The Alabama Water Resources Research Institute is a university-based interdisciplinary, problem-oriented research and technology center with support from the federal government that enables the program to address broad national needs and relevant industrial technology.

The Water Resources Research Institute coordinates research programs which are applicable to the solution of present and emerging water resources problems. In carrying out this mission, the Institute has developed a broadly based research, training, information transfer, and public service program involving personnel from many academic disciplines in the state's research universities.

The Alabama Water Resources Research Institute is one of 54 water resources institutes nationwide authorized by the federal Water Resources Research Act. The state-based Water Resources Research Institutes are located at land grant universities and promote research and information dissemination on the state's and nation's water resources problems.

December 2009 Events

12/2–4: Innovations in Irrigation Conference, San Antonio, TX. For more information, see http://irr.confex.com/irr/2009/cfp.cgi?password=t4rk3y4u 12/7–11: Water Quality Standards Academy: Basic Course, Arlington VA. For more information, see www.epa.gov/waterscience/standards/academy

Pond and Wetland Management Guidebooks Online

EPA just released “Stormwater Wet Pond and Wetland Management Guidebook,” a new resource targeted at local government agencies. This guide, available at www.epa.gov/npdes/pubs/pondmgmtguide.pdf, provides the inspector, program manager, designer and owner with information about common stormwater pond and wetland maintenance problems and possible solutions. This guide will help communities develop an integrated stormwater management system which includes properly maintaining existing wet ponds and wetlands, exploring retrofit opportunities and implementing low impact development design principles. A series of Web-based tools supplement the guidebook and are available on the nonprofit Center for Watershed Protection’s Stormwater Manager’s Resource Center Web site (go to www.stormwatercenter.net, click on Program Resources, then STP Maintenance). A separate, but similar guidebook, “Maintaining Stormwater Systems: A Guidebook for Private Owners and Operators in Northern Virginia” (2007), is available online from the Northern Virginia Regional Commission at www.novaregion.org/DocumentView.aspx?DID=1675

Invasive Species Expert Directory Available

The Aquatic Nuisance Species (ANS) Task Force now offers a publicly-accessible database designed to help people find invasive species experts. Available at www.anstaskforce.gov/experts/search.php the database will guide users to a state contact that can find the requested information or identify the invasive species. If state contacts can’t answer a user’s question, they will find additional experts who can. The ANS Task Force is an intergovernmental organization (10 federal agency representatives and 12 ex officio members) dedicated to preventing and controlling aquatic nuisance species.

EPA Document Analyzes Benefits of Using Green Roofs for Stormwater Control

EPA recently released a new document describing the results of a Pennsylvania project that evaluated green roofs as a stormwater management tool. Project results indicate that the green roofs are capable of removing 50 percent of the annual rainfall volume from a roof through retention and evapotranspiration. Rainfall not retained by green roofs is detained, slowing peak flows downstream. Green roof runoff contains concentrations of some nutrients and other substances, but levels are comparable to other planted systems. Due to the volume reduction, actual nutrient loadings from green roofs are less than loadings from asphalt roofing runoff. To read more, see “Green Roofs for Stormwater Runoff Control” (February 2009), available online at www.epa.gov/nrmrl/pubs/600r09026/600r09026.pdf

EPA Begins Testing Pesticides for Endocrine Disruption

EPA recently issued the first list of pesticides to be screened for possibly disrupting the endocrine system. Endocrine disruptors are chemicals that interact with and possibly disrupt the hormones produced or secreted by the human or animal endocrine system, which regulates growth, metabolism and reproduction. EPA issued test orders to the manufacturers of 67 pesticide chemicals during summer 2009 to determine whether their chemicals may disrupt the endocrine system. Testing, conducted through the Endocrine Disruptor Screening Program (EDSP), will be expanded over time to cover all pesticide chemicals. For more information, see www.epa.gov/scipoly/oscpendo

