Regional Results of Volunteer River and Stream...
Transcript of Regional Results of Volunteer River and Stream...
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"Regional Results of Volunteer River
and Stream Monitoring”
Butler County Stream Team4
Lower Great Miami Citizens’ Water Quality Monitoring1
Saturday Stream Snapshot by Greenacres2
Mill Creek Volunteer Water Quality Monitoring3
Annual Meeting of the OKI Regional Conservation CouncilApril 5, 2017, at Sharon Centre in Sharon Woods
We monitor 300+ sites monthly for nine months each year using similar methods on the
same day, the 2nd and 3rd Saturday of each month.
Michael C. Miller1, Anne Lyon2, Emma Clohessy3, Bob Lentz4, and John Mangan5
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Greater Cincinnati inside I-275 Interstate Loop is Drained by 4
Rivers and their flood plains.
Great Miami R.
Whitewater R.
Mill Creek
Little
Miami R.
Licking River
Here are the rivers we monitor in 5 counties and two states of Greater Cincinnati
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Best Studied Metro Area in CountryI. Municipal Sewer District as part of their Consent Decree
has had Midwest Biodiversity Institute do ‘stage of the art’
physical, chemical and biological assessment sampling of
the MC in 2011(76 sites), LMR in 2012 (111 sites), GMR in
2013(62 sites), Ohio R and its tributaries including Taylor
Creek in 2014 (45 sites). These will be repeated in 5 years
to document impacts of Consent Decree upgrades of CSOs
& SSOs.
II. Green Umbrella inaugurates ‘StreamBank Regional Water
Quality Database’ containing the chemical water quality of
300 sites monthly in Hamilton, Butler, Warren and
Clermont Counties for 2015. The base will soon have 2016
and data from previous years.
Only NSF Long
Term Ecological R
sites in Baltimore
and Phoenix
many have
better.
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Combined and Sanitary Sewer Overflows
must be mitigated by MSD & SD1Most are along the Mill Creek and Duck Ck in Ohio and along the Licking in KY
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Metropolitan Sewer District funded biosurveys
by Midwest Biodiversity Institute at 294 sites
2011-2014 using OEPA methods gives a definitive
survey every 5 years
http://msdgc.org/initiatives/water_quality/aboutwebmap.html
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Four Volunteer Monitoring
Programs in StreamBank
collect monthly data from >
300 sites in greater Metro
Cincinnati.
http://www.greenumbrella.org/StreamB
ank-Database
Little Miami
River
Upper Great
Miami River
Lower
Great
Miami R
Mill
Creek
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Stream Team Member Manual Muskingum R.pdf
AlgaeNitrate
PO4-P
Turbidity
pH
Photosynthesis increases
HCO3����CO2 + OH- O2
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Our home for the Great Miami River Volunteer
Water Quality Monitoring Program, the U.C.
Center for Field Studies 11053 Oxford Rd,
MWWL Great Park We monitor 8 parameters from 80+ sites monthly for 9 months on 2 nd
Saturday.1. E. Coli bacteria/coliforms2. Total Phosphorus3. Nitrate-Nitrogen4. Conductivity5. Turbidity6. pH7. Optical Whiteners8. In vivo Chlorophyll a
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Total Phosphorus
Digestion
Total P with DR4000
Nitrate-N with DR3000
Conductivity &
Turbidity
Sample labelling & chain of Custody
Lower Great Miami River Crew at U.C. Center for Field Studies
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Each laboratory uses
skilled volunteers
and EPA approved
methods.
