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Forests of the Southeastern United States produce approximately 12% of all the world's wood products and represent 40% of all U.S. timberland, thus emphasizing the importance of Southeast in support of the United States' role as the world's largest timber producer. Producing such quantities of timber requires a substantial areas of forest harvest operations, which have the potential to disturb soils, facilitate erosion and potentially reduce water quality. Harvest sites routinely contain operational features such as skid trails, harvest areas, haul roads, decks/landings and stream crossings, all of which have the potential to influence erosion and sediment deposition in streams. Forestry best management practices (BMPs) were created to minimize the effects of harvesting operations on sedimentation and are implemented at varying levels throughout the Southeastern U.S. We quantified the area of these features on 111 recent harvest sites throughout 11 Southeastern states and three physiographic groupings (Mountains, Piedmont, Coastal Plain). No significant differences were found between the groupings with regard to the percent of area occupied by each operational feature. Decks, haul roads, skid trails, and stream crossings comprised an average of 1.43%, 3.21%, 7.03%, and 0.19% of the harvest operations. Roads, decks, skid trails, and structures were combined into an access feature category. These combined access features occupied 13.0% of harvests in the Mountains, 10.2% in the Piedmont, and 10.4% in the Coastal Plain (10.4%). A companion study was developed to trap sediment delivered to the stream and quantify the sediment delivery ratios (SDRs) on a subset of harvests sites in order to determine the average amount of eroded material that could reach a stream from each specific operational feature following a harvest. Across all groupings, stream crossings had the highest average SDR (34.32%), while skid trails had the second highest SDR (21.04%). Substantial site variability resulted in large SDR differences with few meaningful significant differences, but stream crossings, skid trails, and haul roads had sufficiently high sediment delivery ratios across all groupings to warrant additional BMP focus on these areas. / Master of Science / The Southeastern United States is a major producer of forests and forest products, comprising about 40% of US timberland and 12% of global wood products. Support of this industry requires that over 4 million acres of forests are harvested annually across the southeastern U.S. and improper or under usage of forestry best management practices could result in soil erosion and subsequent transport to streams as sediment. Previous research indicates that different operational and access features found on logging sites have different erosion rates yet little data exists which document the percentages of erosion that is delivered as sediment to streams. Skid trails (trails that forestry equipment use within a harvesting operation) compromised the largest access feature average percent area (second to harvest area), followed by haul roads, then decks (area where equipment is kept and logs are processed and loaded), and finally stream crossings with the smallest average area. Stream crossings, skid trails and haul roads consistently had the highest average sediment delivery ratios for all groupings combined. However, substantial site variability resulted in large sediment delivery ratio differences with few meaningful significant differences.

Silvicultural activities, particularly forest harvesting operations, have the potential to negatively impact water quality. In order to lessen the probability that water quality degradation will occur, a suite of best management practices has been developed and adopted by southeastern states. The Clean Water Act exempts silvicultural activities from the permitting process of Section 404 as long as federally accepted best management practices are implemented to control nonpoint source pollutants. To demonstrate that these practices are being implemented, states are now inspecting and reporting on best management practice usage on a state wide basis. The Environmental Protection Agency is responsible for executing the Clean Water Act and would like to use the information provided by the individual states to guide water quality protection programs at a regional scale since states have developed their own unique methods or reporting. Currently there it is difficult to compare the information provided by states, and this impedes further development of water quality protection programs. To address this issue, a state of the art review of current inspection and monitoring methods in the southeast was conducted. Forestry professionals were then surveyed to identify opportunities for standardization in the inspection and reporting methodologies employed by states. Using the information resulting from the review and survey, recommendations for standardization were made in the following areas: site selection criteria, field execution method, form design, best management practices evaluated and water quality threat assessment. A standardized form was also developed and tested across three physiographic regions. This information is helpful for future planning and modifications that state agencies can use to standardize their BMP implementation monitoring methods. / Master of Science

