Grantee Research Project Results
2006 Progress Report: Real-Time Internet Visualization and Environmental Reporting Network (RiverNet): the Upper Susquehanna/Lackawanna American Heritage River
EPA Grant Number: R828581Title: Real-Time Internet Visualization and Environmental Reporting Network (RiverNet): the Upper Susquehanna/Lackawanna American Heritage River
Investigators: Tomaine, James , Bruns, Dale , Krehely, Robert
Institution: Wyoming Valley Sanitary Authority, PA , Wilkes University
EPA Project Officer: Packard, Benjamin H
Project Period: December 1, 2000 through August 31, 2007
Project Period Covered by this Report: December 1, 2005 through August 31, 2006
Project Amount: $399,909
RFA: Environmental Monitoring for Public Access and Community Tracking (EMPACT) (2000) RFA Text | Recipients Lists
Research Category: Ecological Indicators/Assessment/Restoration , Water , Air
Objective:
This project continues to have four objectives: (1) monitor key water quality parameters within the watershed and selected river and stream sites of the Upper Susquehanna/Lackawanna American Heritage River (AHR); (2) use real-time water quality instruments (provided by Yellow Springs Instruments, YSI) to characterize environmental conditions in a river ecosystem with mine scarred lands, acid mine drainage, and mixed sewage from combined sewer overflows (CSOs); (3) make these data available to the public and other community stakeholders, including local and state agencies, via real-time data loggers linked to a community-based geographic information system (GIS) that provides Web-based Internet visualizations; and (4) conduct environmental education and public outreach activities.
Progress Summary:
This project had four primary categories of tasks associated with the objectives identified above. These tasks and accomplishments are summarized below.
Monitoring System
The calendar year of 2005 encompassed a much reduced data acquisition effort because of the cumulative physical impacts to monitors from severe flooding at the large river sites and to additional delays at these sites as we continued another year of high river flows. After overcoming various delays in previous years (mentioned in earlier annual reports and documentation relative to railroad authority permission, bid cycle, floodwaters, design of mounting system, and field logistics), we had expected to move into a “stabilized” data acquisition mode with our installed monitoring and telemetry systems for two tributary sites and two main river sites (as described in last year’s report). However, the instruments and mounting structures at the two river sites were again subject to considerable “wear and tear” and never became fully functional after the previously described stormwaters and associated “highwaters” in the mainstem river in the fall of 2003 and carrying over of these conditions into the winter of 2004. Therefore, in the field summer sampling season of 2005, only one monitor (Toby Creek) was still in proper operating condition for collecting useable data; all others were pulled progressively from the sites over the 2004-2005 sampling seasons and “shelved” until we could take inventory of units and associated problems. In fall 2005, the co-investigators sent the YSI units back to the company for cost estimates for repair or replacement.
GIS Decision Support
As indicated in previous years, we had concluded our applications for site selection criteria by combining digital photos on CSOs, culm banks, and mining outfalls with GIS watershed analysis for each of these regional environmental problems. Also, these were documented in an overview of the various monitoring components like solar panel, YSI probe, and control panel juxtaposed with Web-based GIS maps for our study area showing location of CSOs relative to river and tributaries. Both sets of GIS decision support materials (on two PowerPoint posters) continue to be used for environmental education outreach to our RiverNet partners and the public at large during Earth Day, RiverFest, or selected GIS workshops at Wilkes University. Over this past year, aspects of our decision support GIS system and our geospatial monitoring design have been highlighted as part of meeting activities for a regional (13 universities and various hi-tech companies) task force on the R&D needs for homeland security; our EMPACT project was profiled as one potential approach for monitoring water resources impacted for water quality by potential terrorist threats; three conference presentations were made that covered some aspect of EMPACT RiverNet monitoring design, conceptual basis, GIS watershed analysis, or water quality data from the YSI units (see below).
GIS and Internet
Watershed GIS data layers, including location of water quality monitoring sites (with selected data), are no longer available at URLs identified in last year’s report. Over the past year or so, Wilkes University has outsourced its IT operations to a private contractor and as part of campus-wide LAN upgrades, the EMPACT server was subject to concrete dust loading to its fans during these activities, which included drilling though concrete walls. We were not notified of this extensive perturbation and the server fan was severely loaded with dust and had to be removed to an off-campus (out-of-town) site. At present, we are upgrading both the hardware and software capacity of this server (via sources of external funding other than EMPACT at this time) and we will inform EPA of the new URLs when these map services are brought back online in the near future.
Partnership Activities
As indicated in previous reports, educational materials (posters based on PowerPoint presentations) have been developed and used for Earth Day, an annual regional river festival, and selected GIS training events for partners (training funded by other projects). We have developed a new “systems” diagram for CSOs and pollutant pathways to the river ecosystem for educational outreach purposes.
Future Activities:
The RiverNet technical team will re-install equipment in late spring or early summer after runoff diminishes to allow safe access to sites, especially on the river. The Wilkes-Barre site will be re-evaluated and re-designed in light of high flow damage to the monitor and mounting structures on the bridge. We are planning to continue some form of field monitoring this summer (2006), but at a reduced level of effort given the past history of physical impacts to the units from stormwaters and floating debris during “flood events” on the mainstem river. We plan to continue monitoring at two tributary sites, update the Web as appropriate, and participate in Earth Day and RiverFest.
Journal Articles:
No journal articles submitted with this report: View all 24 publications for this projectSupplemental Keywords:
real-time monitoring, water quality, GIS, watershed, pollution, mining, acid mine drainage, combined sewer overflows, public information and education, Internet visualizations,, RFA, Scientific Discipline, Geographic Area, Water, Ecosystem Protection/Environmental Exposure & Risk, Hydrology, Environmental Chemistry, Chemistry, State, Monitoring/Modeling, Wet Weather Flows, Environmental Monitoring, ecological risk assessment, hydrologic dynamics, EMPACT, community-based approach, WY, bioterrorism, acid mine drainage, data gathering, public information, computing technology, data management, web site development, sewage, community outreach, GIS, water quality, river ecosystem, Wyoming, public outreachRelevant Websites:
http://gisconference.cas.psu.edu/2005/abstracts/AbstractsAll.asp Exit
Progress and Final Reports:
Original AbstractThe perspectives, information and conclusions conveyed in research project abstracts, progress reports, final reports, journal abstracts and journal publications convey the viewpoints of the principal investigator and may not represent the views and policies of ORD and EPA. Conclusions drawn by the principal investigators have not been reviewed by the Agency.
Project Research Results
- Final Report
- 2005 Progress Report
- 2004 Progress Report
- 2003 Progress Report
- 2002 Progress Report
- 2001 Progress Report
- Original Abstract