Nitrate with HACH TNT
Bacterial Petri
Dishes with Coli24
pH foregroiund & Chlorophyll + Optical
Whitners bacground
Conductivity
Lower Great Miami River Crew at U.C. Center for Fie ld Studies
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Little Miami River Saturday Stream Snapshot at Greenacres
Our director and originatorAnne Lyon
Samples ready for analysis
Nitrate analysisE. Coli & coliformanalysis
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Little Miami River Saturday Stream Snapshot
Conductivity and pHSample Check-in
Chain of Custordy
Total Phosphorus volume adjustmentTotal Phosphorus Digestion
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Butler County Stream Team works out of a Miami Uni versity Lab
Total Phosphorus Digestion
Conductivity testingWater collection team
Nitrate Determination
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Annual Data Report to Volunteers
and interested parties with brunch
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Where can you find our data?StreamBank https://www.greenumbrella.org/StreamBank-Database
Great Miami River Watershed
1 Upper GMR http://www.butlercountystreamteam.org/ Bob Lentz
2 Lower GMR http://riversunlimited.org/wqm/data.htm Lisa Link
3 Little Miami River Watershed Anne Lyonhttp://www.green-acres.org/index.php/education/water-quality/program-overview/saturday-stream-
snapshot
4.Mill Creek Watershec Emma Chlohessyhttp://millcreekwatershed.org/what-we-do/our-programs/water-quality-monitoring/
10 years
15 years
7 years
4 years
We collect 17,325 data points/year from 275 sitesx 6 -8 parameters x 9 months/yr
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Methods/ Equipment listParameter Equipment/ Reagents Standard
Method
Precision Accuracy Range
Total
Phosphates
Grab Sample in 250 mL container/ Digestion
with Sulfuric Acid and Potassium
Permanganate; then Sodium Hydroxide and
Hach PhosVer 3 PO4 Reagents/ Hach
DR2400 Spectrophotometer
8190 ±0.06 mg/L PO43- 0.07 mg/L PO43- 0.00 to 3.50 mg/L
PO43-
Nitrate-Nitrogen Grab Sample 250 mL container/ Hach
NitraVer 5 Reagent and Hach DR2000
Spectrophotometer
8171 0.04 mg/L NO3––N
0.04 mg/L NO3––N
0.1 to 10.0 mg/L
NO3––N
Conductivity Grab Sample 250 mL container with Hach
HQ440d Bench top Meter Package with
PHC201 pH probe and CDC401 Conductivity
Cell
Hach 8160 &
USEPA 2510-B
0.01 µS/cm with 2
digits
+/- 0.01 µS/cm 0.01 - 200,000
µS/cm
pH Grab Sample 250 mL container with Hach
HQ440d Bench top Meter Package with
PHC201 pH probe and CDC401 Conductivity
Cell
8156 & USEPA
Method 150.1
0.00 to 14.00 pH
units
+/-0.01 +/- 0.02 pH units
Turbidity Grab Sample 250 mL container with Hanna
Turbidimeter HI93703
2130B 0.0-50.00 FTU
50.00-1000.00
FTU
+/-0.01 FTU +/- 5% FS 0-10 FT
+/- 10% FS 10-50
E. Coli/ Total
Coliform
Grab Sample in sterile 125 mL container, m-
ColiBlue24®/ membrane filtration and dry
incubation in Salvis Programmable Incucenter
Natural Convection Incubator, 1.8 cu ft, 115
VAC; 24 hours at 35o C
10029 one colony
forming unit (CFU)
of coliform
bacteria per 100
mL of sample
Sensitivity 96.8%
Specificity 80.1%
Overall
Agreement
85.7%
0-200 colony
forming units on
readable plate
Optical
Brightener/
In Vivo
Chlorophyll a
Grab Sample 250 mL container with
AquaFluor® Handheld
Fluorimeter/Turbidimeter
N/A Not Available Not Available Optical
Brighteners
0.5 ppm – 30,000
ppm
Chl in vivo 0.3
μg/L - 300 μg/L
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Data Source: Citizens Volunteer
Cooperative Water Quality Monitoring
Programs in Cincinnati Metro area.1. Water collected on same date (on 2nd Saturday of month between 7-
10 am from March-Nov.).
2. Water Analyses use same or similar methods on the same day in each of 4 laboratories.
3. Advantage: No agency could sustain this level of output with person power required to sample on same day, 120 volunteer samplers & 35 laboratory workers.
4. Cost of all analytical methods is about $40,000/year for the four programs ($10,000/yr per program)
5. Major cost is a laboratory location contributed by a university, a well-funded non profit, a water treatment plant laboratory.
6. Each program has one person who is paid by some source to take responsibility for the Lab. Operation and data.
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What our 6 Parameters Tell UsEutrophication Sewage
Total Phosphorus
+
Nitrate-Nitrogen
Chlorophyll a in algal cells
Turbidity at low flow = algal biomass scattering light.
pH elevation by algal growth, especially above pH 8.3
Conductivity is salts from effluent treated or raw sewage, elevated by deicers in winter.
E. Coli are human fecal bacteria primarily from bad septic systems, SSOs and CSOs.
HIGH Nitrogen & PO4 from WWTPs, CSOs, SSOs, poor Septic Systems and raw sewage.
O2
CO2 HCO3- ���� CO2 + OH-
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OEPA regulates TP to achieve WWH
Target < 0.15mg/liter
OE
PA A
ttain
men
t Cat
egor
ies
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Nutrient targets for protection for
Ohio midsize Rivers
Miltner 2010 Environmental Management
Target to meet WWH is 1.0 mg NO3-N and 0.10 mg TP/l iter
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Median Total P in Metro Rivers is highest in the Mill >GMR>LMR>WWR. Median TP met the WWH safety
concentration only in the Whitewater R at 0.10 mg TP/l.
