WLEB Partnership Meeting June 11, 2014 – Chicago, IL Annex 4 – Nutrients WLEB Partnership Meeting June 11, 2014 – Chicago, IL

Overview Nutrients Annex commitments Governance Progress to date Next 6 months Engagement Key Challenges 8/3/2019

Nutrients Annex Commitments Lake Ecosystem Objectives (paraphrased from agreement) Maintain healthy nearshore and offshore algal communities Reduce extent of hypoxic zones associated with algal blooms, Cyanobacteria toxins do not pose human health risk Maintain trophic status Establish phosphorus objectives, loading targets and allocations for each lake Phosphorus Objectives: Review and update for offshore and develop for nearshore Phosphorus Loading Targets: Review and update Determine loading allocations; Establish load reduction targets for priority watersheds 3

Nutrients Annex Commitments Implement programs and other measures to manage excess phosphorus from point and non-point sources in urban and rural communities, industrial and agricultural sectors including; Limits for wastewater effluents (.5mg/l WWTP>1MGD) Lakes Erie and Ontario, 1mg/l WWTP >1MGD Superior, Michigan and Huron Development of new technologies and approaches where needed Assess effectiveness of programs and adapt Identify priority watersheds for nutrient control and develop management plans for these watersheds Develop phosphorus reduction strategies and domestic action plans 4

Nutrients Annex Commitments Undertake research, monitoring and modeling to; establish, report and assess phosphorus objectives and loading targets further understand nutrient issues Report on progress Every three years through the Progress Report of the Parties. 5

Our Charge -- It’s Complicated -- Starting with Lake Erie by 2016 Determine phosphorus concentration objectives and loading targets for open waters and nearshore areas including embayment's and tributaries Determine loading allocation by country and identify priority watersheds for load reduction Starting with Lake Erie by 2018 Assess effectiveness of programs to achieve the Substance and Lake Ecosystem Objectives Develop domestic action plans and strategies to control nutrients Framework for other Lake’s -- It’s Complicated --

Subcommittee and Task Group Structure Core Team Tinka Hyde, EPA Susan Humphrey, EC Sandra George, EC Santina Wortman, EPA Annex Subcommittee Objectives and Targets Development Agricultural Sources Urban and Rural Municipal Sources Jeff Reutter, OSU Sandra George, EC John Schlichter, ODA Jim Richardson, OMAF William Creal, MDEQ Terri Bulman, OME

Nutrient Annex Subcommittee Communications Annex Subcommittee Purpose: Coordinate and guide the activities of task groups to deliver on commitments in Nutrients Annex including time-bounded commitments Core Team Weekly calls, every Thursday morning Task Group co-leads join the call once a month Annex 2 leads join the call once a month Sub-committee Meetings Monthly calls 2 face-to-face meetings per year Task Groups Workplans developed Regular coordination Face-to-face meetings as needed

Objective and Targets Task Group Objectives and Targets Task Group Purpose: By 2016 develop phosphorus concentration and loading objectives for nearshore and open waters of Lake Erie that are necessary to achieve the Nutrient Annex Lake ecosystem objectives Progress - Past 6 months Engaged 25+ experts from Canada and US Held face-to-face meetings Jan and April 2014 Established subgroups to: Review existing models Refine approach to measure Harmful Algal Blooms Address challenges with Eastern Basin Cladophora

Key decisions and outcomes There is Task group agreement: That adaptive management principles are key to this process to use existing science and models on the ecological endpoints that best represent the nutrient annex's lake ecosystem objectives that the initial focus will be on the development of P loadings targets for western basin harmful algal blooms and central basin hypoxia by fall 2014 To use an ensemble modeling approach to develop loading targets On the review and selection of existing models and modeling scenarios to develop load response curves

Objective and Targets – Next 6 -8 months For Western Basin Harmful Algal Bloom and Central Basin Hypoxia Selected models to be calibrated Input datasets for models are developed Load response curves developed for predetermined scenarios – fall 2014 Task group and modeller's to evaluate model outputs Recommendations to Nutrient Annex subcommittee Draft Loading recommendations to GLEC Dec 2014 Stakeholder consultation - spring 2015

Task Group Still Wrestling with …. P Concentration Objectives Cladophora Current understanding is limited at best Science still being undertaken Relationships with P loading not well established Very difficult to monitor for P in nearshore Important to understand for other lakes Need to be linked to loadings (weren’t in previous agreement) Some question as to the utility of developing P concentration targets if they can’t be effectively monitored Especially concerned with SRP and nearshore targets

