January 17, 2012

1) White House National Ocean Council Announces Draft Plan to Improve Stewardship of the Ocean, Our Coasts, and Great Lakes
2) New Data Added to EPA's Nitrogen and Phosphorus Pollution Data Access Tool
3) EPA Co-Sponsored Report Released: "Water Reuse: Potential for Expanding the Nation's Water Supply through Reuse of Municipal Wastewater"
4) Climate Ready Estuaries 2011 Progress Report Released
5) Success Spotlight: Bull Run/West Creek, Indiana--Planning, Educating Landowners & Installing Management Practices Restore Watershed

1) White House National Ocean Council Announces Draft Plan to Improve Stewardship of the Ocean, Our Coasts, and Great Lakes
On January 12, 2012, the White House's National Ocean Council released for public comment the draft "National Ocean Policy Implementation Plan," detailing more than 50 actions the Federal Government will take to improve the health of the ocean, coasts, and Great Lakes. The draft plan focuses on promoting efficiency and collaboration across government, managing resources with an integrated approach, making available and using the best science and information, and supporting regional efforts and public-private partnerships. EPA is one of 27 Federal members of the National Ocean Council. The draft Plan will be available for public comment through February 27, 2012 and is available at www.whitehouse.gov/oceans.

2) New Data Added to EPA's Nitrogen and Phosphorus Pollution Data Access Tool
EPA has added updated U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) SPAtially Referenced Regressions On Watershed attributes (SPARROW) data to the nitrogen and phosphorus pollution data access tool, a tool intended to help states develop effective nitrogen and phosphorus source reduction strategies. SPARROW is a GIS-based watershed model that integrates statistical and mechanistic modeling approaches to simulate long-term mean annual stream nutrient loads as a function of a wide range of known sources and factors affecting nutrient fate and transport.

USGS recently completed syntheses of the results from 12 independently-calibrated regional-scale SPARROW models that describe water quality conditions throughout major river basins of the conterminous U.S. based on nitrogen and phosphorus sources from 2002. Two data layers of EPA's data access tool – one for nitrogen and one for phosphorus – now provide an approximate yet regionally consistent synthesis of the locations of the largest contributing sources.

The SPARROW geospatial layers can be used to prioritize watersheds for targeting nutrient reduction activities (such as stream monitoring) to the areas that account for a substantial portion of nutrient loads, and to develop state nitrogen and phosphorus pollution reduction strategies. This information is relevant to the protection of downstream coastal waters, such as the Gulf of Mexico, and to local receiving streams and reservoirs.

The nitrogen and phosphorus pollution data access tool, with updated SPARROW layers, is available at: www.epa.gov/nutrientpollution/npdat

3) EPA Co-Sponsored Report Released: "Water Reuse: Potential for Expanding the Nation's Water Supply through Reuse of Municipal Wastewater"
On January 10, 2012, the National Research Council released a report co-sponsored by EPA titled, "Water Reuse: Potential for Expanding the Nation's Water Supply through Reuse of Municipal Wastewater." The report highlights the potential that reuse of municipal wastewater can play in augmenting traditional water supplies, particularly in areas that are experiencing or expect to face challenges in meeting demand for water. EPA agrees that advancements in water treatment processes make reuse of municipal wastewater a more viable option when risks are appropriately managed. EPA will review the findings and recommendations to determine how they can inform the Agency's ongoing efforts to promote a more integrated view of the nation's water resources. The report will also inform efforts underway to revise and update EPA 2004 guidelines for water reuse.

For more information on the report, visit: http://dels.nas.edu/Report/water-reuse/13303. To access and download a copy of the report, visit: http://books.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id=13303

4) Climate Ready Estuaries 2011 Progress Report Released
EPA is announcing publication of the "Climate Ready Estuaries 2011 Progress Report." Climate Ready Estuaries is an EPA program intended to help the national estuary programs and coastal managers plan for climate change. Climate Ready Estuaries works with national estuary programs to: (1) assess climate change vulnerabilities, (2) develop and implement adaptation strategies, and (3) engage and educate stakeholders. Climate Ready Estuaries uses National Estuary Program examples to help other coastal managers, and provides technical guidance and assistance about climate change adaptation in support of Clean Water Act goals. 

The "Climate Ready Estuaries 2011 Progress Report" describes program accomplishments and the new National Estuary Program projects that were launched during 2011. In addition, this progress report uses examples from Climate Ready Estuaries projects that started in 2008–2010 to show how the risk management paradigm can be used for climate change adaptation. 

The "Climate Ready Estuaries 2011 Progress Report" is available at: http://epa.gov/cre/

5) Success Spotlight: Bull Run/West Creek, Indiana--Planning, Educating Landowners & Installing Management Practices Restore Watershed
EPA's Clean Water Act Section 319 Program provides funding for restoration of nonpoint source-impaired water bodies. Success stories are posted at: http://water.epa.gov/polwaste/nps/success319/. This week's success spotlight shines on Bull Run/West Creek, Indiana.

Nonpoint source pollution from agricultural and urban areas caused waters in the Bull Run/West Creek watershed to fail to support a healthy biotic community. As a result of the decline in water quality, the Indiana Department of Environmental Management added Bull Run in 2002 and West Creek in 2008 to Indiana's list of impaired waters. Using Section 319 funds, project partners educated stakeholders about sound agricultural management and implemented best management practices throughout the watershed to control erosion and address urban and agricultural runoff. Recent monitoring data show that the Bull Run segment meets water quality criteria for healthy biotic communities. Indiana will propose to remove both segments from the state's 2012 list of impaired waters.

For more information on this story, visit: http://water.epa.gov/polwaste/nps/success319/in_bull.cfm