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
Cum
ulat
ive
% o
f Sam
ples
0.01 0.1 1 10 Total P Conc. (mg P/liter)
GMR LMR MIll C Ohio WW
Total P in mainstem Urban Rivers
Median TPMill CkWWR
LMRGMR
Median TP
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0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
0.1 1 10 Conc. of Nitrate+Nitrite (mg N/liter)
GMR LMR Mill Ck Ohio R WW
Mainstem NO3 -N in Urban Cincinnati Metro Rivers
median N conc.
Median Nitrate in Metro Rivers varies widely,
highest in GMR > LMR >WWR> Mill CreekC
um
ula
tive
% o
f sa
mp
les
Mill C< WWR
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Landuse of GREAT MIAMI R near Mouth
is agricultural and gravel mining.
Pasture/Hay (%) (11.70%)Grassland/Herbaceous (%) (2.13%)
Tree Canopy (%) (25.53%)
Cultivated Crops (%) (51.06%)
Impervious Surface (%) (1.06%)
Developed (%) (8.51%)
Landuse of Great Miami R. Watershed
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Open
Water
Developed
, Open
SpaceDeveloped
, Low
Intensity
Developed
, Medium
IntensityDeveloped
, High
Intensity
Barren
Land
Deciduous
Forest
Evergreen
ForestMixed
Forest
Shrub/Scr
ubGrassland/
Herbaceou
s
Pasture/H
ay
Cultivated
Crops
Woody
Wetlands
Emergent
Herbaceou
s Wetlands
WW07 NCLD Classification
WHITEWATER RIVER is
surrounded by greenspace
and farming.
Pasture/Hay (%) (11.70%)Grassland/Herbaceous (%) (2.13%)
Tree Canopy (%) (25.53%)
Cultivated Crops (%) (51.06%)
Impervious Surface (%) (1.06%)
Developed (%) (8.51%)
Landuse of Whitewater R. Watershed
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LITTLE MIAMI R is our first National and State
Scenic Rivers, 54% of riparian zone protected.
EFLMR
LMR
This image cannot currently be displayed.
Pasture/Hay (%) (11.65%)Grassland/Herbaceous (%) (0.97%)
Impervious Surface (%) (3.88%)
Tree Canopy (%) (18.45%)
Cultivated Crops (%) (47.57%)
Developed (%) (17.48%)
Landuse of Little Miami R. Watershed
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MILL CREEK is surrounded by impervious surfaces
of commercial businesses and residential, but
WWTP uses Tertiary Treatment for N & P.
Developed, Low Intensity (%) (28.16%)Tree Canopy (%) (26.21%)
Developed, Medium Intensity (%) (15.53%)
Developed, High Intensity (%) (7.77%)
Undeveloped (%) (15.53%)
Agriculture (%) (3.88%)Cultivated Crops (%) (1.94%)
Pasture/Hay (%) (0.97%)
Landuse of Mill Creek Watershed
Cultivated Crops (%) (1.79%)Pasture/Hay (%) (0.89%)Grassland/Herbaceous (%) (0.00%)
Tree Canopy (%) (24.11%)
Developed (%) (47.32%)
Impervious Surface (%) (25.89%)
Landuse of Mill Creek Watershed
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Water Year 2016
Mill Creek Whitewater River
Great Miami R. Little Miami R.
Rainfall runoff and effluent add water
flows to our rivers throughout the year.
Our rainfall is becoming very intense and
very local giving each river unique flow
patterns. Biggest rain flooded Norwood.
Log
(D
isch
arg
e [
cfs]
)
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(Runoff/yr)/(drainage area*1/365) = Runoff
from each acre= ft of Runoff/yrWhitewater River 1.391 feet runoff/yr
Great Miami River 1.032 feet runoff/yr
Mill Creek 1.402 feet runoff/yr
Little Miami River 1.219 feet runoff/yr
Rainfall = 3.25 feet/year
Clearly less water runs off per year from the Great Miami River and Little Miami River compared to the Mill Creek dominated by impervious surfaces. Vegetation removal and impervious surface exacerbate the severity of rainfall runoff.
Rainfall Runoff is increased as a function of
impervious cover 2016
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Phosphorus &
inorganic Nitrogen
input from sewers,
farmland or seepage
enriches streams
causing dense algal
blooms.
