Water Sustainability: Toward A Common Understanding Michigan Case Study

Transcription

1 Water Sustainability: Toward A Common Understanding Michigan Case Study November 2, 28 University of Minnesota, St. Paul Campus Howard W. Reeves, USGS Michigan Water Science Center U.S. Department of the Interior U.S. Geological Survey

2 Michigan Water Withdrawal Assessment Process and Screening Tool Implementation of Great Lakes Compact Collaborative process Technical challenges USGS worked in cooperative research project with the State of Michigan Departments of Natural Resources and Environmental Quality, University of Michigan, Michigan State University. Paul Seelbach (MDNR), Dave Hamilton (MDEQ), Jon Allen (Consumers Energy), Jeremiah Asher (MSU)

3 The Michigan Story: Players and Principles Governors and Premiers Great Lakes Regional Compact State Legislative Leadership: Vision, Science, & Collaboration State Legislative Water Advisory Council Investment in Water Resources Science? State Politics Investment in Environmental Flow Science New Michigan Water Laws

4 Ground-water sustainability Streamflow depletion Reduction in water levels leading to: Well-to-well conflict Poor water quality Subsidence Loss of wetlands, lakes, or other features

5 Ground-water sustainability Streamflow depletion Reduction in water levels leading to: Well-to-well conflict Poor water quality Subsidence Loss of wetlands, lakes, or other features Water withdrawals (surface or ground water) > 2 million gallons per day permit required <, gallons per day no regulation >, gallons per day registration, but no permit Cannot cause an Adverse Resource Impact.

6 Technical Challenges Process to help prevent adverse resource impacts, but not require permits Consider surface and ground water withdrawals Ground water from storage may buffer streamflow depletion impact may not be immediate Well may capture water from multiple streams impact may not be localized How is adverse resource impact defined? How much water is available?

7 Water Availability Regression models were used to estimate streamflow in gaged and ungaged streams National Hydrography Dataset (NHD) through NHDplus Regression model: USGS gage data ~ 5 gages drainage area landscape properties: soils, forest, glacial landscape climate: precipitation Index flow is median flow for low-flow summer month Reaches from NHD grouped into Valley Segments 3, NHD reaches -> 9, valley segments Ecology, flow, temperature, slope, setting

8 Valley Segment Classification classes: 4 temperature categories: cold, transitional, cool, warm 3 size categories: stream, small river, large river Ecological (fish) data and modeling used to estimate ecological response of each class to water withdrawal

9 Adverse Resource Impact 26 Legislation Adverse Resource Impact: Stream s ability to support characteristic fish populations is functionally impaired 26 8 Goal: Quantify Adverse Resource Impact Consistency Predictability In 29, Adverse Resource Impact will be defined using ecological response curves and allowable limits set in legislation

10 Proportion.8.6 A B C D Gradient of increasing risk Thriving Fish Characteristic Fish Proportion of index flow removed Adverse Resource Impact

11 Developed Response Models for Each Stream Type Legislature set ARI lines.8.8 Cold Trans Cool Warm Streams Sm Rivers Lg Rivers

12 Preserve the geography of flow

13 Ground water withdrawal assessment Analytical solution, Hunt (999), streamflow depletion by a well on a small stream in an infinite aquifer Requires: Distance from well to stream Transmissivity of aquifer Storage coefficient of aquifer Streambed conductance Inverse-distance weighting to distribute between multiple streams

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15 Ground Water Inventory and Map In 23, Michigan legislature requested that the Department of Environmental Quality compile an inventory and map of ground water data Cooperative project: MDEQ, MSU, USGS Estimated transmissivity for glacial deposits and for bedrock aquifers across the state using water well records, aquifer tests, geologic maps Compiled data for storage coefficient, depth to bedrock, well depths.

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17 The Water Withdrawal Assessment Process Is a withdrawal likely to cause an Adverse Resource Impact? Screening Tool An web-based analysis using general, state-wide data for a given withdrawal Site Specific Analysis Same process, but using sitespecific data on flow, hydrogeology, or ecology; could use other ground water flow models

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23 Resources gwmap.rsgis.msu.edu Hamilton, D.A., Sorrell, R.C., and Holtschlag, D.J., 28, A regression model for computing index flows describing the median flow for the summer month of lowest flow in Michigan: U.S. Geological Survey Scientific Investigations Report , 43 p. [ Reeves, H.W., 28, STRMDEPL8 An extended version of STRMDEPL with additional analytical solutions to calculate streamflow depletion by nearby pumping wells: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 28 66, 22 p. [