Illinois EPA Surface Water Monitoring and Assessment Programs

Transcription

1 Illinois EPA Surface Water Monitoring and Assessment Programs Illinois Water 2014 Conference (October 14, 2014) Gregg Good, Manager Surface Water Section, Bureau of Water, Illinois EPA

2 So what is this Good looking guy going to talk about today? - Illinois Water Resources We gotta lot! - Monitoring Goals - Surface Water Monitoring Programs - Turning Collected Data into 305(b) Assessments and 303(d) Listings - Other Stuff and New Initiatives - Illinois Water Monitoring Strategy

3 There s no shortage of water to monitor in Illinois! 118,333 miles of interior streams 911 miles of border streams (Mississippi, Wabash, Ohio) 3,256 inland lakes (>6 acres), 253,224 acres Lake Michigan 64 miles (976,640 acres)

4 Surface Water Section Primary Goals Assessments pursuant to CWA Section 305(b) Listings of impaired waters pursuant to CWA Section 303(d) Determining attainment of designated uses, identifying causes and sources of impairment, and identifying trends Data generation for standards development Implement and evaluate effectiveness of water management programs

5 Illinois EPA Monitoring Programs

6 Ambient Water Quality Monitoring Network Fixed-Station Network : 538 stations : 209 stations 2008-present: 146 stations Illinois EPA 86 stations ISWS/USGS 60 stations ~60 routine inorganics 9x/year (~every six weeks) 11 Miss. River sites 4x/year Nutrients (146 of 146) Chlorophyll (50 of 146) Pesticides (30 of 146)

7 INTENSIVE BASIN SURVEYS Five Year Statewide Rotation began in 1981 ~140 sites/year Chemistry (IEPA) Water Sediment Fish tissue In-Stream Habitat (IEPA/IDNR) Biology Fish (IDNR) Macroinvertebrates (IEPA)

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14 Continuous DO Monitoring At all Intensive Basin Survey sites (~140/year) since 2009 Illinois EPA - ~40 sites Illinois State Water Survey - ~100 sites Two 7-day deployments at each site June 1 - July 31 August 1 October minute readings (DO, ph, temp, cond.) New Relational Database Development and Population by ISWS

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17 Ambient Lake Monitoring Program IEPA lake biologists Approx. 45 lakes/year 3 sites/lake + 1 deep site 5 visits/yr. (April-Oct.) Parameters -Water -Sediment -Macrophytes/Phytoplankton -Metals/Organics at PWS Lakes -New Lake Bug-IBI soon!

18 Volunteer Lake Monitoring Program (Since 1981) Citizen Volunteer Monitors Usually 3 sites/lake ~150 Tier 1 Secchi only ~ 65 Tier 2 Secchi and Chemistry at 1 site ~ 15 Tier 3 Secchi and Chemistry at all sites

19 Kevin Skipper Zidonis Illinois EPA BOW/ Northern Monitoring Unit

20 LMMP Redesign in 2009 Three Main Components Nearshore Survey Harbor Monitoring Public Water Supply/ Fixed Station IEPA Boat Purchased 2010 (100% fed grant) Implemented New Program 2010

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22 Component Water Quality Parameters Nearshore Expanded Nearshore Harbors Public Water Supply/Fixed Total Nutrients X X X X Dissolved Phosphorus X X X Total Metals X X X X Dissolved Metals X X X Chloride X X X X Fluoride X X X X Sulfate X X X X Total Organic Carbon X X X Total Dissolved Solids X X X X Total Suspended Solids X X X X Volatile Suspended Solids X X X X Cyanide X X X Phenols X X X Organics/Pesticides X X Chlorophyll a X X X Turbidity X X X Secchi Disk Transparency X X X Conductivity X X X X ph X X X X Water Temperature X Dissolved Oxygen X Temperature/Dissolved Oxygen Profile X X X Phytoplankton Identification and Cell Counts X X X Sediment Organics/Pesticides X Sediment Percent Total Solids X Sediment Volatile Solids X Sediment Total Organic Carbon X Sediment Phosphorus X Sediment Total Kjeldahl Nitrogen X Sediment Metals X Sediment Mercury X

