Citation:

McManus, M., Matthew Heberling, C. Nietch, L. Gains-Germain, AND A. Springsteen. Best Management Practices Implementation and Long-term Trends in Total Suspended Solids in the Cuyahoga River Watershed, Ohio. 2021 Virtual Annual Water Resources Conference, Kissimmee, FL, November 08 - 11, 2021.

Impact/Purpose:

The EPA spends millions of dollars as part of its 319 program to help states, tribal and local governments implement Best Management Practices (BMPs) to address nonpoint source pollutants in waterbodies.  States receiving grants report their annual progress in the Grants Reporting and Tracking System (GRTS).  Using GRTS, we test if implementation of BMPs through the 319 program in the Cuyahoga River Watershed is associated with decreasing trends in total suspended solids (TSS) concentration (mg/L) and flux (kg/Day) from 2000 to 2017. Annual median TSS concentration had a decreasing trend over the 319 BMP implementation period from 2000 to 2017. However, the cumulative estimated sedimentation-siltation load reduction obtained from the 319 project reports shows that the 319 BMPs alone could not account for the decreasing TSS loading trend, as they represented only ~ 1% of the current annual TSS load at the Cuyahoga Station.   We are trying to identify other sediment load reduction projects by other agencies and municipalities that could have contributed to the decreasing TSS concentration trend.  Addressing nonpoint source pollutants requires a collective watershed effort among federal, tribal, state, and local governments, along with citizen-based watershed conservation organizations.

Description:

The EPA spends millions of dollars as part of its 319 program to help address state and local nonpoint source problems.  States receiving grants report their annual progress in the Grants Reporting and Tracking System (GRTS).  Using GRTS, we test if implementation of Best Management Practices (BMPs) through the 319 program in the Cuyahoga River Watershed is associated with decreasing trends in total suspended solids (TSS) concentration (mg/L) and flux (kg/Day) from 2000 to 2017.  From 2009 to 2020, 17 319 grants were awarded, implementing 65 BMPs in the watershed.  Downstream from those BMPs is a Cuyahoga River monitoring station, managed by Heidelberg University, where TSS concentration has been measured daily since 1980, and a USGS gage (station 4208000) that has estimated discharge (cubic meters per second (cms)) since 1940.  Annual median discharge, on a water-year basis, had a significant positive trend over the period of 1940 to 2020, while the annual median TSS concentration trend had a significant negative slope over the 319 BMP implementation period from 2000 to 2017.  We used a weighted regression on discharge, time, and season model to obtain generalized flow normalization estimates of monthly TSS concentration and flux.  The resulting concentration and load estimates were categorized into three time periods:  Pre-BMPs 2000-2008; Few BMPs 2009-2011; and More BMPs 2012-2017.  Parallel coordinate plots of the BMP categories and the monthly estimates of concentration and flux tended to show higher concentrations in the Pre-BMP period compared to the other two periods.  Significant differences among the BMPs groups were detected with a permutation-based multivariate analysis of variance.  However, based on the cumulative estimated sedimentation-siltation load reduction obtained from the 319 project reports, the 319 BMPs alone could not account for the decreasing TSS loading trend, as they represented only ~ 1% of the current annual TSS load at the Cuyahoga Station.   We are trying to identify other sediment load reduction projects that could have contributed to the decreasing TSS concentration trend.  The views expressed in this abstract are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views or policies of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

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