Decades come and decades go, but there remain some constants: the never-ending debate over the definition of jurisdictional waters or Waters of the United States (WOTUS) and how to address excess nutrients affecting surface waters. There is much more to discuss with WOTUS in a future blog.
With respect to nutrients, on August 13, 2021, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced their most recent recommendations for lakes and reservoirs.
Water Quality Criteria
“The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is announcing the release of Ambient Water Quality Criteria to Address Nutrient Pollution in Lakes and Reservoirs. These national recommended criteria are models for total nitrogen and total phosphorus concentrations in lakes and reservoirs to protect three different designated uses—aquatic life, recreation, and drinking water source protection—from the adverse effects of nutrient pollution” (86 FR 44712, August 13, 2021).
The EPA states that this is the first update to these criteria in 20 years.
Stressor-Response Approach
Troutman Pepper commented on the EPA recommendations, “In the new recommended lakes criteria, EPA is embracing a stressor-response approach to managing nutrients, instead of the least-disturbed reference method. This is a significant move for the agency and has the potential to set a positive precedent going forward for EPA and state and tribal regulators to re-evaluate the utility of the reference method approach in other contexts.”
See “Stressor-Response Relationships from Ecological Simulation Models” for a more detailed look at stressor-response.
Harmful Effects of Excessive Nutrients
Nutrients are essential for plant growth, both aquatic and non-aquatic. The stress on aquatic ecosystems can occur when the concentration of nitrogen and/or phosphorus are too great. The excessive nutrients in lakes and reservoirs can lead to Harmful Algal Blooms such as happened in Lake Erie in 2014.
According to the EPA, nutrient pollution also “favors” the growth of undesirable, nuisance phytoplankton (cyanobacteria). Further, many species of cyanobacteria are superior competitors for light compared to other phytoplankton
The EPA has also published the following supporting documents
- Fact Sheet
- Technical Support Page
- Nutrient Scientific Technical Exchange Partnership and Support (N-STEPS)
Better Understanding of Nitrates in Groundwater and Surface Water
For more information about nitrates and groundwater see this blog and ~ 35 minute webinar. Also below, we have a short video regarding using isotopes to help determine the source nitrates.
Defining WOTUS and how best to limit nutrient pollution have long been challenging, and important environmental issues. If you have questions about assessing the source of nitrates in groundwater and surface waters, contact Dr. Michael Sklash at 248-932-0228, Ext 120. You can also reach us info@dragun.com.
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