Atmospheric Sources of Nitrogen Biggest Contributor in Southeast

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) National Water Quality Assessment (NAWQA) program assessed total nitrogen loads and yields in streams throughout the southeastern United States using the USGS watershed model SPARROW (Spatially Referenced Regression On Watershed Attributes). Results from the southeast regional total nitrogen SPARROW model indicate that atmospheric deposition is the largest source of nitrogen delivered annually to many estuaries along the South Atlantic and Gulf Coasts, such as Mobile and Apalachicola Bays (see http://water.usgs.gov/nawqa/pubs/nitrogen_loads for more details). The regional model integrates federal, state and local agency monitoring data from 2002 at 321 stations. The geospatial data describes nitrogen sources (fertilizer, animal waste, and urban inputs, atmospheric deposition and wastewater discharges) and watershed properties (soil characteristics, precipitation and land cover). Combining more calibration sites and refined geospatial data significantly improved results compared to previous SPARROW models.

What is Polyacrylamide (PAM)?

PAM is a term describing a wide variety of polymers based on the acrylamide and acrylate molecular units. When linked in long chains, these units can be modified to result in a net positive, neutral or negative charge on the PAM molecule. The positively charged, or cationic, PAM molecules, are not used for erosion control because they can be toxic to fish and other aquatic organisms if they spill into water bodies in sufficient concentrations. The negatively charged, or anionic, PAM molecules, are not generally toxic to aquatic organisms at working dosages and are widely used in furrow irrigation agriculture. PAM is available as a crystalline powder, an emulsion or a solid block and is nontoxic to humans and to other species in the environment. (This information is adapted from the 2006 NCSU fact sheet SoilFacts: Using Polyacrylamide (PAM) to Reduce Erosion on Construction Sites. For the complete text, see www.soil.ncsu.edu/publications/Soilfacts/agw439-61_low-res-060106.pdf)

Alabama Clear Water Partnership 5th Annual Watershed Conference

Alabama Power Water Course Conference Center, Clanton, AL
Wednesday, December 2nd ~ 10:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.
RSVP by November 30th required for lunch
REGISTER NOW on the ACWP web site Calendar of Events: http://www.cleanwaterpartnership.org/
Agenda
Map

FY-2010 USGS Section 104(b) RFP

Proposals submission deadline will be 4:45 pm Friday, November 20, 2009.

Alabama Water Resources Research Institute announces a call for proposals for the FY-2010 USGS Section 104(b) State Competitive Grant Program. The object of this program is to facilitate research faculty in the state in making significant advances, and increasing regional and national competitiveness, in the water resources arena. For the purpose of this competition, “water resources arena” is defined in the broadest possible terms. Proposals are invited from all permanent full time tenured, tenure-track and non-tenured faculty from any university or college in Alabama.

Please visit our web site for program guidelines at http://auei.auburn.edu/pdf/FY2010USGSGuidelines.pdf and follow the instructions precisely.

The Water Resources Council, composed of research faculty from universities throughout the state and representative from state and federal agencies, will review the proposals to select the ones to be recommended for funding. Researchers, whose proposals are selected for funding, will be required to present their research and findings at our annual water resources conference.

Please submit your proposal(s) online to Alabama Water Resources Research Institute, via the INTERNET Portal no later than 4:45 p.m., Friday, November 20, 2009. If you have any questions regarding the Section 104(b) program, please contact Dennis Block by e-mail at blockdh@auburn.edu or by phone at (334) 844-4132. For specific instructions to submit proposal(s) online, please contact Zhen Feng by email at fengzhe@auburn.edu

The 3rd USGS Modeling Conference: Understanding and Predicting for a Changing World

Scientists and managers from all Department of the Interior (DOI) Bureaus, national and international Federal, State, and local agencies, academic institutions, and non-governmental organizations are encouraged to participate.