The impact of forest roads and skid trails on stream health is being increasingly scrutinized. Forest roads and skid trails have repeatedly been identified as forest operations having the greatest potential to produce sediment by way of non-point source pollution. The stream crossing portion of a skid trail is where sediment delivery is most likely to occur. Forestry Best Management Practices (BMPs) have been developed by most states to reduce both erosion and sedimentation. In general, BMPs have been proven to be effective. Few studies have quantified the impact of various levels of BMPs on sedimentation. In this study, three replications of three skid trail stream crossing BMP treatments were monitored following skidder bridge removal to determine their efficacy in reducing sedimentation: slash, mulch, and mulch plus silt fence. Water samples were collected upstream and downstream of each crossing daily for one year following timber harvesting. Samples were evaluated for total suspended solids. Results indicate that both slash and mulch treatments applied to the stream crossing approach after skidder bridge removal are effective at reducing stream sedimentation after harvest. The mulch plus silt fence treatment allowed the most sediment to enter the stream at the approach, perhaps due to silt fence installation disturbances. We do not recommend using silt fences directly adjacent to a stream bank, if other alternatives exist. / Master of Science

To protect the integrity of the United State's waters, the Federal Water Pollution Control Act of 1972 promoted the establishment of Best Management Practices (BMPs) for forestry. A commonly used BMP is the reservation of Streamside Management Zones (SMZs). In this study the effectiveness of three different SMZ widths, 30.5 m (100 ft), 15.3 m (50 ft), and 7.6 m (25 ft), as well as thinning in 15.3 m SMZs were studied. The objectives of the study were to determine the effects these SMZ treatments had on carbon pools, carbon fluxes and environmental conditions in the SMZ. The benthic macroinvertebrate populations present within the stream were also examined because of their relationship to ecosystem carbon dynamics. Carbon storage in plant communities, litter layer, soil (upper 10 cm), and total organic carbon present (TOC) within streams were measured and quantified. Total CO₂ efflux and the major environmental drivers of soil CO₂ efflux, soil moisture and soil temperature, were monitored along a single transect within each SMZ. This study showed that carbon dynamics and stream biota (benthic macroinvertebrates) were not adversely effected by more narrow SMZ width and thinning within the SMZ. SMZ width did affect soil temperature, one of the environmental drivers affecting soil respiration. Based on these short-term results a 15.3 m SMZ with thinning or without thinning appears adequate to prevent changes in ecosystem function and water quality for forest applications. / Master of Science

