As population increases, the number of water bodies meeting water quality standards tends to decrease. The 1972 Clean Water Act (CWA) addresses the issues of point and nonpoint source pollution by requiring states to compose lists of waters that do not meet water quality standards and develop Total Maximum Daily Loads (TMDL) for those waters. This requirement of the CWA remained inactive until EPA and states suffered lawsuits from environmental groups and concerned citizens. The result prompted a flurry to develop TMDLs in compliance with consent decrees. A variety of methods and models serve as tools to calculate existing loads, load reductions and allocations. The purpose of this study is threefold 1) to examine two methods of TMDL development, Flow Duration (FD) used in Kansas and Hydrologic Simulation Program-Fortran (HSPF) used in Virginia; 2) to compare results of both methods in the same watershed of Virginia; and, 3) to evaluate stakeholder involvement in the TMDL process. A variety of stakeholders such as agencies, towns and industry, agribusiness, and concerned citizen/environmentalists are faced with meeting TMDL reductions and allocations. It is important that the TMDL process and implications are understood by all stakeholders. / Master of Public and International Affairs

Due to the impact of Taiwan geography and topography, flow rate in rivers goes up and down intensely with rainfall. Rivers are usually lack of dilution capacity, especially during dry season with little rainfall. Water quality has been damaged by untreated municipal wastewater, industrial wastewater and landfill leachate discharged into rivers through gutters, hidden pipes or tributaries discharger, especially obvious in metropolitan rivers. Love river is a typical metropolitan river. It has been under restoration by stages since 1977. Due to the lack of restoration in its upstream segments, this project is to analyze current water quality and to estimate pollutant loading through integration of related materials and documents in Love rivers, as well as to simulate water quality by WASP model through the analyses of measurement data for main and tributaries dischargers as the evaluation of pollution improvement action. Past water quality analyses shows that most upstream segments (upstream of sluicegate under water in Baozhu gutter) are between medium and serious polluted. In addition, results of water quality and flow rates in tributaries discharger shows that (River Pollution Index, RPI) in southern discharger left to Yucheng bridge, K trunk discharger and Baozhu gutter discharger are between 7.25 to 8.25, indicating that this tributaries discharger is the primary source for Lover river pollution. The objectives of this research are to lower the level of upstream pollution through the policies provided through related restoration experience before the sewage system for Kaohisung city is completely developed. As shown by the simulation of pollution reduction, through the combination of water interception and water injection, biochemical oxygen demand and ammonia nitrogen in water segments downstream of Dingxin bridge was reduced above 65% and 50%, respectively. The fact that water is discharged into Love river after purification by the combination of water interception and source water treated by water purification engineering is beneficial for the reduction of downstream biochemical oxygen demand and ammonia, as well as the improvement of dissolved oxygen to eventually meet the goal of lowering levels of water pollution. The Forecast results of the water quality model used in this study can evaluate the cost-efficiency of pollution reduction action and to provide priority restoration policy in the future as references in the following studies.

In the development of the watershed, hydrodynamic, and water quality models for St. Louis Bay in Mississippi, the Better Assessment Science Integrating Point and Nonpoint Sources (BASINS 2.0) - Nonpoint Source Model (NPSM) was selected as the watershed model and the Environmental Fluid Dynamics Code (EFDC) which includes hydrodynamic and water quality models was selected as the Bay model. Watershed model calibration was initially accomplished utilizing historical data collected by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA), Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ), and Gulf Coast Research Laboratory (GCRL). The watershed model simulated nonpoint source flow and pollutant loadings for all sub-watersheds, routed flow and water quality, and accounted for all major point source discharges in the St Louis Bay watershed. The model was executed for the period of time spanning from 1965 through 1999 in order to quantify flow and pollutant loadings under a variety of hydrologic conditions. Time varying output from the watershed model was applied directly to the St. Louis Bay model. The Bay model, in turn, simulated hydrodynamics and water quality, including water depth, velocities, salinity, temperature, and fecal coliforms. Final Bay model calibration was performed utilizing a set of site specific data acquired on St. Louis Bay during the period July 14-18, 1998. Model verification was conducted against another set of field data taken in the Bay, during April 18-27, 1999. Fecal coliform was modeled in each of the 750 segments of a three-dimensional system. Comparisons of the predicted and observed data are made qualitatively by using spatial and temporal comparisons. The response of model prediction calculations is consistent with trends of the observed data ranges. The applicability of the mathematical models is also demonstrated for the development of Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) for fecal coliform in the St. Louis Bay. The calibrated/verified model will be used as a planning tool to assess the water quality in the Watershed and the Bay as well as for calculating TMDL and Waste Load Allocation (WLA).