Conference website: http://geology.usgs.gov/modeling2010/ Date: June 7-11, 2010 Location: Denver, Colorado

The 3rd USGS Modeling Conference will focus on the development and application of analytical and theoretical models and data availability that support managing the Nation’s resources and help protect lives and property. This Conference solicits presentations on development, use, assumptions, data resources, and applications of models for a diverse range of spatial and temporal scales. The agenda will include keynote speakers, oral and poster sessions, workshops, panel discussions, and field trips designed to encourage collaboration among the modeling and management communities.

Restore America’s Estuaries Conference

URL: http://www.estuaries.org/?id=4

November 13-17 2010, Galveston, TX Galveston Island Convention Center 5600 Seawell Blvd

2009 Alabama Water Resources Conference PowerPoint presentations available on web

The 23rd Annual Alabama Water Resources Conference was held Thursday & Friday, Sept. 10-11, 2009, at the Perdido Beach Resort Hotel and Convention Center in Orange Beach, Alabama. In conjunction with the Annual Conference, the Alabama Section of AWRA Symposium was held Wednesday, Sept. 9. Both have provided an excellent forum for stimulating discussion regarding the many multi-disciplinary aspects of current and future water use, management, and conservation issues.

The PowerPoint presentations for the conference are now available on the conference website. For details, please visit http://auei.auburn.edu/conference/

Freshwater Initiatives Position with National Geographic

go to this website and scroll until you see the position for Director, Program Freshwater Initiatives (Water Fellow), Job ID #3895.

National Geographic’s mission is “to inspire people to care about the planet”. National Geographic Mission Programs, the research, exploration and conservation arm of the Society, is developing a major initiative focused on freshwater conservation. The initiative aims to raise public awareness around the global water crisis, and more importantly, engage and empower a broad audience to take action on both an individual and collective basis. The Program Director will help develop and direct the initiative, coordinate efforts within Mission Programs and across other Society divisions, and lead initiatives in collaboration with partnership organizations.

USGS Releases Online Interactive Tool to Predict Atrazine in StreamsAcross U.S.

Online predictions for stream concentrations of atrazine, one of the most heavily used herbicides in the United States, are now available as interactive maps and graphs for any stream across the country.

Access the online mapping tool, USGS report, and technical announcement at: http://water.usgs.gov/nawqa/under Featured Highlights.

The predictions are based on a USGS statistical model – referred to as Watershed Regression for Pesticides (or “WARP”). This model also provides key statistics for each selected stream, including the probability that atrazine may exceed a water-quality benchmark of potential concern, and a level of confidence and uncertainty associated with each estimate.

This release is the first in a series of statistical models for atrazine and other pesticides. The models are based on monitoring in 112 streams from 1992-2001, as well as watershed characteristics that affect the occurrence of pesticides in streams, The driving characteristics include agricultural pesticide use, and natural features, such as soil characteristics, hydrology, and climate. Current models make predictions from estimated atrazine use during 2007.

Lead contact for questions: Bob Gilliom, rgilliom@usgs.gov, 916-278-3094.

Year of Science Celebration

The Year of Science 2009, sponsored by the Coalition on the Public Understanding of Science (COPUS), is national, year-long celebration of science and its value for society. The COPUS network includes more than 430 universities, scientific societies, government agencies, science centers and museums, educators, schools and others. The goal is to improve the public’s understanding of how science works, who scientists are, and why science matters. The year-long month celebration includes monthly themes.

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Proceedings and Presentations now available from May 2009 NPS Outreach Conference

Fifth National Conference for Nonpoint Source and Stormwater Outreach: Achieving Results with Tight Budgets (May 2009, Portland, OR)

Proceedings and all presentations available online. Also be sure to check out the great videos from the People’s Choice Awards.

Nonpoint Source News Notes Now On-line!

Be sure to check out the latest issue of Nonpoint Source New Notes, a periodical packed with the latest information related to watershed management. In this month’s issue, Watershed Central, an exciting new clearinghouse of watershed information, and EPA’s new Healthy Watershed Initiative, are two of the featured stories.

