Mississippi River Water Quality and the Clean Water Act Progress, Challenges, and Opportunities (2008) / Chapter Skim
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5 Evaluating Mississippi River Water Quality
5 Evaluating Mississippi River Water Quality
Pages 138-164
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From page 138... ...
Effective data gathering efforts also require a sustained commitment over time if water quality trends are to be detected and evaluated. Monitoring and evaluating Mississippi River water quality poses unique challenges because (1)
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From page 139... ...
The chapter reviews past and existing monitoring programs on the Mississippi River mainstem. It discusses the value of river system monitoring in tracking changes in water quality and the importance of monitoring in achieving Clean Water Act goals.
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From page 140... ...
As the following sections explain, the influences of the spatially variable Mississippi River drainage structure on water quality have contributed to differences in U.S. federal and state monitoring of the river and in how states along the river have approached Mississippi River water quality monitoring.
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Federal Monitoring Programs Federal agencies have sponsored and conducted the large-scale monitoring efforts for the Mississippi River. One of today's prominent river monitoring efforts is the Long Term Resource Monitoring Program (LTRMP)
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. Figure 5-1 reaches upstream of the Ohio River confluence to represent conditions and habitat on the upper Mississippi River system (Figure 5-1)
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Reductions in the network that were implemented in the late 1990s, and again in 2001, left only four or five sites active on the Mississippi River mainstem (Clinton, Iowa; Grafton, Ill.; Thebes, Ill.; and St. Francisville, Figure 5-2 La.)
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From page 144... ...
Although NAWQA includes many Mississippi River tributaries, it includes no mainstem sites downstream of Lake Pepin. As a result, today only a few mainstem water quality sites remain in the USGS network downstream of Lake Pepin.
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From page 145... ...
Similarly, the 1999 USGS status and trends report for the upper Mississippi River, although a useful and creative synopsis of upper river ecology, is not Clean Water Act specific. That is, it is not aimed at determining if designated uses along the river are being met or assessing the frequency and duration of violations of water quality standards.
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From page 146... ...
There is a greater abundance of Mississippi River water quality data for the upper Mississippi River than for the lower river, due in part to efforts both of the federal-state EMP and LTRMP and of some upper river states. Through its NASQAN and NAWQA programs, the USGS has collected some water quality data for the Mississippi River, but these efforts have not been systematic and sustained, they have not been directed toward Clean Water Act objectives, and the resources allocated to these programs generally have declined over time.
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From page 147... ...
. Interstate waters such as the Mississippi River pose significant problems for the Clean Water Act framework.
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A newer, faster, and less expensive water quality assessment approach, which has emerged over the last two decades, is the use of rapid biological surveys, or rapid bioassessment protocols (RBPs)
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. Coordination efforts among the upper Mississippi River states have alleviated some of these problems, but to date little has been done to coordinate such efforts along the entire river corridor.
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. © 2004 by the Upper Mississippi River Basin Association.
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. © 2004 by the Upper Mississippi River Basin Association.
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From page 152... ...
State Monitoring Programs The 10 states along the Mississippi River mainstem conduct limited monitoring in the river (Table 5-1)
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From page 153... ...
Wisconsin conducts baseline monitoring of nonwadable streams at 180 sites statewide, but no sites in the Mississippi River are included in this program. The state does conduct routine water quality monitoring at three lock-and-dam sites on the river, although this is not part of the baseline monitoring program (UMRBA, 2004)
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If fish contaminants exceed a certain level or a FCA is issued for a waterbody, the river segment may be added to the Clean Water Act Section 303(d) list of impaired waterbodies.
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. With the possible exception of Louisiana, monitoring downstream of the Ohio River confluence that is related to Clean Water Act assessment, enforcement, and restoration is less active than in the upper Mississippi River states.
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, but they have limited utility regarding CWA-related assessment of the entire system. The seemingly low level of Clean Water Act-related monitoring on portions of the Mississippi River is not unique or even unusual.
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The Value and Importance of Monitoring Monitoring of Mississippi River water quality has not been performed in a system-wide manner for extended periods (e.g., decades) and at intervals of time (e.g., monthly)
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For the Mississippi River, the lack of a coordinated water quality data gathering program and of a centralized water quality information system hinders effective implementation of the Clean Water Act and acts as a barrier to maintaining or improving water quality along the river and in the Gulf of Mexico. The EPA should take the lead in establishing such a program.
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From page 159... ...
. Part of this effort should focus on collecting data necessary to develop numeric water quality standards for nutrients in the Mississippi River and the Gulf of Mexico.
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From page 160... ...
For example, reports on Mississippi River water quality and ecological integrity often note sediment, "siltation," and turbidity as priority concerns in the upper river (UMRBA, 2004; Headwaters Group, 2005)
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From page 161... ...
These complications and variations over time regarding sediment transport and loadings are illustrative of the larger challenges that attend accurate and consistent monitoring of water quality variables and provide background for the following conclusions regarding federal and state water quality monitoring programs along the Mississippi River. BOX 5-6 Sediment Transport and Deposition: A Monitoring Challenge A study of one of the upper Mississippi's tributary streams -- Coon Creek, in Wisconsin -- demonstrates some of the complex patterns of sediment transport and deposition in a single stream, how those patterns may change over time (Fig ure 5-6)
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From page 162... ...
All values are direct Figure 5-6 measurements except "net upland sheet and rill erosion," which is the sum of all sinks and the efflux (sediment yield to the Mississippi River) minus measured sources.
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From page 163... ...
The USGS also has collected some Mississippi River water quality data via its NASQAN and NAWQA programs, but these efforts have not been systematic and sustained, they have not been directed toward Clean Water Act objectives, and the resources allocated to the programs have generally declined over time. On the upper river, Minnesota, Illinois, and Wisconsin have promoted the most extensive Mississippi River programs at the state level, although the resources devoted to these programs have varied over time.
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The lack of a centralized Mississippi River water quality information system and data gathering program hinders effective application of the Clean Water Act and acts as a barrier to maintaining and improving water quality along the Mississippi River and into the northern Gulf of Mexico. States along the mainstem Mississippi River, together with the federal government, need to coordinate better with respect to planning monitoring activities and sharing the data that result.
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