Assessment tools were developed to address the need for a low cost, rapid method of quantifying the quality of agricultural best management practices (BMPs). Best management practices are either cost-shared, where some or all of the capital costs of the practice were subsidized with federal, state, or local funds, or non cost-shared, where the cost of the practice and its upkeep is paid for by the landowner or farm operator. Cost-share practices are required to comply with state standards, while non cost-share practices are not subject to any standards. For this study, BMP quality is defined as the adherence to design, site selection, implementation, and maintenance criteria relating to water quality as specified by state and federal agencies promoting BMP implementation. The two objectives of this research were: 1. develop a set of assessment tools to quantify the quality of agricultural best management practices in a rapid low-cost manner, and 2. test the tools and determine if differences in quality exist between cost-share and non cost-share BMPs in the James River Basin of Virginia. Assessment tools were developed for sixteen practices: alternative water systems, stream fencing, streambank stabilization, grass filter strips, wooded buffers, permanent vegetative cover on critically eroding areas, permanent vegetative cover on erodible cropland, reforestation of erodible crop and pasture land, animal waste storage facilities, grazing land protection systems, loafing lot management systems, late winter split application of nitrogen on small grains, protective cover for specialty crops, sidedress application of nitrogen on corn, small grain cover crops-fertilized and harvested, and small grain cover crops for nutrient management. Assessment tools were developed using both Virginia BMP standards and expert knowledge. Virginia Department of Recreation and Conservation (DCR) and Virginia and national Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS) BMP standards were collected and sorted into the four quality component categories; design, site selection, implementation, and maintenance. Standards that pertained directly to a BMPs' potential to protect water quality were translated into question format. Multiple-choice or yes/no questions were used as often as possible to avoid potential bias and for ease of processing. Assessment tool development involved an iterative process that included input from a research team (university-based researchers) and an expert team (public and private sector professionals and practitioners responsible for BMP design and assessment). One hundred and fifty-five cost-shared BMPs and 150 non cost-shared BMPs were assessed on 128 independent farms in the James River Basin of Virginia over a period of four months. The assessment tools were loaded onto a personal digital assistant (PDA), which facilitated data collection and eliminated the need for data transcription. Data collected on the PDA were uploaded periodically to a computer database. A digital camera was used to develop a photographic record of the assessed BMPs. Best management practice quality scores were based on five-point scale, with one being the lowest quality score and five as the highest. Statistical analyses conducted on both the overall quality scores and the quality component scores, indicate that there is not a strong significant difference (p = 0.05) in quality between the cost-shared and non cost-shared BMPs assessed for this study. Statistically significant differences between cost-share and non cost-share practices did, however, exist. For the filter/buffer strips practices (grass filter strips and wooded buffers), the implementation quality component cost-share mean (3.35) and the non cost-share mean (3.88) were statistically different at the 0.05 level (p-value = 0.026). One other statistically significant difference was found. For stream fencing, the overall quality cost-share mean was 4.68 while the non cost-share mean was 4.20; the means are statistically different at the 0.05 level (p-value = 0.043). Statistical analyses were performed to determine if age of practice, farm size, or Soil and Water Conservation District (SWCD) had effects on the BMP quality. No statistically significant differences (p = 0.05) were found relating to the age of an assessed BMP or farm size. One SWCD, the Robert E. Lee district, had a statistically significant difference in the design quality component means; cost-share mean = 4.21, non cost-share mean = 2.94 with a p-value of 0.048. The statistically significant differences that were detected do not establish a clear trend; it appears that for the BMPs assessed here the qualities of cost-share and non cost-share practices are roughly equal. The fact that cost-share practices and non cost-share practices do appear to be roughly equal may be the result of education and outreach programs sponsored by Virginia's SWCDs and Virginia Cooperative Extension. Non cost-share practices may be of equal quality to cost-share practices because those implementing BMPs without the benefit of cost-share may have a greater stake (both financial and personal) in those practices performing well. If no statistically significant difference in quality exists between cost-share and non cost-share practices, then non cost-share practices should be treated equally when accounting for BMPs in NPS pollution in watershed management and computer modeling. Currently, only cost-share practices are included in computer models, in part because these are the only practices tracked by the existing BMP establishment infrastructure. Estimating the numbers and distribution of non cost-share practices and incorporating them into NPS water quality modeling efforts will more accurately reflect the steps agricultural producers have and are taking to decrease the amount of NPS pollution reaching water bodies. Additionally, policy regarding NPS pollution and BMPs should reflect the apparent equal qualities of cost-share and non cost-share practices. The assessment tools developed as a part of this study can potentially be applied to determine the quality of BMPs on basin or state-wide scales to give policy makers a better understanding of the practices and populations that the policies are created for. Moreover, BMP quality scores have the potential to be used as a surrogate measure for BMP performance. Further research recommendations include correlating BMP quality scores with BMP performance, wider scale testing of the tools, continued revision of the tools, and using the assessment tool scores to diagnose BMP quality problems. / Master of Science

Turfgrass management activities on golf courses have been identified as a possible source of Chesapeake Bay nutrient pollution. Total Maximum Daily Load goals are in place to reduce nutrient amounts entering the Bay. Dissertation investigations include (1) the role of golf course turfgrass management in nutrient deposition or attenuation in local streams, (2) estimations of total nitrogen (N) discharging to the watershed from stream outlet points as a function of land use and watershed area, and (3) other factors potentially affecting water quality on golf courses, including soil characteristics and use of best management practices (BMPs). Total N, nitrate-N, ammonium-N, phosphate-phosphorus (P), streamwater temperature, specific conductance (SpC), pH and dissolved oxygen (DO) were sampled at 12-14 golf course stream sites in the James River and Roanoke River watersheds during baseflow conditions. Discharge was determined at outflow locations. Unit-area loads (UALs) were calculated from monitoring data. These UALs were then compared to UALs from Chesapeake Bay Watershed Model land use acreages and simulated loads for corresponding watershed segments. Virginia golf course superintendents were also surveyed to determine BMP use. No consistent impairment trends were detected for streamwater temperature, SpC, pH, or DO at any of the sites. Outflow NO3-N was below the 10 mg L-1 EPA drinking water standard. However, some sites may be at increased risk for benthic impairment with total N concentrations >2 mg L-1, as suggested by VADEQ. Significant increases in nitrate-N at OUT locations were measured at four sites, whereas decreases were measured at two sites. Ammonium-N significantly decreased at two sites. Golf course N UALs calculated from baseflow monitoring were lower than or similar to UALs estimated for forested areas in the associated watershed segment at seven out of the 12 sites. Golf course UALs ranged from 1.3-87 kg N ha-1 yr-1. Twenty-one of 32 surveyed BMPs had an adoption rate ≥50% among survey respondents. In most cases, presence of golf courses generally does not appear to significantly degrade baseflow water quality of streams in this study. Management level appears to be an influencing factor on water quality and concerns may be heightened in urban areas. / Ph. D.