23 Ok, so we ve collected the data. Now what? We make 305(b) Assessment and 303(d) Impaired Waters Listing Decisions!

24 Step 1: Determine if the designated use is attained Aquatic Life Swimming Aesthetic Quality Drinking Water Fish Consumption

25 Step 2: If a designated use is not attained, diagnose potential Causes & Sources of the impairment

26 Frequent potential Causes of use impairment Streams Fecal Coliform Low Dissolved Oxygen Mercury PCBs Total Phosphorus Manganese Sedimentation/Siltation Total Suspended Solids Inland Lakes Total Suspended Solids Total Phosphorus Aquatic Algae Mercury Manganese Aquatic Plants PCBs Cause Unknown

27 Frequent potential Sources of use impairment Streams Source Unknown Atmospheric Deposition (Mercury) Agricultural Crop Production Stream Channelization Municipal Point Sources Urban Runoff/Storm Sewers Inland Lakes Source Unknown Agricultural Crop Production Shoreline Erosion Atmospheric Deposition (Mercury) Urban Runoff/Storm Sewers Nutrient Enriched Sediments

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29 Well there is no way Gregg s Gang can do even more stuff, is there?

30 The Mississippi River

31 The Ohio River ORSANCO 305(b) Water Quality Report

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33 While there are many different known algal toxins, the most common one found in Illinois is called microcystin, a known liver-damaging toxin. Adverse health effects could occur when waters exhibiting a bluegreen algal bloom are swallowed, come in contact with skin, or when airborne droplets containing toxins are inhaled while swimming, boating, waterskiing, tubing, bathing or showering. Pets are also at risk when allowed to drink or swim in surface water containing a blue-green algal bloom. Health effects can include asthma-like symptoms, abdominal pain, vomiting, diarrhea, rashes, or nervous system effects depending on the exposure level and type of toxin present in the water. Algal Toxins? Microcystin Anatoxin Cylindrospermopsin Saxitoxin

34 IEPA s HAB History in Summary.. Nothing substantial found from No activity in Then the 2010 Clinton Lake dead dog, sick girl incident. Then the 2012 drought, including Microcystin values of 1,500 ug/l, 1,700 ug/l, 4,800 ug/l, 14,800 ug/l, and 31,500 ug/l, and several voluntary lake closures by lake owners. World Health Organization level of concern = 20 ug/l!!

35 Microcystin Concentration (µg/l) All ELISA Samples April - October 2013 Overall n 458 Median 0.37 Max 2,317

36 2013 vs HAB Program Collections (through September 30, 2014) Sample Collection Sites IEPA - Open Water IEPA - Beaches and Boat Ramps IEPA - Public Water Supply 0 40 IEPA - Fox River IEPA - Lake Michigan 0 26 LCHD - Beaches IEPA & LCHD Event Response Total:

37 2014 was a Cool & Wet year Jan-Aug 14 5 th coolest, 34 th wettest Concentration Levels vs. 2013??? Waiting on Lab Results, but guessing fewer results over >10 ug/l Lake Erie - Public Water Supply Source for Toledo, Ohio 2014 HAB Program Happenings Microcystin in Finished Water >1.0 ug/l Do Not Drink, Do Not Boil for 2 days Increased Emergency Room Visits Lake Michigan - Public Water Supply for Chicago, Illinois? Next day Is this a problem for the PWS of 6.6 million Chicago-area residents? Answer: NO Highland Silver Lake Scare HAB Program Coordinator?

38 8-Super Station Network Illinois Statewide Nutrient Loss Reduction Strategy need for accountability Continuously Recorded Parameters Nitrate, Phosphate, Turbidity, D.O., Cond., ph, Spec. Cond. Stations (73% of IL land area) Rock, Green, Illinois, Vermillion (Danville), Embarras, Kaskaskia, Little Wabash, Big Muddy 5-years of Monitoring Annual Nutrient Load Exports

39 The Illinois Water Monitoring Strategy will tell you: What we currently do. New stuff we plan to do. New stuff we hope to do given new resources.

40 Questions/Comments?