nitrogen and phosphorus before
discharging their effluents into waterways.
Electric power generation, industry, and
transportation have all increased the
amount of nitrogen in the air through the
use of fossil fuels.
Both regulatory agencies and the regulated
community have been challenged by
the need to find solutions to nutrient
pollution because there is wide variability
in how individual waterbodies respond to
excessive nutrient inputs, and because the
adverse impacts of these nutrient inputs
can be manifested in a variety of different
symptoms. In recent years, controversies
surrounding regulatory attempts to develop
numeric nutrient criteria (NNC) have
highlighted both the scientific limitations
of available methods for deriving NNC
and the widespread social, political, and
economic implications of nutrient controls.
The need for technically sound methods
also applies to other nutrient regulatory
activities such as Total Maximum Daily
Loads (TMDLs) and the National Pollutant
Discharge Elimination System (NPDES). The
TMDL and NPDES approaches are directed
at controlling nutrient loads that enter
waterbodies, as opposed to NNC, which
(Continued on back page)