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Nutrient Concentrations Remained Stable in Many Streams from 1993 to 2003

The U.S. Geological Survey National Water-Quality Assessment program conducted national- and regional-scale trend assessments (1993 to 2003) of nutrient concentrations and loads in streams and how these trends corresponded to changes in streamflow and nutrient sources, such as fertilizer applications, animal manure, population, and atmospheric deposition. Phosphorus and nitrogen concentrations remained relatively stable in about half of the streams assessed nationwide from 1993 to 2003; however, the pattern did vary in some regions, including increases in phosphorus concentrations in more than half of the streams assessed in the Mississippi/Atchafalaya River Basin. Linking trends in stream nutrient levels to changes in nutrient sources will enhance our understanding of the effectiveness of land management actions.

Regional-scale assessments of examined trends in nutrient and suspended-sediment concentrations and loads in the Upper Mississippi, Ohio, Red, and Great Lakes River Basin, Missouri River Basin, Lower Mississippi, Arkansas-White-Red, and Texas-Gulf River Basin, and the Pacific Northwest River Basin.

For more information on how nutrients vary over time in streams assessed across the Nation, contact: Lori Sprague (lsprague@usgs.gov).

For more information on how nutrients and sediment vary over time in selected major river basins, contact: David Lorenz (lorenz@usgs.gov) — Upper Mississippi, Ohio, Red, and Great Lakes River Basin Lori Sprague (lsprague@usgs.gov) — Missouri River Basin Richard Rebich (rarebich@usgs.gov) — Lower Mississippi, Arkansas-White-Red, and Texas-Gulf River Basin Daniel Wise (dawise@usgs.gov) — Pacific Northwest River Basin

Comprehensive Atlas for the Kansas River

University of Kansas Professor Emeritus, Wakefield Dort, has produced a comprehensive atlas for the KAnsas River that is now available through the American Geographical Society. Please see news release about the publication and flyer that contains information on how to purchase a copy.

Seven Wetland Stewards Win 2009 National Wetlands Awards

protecting these important natural resources. A diverse panel of wetland experts assembled at the Environmental Law Institute (ELI) to select the winners of the 20th Anniversary National Wetlands Awards. This year’s Award winners hail from all regions of the country and exemplify the extraordinary commitment and innovation that is so instrumental to conserving wetlands in the nation’s communities. This year’s winners are: Peter Bahls, Ken Brunswick, Richard Gitar, Carol Johnston, Melissa Samet, Richard Thieriot, and Susan Vincent. Collectively, the award winners have conserved tens of thousands of wetland acres and have mobilized hundreds of individuals to contribute to wetland conservation.

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Healthy Watersheds Initiative

EPA has launched a new initiative called “Healthy Watersheds” that emphasizes protection and conservation of aquatic ecosystems. The initiative is being introduced on a new Web site, Healthy Watersheds, which provides information on tools to identify and protect healthy watersheds and their components. The Web site provides critical information for making strategic decisions to both protect and restore our nation’s waters.

While significant progress has been made in protecting and restoring water quality under the Clean Water Act, the nation continues to lose healthy aquatic ecosystems. Preserving healthy watersheds will provide the critical natural infrastructure needed to restore water quality. EPA’s new initiative is predicated on the simple truth that it is much more cost-effective to protect the many benefits provided by healthy watersheds than it is to restore them once they become impaired.

EPA Issues New Guidance on the Award of Water Quality Management Planning Grants Funded Under the Recovery Act

On March 12, 2009, EPA issued new guidance for the administration of Water Quality Management Planning (WQMP) Grants funded under the “American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009″ (ARRA). The ARRA provides $4 billion to the Clean Water State Revolving Fund (CWSRF) and according to Section 604(b) of the Clean Water Act, 1% of each State’s CWSRF allotment is reserved for WQMP activities. This means that nearly $40 million will be available nationally to support a broad range of planning activities. Examples of these activities might include: addressing nutrient pollution from cities and agriculture on a watershed basis, protecting undeveloped areas through “green infrastructure” techniques, creating low impact development programs that will protect water quality in developing areas, developing watershed plans and total maximum daily loads, analyzing trends in water availability and use, and developing response plans to adapt to climate change.