The Clean Water Act requires the establishment of Total Maximum Daily Loads (TMDLs) for quantifying allowable pollutant loads for stream reaches in which the biological integrity of the stream is threatened. Sediment TMDLs in urban streams are particularly difficult to establish because they require (1) reliable measurement of sediment loads and (2) the ability to locate sediment sources. This research has attempted to address these challenges through a field study of North Peachtree Creek located in DeKalb County, Georgia, which has been sampled at the Century Boulevard crossing through automatic point sampling and depth-integrated sampling. Storm events from October 2003 through October 2004 provided a field record of sediment concentration and turbidity data over a wide range of storm events. Bed and bank sediment samples were collected for comparison with the point samples and depth-integrated samples. A methodology is presented whereby point sampling is used to calculate suspended sediment discharge and turbidity analysis is used to locate and characterize sediment sources. Point samples provide the boundary condition in the Rouse solution for the vertical distribution of suspended sediment to obtain suspended sediment discharge, which is then calibrated through comparison with depth-integrated sampling. The computer model HEC-RAS (U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, 1998) was applied to the stream reach to calculate the energy grade line slope throughout each storm event for input into the sediment discharge calculations. A favorable relationship between turbidity and suspended fine sediment was found at the sampling cross-section and, through comparison with bed and bank sediment samples, was used to identify the contribution of eroded bank sediment to the total sediment discharge.

Water quality has been an issue of concern since the settlement of man and continues to be of great concern today in many locations around the world. In the United States, to address the issues of water pollution, the U.S. Congress passed the Clean Water Act (CWA) in 1972. This study examines the implementation and prioritization of impaired water bodies listed on the Illinois CWA section 303(d) list between 1992 and 2004. This study used the Delphi survey method to obtain opinions from water quality/management experts that reside in the state of Illinois. The goal of this study was to determine if a consensus could be reached amongst water quality experts on the severity of individual water pollutants for a given designated use of a water body by assigning weights, determining if any prioritization trends exist within the current Illinois 303(d) process, as well as identifying any shortcomings of the process and suggesting possible modes of improvement. The survey identified four major shortcomings of Illinois' current approach to water quality management: 1) limited funding and manpower, 2) lack of coordination/monitoring, 3) failure to regulate point sources, and 4) lack of biological monitoring. The survey respondents indicated that the entire state needs attention in terms of water quality improvement and that agriculture and urban runoff are the most important sources of water pollution and water body impairment. They rated the current prioritization system as being between "average" and "good" and identified that development of a weighting scheme could be feasible as long as it received adequate funding and adequate stakeholder support. The measure of consensus among respondents regarding weights for individual pollutants and designated uses varied significantly; however, the overwhelming majority of consensus values improved after participants were asked to revise their original responses in an effort to move towards central tendency in the distribution of assigned ranks.

This study assessed the usefulness of multivariate statistical tools to characterize watershed dynamics and prioritize streams for remediation. Three multiple regression models were developed using water quality data collected from Sinking Creek in the Watauga River watershed in Northeast Tennessee. Model 1 included all water quality parameters, model 2 included parameters identified by stepwise regression, and model 3 was developed using canonical discriminant analysis. Models were evaluated in seven creeks to determine if they correctly classified land use and level of fecal pollution. At the watershed level, the models were statistically significant (p < 0.001) but with low r2 values (Model 1 r2 = 0.02, Model 2 r2 = 0.01, Model 3 r2 = 0.35). Model 3 correctly classified land use in five of seven creeks. These results suggest this approach can be used to set priorities and identify pollution sources, but may be limited when applied across entire watersheds.

In the development of the watershed, hydrodynamic, and water quality models for Back Bay of Biloxi in Mississippi, the Better Assessment Science Integrating Point and Nonpoint Sources (BASINS 2.0) - Nonpoint Source Model (NPSM) was selected as the watershed model. The hydrodynamic and water quality models DNYHYD5 and EUTRO5 were selected as the tidally influenced bay models. The watershed model simulated nonpoint source flow and pollutant loadings for all sub-watersheds, routed flow and water quality, and accounted for all major point source discharges in the Back Bay of Biloxi watershed. Time varying output from the watershed model was applied directly to the Back Bay of Biloxi model. The Bay models, in turn simulated hydrodynamics and water quality, including water depth, velocities, and fecal coliform concentrations. Both watershed and Bay models were calibrated and verified against observed data. The calibrated/verified model was used as a planning tool to assess the water quality in the Watershed and the Bay as well as for calculating Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) and Waste Load Allocation (WLA).

No description available.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Miami University, Dept. of Botany, 2004. / Title from second page of PDF document. Includes bibliographical references.

Translational ecology and adaptive management strategies were incorporated into the Fordville Dam Nutrient Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) case study to determine if these two techniques were compatible to the North Dakota TMDL Program. A case study summary of the Fordville Dam Nutrient TMDL was discussed to provide contrast and comparison of the current TMDL program strategy and systematic improvements that could be made with the incorporation of translational ecology and adaptive management. Translational ecology is an effective way to bridge the information barrier through open communication between the stakeholders and scientists while creating a mutual learning experience. Adaptive management is beneficial to a TMDL implementation plan because it allows stakeholders and resource managers to become involved in management decisions and develop a better understanding of the ecosystem. Therefore, combining translational ecology and adaptive management would make the TMDL process more effective, through better communication and a flexible management plan.