CNS Scenarios Approach€¦ · • Urban stormwater management –Reducing amount of impervious surface; infiltration BMPs –Urban nutrient management of lawn/turf • Grazing and

CNS Scenarios Approach

All Hands/Community Partners Council MeetingSeptember 17-18, 2014

CNS Overall Approach

• Technical team researchers identify, evaluate and model nutrient sources, BMPs, ecological responses and ecosystem services

• Scenarios representing various “tactical” and “strategic” interventions are selected

• Scenarios are “tested” in watersheds at various scales, in “shared discovery” with stakeholders, using decision support tools

2Center for Nutrient Solutions Sept 2014

Phase 1 Study Locations

Allegheny Plateau

Piedmont

Coastal Plain

Ridge &Valley

Spring Creek Watershed Rock Springs, PA

Spring

Creek

Mahantango Creek Watershed Klingerstown, PA

Mahantango

Creek

Conewago Creek Watershed Elizabethtown, PA

Conewago

Creek

Manokin

RiverManokin River Watershed

Princess Anne, MD

Phase 2 and 3 Study Locations

• Phase 2: Two “Scaled Up” Regions

– ex, Lancaster County (PA)

• Phase 3: Two New Small Watersheds

– (chosen watersheds will be less data rich)


Solution Scenarios: Testing Tools for Evaluating Tactics/Strategies

• Develop scenarios (sets of tactics/strategies) to meet water quality goals

• Test scenarios using decision support tools in watersheds

• Results provide information to help watershed stakeholders make watershed management decisions


Solution Scenarios: What are our water quality goals?

• Achieving the Chesapeake Bay TMDL

– Meeting nutrient load reduction goals

• Achieving local water quality goals

– Local TMDLs, if applicable

– Achieving designated aquatic life uses

– Achieving local quality of life goals (maintaining economic viability of agriculture and communities, fishing, other recreational uses, etc)


Scenario Test Categories

• Goal 1: Meet Bay TMDL– Implement WIP– Implement cost-effective BMP portfolio (Shortle, et al 2014)– Suggested additional test?

• Goal 2: Achieve local watershed health– Implement cost-effective BMP portfolio– Implement multi-objective assessment (Consider economic,

quality of life issues)– Suggested additional test?

• Atmospheric deposition reductions applied across the board– For each scenario, one run with reductions, one without– Are there other cross-cutting strategies we want to test?


General Categories of Tactics and Strategies• Conservation cropping systems

• Livestock feeding management

• Grazing and pasture management

• “Perennialization” of vegetation

• Farming/community infrastructure development

• Manure/nutrient management

• Managing nutrient imbalances

• Stream restoration/legacy sediment abatement

• Urban stormwater management

• Managing nutrient imbalances with multiple interventions

• Atmospheric deposition reductions


Watershed Specific Tactics and Strategies:Manokin River


– Improved drainage water management with BMPs

– Litter export through community infrastructure (e.g., Perdue or power plant)

• Managing nutrient imbalances and Conservation cropping systems

– Alternative crop production systems that allows for phytomining

• Livestock feeding management

– Minimizing ammonia through feed mgt, facility improvements (Note: data on local ammonia emissions from ag not available)


– Install pocket wetlands in drainage ditches


Watershed Specific Tactics and Strategies:Mahantango Creek

• Manure management

– Spatial and seasonal targeting of manure applications

– Poultry litter import; farm export from hog & poultry operations


– Mix of natural vegetation & harvestable perennial as buffers(consider widths; instream nutrient processing of forest buffers)

– Consider riparian corridor fencing and associated costs

• Grazing and pasture mgt and Livestock feeding mgt

– Poultry litter import

– Precision feeding

• Conservation cropping systems

– No till; Corn silage/rye cover10Center for Nutrient Solutions Sept 2014

Watershed Specific Tactics and Strategies:Spring Creek

• Urban stormwater management

– Reducing amount of impervious surface; infiltration BMPs

– Urban nutrient management of lawn/turf

• Grazing and pasture management


– Riparian buffers/setbacks in urban areas (COG ordinance)

– Riparian buffers and stream bank fencing in agricultural areas

• Wastewater treatment

– Consider replacing Living Filter with WWTP discharge limits and model impacts


– Cost effective combo stream restoration tactics, spatially targeted11Center for Nutrient Solutions Sept 2014

Watershed Specific Tactics and Strategies:Conewago Creek (1st of 2)

• Grazing and pasture management and Livestock feeding mngmt.

– Rotational grazing; Precision feeding


– Heavy animal use areas and barnyard improvements


– Forest riparian buffers in rural residential/country estate/fallow and marginal lands

– Mix of trees/shrubs/meadows and harvestable perennial crops on production land


Watershed Specific Tactics and Strategies:Conewago Creek (2nd of 2)

• Conservation cropping systems

– No till ; Cover crops

• Manure management and Nutrient balancing (+/- nutrients)

– Spatial and seasonal targeting of manure applications; Manure export from imbalanced areas


– Cost effective combination of stream restoration tactics, spatially targeted


Scenario Testing Approach

• Develop customized suite of tactics/strategies for each scenario for each watershed

• Use models and decision support tools to test, evaluate and communicate scenarios for each watershed

• Share results with stakeholders during watershed planning workshops

• Results = information to help make informed, strategic watershed management decisions and choose optimal solution scenarios


The CNS “Shared Discovery” Approach:Evaluating Solution Scenarios

Nutrient InputsStrategies(Team 1)

BMPsTactics

(Team 4)

Nutrient Loads

(Teams 2, 4)

Landscape Changes(Team 3)

Costs(Team 6)

Ecosystem Services

(Teams 6)

Aquatic Ecosystem Conditions

(Team 3)

Stakeholders(Teams 5 & 7) Information to

guide watershed decision making:Nutrient loads

Nutrient balancesAquatic ecosystem

conditionsEcosystem services

valuationImplementation

costs

CNS Research Teams

Questions and Feedback

16

• Does approach meet your needs?

• Suggested improvements to our overall scenario approach?

For this afternoon and tomorrow:

• Other test categories?

• Watershed specific tactics/strategies: Do we have the ‘right’ ones? Should some be changed? Have we missed any?

Documents

CNS Scenarios Approach€¦ · • Urban stormwater management –Reducing amount of impervious surface; infiltration BMPs –Urban nutrient management of lawn/turf • Grazing and