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AN ACADEMICIANS VIEW OF EPAsECOLOGY
PROGRAMESPECIALLY ITSENVIRONMENTAL MONITORING
AND ASSESSMENT PROGRAM (EMAP)

• N. Scott Urquhart, Director
• Space-Time Aquatic Resources Modeling and
  Analysis Program (STARMAP)
• Department of Statistics
• Colorado State University

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TOPICS FOR TODAY

• Some Disclaimers
• My Experience and Perspectives
• Ecology and the Clean Water Act
• Impact of EMAP and Related Activities
• (Including examples)
• Academics and EPA-Relevant Research
• Importance of Well-Focused Requests for
  Applications (RFA)

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SOME DISCLAIMERS

• No One Can Speak for All Academics in an Area!
• My Funding A Cooperative Agreement
• This talk was developed under the STAR Research
  Assistance Agreement CR-829095 awarded by the
  U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to
  Colorado State University. This presentation has
  not been formally reviewed by EPA.  The views
  expressed here are solely those of presenter and
  STARMAP, the Program he represents. EPA does not
  endorse any products or commercial services
  mentioned in this presentation.

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MY EXPERIENCE and PERSPECTIVES

• Trained as a Statistician, but
• Have Worked with Ecologists for 45 Years
• Relevant Post-Doctoral Experience
• 25 years in Agricultural experiment stations
• Wildlife and range science
• Water quality
• Beneficial uses of sewage sludge
• Variety of ecology projects

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MY EXPERIENCE and PERSPECTIVES(continued)

• 10 years of direct contact with EMAP
• From a department of statistics
• Mainly with aquatic resources
• Specifically related to lakes and streams
• Developed the methodology to
• Evaluate the power of
• EMAP-type designs to detect trend.
• Directed STARMAP for nearly 4 Years
• Developing analysis methodology for EMAP-type
  data

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ECOLOGY and the CLEAN WATER ACT

• The Clean Water Act (CWA) Specifically Mentions
  Aquatic Life As
• the protection and propagation of a balanced
  indigenous population of shellfish, fish and
  wildlife,
• and to allow recreational activities
• Statements like this occur at least 28 times in
  the CWA sections numbered 3xx
• Ecology covers this class of interests!

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IMPACT OF EMAP and RELATED ACTIVITIES

• The Perspectives and Approaches of EMAP Have Had
  a Major Impact in
• EPAs Offices of Water and Air
• State Water Quality Agencies
• See poster!

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See the Poster EMAP Monitoring Design Design
Team
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IMPACT OF EMAP and RELATED ACTIVITIES

• The Perspectives and Approaches of EMAP Have Had
  a Major Impact in
• EPAs Offices of Water and Air
• State Water Quality Agencies See poster!
• National Park Service
• Forest Service
• Sub-state authorities, such as the
  San Francisco Estuary Institute
• Near Coastal cooperative efforts
• Grand Canyon Monitoring and Research Center

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GLEN CANYON DAM
IMPOUNDS LAKE POWELL
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OPERATIONS OF GLEN CANYON DAM
Have Had Major Impacts on the Colorado River in
the Grand Canyon

• Water flow into the Grand Canyon

• Temperature of water entering Grand Canyon

• Sediment entering the Grand Canyon

• In the past, the diurnal variation in flow

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APPLYING EMAP SITE SELECTION IN THE GRAND CANYON
- BACKGROUND

• Effects of Glen Canyon Dam
• Led to an Adaptive Management Program to
  moderate these effects

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MAKING THE ADAPTIVE MANAGEMENT PLAN WORK

• Management Panel is Supported by
• Technical Work Group (TWG)
• Most needed info supplied by the Grand Canyon
  Monitoring and Research Center
• A USGS organization
• Past studies used hand picked sites
• Whole canyon riparian area inferences needed
• Peer review panel suggested redesigning
  near-river terrestrial studies
• Using EMAP site selection process
• NSU invited to assist, and to help lay out
  transects

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VIEW DOWN TRANSECT AT MILE 12.3
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CLIFF AT MILE 135.2(PARTIAL HEIGHT)
NO VEGETATION TRANSECT NEEDED HERE!
EMAP SITE SELECTION PROTOCOL ACCOMMODATES THIS,
WHEREAS TRADITIONAL METHODS DONT.
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QUESTION ASKED AT TWG MEETING

• Can Whole Canyon estimates of vegetation be
  obtained from these results and sampling plan?
• RESPONSE YES with some qualifications
• For some, but not all, of the responses
  evaluated.
• For the whole Canyon below the 60 kcfs level
• and by geologic reach
• More accurate estimates would require quite a
  bit of GIS work

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SO WHAT?

• A member of TWG had been responsible for
• The environmental impact statement (EIS)
• For a high flow release in 1996
• He said that at that time the EIS work group
  recognized that
• They needed such an estimate, but
• Available data would not support such an
  estimate.

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IMPACT OF EMAP and RELATED ACTIVITIES(continued
)

• The Perspectives and Approaches of EMAP Have Had
  a Major Impact in
• Academic settings
• Originally, ecologists vigorously opposed the
  EMAP approaches because they werent the way
  they were used to doing business.
• More recently many ecologists have embraced
  the kinds of large-area data previously
  unavailable
• Example Zooplankton ecologist

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ACADEMICS and EPA-RELEVANT RESEARCH

• EPA is a Mission-Oriented Agency
• It should support research which advances its
  missions
• Aquatic resources and related landscape
  matters are a part of that mission (in my
  view)
• There is a great distance between much
  academic research and EPAs needs.

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ACADEMICS and PERFORMANCE EVALUATION

• How Academics are Evaluated?
• Frequently by their performance in their
  respective disciplines.
• Because academics frequently have no
  clientele, they cant be evaluated relative to
  their contributions to their clientele.
• Academic research (not applied) often is very
  important.
• Secondary, but increasingly important, is
  outside brought into the institution.

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IMPORTANCE OF WELL-FOCUSED REQUESTS FOR
APPLICATIONS

• How can EPA change academics priorities?
• By advertising for assistance using well-
  focused RFAs
• Research requirements of an RFA need to reflect
  EPAs needs.
• Give academics a little room to do their own
  thing, as a way to encourage them to actively
  participate
• Using cooperative agreements
• Make sure PIs and directors understand what
  cooperation means!
• Centers can have a valuable role

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CONCLUDING THOUGHT

• The Activities at EPA Identified as Ecology
  Have Made Contributions!
• Much Work Remains.
• Where Should EPAs Research Needs be Met?
• In the EPA Labs, and
• In academia, using focused RFAs.
• Cooperation between these two kinds of
  organizations needs to be fostered.

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END OF PLANNED PRESENTATION

• Questions are Welcome.