Trask Watershed Analysis (2002-2003)
E&S Environmental Chemistry is conducting a watershed analysis of the Trask River watershed for the Oregon Department of Forestry and Bureau of Land Management. This is one of two pilot projects designed to set the pattern for future ODF watershed analyses. Current and historical conditions are being assessed, and recommendations for future management will be developed. Methods of assessment extend OWEB and federal watershed analysis guidelines, providing more detailed analysis, discussion, and recommendations.
Lower Wilson River and Trask River Water Quality Study (1999-2003)
Water samples were gathered on multiple occasions during several storm events approximately every tenth of a mile on the lower portions of the Wilson and Trask Rivers, Oregon. Samples were collected along a transect perpendicular to the river channel at each location and analyzed for fecal coliform bacteria in order to identify and quantify sources of water pollution in the lower rivers, especially within urbanized areas. Preliminary analysis of the samples indicates that the Trask
River typically carries larger loads of bacteria than the Wilson, and there are several principal source areas. The Tillamook Estuaries Partnership will work with local governments to reduce bacterial loads from the identified problem areas.
Shenandoah National Park Air Quality Related Values (2000-2003)
Shenandoah National Park (SHEN) has among the most comprehensive air quality monitoring and research programs of all national parks and wilderness areas that are afforded special protection under the Clean Air Act. The park’s monitoring and research program focuses on visibility, acidic deposition, gaseous pollutants, and the acid-base status of streams. By the late 1990s, park managers determined the need for a comprehensive,
state-of-the-science assessment of SHEN’s air quality and related values for use as a tool in the air policy, planning, permit review, scientific and outreach arenas. This assessment
by E&S and collaborating university and Federal agency
scientists addresses that need by evaluating the current and possible future status of air quality and air pollution effects in SHEN. It focuses on the park’s key known air quality related values (AQRVs), including visibility, streamwater chemistry, fish, soils, and vegetation, and the human-caused air pollutants
that most affect them.
An enhanced version of the Regional Acid Deposition Model (RADM) was used to project future air quality and deposition. Four scenarios of future emissions were developed for the report. Two were based on existing emissions regulations, one projected to 2010 and the other to 2020. Scenarios 3 and 4 were based on more aggressive controls on utilities (Scenario 3) and on utility, industrial point sources, and mobile sources (Scenario 4). Under the current set of rules that exist or are being promulgated, sulfur dioxide emissions within the SHEN airshed will be reduced by an estimated 47% from 1990 levels and
nitrogen oxide emissions reduced by 41%. Scenarios 3 and 4 represent significant additional reductions beyond current plans.
Dose-response calculations and simulation modeling were used to evaluate possible future changes in the extent of damage to visibility, aquatic, and forest resources in Shenandoah National Park in response to ambient air quality, acidic deposition, and ozone exposure, respectively. Alternative deposition and air quality scenarios were specified for aquatics and visibility projections from the RADM model estimates of future conditions. Ozone
exposure scenarios were based on measured 5-month SUM06 exposures for the period 1997 to 1999, and a suite of future exposure scenarios, ranging from about an 80% decrease to a three-fold increase in the ambient 5-month (12 hr) SUM06 ozone exposure. The modeling was conducted using the MAGIC model for aquatic effects, the TREGRO model for growth of individual tree species, and the ZELIG model for forest stand composition and growth. Future visibility conditions were projected for each of
the deposition scenarios on the basis of expected reductions in fine particle concentrations in the atmosphere and the known contribution of each particle type to light extinction.
North Santiam Watershed Assessment (2001-2002)
E&S Environmental Chemistry provided an assessment for the North Santiam Watershed Council of the lower and middle reach sub-basins of the North Santiam River. This river contains the largest population of wild steelhead, which are currently listed as a “threatened” species, in the upper Willamette Valley. Other “threatened” and “endangered” species in the watershed include spring chinook and Oregon chub. Water temperature, stream channel geomorphology, riparian
vegetation, and off-channel aquatic habitat are issues of primary concern for watershed health in the North Santiam watershed. This assessment also evaluated issues related to hydrology, water use, sedimentation, water quality, land use, in-stream habitat conditions, and uplands vegetation.
