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WEB GIS > CHES BAY TEST > Flashcards

CHES BAY TEST Flashcards

1
Q

Resilience

A

an ecosystem’s natural ability to resist big changes, including both fast improvements or worsening water quality

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2
Q

homeostasis (as related to resilience)

A

ability to maintain consistent and predictable conditions

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3
Q

Threshold

A

a tipping point in which an ecosystem suddenly shifts from one state to another e.g., healthy vs. eutrophic

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4
Q

Pre 1970s Bay

A

Bay was in a static condition but we were continuing to put pollutants in

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5
Q

1970s and beyond Bay

A

Degradation and declining resilience

Shift one state to a different one - normal productivity to Cultural Eutrophication

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6
Q

Impact of thresholds on Bay future restoration

A

May take more to get there than to stay there

pushing the ball up the hill

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7
Q

Hurricane Agnes in 1972

A

big decrease in water quality (more N, P, sediment) and wiped out much of the Bay’s underwater grass populations, and they have not recovered much since

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8
Q

High Resilience

A

Population has mechanisms to withstand environmental stress (euryhaline) and continue to grow

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9
Q

Low Resilience

A

Already near “tipping point”

Population has limited tolerance to environmental stress (stenohaline)

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10
Q

Healthy Bay characteristics

A
  • Submerged aquatic vegetation provides oxygen, food, shelter for animals in Bay
  • Clear water
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11
Q

Degraded Bay characteristics

A
  • Nutrients from runoff feed algal blooms and decrease water clarity
  • Dying phytoplankton are eaten by bacteria, which uses up a lot of oxygen that marine life can’t use to survive
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12
Q

why resilience and thresholds can work to both disadvantage and advantage

A
  • can slow cleanup efforts, because once the ecosystem passes a tipping point, it’s difficult to push the ecosystem back to its previous state
  • when ecosystems are healthy, e.g., thick underwater grasses, they can withstand severe storm and improve surrounding water quality
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13
Q

How many segments in the Bay

A

92

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14
Q

Why we need to control N & P

A
  • too much phytoplankton + algal blooms
  • algae die off and sink to bottom, where consumed by bacteria (consumes oxygen) –> anoxic conditions
  • sunlight can’t get through to bottom waters
  • submerged vegetation don’t get sunlight and die –> less spawning/nursery grounds
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15
Q

point source

A

any single identifiable, confined and discrete source from which pollutants are discharged, such as a pipe. Requires NPDES permit to operate

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16
Q

what is excluded from point source

A

agricultural stormwater discharges and return flows from irrigated agriculture

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17
Q

nonpoint source

A

diffuse pollution – e.g., urban stormwater. a city street during a thunderstorm. As rainwater flows over asphalt, it washes away drops of oil that leaked from car engines, particles of tire rubber, dog waste, and trash. The runoff goes into a storm sewer and ends up in a nearby river.

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18
Q

point source examples

A

sewage treatment plants
oil refineries
car manufacturers

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19
Q

nonpoint examples

A

Developed Lands/Urban Stormwater
Atmospheric Deposition
Agriculture

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20
Q

sources of N&P

A 
Atmospheric Deposition of N
Urban & Septic 
Ag. Crop (fertilizer)
Ag. Animal (manure)
Urban SW
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21
Q

the largest growing sector for N&P

A

urban and suburban stormwater from impervious surfaces

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22
Q

Atmospheric deposition contributes ___% nitrogen to Bay. ___% of that is from industry (cars, utilities)

A

33, 19

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23
Q

Ag fertilizer and Ag manure contribute ___% and ___% nitrogen to Bay

A

15, 17

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24
Q

Municipal/industrial wastewater contributes ___% nitrogen to Bay

A

19

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25
Q

Ag fertilizer and Ag manure contribute ___% and ___% phosphorous to Bay

A

19, 26

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26
Q

Municipal/industrial wastewater contributes ___% phosphorous to Bay

A

21

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27
Q

Urban/suburban runoff contributes ___% phosphorous to Bay

A

31

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28
Q

Most (60%) sediment comes from

A

Ag

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29
Q

Nitrogen contribution by sector

A

Ag - 38%
Point source - 19%
Urban/Surburban runoff - 29%

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30
Q

Phosphorous contribution by sector

A

Ag - 45%
Point source - 21%
Urban/Surburban runoff - 31%

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31
Q

Clean Water Act framework

A
  • develop water quality standards - what you want the water to look like and what you want to use the water for
  • monitor and assess waters
  • list impaired and threatened waters
  • develop tmdls
  • control point sources via npdes permits and manage nonpoint sources through grants/partnerships/voluntary
32
Q

three components of a water quality standard (WQS)

A 
Water quality criteria
Designated uses (expressed goals for using the waterbody, including support of aquatic life, human health)
Antidegradation requirements (maintenance/protection)
33
Q

purpose of water quality standards

A

monitor and assess waters, identify waters in danger, regulatory basis for establishing TMDLs

34
Q

what percent of total nitrogen load into the Bay is regulated/unregulated

A

46% is regulated, 54% is unregulated

35
Q

Primary Bay Restoration Goal

A
  • Control N, P and sediment to levels that result in the attainment of water quality standards
  • meet the Dissolved Oxygen WQS in all segments of the main Bay and Tidal tributaries
36
Q

How the Clean Water Act gets its meaning and force

A

water quality standards

37
Q

DO WQS Attainment In the Bay since the late 1980s and WHY???