Urban and Rural Municipal Sources New Development Addressing issues early in planning stages Best use of conventional (ponds and pipes) and innovative (LID, conservation and reuse) stormwater management Short- & long-term impacts, (e.g. construction runoff and on-going maintenance of assets) Unpredictable Natural Events Changing climate and locally extreme weather events require specific solutions to mitigate local impacts Existing Urban Areas Aging / inadequate stormwater management, in-fill dev., CSOs, sewage treatment facilities Existing built environment require approaches that address: limited footprint and existing infrastructure management of assets and financing solutions Rural Runoff/Drainage Diffuse sources of run-off No clear accountability for rural run-off quality Monitoring & Reporting Measuring impact and effectiveness Reporting on progress Cumulative Nutrient Inputs and Impacts Individual inputs may not be significant on their own, but create significant cumulative impact and financial costs downstream Other Lake Inputs Impact of invasive species on lake ecology Sediment management 13 Source: Conservation Ontario

Urban & Rural Municipal Sources Urban and Rural Non Farm Sources task group purpose is to understand urban & rural non farm sources of P and evaluate the effectiveness of existing programs in managing P Progress – Past 6 months Met Feb 4-5,2014 Key decisions/outcomes Defined categories for phosphorus loading inventory Developed definitions, common terminology/units Established watershed boundaries Decided on key years of interest representing wet (2011) and dry (2012) weather Developed inventory of point sources Developed programs/activities checklist Loads from WWTP’s Developed strategy for assessing non-point sources

Urban & Rural Municipal Sources Gaps Areas of Further study Estimations of urban and non-point stormwater loads Need to Clarify P performance requirements for stormwater management Improve overall quality of information ( e.g. compliance reporting, stormwater monitoring) Impact of construction activities on water quality unknown Review of stormwater estimation models (EC) Stormwater management inventory Guidance for stormwater asset management, infrastructure planning Explore options for improved compliance reporting, stormwater monitoring Support optimization studies Examine BMPs to minimize impacts of construction phase activities Focus on largest dischargers – identify opportunities for reduction

Agricultural Sources Progress – Past 6 months Agricultural Sources task group purpose is to understand agricultural sources of P and evaluate the effectiveness of existing programs in managing P Progress – Past 6 months Baseline program inventory Face to face meeting to confirm work plan and discuss current programs Jan 2014 Developed document framework for reporting current program inventory and effectiveness Review of key agricultural systems in the Great Lakes Basin and projected growth Draft list of programs being compiled in Canada and US to be reviewed by Ag Task Team Program Effectiveness evaluation Reviewing existing program evaluation tools Assessment Report Table of contents developed

Agricultural Sources Next steps Gaps Consistent framework/set of criteria by end of June 2014 to support evaluation in Canada and US Complete program effectiveness evaluation by June 2015 Gaps Need loading estimates for all agricultural sources Methodologies to calculate

Other Sources research ongoing Loading estimates from other sources Need info about sediment dredging and open-lake dumping research ongoing Atmospheric loadings from existing monitoring stations already incorporated into estimates Sediment Re-suspension considered as part of mass balance

Key challenges The Subcommittee and Task Groups are continuing to work away at addressing key challenges: Determining P concentration targets that are linked to loadings targets that can be monitored, this is especially a problem for nearshore targets Developing loadings targets for Cladophora as key science is still under development and results will not be available until 2016. Critical for East Basin of Lake Erie and the other lakes Linking loadings targets and concentration targets for tributaries as science incomplete Understanding how to calculate loading from non-point sources esp. from agriculture, this is important when developing P source reduction strategies in priority watersheds

Subcommittee Ongoing Activities Ensuring we’re benefiting from work done by others ahead of us (e.g. Ohio Task Force Report, IJC LEEP, LE LaMP) as we achieve our mandate Integration of results from task group activities Looking forward to shifting to domestic action plan work in late 2015, change task group structure How to develop and implement the domestic plans due in 2018 Consistency Contents Adaptive management Cross annex coordination – Annex 2 Coordinated Communications and Key Messaging

Engagement Will establish formal outreach strategy related to our draft targets and loads We plan to also periodically engage with interested stakeholders throughout the process to keep folks abreast of our progress

Questions