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Approaches for Development of Nutrient Criteria in Oregon Estuaries With a Focus on Tillamook Estuary
Citation:
Brown, C. AND Walt Nelson. Approaches for Development of Nutrient Criteria in Oregon Estuaries With a Focus on Tillamook Estuary. Presented at Meeting with R10 and TIllamook Estuary Partnership Staff, Garibaldi, OR, April 24, 2014.
Impact/Purpose:
Cheryl Brown and Walt Nelson of the NHEERL Western Ecology Division’s (WED’s) Pacific Coastal Ecology Branch together with Yvonne Vallette of Region 10 (Portland Office) will be discussing research with staff from the Tillamook Estuaries Partnership in Garibaldi, Oregon on April 24, 2014. Dr. Brown and Dr. Nelson will be presenting a seminar entitled “Approaches for Development of Numeric Nutrient Criteria for Oregon Estuaries with a Focus on the Tillamook Estuary” that is based on research under the Safe and Sustainable Water Resources Research Program Project 2.3A. Research that will be presented includes a potential approach for the development of nutrient benchmarks for the Tillamook Estuary and tools to aid in compliance monitoring.
Description:
Development of nutrient criteria for all water body types of the US remains a top priority for EPA. Estuaries in the Pacific Northwest receive nutrients from both the watershed and the coastal ocean, and thus are particularly complex systems in which to establish water quality criteria. We will first summarize our knowledge on causal and response variables relevant to development of nutrient criteria for Oregon estuaries, and then summarize research approaches being used to clarify nutrient inputs and responses in these systems. Based on currently available data, a reference condition approach which incorporates both landscape and marine drivers appears most promising. A variety of tools are also in development to aid in compliance monitoring and identification of nitrogen sources.