Bridging the air-water quality information gap to improve nutrient management
Helen Amos1, Chelcy Miniat2, Lori A. Sprague3, David Gay4, Mark A. Nilles5, Anne W. Rea6, Richard V. Pouyat7, Denice M. Shaw8, Jerad Bales9, Jeff Deacon10, Jana E. Compton11, Doug Burns12, Jason A. Lynch13, LaToya Myles14, Pamela H. Templer15, John T. Walker16 and Dave Whitall17
Nutrient (nitrogen and phosphorus) enrichment in fresh and coastal waters is one of today’s most pervasive, expensive, and challenging water quality issues in the US. Continued inputs of excess nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) have created chronic drinking water contamination, harmful algal blooms, and persistent hypoxic zones in some aquatic systems. Atmospheric deposition can be a significant non-point source of N and P over large regions of the continental U.S. - yet there is a shortage of coordinated information about how air quality impacts aquatic nutrient enrichment. WADeIn (Water Quality & Atmospheric Deposition Integration) is an interagency, multi-organization collaboration that aims to fill this gap and improve the coordination and integration of atmospheric deposition and surface water quality monitoring to better understand the sources, transport, and impacts of excess N and P. We present a call for better integration of atmospheric deposition and water quality monitoring for N and P at a national scale that leverages existing infrastructure and expertise with the long-term objective to develop an integrated air/water monitoring consortium. We examine several issues driving the need for enhanced integrated monitoring, including: coastal eutrophication, urban hotspots of deposition, shift from oxidized to reduced N deposition, land-use change and land management, and disappearance of pristine lakes. We offer specific next steps to move the U.S. towards a 21st-century integrated air/water monitoring consortium for improved management of ecosystems.
1AAAS Fellow hosted by US EPA, amos.helen@epa.gov
2US Department of Agriculture, Chelcy.Miniat@osec.usda.gov
3US Geological Survey, lsprague@usgs.gov
4University of Illinois, dgay@illinois.edu
5US Geological Survey, manilles@usgs.gov
6US Environmental Protection Agency, rea.anne@epa.gov
7US Forest Service, rpouyat@fs.fed.us
8US Environmental Protection Agency, shaw.denice@epa.gov
9Consortium of Universities for the Advancement of Hydrologic Science, Inc., jdbales@cuahsi.org
10US Geological Survey, jrdeacon@usgs.gov
11US Environmental Protection Agency, compton.jana@epa.gov
12US Geological Survey, daburns@usgs.gov
13US Environmental Protection Agency, lynch.jason@epa.gov
14NOAA, latoya.myles@noaa.gov
15Boston University, ptempler@bu.edu
16US Environmental Protection Agency, Walker.Johnt@epa.gov
17NOAA, dave.whitall@noaa.gov