Track C-1: Nutrient Loss Reduction Strategy Roadshow
Illinois Nutrient Loss Reduction Strategy: Current Activities, Future Directions
Marcia Willhite, Illinois Environmental Protection Agency
Marcia Willhite became Chief of the Bureau of Water, Illinois EPA in May 2001. In this capacity she oversees water pollution control, drinking water, groundwater, watershed management and state revolving fund programs for the state. Ms. Willhite is active in the Association of Clean Water Administrators (ACWA), serving as its national President in 2006-07. Prior to coming to Illinois, Ms. Willhite worked for 13 years in air quality, including program management at the state level in Texas and at the local level in Lincoln, Nebraska. Ms. Willhite participates in the Water Quality Executive Committee of the Upper Mississippi River Basin Association, and represents Illinois EPA on the Ohio River Valley Water Sanitation Commission. Ms. Willhite has a bachelor of science in wildlife biology from Eastern Kentucky University and master of science in toxicology from the University of Kentucky.
Illinois has two water quality issues related to nutrients: 1) impacts on in-state rivers, lakes, and streams, and 2) contribution to Gulf of Mexico hypoxia. The actions that address nutrient losses to water are important for solving both water quality issues. In late 2014, the Illinois Department of Agriculture and the Illinois EPA released a draft Nutrient Loss Reduction Strategy (NLRS) for public review and comment. The NLRS was developed with the advice of the Nutrient Policy Work Group comprised of wastewater agencies, agricultural groups, environmental advocates, state/local government, and University of Illinois researchers. The centerpiece of the document is a science assessment that describes current conditions of nutrient loss, what various practices can achieve, and what the level of effort and expenditure is needed to significantly reduce losses to Illinois waters. The NLRS identifies important current activities to reduce losses as well as future implementation actions.
The Science Assessment Supporting the Illinois Nutrient Loss Reduction Strategy
Mark David, Greg McIsaac, George Czapar, Gary Schnitkey, and Corey Mitchell, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Mark B. David is a Professor in the Deptment of Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and has been on the faculty since 1985. He studies nitrogen and phosphorus cycling in agricultural fields, losses to streams and rivers, and methods to reduce these losses such as fertilizer application timing, cover crops, drainage water management, constructed wetlands, and bioreactors. His research team conducts long-term monitoring of water quality in several tile-drained watersheds in east-central Illinois to better understand the mechanisms of nutrient loss and to evaluate the effectiveness of nutrient loss reduction methods. Currently he serves on the Board of Directors of the American Society of Agronomy. He has degrees from Penn State University, the University of Maine, and the State University of New York, College of Environmental Science and Forestry.
States in the Midwest along the Mississippi River have been required by U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to develop nutrient loss reduction strategies that will lead to 45% reductions in their exports of nitrate and total phosphorus down the river. The goal is to reduce nutrient loads enough to meet the U.S. goal of a 2,000 square mile hypoxic zone each summer. These reductions could also improve local water quality in streams and lakes. In an effort led by the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency and Illinois Deptment of Agriculture, and with input from all stakeholders, a nutrient loss reduction strategy was recently developed for Illinois. As part of the strategy development, a science assessment was conducted to evaluate nutrient sources (agricultural, point source, and urban) and determine methods to meet nutrient loss reduction goals. River loads determined the amounts of nitrate and phosphorus that need to be reduced in our rivers. An evaluation was made of the effectiveness of various practices and methods for meeting the nutrient loss reduction goals. In this presentation, we’ll examine the science behind the proposed agricultural practice changes and their associated costs and discuss the task ahead for all of us. Practices include fertilizer amounts and timing, cover crops, tile bioreactors, constructed wetlands, tillage changes, and riparian buffer strips.
Nitrate and Phosphate: A Loaded Question in Illinois
Kelly L. Warner, Paul Terrio, and Gregg Good
The state of Illinois is one of the largest contributors of nutrients loads to the Mississippi River and Gulf of Mexico. Relatively new methods for continuous nitrate and phosphate monitoring are providing a more detailed picture of nutrient loads over extreme (low- or high-flow) hydrologic events and the ability to identify and respond to developing or occurring high-nutrient events. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) network of stream gages with continuous water-quality monitoring use in-stream instruments to measure consecutive observations of streamflow, nitrate, phosphate, turbidity, and other water-quality characteristics. The real-time data transmission eliminates the waiting time inherent in laboratory chemical analyses and allows scientists and water managers to make decisions based on rapid changes in water quality. The first stream gage with continuous nitrate and phosphate in Illinois, and one of the first in the country, is at the Illinois River at Florence. While the general nitrate loading in the Illinois River can be determined by interpretive modeling using periodic sample collection and a continuous record of streamflow, a cooperative study with the USGS and Illinois Environmental Protection Agency determined that during rapidly changing flow conditions the nutrient loads are mischaracterized with interpretive modeling. The low- and high-flow periods are critically important with respect to the total amount of nitrate transported or the potential effects on the stream ecosystem. Additionally, with the implementation of continuous water-quality monitoring at stream gages in eight major river basins across Illinois, the baseline nutrient loading (nitrate, phosphate, and sediment), seasonal loadings, and storm-event loadings of nutrients and sediment over time can be determined.