A

has only increased a little bit because of resilience and thresholds – takes a lot to get over the hump (tipping point)

38
Q

Water Quality Models

A

A mathematical representation of an ecosystem

  • simulates the response of a waterbody to
    • advective flow
    • tides
    • currents
    • coriolis
    • density
    • temp
    • salinity
      • watershed loadings - point and nonpoint
      • algal productivity, do production and algal deposition
      • current physical chemical and biological conditions
39
Q

what if game

A

Recreate existing PCB conditions of the waterbody
Look at how current external loads are linked to PCB
Look at how past loads were linked to PCB conditions
Look at how future load scenarios will link with PCB
How much load reductions will that require
Where do I need to reduce loads
How do I reduce loads
How long will that take
What’s the cost to reduce the loads
When will the Bay respond

40
Q

TMDL considerations

A

Cost
Time for implementation
Marginal benefit of more stringent scenarios
Scientific uncertainty

41
Q

TMDL we chose as our strategy

A

190 nitrogen, 12.7 phosphorous

42
Q

percentage of Bay segments not meeting water quality standards

43
Q

the main reason we’ve made the progress we have with nitrogen and phosphorous

A

wastewater management

44
Q

the reason ag has made progress with phosphorous

A

Maryland passed regulation mandating phos control

45
Q

CWA authority is limited to

A

POINT SOURCES of pollutants

46
Q

even though wastewater has increased with population growth, ____ has gone down tremendously because of regulation

A

phosphorous

47
Q

permit

A
  • permission/license to pollute
  • also a shield – if you adhere, you cannot be considered as violating the law
  • issued by the government (state or epa)
    • epa authorizes states to act on behalf of epa
  • can be revoked for cause
48
Q

without a state permit program

A

EPA issues permits
EPA conducts compliance and monitoring activities
EPA enforces

49
Q

WITH a state permit program

A

State issues permits, does compliance/monitoring, and enforces
EPA oversees and can also take back the program if state doing poorly

50
Q

general permits (class)

A

One permit that covers facilities that have similar operations anddischarges
May apply to an entire City or County
pre-determined conditions

51
Q

examples of general permits

A

Car washes
Industrial Stormwater discharges
Construction Site Stormwater discharges

52
Q

individual permits (class)

A
  • cares about which water body the discharge will go into and what the current state of the water body is
  • tailored, unique to the facility
53
Q

examples of individual permits

A

Pharmaceutical manufacturer
Oil Refinery
Steel Mill
Automobile manufacturer

54
Q

types of permits

A 
technology based (general)
water quality based (individual)
55
Q

Technology Based Effluent Limits

A
  • Not directly linked to the specific receiving water body
  • this is the technology control we want you to put into place, e.g., every car wash operation has to install x
  • Assumes this will result in good WQ
56
Q

Water Quality Based Effluent Limits

A
  • don’t put any more than x pollutant in this water body
  • water body specific (use/pollutant/facility specific)
  • Issued to protect aquatic life, wildlife, and human health
57
Q

two focus of permits

A
  • End of Pipe (general)

- Waterbody (individual)

58
Q

are CAFOs subject to CWA permit regulations?

59
Q

Resilience example

A

Since the mid-1980s, humans have made concerted, sustained efforts to reduce the nutrients they dump into the Chesapeake Bay. But the Bay, due to biological, chemical, and physical processes, hasn’t recovered as much as many would like.

60
Q

Thresholds example

A

While the water quality in the Bay had decreased steadily throughout the 1960s, a big drop followed Hurricane Agnes in 1972. The storm wiped out much of the Bay’s underwater grass populations, which were already struggling due to human activities. The populations have not recovered much.

61
Q

3 parameters for WQS used by Ches Bay Program

A

dissolved oxygen
water clarity or underwater grass abundance
chlorophyll a (a measure of algae growth)

62
Q

which source, point or nonpoint, has a time lag (e.g., years to decades) in measuring impact on improving water quality and the health of the Bay

A

nonpoint sources

63
Q

goal of clean water act

A

restore and maintain chemical, physical, and biological integrity of nation’s waters

64
Q

which state is allocated the most nitrogen

A

pennsylvania - 77

maryland allocated 39 million lbs

65
Q

which state is allocated the most phos

A

virginia - 5

maryland - 3

66
Q

Watershed Implementation Plans

A
  • roadmap for how the Bay jurisdictions will achieve their specific nutrient TMDL allocations by 2025
  • three phases:
    2010 (basinwide)
    2012 (state scale)
    2018 (state scale)
67
Q

how much has phosphorous from wastewater been reduced since 1985

A

82 percent

68
Q

how much has nitrogen from wastewater been reduced since 1985

A

65 percent

69
Q

what is the first source of pollution where activities that reduce nutrient loads could be documented

A

wastewater treatment plants

70
Q

Secondary (Biological) Treatment

A
  • Required for all wastewater treatment plants (tech based permit)
  • Removes dissolved organic matter
71
Q

Tertiary Treatment

A
  • removes additional N&P

- example is Biological Nutrient Removal which uses bacteria (like in Bay) to remove nitrogen and phosphorus

72
Q

one reason that facilities aren’t meeting wastewater permits

A

they have aging systems

73
Q

Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System

A
  • a conveyance system owned by a jurisdiction that discharges to waters
  • Collects or conveys stormwater
  • Requires NPDES permit and stormwater mgmt. program (population based)
74
Q

Phase I MS4s are covered by _____ permits

A

individual

75
Q

Phase II MS4s are covered by a _____ permit

76
Q

how MS4 systems work

A

they use separate pipes for sewage and stormwater flow

77
Q

combined sewer system

A

uses same pipes for sanitary sewage and stormwater

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