Attached algae on riffle rocks and suspended ‘planktonic’ algae in MC and WWR above.
CSO 5 Lick Run Pristine Superfund Site Reading
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Total P was lowest in mainstem of WWR<
Mill Ck< LMR < GMR
Average mg P/l 0.12 0.19 0.24 0.38
River 2016 WWR Mill C LMR GMR
OEPA goal is 0.10 mg TP/l that achieves WWH for fish and insects
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MBI found only 0.088 mg TP/l at 17 sites in the LMR during summer of 2012.
Total P was highest in GMR &
LMR; WW was nearest WWH
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Nitrate is highest in GMR & LMR mainstem. All mainstem sites had higher Nitrate than their tributaries, suggesting direct injections of effluent or
agricultural row crop runoff. OEPA goal is 1.0 mg NO3-N/liter for WWH.
0
0.5
1
1.5
2
2.5
3
NO
3-N
(m
g N
/lite
r)
GMR
GMR tribsLMR
LMR tribs
Mill CkMill Ck tribs
WW R
WW TribsOhio R
River or River Tributaries
Average NO3+NO2-N of rivers inUrban Cincinnati Metro Area 2015
MBI found a median of 2.176 mg NO3-N/l in the LMR at 17 sites during summer of 2012.
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Effluent IndicatorsConductivity was higher in the
tributaries of each river than in the mainstem. Order shows MC>GMR>LMR>WWR>Ohio R, Values over 700uS are likely enriched with effluent. WWR was the cleanest.
E.Coli are a direct measure of untreated sewage. E. coli were highest in MC>LMR>GMR> WWR. Tribs were a potentailsource of E. coli in all watersheds. MC received E.colidirectly to mainstem where CSOs discharge.
0
200
400
600
800
1000
Ave
rage
Con
duct
ivity
(uS
)
GMR
GMR tribsLMR
LMR tribs
Mill CkMill Ck tribs
WW R
WW TribsOhio R
River or River Tributaries
Average Conductivity of rivers inurban Cincinnati Metro Area 2015
0
100
200
300
400
500
600
M
edia
n #/
100m
l (cf
u or
mpn
/100
ml)
GMR
GMR tribsLMR
LMR tribs
Mill CkMill Ck tribs
WW R
WW TribsOhio R
River & Tributary
Median E. coli of rivers inUrban Cincinnati Metro Area 2015
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Algal Eutrophication Indicators• Turbidity is light scattering
matter, normally clays & silts
with high discharge, but
suspended algae in summer.
LMR was highest as were all
mainstems where algae can
develop.
• pH is elevated by algal photosynthesis, highest in LMR
> GMR> WW>Mill Ck, related
to flow rate and deep pools to
allow algae to grow from
nutrient enrichment
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E. Coli are safe for
canoeing all year in
GMR,WWR, LMR with
caution in Mill Ck.
Whitewater River 2016 Avg annual E. coli = 355 cfu/100ml
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Water Quality Ranking System
Parameter 5.0 - 4.0
excellent
3. 9 – 3.5
good
3.9 – 3.0 =
enriched
2.9 – 2.0
fair
< 2.0
poor
Nitrates (mg/L) 5.0
Total Phosphates
(mg/L)
0.50
pH (pH units) 6.5 – 8.1 8.1 – 8.3 8.4 – 8.7 8.7 - 9.0 >9.0
Turbidity (NTU) 100
Conductivity uS 1000
E. coli (cfu)
(Total Coliforms
not used.)
1030
5-4 4-3.5 3.49-3.0 3-2.0
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Water Quality
Scores for River
mainstems 2016• We can compare our rivers
by deviation from OEPA goals scored 1(fails) to 5(comply). Variance on y-axis is monthly variation.
Avg WQR = 3.38
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Little Miami
River is our first
State and
National Scenic
River
But today it is
challenged with
success, development,
nonpoint source
pollution and 10
WWTPs
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Whitewater River
Whitewater
River is the
cleanest
water in our
area by far.
Most of the
watershed is
forested and
row crop,
with few
towns.
Most sites reach EWWH, the highest in Ohio ~ Reference reaches of clean water.
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Mill Creek has one 10 mgd WWTP using
nutrient reduction for N and P make it
our cleanest river in 2015, but it still has
many CSOs after rainfall events which
show in high E. coli density.
CSO 5
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TP point source load GMR OEPA 2012
TP load 2580 lbs P/day in 2015 from 11 effluents below Dayton above Hamilton Co.