A study was conducted in two sites: one at an electricity storage facility belonging to the Swaziland Electricity Board (SEB) and the other at a facility that belongs to its treated pole supplier, the Thonkwane wood creosote treatment plant. The drainage system of these sites leads to surface waters in rivers. This is a cause of concern since creosote contains polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), which are listed as priority pollutants by the US Environmental Protection Agency. They have toxic, mutagenic and carcinogenic effects and as a result they pose a threat to human life and the environment. No previous studies have been done on PAHs in Swaziland. The main objective of this study was to determine the impact of the SEB storage facility and the creosote treatment plant by investigating the extent of PAHs in surrounding environments (soil, sediments and surface waters). Preliminary studies were undertaken on the storage facility and the creosote treatment plant. No PAHs were detected from the pole storage facility; therefore the creosote wood treatment facility was selected as the ideal site at which to conduct the research. Soil samples were collected from depths 15 cm and 60 cm at points around the creosote plant, including effluent discharge points. The samples were extracted by solid-phase micro extraction (SPME) and analysed by GC/MS. The GC/MS, incorporating a solid phase micro extraction step, provided detection limits ranging from 0.12 μg/g to 20.08 μg/g. The pollution patterns in the study site were assessed using cluster analysis and principal component analysis. Most of the 16 US EPA-listed priority pollutants were detected from the creosote wood treatment facility. PAHs such as anthracene, fluorene, naphthalene and fluoranthene were dominant in all the sampling sites. The compounds occurred in very high concentrations (0.64, 0.46, 0.27 and 0.26 mg/kg respectively). These compounds are found in pure creosote as determined in the sample taken from the Thonkwane creosote tank site. The highest concentration of PAHs was observed in the soil samples taken next to the road site. The concentrations of the identified PAHs were above the acceptable minimal level allowed in soil by the US EPA and Swaziland Environment Authority (SEA). The levels of the PAHs are also above the recommended US EPA limit in soil, which is 0.1 mg/kg. The results indicated that significant soil pollution was taking place in some of the sampling sites. The top layer (0, 15 cm) contained many PAHs at high levels whilst the 60 cm layer had a lower number of PAHs which were also in low concentrations. This provided an indication that there is no downward movement of PAHs from the surface layer to underground layers. The potential exists for contamination of surface waters when there is runoff from the project area. This is a cause of concern, since both the creosote treatment plant and areas outside the facility are contaminated. Therefore, the site has to be cleaned up, preferably by using a phytoremediation technique. / Environmental Sciences / M. Sc. (Environmental Science)

Sustainable Built Environments Senior Capstone Project / During Tucson rainstorms, many roads and neighborhoods experience high levels of flooding on the city’s street networks. This phenomenon creates unsafe road conditions, damage to the road infrastructure, and excessive urban stormwater runoff that is potentially polluted. The vast quantities of impervious surfaces in the urban landscape impede the rainwater’s ability to infiltrate the ground, thus resulting in increased volumes of runoff during a rainstorm. Stormwater management is used by municipalities and communities to address the previously mentioned adverse impacts of stormwater runoff. Various techniques and strategies used in stormwater management include, low impact development (LID), green infrastructure, and better site design (BSD) strategies implemented during design stages to reduce stormwater runoff levels. In addition, local governments can establish stormwater utilities and policies in order to help address and better manage the issue of stormwater runoff within urban areas. The primary research questions of this study will include: What are the most effective best management practices and techniques to address urban runoff? What combination of best management practices and government policies will be the more effective in addressing Tucson’s urban runoff problem? Accordingly, this study will examine a variety of policies and techniques to address stormwater runoff, and then, based on this information, provide a suggestion of the best practices and techniques that may be feasible for implementation in Tucson.