For a copy of this guidance, please visit Memorandum (PDF), and for other information on the ARRA, please visit Clean Water and Drinking Water State Revolving Funds.

Economic Recovery Funding for Drinking Water and Wastewater Infrastructure

The economic recovery plan signed by President Obama will create quality, sustainable jobs to help protect our country’s public health and our environment. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 specifically includes $7.22 billion for projects and programs administered by EPA. These programs will protect and promote both “green” jobs and a healthier environment. As part of the plan, the Clean Water State Revolving Fund and Drinking Water State Revolving Fund projects have been funded $4 billion for assistance to help communities with water quality and wastewater infrastructure needs and $2 billion for drinking water infrastructure needs. A portion of the funding is targeted towards green infrastructure, water and energy efficiency, and environmentally innovative projects. The Agency is developing grant guidance to assist states in managing the Recovery Act funding. Announcements of grants will be posted on the web to ensure transparency. The state-by-state distributions for clean water and drinking water state revolving funds are also available on-line.

Watershed Forestry Resource Guide

The Watershed Forestry Resource Guide was created through a partnership of the Center for Watershed Protection and the US Forest Service. This Website is a central clearinghouse for all things related to forests and watersheds. There have been many recent efforts towards managing urban forests for watershed health that have resulted in a variety of highly useful tools and training materials. Information is organized into four major categories: forest planning and assessment, reducing stormwater runoff, forest friendly development and planting and maintaining trees. This site compiles these resources into a format that can be easily accessed and downloaded. http://www.forestsforwatersheds.org/

National Water Quality Inventory Report Now Available On-line

This report summarizes water quality assessments submitted by the states to EPA under Section 305(b) of the Clean Water Act. Forty-four percent of assessed river and stream miles, 64 percent of assessed lake acres, and 30 percent of assessed estuary square miles were found to be impaired for one or more of the uses designated for them by the states. Leading causes of impairment included pathogens, mercury, nutrients, and organic enrichment/low dissolved oxygen. Top sources of impairment included atmospheric deposition, agriculture, hydrologic modifications, and unknown or unspecified sources. This report is a companion to electronically-submitted state water quality information available on EPA’s Web site, known as ATTAINS. In addition to viewing the national summary and information by state at this Web site, users can click down to the individual waterbody level to find out more about water quality conditions. http://www.epa.gov/owow/305b/2004report/

EPA releases new online video “Reduce Runoff: Slow It Down, Spread It Out, Soak It In”

This new 9-minute film showcases green techniques that are being used in urban areas to reduce the effects of stormwater runoff on the quality of downstream receiving waters. The goal is to mimic the natural way water moves through an area before development by using design techniques that infiltrate, evaporate, and reuse runoff close to its source. Highlights include green techniques on display in 2008 at the U.S. Botanic Garden’s “One Planet - Ours!” Exhibit and at the U.S. EPA in Washington, D.C., including recently completed cisterns. http://epa.gov/owow/nps/lid/video.html

New Federal interagency report: Managing water resources in a changing climate

Climate change is a significant challenge faced by the Nation’s water managers. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has provided estimates of how climate may change in the coming decades and how some of these changes in temperature and precipitation may change hydrologic conditions and their consequences for floods, droughts, water supply, and water quality.

The purpose of this interagency report is to describe strategies to improve water management and planning in light of what we know about climate change but also what we don’t know. The report stresses the importance of tracking, anticipating, and responding to climate change. It documents some of the innovative approaches that are being put to use today to help water managers make effective decisions in light of the added uncertainties that climate change presents.

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