Serving at the Governors Request The Joint Study Committee Brian - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Serving at the Governor’s Request – The Joint Study Committee Brian Haggard , Arkansas Water Resources Center National Institutes of Water Resources Washington D.C.

The Illinois River time line… 2011 TMDL 2015 TMDL Project Overview MODEL 2010 TMDL 2011 TMDL COMPLETE INFO MTG Model QAPP 2010 TMDL 2012 TMDL Draft Schedule Model Update NWA EFFLUENT 2013 TMDL 2009 TMDL CONCENTRATIONS INFO MTG Project Kickoff 1 st Joint Statement 2 nd Joint Statement Lawsuit Joint Study Committee Appointed ILLINOIS RIVER FLOW-ADJUSTED CONCENTRATIONS

Second Statement of Joint Principles and Actions  Joint Study Committee  Governors appointed 6 in 2013  Arkansas Me, Benefield, & Matlock  Algal Biomass Oklahoma  Smithee, Phillips, & Chard   Stressor–Response Study  RFQ excluded: Entities based in states  Entities involved in lawsuits   Selected Contractor King, Baylor University  Approved Scope of Work  25+ stream sites along P gradient in  Phosphorus Gradient Scenic Rivers and select watersheds Define P thresholds related to algal  We faced some hard issues… biomass and community structure (1) Magnitude, Duration and Frequency  Committee provided states (2) What is undesirable aesthetic and or recommendation in 2016. water-quality conditions?

The Joint Study Committee considered a wealth of information from the Joint Study by Dr. King. The Joint Study Committee looked at how algal biomass changed across a gradient of TP concentrations over various durations.

The Joint Study Committee considered a wealth of information from the Joint Study by Dr. King. The Joint Study Committee looked at how nuisance algae changed across a gradient of TP concentrations over various durations.

The Joint Study Committee and Dr. King used weight of evidence approach…

The Joint Study Committee unanimously agreed to the following motions…  The “Joint Study” was performed and provided data to meet the “charge” of the “joint committee”…  …the states jointly develop a monitoring and assessment program informed by the “joint study” and other scientific information to determine attainment of the criteria.  The “Joint Study” showed the change in algal taxonomic composition and periphyton biomass was statistically observed at TP concentrations as low as 0.011 mg/L and as high as 0.074 mg/L.  The “Joint Committee” defines the critical conditions for the “Joint Study” as the conditions where surface runoff is not the dominant influence of total flow and stream ecosystem processes.  The… TP thresholds from the “Joint Study” were developed based on water and biological samples collected under “critical conditions”.  The final recommendation was… A six-month average total phosphorus level of not to exceed 0.035 mg L -1 based on water samples taken during the CRITICAL CONDITION, as previously defined, was necessary to protect the aesthetics beneficial use and scenic river (Outstanding Resource Water) designations assigned to the designated Scenic Rivers.

So, where are we in terms of 0.035 mg TP L -1 recommendation ?

WINTER SPRING FALL SUMMER ILLINOIS RIVER WATESHED

QUE QUESTI TIONS?