Reducing Nutrient Loads from the Opequon Creek Watershed Project Team Meeting Oct 19, 2007 Chesapeake Bay Targeted Watersheds Grant Program

Opequon Creek Watershed Jurisdictions… Jurisdictions… –2 states –4 counties / 2 cities –3 SWCDs TMDLs… TMDLs… –Va: bacteria, benthic –WVa: bacteria, biological Active state programs Active state programs Active watershed groups Active watershed groups –The Opequon Watershed –Friends of Shen. River

Partners Virginia Tech – Biological Systems Engineering Virginia Tech – Agricultural and Applied Economics West Virginia University City of Winchester FWSA - Frederick-Winchester Service Authority FOSR - Friends of the Shenandoah River TOW - The Opequon Watershed OCPT - Opequon Creek Project Team (WV DEP) VaDEQ – Virginia Dept. of Environmental Quality VaDCR – Virginia Dept. of Conservation and Recreation WVDEP – WV Dept. of Environmental Protection SWCD - Soil and Water Conservation Districts NRCS - Natural Resources Conservation Service USGS - U.S. Geological Survey FWS - U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

Opequon Creek Watershed 345 sq. miles 345 sq. miles Land use Land use –Agriculture Beef and few dairies Beef and few dairies Pasture and cropland Pasture and cropland Orchards Orchards –Development I-81 corridor I-81 corridor Industrial / commercial Industrial / commercial Housing Housing –Forest / recreation

NLCD & distribution NLCD & distribution

Opequon Creek Watershed What are sources of nutrients ? What are sources of nutrients ? –Point sources –Agricultural nps –Urban nps –Development –Residences (septic)

Project Objectives 1) Evaluate nutrient reduction performance and cost-effectiveness of BMPs –Wetlands – pocket and floodplain –Water quality swales –Fencing alternatives 2) Develop, implement, and evaluate strategies to overcome barriers to adoption of BMPs 3) Develop market-based offsets for the FWSA 4) Develop a comprehensive nutrient-reduction strategy for the Opequon Creek watershed

Project outcomes …. Improved Chesapeake Bay Improved Chesapeake Bay Strategies for nutrient reduction taking a comprehensive watershed view Strategies for nutrient reduction taking a comprehensive watershed view Increased knowledge of: Increased knowledge of: –effectiveness of selected BMPs –creative, sustainable solutions to increase the adoption of both innovative and traditional BMPs –characteristics and components of an effective point/nonpoint nutrient offset program –how to accelerate nutrient reduction in a complex agricultural / urbanizing watershed

Approach A watershed view of nutrient management A watershed view of nutrient management Resources primarily used for monitoring and to design and encourage adoption of BMPs Resources primarily used for monitoring and to design and encourage adoption of BMPs –Flood-plain wetlands –Pocket wetlands –Water quality swales –Fencing (supplemental cost-share) Work with city / developers / current programs to facilitate and instigate BMP implementation Work with city / developers / current programs to facilitate and instigate BMP implementation Expecting to leverage additional funds Expecting to leverage additional funds

Opequon Creek Watershed Monitoring Program USGS gages USGS gages Tributaries and LU impacts Tributaries and LU impacts BMP evaluation BMP evaluation –Pocket wetlands –WQ swales –Fencing

Project components Overcoming barriers study Nutrient ‘trading’ offset model BMP effectiveness studies Modeling & Watershed assessment Stream baseline monitoring FWSA USGS Fencing alternatives study State monitoring

Project Outputs Nutrient reduction through implemented BMPs Nutrient reduction through implemented BMPs Nutrient removal efficiencies for: Nutrient removal efficiencies for: –floodplain wetlands, pocket wetlands, water quality swales, and stream fencing Plan for the Frederick-Winchester Service Authority (FWSA) to obtain NPS credit offsets for future wastewater treatment plant expansion under the water- quality trading framework Plan for the Frederick-Winchester Service Authority (FWSA) to obtain NPS credit offsets for future wastewater treatment plant expansion under the water- quality trading framework Water quality trading alternatives screening model Water quality trading alternatives screening model Implementation plan for the Opequon Creek watershed that identifies a cost-effective strategy for meeting the nutrient-reduction goals of the Tributary Strategies Implementation plan for the Opequon Creek watershed that identifies a cost-effective strategy for meeting the nutrient-reduction goals of the Tributary Strategies Educational resources about project BMPs including strategies to overcome barriers to adoption Educational resources about project BMPs including strategies to overcome barriers to adoption

Obj 2. Develop, implement, and evaluate strategies to overcome barriers to adoption of selected BMPs Hypothesis: barriers to BMP adoption include both design and programmatic/policy issues Approach: assemble focus groups, conduct personal interviews, and use other appropriate sampling techniques to gather data

Obj 2. Develop, implement, and evaluate strategies to overcome barriers to adoption of selected BMPs Progress: Progress: –Developed barrier identification questionnaire for urban BMPs/LID –Vetted questionnaire with local consultants and government officials –Established contacts with appropriate state agency, fellow academics, and other interested NFWF Targeted Watershed Grants –Met with VWRRC and Virginia Tech Civil Engineering faculty to discuss new BMP database/BMP optimization approach Next steps Next steps –Meet with DCR, CWP, and other TWG recipients to explore synergies –Begin collecting data –Workshop???

Issues and Questions BMP monitoring component BMP monitoring component Stream monitoring component Stream monitoring component Overcoming barriers Overcoming barriers Nutrient trading Nutrient trading Modeling and impact assessment Modeling and impact assessment