Effectiveness Monitoring

Transcription

1 Effectiveness Monitoring to Achieve Watershed Goals Ohio s Commitment to Watersheds 40 Endorsed Plans 58 TMDLs 26 Approved $800K/year in Grants $6.1 million total Russ Gibson, NPS Program Manager Ohio EPA Division of Surface Water Ohio s Clean Water Goal are we getting our money s worth? To successfully achieve aquatic life use attainment in 80% of Ohio s waters by Bio-Criteria Used in Determining ALU Attainment What s Causing the Problems? QHEI Habitat ICI Bugs IBI Fish 1

2 Hydromodification Silt & Sediment LargeRivers 33% Small Waters 45% LargeRivers 33% Small Waters 52% Habitat Alteration Nutrients Large Rivers 43% Small Waters 61% Large Rivers 24% Small Waters 42% Projects Funded FFY01 through FFY05 What NPS measures were we funding? Type of Projects Home Septic Projects Acid Mine Drainage Ag BMPs Watershed Planning Stream Restoration Dam Removal Easements Other Projects FFY % 23% 15% 12% 9% 7% 7% 5% 2

3 319 Subgrantees Subgrant Funds for Local Personnel Type of Subgrantee Soil & Water Districts Regional Planning & CAO s Nonprofit Organizations County Health Departments Local Governments Colleges & Universities FFY % 25% 14% 13% 8% 7% Grant Cycle FFY03 FFY04 FFY05 Local Personnel 21 FTEs 13 FTEs 27 FTEs *Total numbers do not include state employees paid using 319(h) base funds. FFY01-FFY05 Ag BMPs Installed looking beyond the numbers Grass Waterways 40,042 linear ft. Livestock Fencing 53,010 linear ft. Nitrogen Reduction Measures 21,742 acres Load Reductions Nitrogen 532,279 lbs/year Phosphorus 168,911 lbs/year 63% of Nitrogen Load Reductions (334,000 lbs/yr) are from only 3 Ag BMP Projects Monitoring Results One project resulted in measurable nitrate reductions. Sugar Creek Headwaters Project #02(h)EPA samples at 51 sites FFY01-FFY05 Home Septic Projects HSTS Replacements 660 Traditional Units HSTS Replacements 3 Alternative Units Estimated Load Reductions Nitrogen 27,180 lbs/year Phosphorus 10,295 lbs/year 3

4 We found 3053 systems discharging 1,121,880 gallons of untreated sewage into the Stillwater River each day #03(h) EPA-04 Darke County Health District Replaced 252 failing systems Cost-share limited to $2,000 per unit $85,000/yr for personnel & overhead $10 million to replace all failing units At the Beginning of the Day The Stillwater River was (by and large) in attainment of its EWH Designated Aquatic Life Use. Something Needed to Change At the End of the Day The Stillwater River was still performing at its EWH Designated Aquatic Life Use. From the Dilbert-2007 Calendar Hierarchy of Desired Results High Magnitude NPS Cause Hydromodification Silt & Sediment Small Waters 45% 52% Large Rivers 33% 33% Eliminate Impairments Restore Impaired Waters Reduce Pollutants Prevent NPS Pollution Habitat Alteration 61% 43% Nutrients 42% 24% 4

5 Projects Funded FFY06 & FFY07 Type of Projects FFY01-05 FFY06-07 Home Septic Projects 24% 0% Acid Mine Drainage 23% 7% Ag BMPs 15% 3% Watershed Planning 12% 12% Stream Restoration 9% 52% Dam Removal 7% 12% Easements 7% 12% Other Projects* 5% 0% 319 Subgrantees Type of Subgrantee FFY01-05 Soil & Water Districts Regional Planning & CAO s Nonprofit Organizations County Health Departments Local Governments Colleges & Universities 33% 25% 14% 13% 8% 7% FFY % 11% 48% 5% 21% 6% Subgrant Funds for Local Personnel Grant Cycle FFY03 FFY04 FFY05 FFY06 FFY07 FFY08 Full-time Equivalents 21 FTEs 13 FTEs 27 FTEs 18 FTEs 7 FTEs <1 FTE* A monitoring component to evaluate the effectiveness of the implementation efforts. *Total Requested in 12 Project Applications that are recommended for funding. This Thing Called Monitoring Effectiveness Monitoring: used to determine whether a BMP is actually achieving the load reduction they were expected achieve Restoration Monitoring: used to identify the overall results after a project and/or series of projects have been implemented. All section 319(h) grant funded projects must also include an environmental monitoring component -Excerpted from Ohio EPA FFY2007 RFP 5

6 Lower Olentangy Ecosystem Restoration Project This is what we got! 1 Dam Removed Project Monitoring 5 Monitoring Teams $308,693 Remote Sensing Aquatic Habitat Soil Sediment Water Quality Riparian Productivity Secor Road Dam Removal Project 1 Dam Removed 2 Monitoring Teams $300,112 (proposed) $96,157 (funded) 6

7 Even at Reduced Funding Subgrant Funds for Monitoring Grant Cycle Monitoring $ FFY05 $304,538 Monitoring Costs exceed the total FFY06 $508,330 costs to remove the dam. FFY07 $271,294 FFY08 RFP Monitoring Guidance Starting with FFY08 Ohio EPA will do all of the environmental monitoring for section 319(h) funded projects. Whoa Nellie! Subgrant Funds for Monitoring Grant Cycle Monitoring $ FFY05 $304,538 FFY06 $508,330 FFY07 $271,294 FFY08 $44,780 OEPA 319 Project Monitoring Team $100,000/year Environmental Specialist (FISH) $10,000/year 2 College Interns (FISH) $100,000/year Environmental Specialist (BUGS) $5,000/year 1 College Intern (BUGS) Total Annual Cost: $215,000 7

8 OEPA 319 Project Monitoring Team QHEI Habitat ICI Bugs IBI Fish 75 Sampling Sites/Year 5 Sites/Project 15 Projects/Year 2008 Baseline FFY08 Projects OEPA 319 Project Monitoring Sequence 2009 Baseline FFY09 Projects 2010 Post-Project FFY08 Projects 2011 Post-Project FFY09 Projects Benefits eliminating impairments City of Kent Cost Savings All Level 3 Credible Data All Data STORET Compatible One QAPP Project & Watershed Specific BEFORE Modification AFTER Modification Improved IBI Scores from 28 to 44 Increased QHEI Scores from 51 to 80 Improved MiWb Scores from 8.2 to restoring impaired waters Scioto River Federation reducing nps pollutants Raccoon Creek Watershed Project Powderlick Run BEFORE Powderlick Run--AFTER Improved QHEI Scores from 39 to 58 Increased IBI Scores from 18 to 34 Nitrogen assimilative capacity 0.29 mg/l to 11.9 mg/l Reclaimed 56 acres of Abandoned Mine Land Reduced AMD by 730,000 gals/yr Cumulatively Restored 23.3 miles to WWH 8

9 preventing nps pollutants Western Reserve Land Conservancy Lessons Learned Align $$ to Real Problems Fund GOOD Projects Ignore the WOW Factor 348 acres of Riparian Easements 25,5000 linear ft of Headwaters Protected Monitor ONLY what is Needed Evaluate your Program Yearly Ohio EPA 319 Grants Program our mission is clear we help people do good things 9