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…

NWA EFFLUENT CONCENTRATIONS

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

Second Statement of Joint Principles and Actions

 Joint Study Committee

 Governors appointed 6 in 2013



Arkansas



Me, Benefield, & Matlock 

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 Scenic Rivers and select watersheds



Define P thresholds related to algal biomass and community structure

 Committee provided states

recommendation in 2016.

Algal Biomass Phosphorus Gradient

We faced some hard issues… (1) Magnitude, Duration and Frequency (2) What is undesirable aesthetic and or 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?

ILLINOIS RIVER WATESHED

WINTER SPRING FALL SUMMER

QUE QUESTI TIONS?