2006-2010
Eastern Regional Mongomery Co (13 )
Beaver Ck Green Co (8.5 )Xenia Ford Rd (3.6 )
Sycamore Ck Hamilton Co (9 )
Wards Corner Clermont Co (2 )
Middle East Fork Clermont Co (7.2 )
Lower East Fork Clermont Co (9 )Milford (1.2 )
Sugar Ck, Green Co (9.9 )
Xenia-Glady Run (4 )
Waynesville (0.71 )
Lebanon (6 )
Mason @2 (13 )
Polk Run Hamilton Co (8 )
O'Bannon Ck Clermont Co (4.4 )
Lower Little Miami Warren Co (12 )
WWTP Effluent Volume LMR
GMR TP daily load from point sources = 122 cfs south of Hamilton
= 21 % of lowest flow last 10 yrs.
Many more small WWTPs
exist on the LMR putting out
111 mgd or 171 cfs of treated
effluent, doubling lowest flow
of LMR measured.
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Little Miami River is
enriched with TP with no
year equal to target 0.1
mg TP/liter. Effluent
discharges occur along
its length in our reach.
Tribs are not the source
of TP.
Dissolved Nitrate-N shows no pattern in our data since 2008 and average exceeds target of 1.0 mg NO3-N/liter . All Trib. Averages are less than mainstem.
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Summary 2016• The Whitewater River, is the cleanest river for nutrients meeting the
standard for WWH? But in 2013 it met OEPA EWWH for fish and macroinvertebrates.
• Great Miami River is challenged by nutrient loading upriver from row crop agriculture and WWTPs effluent. Lower River is recovery zone for that nutrient loading. Little Miami River is challenged by numerous WWTPs along its length. The Mill Creek is challenged with impervious surface and conductivity.
• Our citizen volunteers concerned about their environment can monitor our Green Umbrella watersheds at many, many sites and show trends over years. Clean water pays for itself in home values, increased property tax and visitation for canoeing, kayaking, and cycling and river events.
• Value of our data is that it directly comparable, collected on the same day within a two hour window, will be available within a month of collection. The data set extends 3 to 14 years back from as well so we can look at trend and controls of water quality.
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Canonical Correspondence Analysis of Water Quality & Land Use
Upriver 2016
LMR
GMR
Mill Ck
Whitewater RWest side Tributaries
Nitrate
E.coli
pH
NTU
CondTP
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CCA does a Principal Componet analysis of sites vs
landuse and calculates the partial regressions with
water chemistryRegression coefficients:6
F1 F2 F3
NO3-N -0.504 -0.769 -0.066
pH -0.085 0.558 0.322
TP -0.025 0.461 0.071
NTU 0.137 -0.250 -0.445
E. coli 0.492 -0.270 0.983
Cond 0.537 -0.199 -0.917
Principal coordinates (Objects):
F1 F2 F3
Open Water (%) -0.487 0.006 0.741
Developed (%) -0.387 0.112 -0.012
Agriculture (%) 0.881 0.191 0.006
Undeveloped (%) 0.153 -0.284 0.005
Impervious Surface (%) -0.528 0.155 -0.006
Tree Canopy (%) -0.019 -0.144 -0.018
Axes 1, 2, & 3
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How is our Volunteer Data Used?Much of it would not be used if it were not for
our analysis of the datasets and its public availability in STREAMBANK database with Green Umbrella. But now middle managers from cities,counties,OKI, HCSWD, OEPA, MSD, GCWW can see how their waters are doing annually in comparison to the other watersheds in Greater Cincinnati .
Issues of septic systems, upgrades and failings of WWTP, watershed land use can be interpreted from water quality data.
Recreational water users can evaluate their risk from E. coli data.
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What Can You Do at Home to improve
water quality & reduce flood pulses
1. Mulch your grass on cutting, cut >=4 inches
tall to increase interception & evaporation.
2. Install rain barrels on your downspouts.
3. Do not put rainwater down the combined
sewer, retain on you property 24-48 hours.
4. Plant evaporative bushes in low areas that
stay wet after rain.
5. Dig and plant a rain garden to treat gutter
and driveway runoff water.
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Green approaches continued6. Plant a tree to evaporate water in wet
summers, cooling and purifying your air.
7. Minimize fertilizer application, no phosphorus
and use local application of herbicides.
8. Wash your car on your lawn, not your
driveway.
9. Aerate you yard once a year
10.Put gravel-filled trenches on low side of
driveway to infiltrate rainwater.
11. Stop using lawn fertilizing company. Check
your soil chemistry.