SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA COASTAL WATER RESEARCH PROJECT (SCCWRP) Stephen B. Weisberg Executive Director

WHAT IS SCCWRP? Joint Powers Agency founded in 1969 Initiated to address regional monitoring and research needs -- Cumulative impact assessment -- Methods development -- Data Integration Member organizations include city, county, state, and federal agencies -- Unique combination of regulators and regulated

MEMBER ORGANIZATIONS City of San Diego City of Los Angeles Orange County Sanitation District Los Angeles County Sanitation Districts San Diego Regional Water Quality Board Santa Ana Regional Water Quality Board Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Board State Water Quality Board U.S Environmental Protection Agency

SCCWRP’S GOALS To develop, participate in, and coordinate programs to understand ecological systems in the coastal waters and to document relationships between these systems and human activities; To answer the questions regarding the southern California coastal waters: (a) Is it safe to swim? (b) Is it safe to eat the fish? (c) Is the ecosystem healthy? (d) Are the natural resources being protected? To effectively communicate our research findings and recommendations, through a variety of media to decision makers and other stakeholders; To serve as a catalyst in forming partnerships and alliances which further these goals; and To provide an information management system to archive, retrieve, analyze, and display SCCWRP data in order to achieve the above goals and enhance our understanding of the Southern California Bight.

SOME FOCAL POINTS OF CURRENT SCCWRP RESEARCH Source estimation Regional monitoring Stomwater assessment TMDL development

WHY STUDY MASS EMISSIONS? Relative risk among sources -- Where do the largest proportion of pollutants come from?? Changes over time -- Were management actions effective at reducing loads?

TYPES OF SOURCES YEAR OF LAST ESTIMATE Publicly Owned Treatment Works (POTW)ongoing Power generating stations1995 Industrial dischargers1995 Hazardous material spills1989 Urban runoffongoing Dredged material disposal/ocean dumping1997 Oil platforms1996 Atmospheric depositionongoing Vessel bottom points an anodesongoing Oceanic currents1973

Year Population (millions) Annual Discharge Volume (billion liters) Population Wastewater Flow LA River

Year Wastewater Volume (billion liters) Suspended Solids (thousands metric tons) Wastewater Flow Suspended Solids

Year Mass Emissions (metric tons) Chromium Copper

Urban Runoff POTW Wastewater Flow Suspended Solids Chromium Copper Nickel Lead Zinc Percent Contribution to Ocean Ammonia Phosphorous

SANTA ANA RIVER PROJECT Collected water samples every 15 minutes for an entire year -- Automated sampler Almost 2000 samples -- Measured TSS on all -- Measured metals/organics on approximately 200 Several project goals -- Accurately estimate mass emission for the year -- Compare our estimate from intensive sampling with that of routine sampling frequencies -- Use simulation approach to identify optimal subsampling strategy

REGIONAL MONITORING Nearly $20M/year is spent on routine marine monitoring in southern California -- >80% is associated with discharge permits Despite this expenditure we can’t provide a regional assessment of condition Most monitoring is site-specific -- Less than 5% of the southern California coast is monitored Existing data can’t be easily integrated -- Different parameters -- Different methods -- Inaccessible data

WHAT ARE WE DOING TO ADDRESS THE PROBLEM? Two cooperative regional monitoring surveys -- $3M effort in 1994 involved 12 organizations -- $8M effort in 1998 involving 62 organizations Unique funding mechanism -- Regulators modified permits reallocating sampling effort towards regional monitoring -- Helps keep costs nearly neutral for participants Dischargers work jointly with regulators to define most appropriate methodologies -- Pooling of expertise -- Increase in communication

SANTA MONICA BAY SEDIMENT (Final Round) ComponentLAB-1LAB-2LAB-3LAB-4LAB-5LAB-6 Naphthalene Methylnapthalene Biphenyl ,6-Dimethylnaphthalene Fluorene Phenanthrene Methylphenanthrene Fluoranthene Pyrene Benz[a]anthracene Chrysene Benzo[e]pyrene benzo[a]pyrene Perylene benzo[g,h,I]perylene30100ndnd10997 TOTAL3,2793,2803,6533,9272,9573,515

SANTA MONICA BAY SEDIMENT (First Round) ComponentLAB-1LAB-2LAB-3LAB-4LAB-5LAB-6LAB-7LAB-8LAB-9 Naphthalene Methylnapthalene Biphenyl , ,6-Dimethylnaphthalene Fluorene nd2619 Phenanthrene Methylphenanthrene ndnd3152 Fluoranthene Pyrene9101, Benz[a]anthracene Chrysene Benzo[e]pyrene benzo[a]pyrene nd Perylene benzo[g,h,I]perylene nd TOTAL8342,4187, ,9572,8362,2944,0342,493

STORMWATER ASSESSMENT Where does the plume go? Is it toxic? -- Seasonal patterns What are the causes of toxicity -- Toxicity identification evaluation

Ballona Creek Stormwater

DISSOLVED METALS Median Effective ConcentrationBallona Creek(ug/L) Cd1200nd-1 CU313 – 28 Zn2236 – 183 Mn>40,0001 – 114 Pbnd – 16 Ni1 - 5

Dilution Decay Current Beach Bacterial Concentration Flow Plume Dispersion Study Storm Drain

SOME SCIENTIFIC ASPECTS OF TMDL DEVELOPMENT Problem definition Source identification Model development -- Hydrodynamic component -- Rate processes

Source 1 100,000 MPN/100mL Slow Stream, Fast Degradation Source 1 100,000 MPN/100mL Source 2 1,000 MPN/100mL FLOW 10,000 5,000 1, Fast Stream, Slow Degradation Source 2 1,000 MPN/100mL FLOW 95,000 90,000 85,000 80,000995

BACTERIAL DEGRADATION STUDY Six day study -- Every six hours the first day Three bacteria plus virus Several potential factors -- Type of inocculant (sewage, stormwater) -- Temperature -- UV radiation -- Suspended solids -- Nutrient concentration