Illinois Nutrient Loss Reduction Strategy: Current Activities, Future Directions
Marcia Willhite, Illinois Environmental Protection Agency
Marcia Willhite became Chief of the Bureau of Water, Illinois EPA in May 2001. In this capacity she oversees water pollution control, drinking water, groundwater, watershed management and state revolving fund programs for the state. Ms. Willhite is active in the Association of Clean Water Administrators (ACWA), serving as its national President in 2006-07. Prior to coming to Illinois, Ms. Willhite worked for 13 years in air quality, including program management at the state level in Texas and at the local level in Lincoln, Nebraska. Ms. Willhite participates in the Water Quality Executive Committee of the Upper Mississippi River Basin Association, and represents Illinois EPA on the Ohio River Valley Water Sanitation Commission. Ms. Willhite has a bachelor of science in wildlife biology from Eastern Kentucky University and master of science in toxicology from the University of Kentucky.
Illinois has two water quality issues related to nutrients: 1) impacts on in-state rivers, lakes, and streams, and 2) contribution to Gulf of Mexico hypoxia. The actions that address nutrient losses to water are important for solving both water quality issues. In late 2014, the Illinois Department of Agriculture and the Illinois EPA released a draft Nutrient Loss Reduction Strategy (NLRS) for public review and comment. The NLRS was developed with the advice of the Nutrient Policy Work Group comprised of wastewater agencies, agricultural groups, environmental advocates, state/local government, and University of Illinois researchers. The centerpiece of the document is a science assessment that describes current conditions of nutrient loss, what various practices can achieve, and what the level of effort and expenditure is needed to significantly reduce losses to Illinois waters. The NLRS identifies important current activities to reduce losses as well as future implementation actions.
The Science Assessment Supporting the Illinois Nutrient Loss Reduction Strategy
Mark David, Greg McIsaac, George Czapar, Gary Schnitkey, and Corey Mitchell, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Mark B. David is a Professor in the Deptment of Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and has been on the faculty since 1985. He studies nitrogen and phosphorus cycling in agricultural fields, losses to streams and rivers, and methods to reduce these losses such as fertilizer application timing, cover crops, drainage water management, constructed wetlands, and bioreactors. His research team conducts long-term monitoring of water quality in several tile-drained watersheds in east-central Illinois to better understand the mechanisms of nutrient loss and to evaluate the effectiveness of nutrient loss reduction methods. Currently he serves on the Board of Directors of the American Society of Agronomy. He has degrees from Penn State University, the University of Maine, and the State University of New York, College of Environmental Science and Forestry.
States in the Midwest along the Mississippi River have been required by U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to develop nutrient loss reduction strategies that will lead to 45% reductions in their exports of nitrate and total phosphorus down the river. The goal is to reduce nutrient loads enough to meet the U.S. goal of a 2,000 square mile hypoxic zone each summer. These reductions could also improve local water quality in streams and lakes. In an effort led by the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency and Illinois Deptment of Agriculture, and with input from all stakeholders, a nutrient loss reduction strategy was recently developed for Illinois. As part of the strategy development, a science assessment was conducted to evaluate nutrient sources (agricultural, point source, and urban) and determine methods to meet nutrient loss reduction goals. River loads determined the amounts of nitrate and phosphorus that need to be reduced in our rivers. An evaluation was made of the effectiveness of various practices and methods for meeting the nutrient loss reduction goals. In this presentation, we’ll examine the science behind the proposed agricultural practice changes and their associated costs and discuss the task ahead for all of us. Practices include fertilizer amounts and timing, cover crops, tile bioreactors, constructed wetlands, tillage changes, and riparian buffer strips.
Nitrate and Phosphate: A Loaded Question in Illinois
Kelly L. Warner, Paul Terrio, and Gregg Good
The state of Illinois is one of the largest contributors of nutrients loads to the Mississippi River and Gulf of Mexico. Relatively new methods for continuous nitrate and phosphate monitoring are providing a more detailed picture of nutrient loads over extreme (low- or high-flow) hydrologic events and the ability to identify and respond to developing or occurring high-nutrient events. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) network of stream gages with continuous water-quality monitoring use in-stream instruments to measure consecutive observations of streamflow, nitrate, phosphate, turbidity, and other water-quality characteristics. The real-time data transmission eliminates the waiting time inherent in laboratory chemical analyses and allows scientists and water managers to make decisions based on rapid changes in water quality. The first stream gage with continuous nitrate and phosphate in Illinois, and one of the first in the country, is at the Illinois River at Florence. While the general nitrate loading in the Illinois River can be determined by interpretive modeling using periodic sample collection and a continuous record of streamflow, a cooperative study with the USGS and Illinois Environmental Protection Agency determined that during rapidly changing flow conditions the nutrient loads are mischaracterized with interpretive modeling. The low- and high-flow periods are critically important with respect to the total amount of nitrate transported or the potential effects on the stream ecosystem. Additionally, with the implementation of continuous water-quality monitoring at stream gages in eight major river basins across Illinois, the baseline nutrient loading (nitrate, phosphate, and sediment), seasonal loadings, and storm-event loadings of nutrients and sediment over time can be determined.