Southern Appalachian Mountains Initiative (SAMI) Assessment (2000-2002)
SAMI is a partnership of state and federal agencies, industry, academia, environmental groups, and members of the public. Its goal is to identify and recommend strategies to remedy air pollution impacts in the eight state Southern Appalachian Mountains region, and to prevent future adverse impacts. E&S Environmental Chemistry, Inc. led a team of scientists assessing the effects of atmospheric sulfur and nitrogen deposition on aquatic and terrestrial resources throughout the SAMI
region. The effects of current air pollution and alternative future emissions control strategies on aquatic and forest resources were modeled for 100 years into the future. Aquatic simulations were based on the MAGIC model; terrestrial (forest soil) simulations were based on the NuCM model. Aquatics modeling results were extrapolated to the population of streams within the region, stratified by physiographic province. Acidic and acid-sensitive
streams were mostly found in the northern portion of the SAMI region, and were strongly associated with the presence of siliciclastic bedrock and stream location at moderate to high elevation.
Wilson and Miami Watershed Assessments (2000-2001)
The Wilson and Miami rivers are two of the five major rivers that drain into Tillamook Bay, Oregon. The Wilson River watershed contains some of the largest salmon and steelhead populations on the Oregon Coast. Conditions in these watersheds were greatly influenced by wildfires and land use activities, including the draining of lowland wetland areas, road construction, logging, and agriculture. E&S Environmental Chemistry prepared assessments of environmental conditions in the Wilson and Miami watersheds for the Tillamook
County Performance Partnership and the Tillamook Bay Watershed Council. The effort focused on fisheries, aquatic and riparian habitat, water quality, hydrology, water use, sedimentation, and terrestrial/aquatic/biotic interactions.
Necanicum Watershed Assessment (2000-2001)
E&S Environmental Chemistry conducted an assessment, following
Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board protocols, of conditions in the Necanicum River watershed for the Necanicum Watershed Council. The Necanicum River flows from the Coast Range to the Pacific Ocean at the town of Seaside, Oregon. Major issues of concern in this watershed include the loss of estuary habitat in the lowlands, water quantity, fish passage barriers, water temperature conditions, and water contamination from urban pollution sources. Additional
analyses focused on hydrology, water chemistry, in-stream habitat, fisheries, sedimentation, and riparian condition.
Tenmile Lakes Water Quality and Nutrient Loading Study (1998-2002)
E&S conducted a four-year study of water quality and nutrient loading in
Tenmile Lakes and their associated watersheds. This work was performed for the
City of Lakeside, with 319 funding support from ODEQ, and has included chronic and storm-based lake and stream monitoring for chemistry and algae, stream flow measurements, sediment sampling and analyses of historical changes (nutrients, sediment
accumulation rates, isotopic dating of sediment intervals), and application of a watershed model (SWAT) to establish Total Maximum Daily Loads for
nonpoint source pollutants (suspended solids, nitrogen,
phosphorus) to Tenmile Lakes.
Water Quality Analysis of the Tillamook Bay Watershed (1996-2002)
E&S conducted an intensive water quality study of the five rivers that flow into Tillamook Bay. This work for the Tillamook Bay National Estuary Project (TBNEP) and the Tillamook County Performance Partnership analyzed water concentrations and annual and event-based loads of pollutants to the bay based on landscape characteristics and land use activities. The study included monthly and storm-based monitoring at up to 50 sites on the five rivers that flow into Tillamook Bay. Concentrations were measured and load estimates calculated for fecal coliform bacteria, total suspended solids, and (for some storms) nutrients during 29 rainstorm events over a five-year period. For some analyses, constituent loads were statistically related to land use percentages in the watershed sub-basins that were sampled. The results of this research provided important information for
TBNEP's final Comprehensive Conservation and Management Plan.
Analysis of Stresses on the Ecological Resources of the Mid-Willamette Valley (1994-1995)
E&S collaborated on a study to develop an informational and procedural framework for ecological risk assessment and resource management in the Willamette River Basin. As a subcontractor to the University of Oregon Institute for a Sustainable Environment, E&S provided an integrated landscape characterization and assessment. The
research project was developed in response to the transition within the Pacific Northwest towards an ecosystem-approach to terrestrial and aquatic resource management using hydrologic drainage basins as the principal units of analysis. The ultimate goal of the project was to assist local communities to evaluate alternative scenarios for land conservation and development in order to foster informed and constructive ecosystem management and land use decision making.
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