Hot Issues in the Delaware River Basin: Current and Future. Carol R. Collier, AICP Executive Director Delaware River Basin Commission

Transcription

1 Hot Issues in the Delaware River Basin: Current and Future Carol R. Collier, AICP Executive Director Delaware River Basin Commission

2 2006 Land Use/Land Cover FOREST WETLANDS 8% WATER BARREN 2% <1% DEVEL 15% NOAA CSC BASIN 6,288 mi2 AG 26% 49% FOREST 1925 mi2 58% WETLANDS 6% WATER 2% BARREN DEVEL 10% AG 24% FOREST 2,778 mi2 81% WETLANDS 3% AG 13% WATER 2% BARREN DEVEL 1% CENTRAL UPPER REGION

3 Outstanding Regional Resource Exceptional water quality Exceptional source water Ecological diversity ~75% of non-tidal river part of National Wild and Scenic Rivers System 100% of non-tidal river is Special Protection Waters

4 DRBC Special Protection Waters Program It is the policy of the Commission that there be no measurable change to existing water quality except towards natural conditions

5 Water Quality Federal Wild and Scenic River Designation ¾ of non-tidal river Total non-tidal river and its watershed designated DRBC Special Protection Waters Mainstem = longest stretch of anti-degradation waters in U.S. No measurable change in water quality

6 Delaware River Port Complex Largest Fresh Water Port

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8 Delaware River Watershed Facts Over 15 million people (about 5% of the U.S. population) rely on the waters of the basin Drains 13,539 mi², or 0.4 of 1% of the continental U.S. land area Longest undammed river east of the Mississippi Daily water withdrawal in the DRB = 8.7 BGD 5 1

9 Head of Tide

10 The DRB is a Critical Resource and An Economic Driver!! There is not enough water for all uses during drought conditions Water needed for other uses navigation, ecological flows, recreation, wastewater assimilative capacity More Complex boundary of four states Holistic basin management is a necessity!

11 Fish Consumption Advisories

12 Water Quality Priorities PCBS Uniform Criterion, Implementation Plan, Stage 2 TMDL, Assessment of last 10 year of progress. Nutrients: 5 10 x Chesapeake, not symptoms Focus dissolved oxygen levels Monitoring and assessment Nutrient Strategy, Expert Panels, WQAC Inclusive Monitoring, Modeling and Assessment

13 Changes at DRBC Regulation of Dischargers Fee Structures Water Supply Storage Fund What can be done with $$ available? Personnel

14 Issues Knocking On Our Door Sea Level Rise More Intense Storms Summer Droughts Natural Gas Drilling Population Shifts Energy Production Water Use Ecological Flows / Human Use

15 A Very Uncertain Future

16 Aerial view of a Marcellus Shale well site near Waynesburg, Pa. (MICHAEL BRYANT / Phila. Inquirer Photographer )

17 Rutgers Office of State Climatologist

18 Flood Mitigation

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20 Regional Changes Northeast/Mid-Atlantic U.S. Eastport, ME Bar Harbor, ME Portland, ME Boston, MA Woods Hole, MA Newport, RI Providence, RI New London, CT Montauk, NY Willets Point, NY The Battery, NY Sandy Hook, NJ Atlantic City, NJ Philadelphia, PA Lewes, DE Baltimore, MD Annapolis, MD Solomons Island, MD Washington, DC Gloucester Point, VA Sewells Point, VA Source Ray Najjar Northeast US Sea level trends, (mm/yr) In the Northeast/Mid- Atlantic U.S., sea level is rising much faster than the global average, most likely due to local land subsidence. Inferred subsidence rates are -0.6 to 2.7 mm yr -1. Over the 21 st Century, this is an additional sea-level rise of -6 to 27 cm. Global average Sources: Zervas (2001), Church et al. (2004)

21 Water-level change at Philadelphia Source: NOAA (2011)

22 Salt Line (250 mg/l, 7 day avg) Water Supply Intakes RM s Maximum Normal R.M. 77 MONTH Data for determination provided by the U.S. Geological Survey and Kimberly Clark Corp. AVG. MID-MONTH LOCATION Ja n 68 Fe b 68 Ma r 67 Apr 61 Ma y 64 Jun 67 Jul 72 Aug 77 Se p 79 Oct 81 Nov 80 Dec 74

23 Water Intakes at Risk from Drought and Sea Level Rise: location of the salt line at high tide during drought Power Exelon Delaware Generating Station Exelon Richmond Generating Station Philadelphia Gas Works Richmond Industrial Koch Material Co. NGC Industries Rohm and Haas Philadelphia MacAndrew and Forbes Co. Pennwalt Corporation Sunoco Public Supply Torresdale Water Intake (provides almost 60% of Philadelphia s water supply) New Jersey American Water Co. Tri-County Water Treatment Plant

24 Integrated Water Resources Management

25 Will We Have Enough Water? More water needed to control salt line Existing reservoirs will not be as effective with intense storms. Green and grey infrastructure solutions DRBC Strategy for Sustainable Water Resources 2060 Develop resiliency Shot-term; long-term

26 Sustainable Water Resources Population Change and Location Energy Generation Water Footprint Ecological Flows Natural Gas Development? Point and Non-Point Pollution Climate Change Sea level rise, intense storms, droughts

27 Needs Need to look holistically Water system Geography Stakeholders Upstream Impacts on Downstream Downstream needs driving upstream mgt. Basin-wide Solutions Plan Basin-wide; Implement locally

28 How to Proceed With Minimal Funds Benefit of good data sets Working with Federal Agencies USGS Water Census Pilot Ecological Flows Water Use Updates 2010 data, energy sector WATERS Model Scenario testing NOAA IWRSS Mid-Atlantic Basins Pilot USACE Salinity Flow Model State Collaborative Proof of Concept

29 We need to work together to manage the resource

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