1. Resource Challenge Contaminants/Water Quality National Wildlife Refuge System Friends Academy October 27, 2009 George Noguchi USFWS - Division of Environmental Quality Arlington, VA Bon Secour NWR Pete Tuttle, USFWS Bon Secour NWR Pete Tuttle, USFWS

2. Explain why contaminants and water quality are prominent threats to wildlife conservation on refuges Explain what is causing degraded water quality on refuges Explain some of the challenges to addressing improved water quality on refuges Learning Objectives

3. History of partnership between Refuges and the Environmental Contaminants Program Types of contaminants / water pollutants Sources Types of effects Water quality (Clean Water Act) basics Understanding Contaminant and Water Quality Threats to Wildlife Conservation on Refuges

4. Early contaminant issues on NWRs: Wheeler NWR, AL; Great Swamp NWR, NJ; Kesterson NWR, CA Emerging Federal laws Clean Water Act 1977 CERCLA* (Superfund) 1980 TSCA (Toxic Substances Control Act) 1982 Environmental Contaminants Program ~ 1982 * Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensations and Liability Act Environmental Contaminants – Refuges Partnership

5. Contaminant Assessment Process (CAP) On-Refuge Contaminant Investigations Contaminant Cleanup on Refuges Pre-Acquisition Contaminant Surveys Oil and Hazardous Material Response Integrated Pest Management (IPM) and Pesticide Use Proposal (PUP) Review Natural Resource Damage Assessment and Restoration Environmental Compliance Audits Amphibian Surveys Environmental Contaminants – Refuges Activities

6. Legacy Pollutants (PCBs, DDT, Dieldrin, etc) Heavy Metals (mercury, lead, copper, etc) Trace Elements (selenium) Current Use Pesticides (atrazine, diazinon, etc) Oil and Gas related “Conventional” water pollutants (ammonia, dissolved oxygen, temperature, coliform bacteria) Emerging Contaminants Other Industrial (flame retardants - PBDEs) Pharmaceuticals and Personal Care Products (PPCPs) Endocrine Disrupting Compounds (EDCs) Types of Contaminants/Water Pollutants that have affected or may affect NWRs

7. Industrial; direct and indirect discharges Municipal; direct discharge, biosolids Landfills Agricultural; runoff, irrigation return waters, pesticide spray drift, leaching, Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFO), biosolids Mining; runoff, valley fill Oil and gas Urban runoff Changes in land use practices Atmospheric deposition (Clean Air Act) Sources of Contamination Oil and gas operations at Delta NWR (Billy Umsted, FWS)

8. Acute Effects: Occur rapidly (within hours or days) Poisonings, spills, high concentration exposures Death (fish kill) or rapid onset of sublethal impairments Biological Effects Acute and Chronic

9. Effects occur later in time (weeks, months, years) Long term exposure to low concentrations Short term exposure during early development, but effects occur later Types of effects Reproductive Neurological (behavioral) Immunological (disease resistance) Cancer Wasting Chronic Effects

10. Abnormal Redhead Duck embryo (middle) caused by Se, Ouray NWR, UT Effects on Reproduction Selenium (Se) – Joe Skorupa, FWS Black-neck stilts; left 14-d old from Se-normal egg, right 13-d old from Se contaminated egg; retarded growth from embryonic exposure, Tulare Basin, CA Normal and deformed mosquito fish fry from San Luis Drain, a source of water for the Kesterson NWR, CA. Effects later shown to be due to Se. Mike Saiki, USGS

11. Carbaryl (insecticide) used to control burrowing/ghost shrimp on oyster beds in Willapa Bay and Grays Harbor, WA Summer rearing habitat for anadromous salmonids Laboratory tests showed: Cutthroat unable to “smell” carbaryl (no avoidance) Reduced acetylcholinesterase activity in brain and muscle Reduced swimming performance Reduced predator avoidance Behavioral Effects Jay Davis, Western Washington FO, WA

12. Endocrine Disruption: Potomac R. & Tributaries Chris Guy and Fred Pinkney, Chesapeake Bay FO, MD Testes with numerous oocytes (arrows) Intersex Normal testes with mature sperm (a) a a a a Dr. Vicki Blazer, USGS

13. Administered by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Implemented by EPA, States, and Tribes Major Elements Water Quality Standards Pollution Discharge Permits Monitoring and Reporting Clean Water Act Basics

14. Designated Uses (“fishable/swimmable”, drinking water, etc) Numeric and narrative standards (to protect uses) Antidegradation Other (i.e. mixing zones, variances) Water Quality Standards

15. Regulate pollution discharges from point sources Stormwater (industrial, construction, municipal) Non-point sources do not require permits Federal Permits issued by EPA – NPDES (National Pollution Discharge Elimination System) State-issued permits (most states) Pollution Discharge Permits

16. Monitoring surface waters Biennial reporting (305b reports) Identification of impaired waters (303d list) Develop TMDL (total maximum daily load) for impaired waters Monitoring and Reporting National Water Quality Inventory: Report to Congress - 2004 Reporting Cycle, USEPA http://www.epa.gov/owow/305b/2004report/2004_305Breport.pdf

17. Conduct additional analyses and research on specific issues involving impaired waters and FWS properties that can further inform, guide, and accelerate restoration planning for impaired waters. Impaired Waters Project FWS/EPA/USGS Identify impaired waters and TMDLs within and adjacent to National Wildlife Refuges and National Fish Hatcheries Use Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to analyze and summarize patterns in the spatial relationships of refuges and hatcheries relative to impaired waters, pollutants, and TMDLs.

18. Exceedence of water quality standards Impaired waters (303d) TMDL (Total Maximum Daily Load) Fish Consumption Advisories Other Threats to Wildlife Conservation on Refuges

19. 1. Identifying and mitigating biological/ecological impacts of contaminants on NWRs: > Understanding water quality requirements of Refuge resources (i.e. how sensitive are species to water pollutants) > Understanding how contaminants of emerging concern may affect Refuge resources > Ability to effectively reduce pollutant loadings and/or sources Challenges to Addressing Improved Water Quality on Refuges

20. 2. Managing regulatory requirements (CWA) associated with maintaining/improving water quality on Refuges and associated waters: > Understanding the mass balance of water pollutants on NWRs > Identifying land/water management practices that achieve Refuge mission/goals while fulfilling water quality requirements > Need for systematic approach for assessing WQ on NWRs and impacts to fish & wildlife (i.e. WQ monitoring program for NWRs) Challenges to Addressing Improved Water Quality on Refuges

21. 3. Climate Change - Identify Refuges where water quality/quantity is key climate vulnerability > Anticipated climatic changes: Increase/decrease precipitation Rising water tables Increasing temperatures > Implications for water quality: Increase/decrease in non-point source pollution (runoff) Exposure to new sources (new pathways) Temperature-related changes in pollutant toxicity and species sensitivity Challenges to Addressing Improved Water Quality on Refuges

22. New Policies Fish Consumption Advisories Directors Order 190 (4/26/07)

23. New Partnerships