DRBC Report Card: Environmental Indicator Development

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DRBC Report CardEnvironmental Indicator
Development
Presented By University of Delaware October
14, 2005
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Scope of Work

• 1. Report Coordinating Team
• 2. Progress Meetings
• 3. Watershed Regions
• 4a. Measurable Watershed Indicators
• 4b. Reporting Methodology
• 4c. Research Data Sources
• 5. Watershed Data
• 6. Watershed Trends
• 7. Basin Report

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Task 2 Schedule Fall Meetings

• Friday, November 18
• _at_ Rutgers
• Friday, December 16
• _at_ DRBC

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Task 3 Delineate Watershed Regions

•  The team agreed to subdivide the 10 major DRBC
  watersheds into 21 subwatersheds according to the
  following framework based on hydrology,
  population density, land use, physiographic
  province/topography, and stream gauges.
•  

Lead for data collection
Lead for data collection
 
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Lead for data collection
Lead for data collection
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Watershed Region Map
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Task 4a Measurable Watershed Indicators
UDWRA Recommends

• Land
• Impervious Cover
• Agriculture
• Forest / Wetlands / Open
• Space
• Number of Superfund Sites
• Population Density

• Water Quality 
• Metals (Cu, Pb, Zn)
• Nitrogen
• Phosphorus
• Dissolved Oxygen
• Chlorophyll
• Bacteria
• Sediment
• Hydrology
• Stream flow
• Drinking water supply / demand

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UDWRA Recommended Indicators (cont.)

• Biology
• Fish (shad, striped bass, trout)
• Shellfish (oyster, blue claw crab, horseshoe
  crab)
• Benthic Community Index (macroinvertebrates)
• Invasive species
• Birds (bald eagle)
• Mammals (??)
• Reptile / Amphibian (??)
• Fish Consumption Advisories (miles)

• Miscellaneous
• National Wild and Scenic Rivers (miles)
• Number of watershed organizations

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Task 4a Measurable Watershed Indicators
Penn State recommends for PA

• See attached file from Sabrina and Jonathan from
  PSU

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Delaware Estuary Recommended Indicators
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Task 4b Reporting Methodologies
- Develop a reporting methodology to grade the
watersheds in the Delaware River Basin. The
coordinating team will evaluate existing methods
used in other watersheds and select a method most
appropriate for the Delaware Basin. Grades will
be assigned to each of the watersheds in the
Delaware River Basin as well as the basin on the
whole.

• Grading A-F
• ? vs. ?
• 1-100 scale
• Written Report
• Status Rating Excellent, Good, Fair, Poor,
  Critical
• Trend Rating Up, Trending Up, Flat, Trending
  Down, Down
• Report Values- Average? Median? Mode?

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Task 4c Research Data Sources
- The institutes will research and evaluate
existing data sources that will be used to
compile the report. Data will only be collected
for the indicators agreed upon in Task 4a. This
work will not include monitoring to collect new
data. The Coordinating team will review and agree
on data sources.

• Example 1 Hydrology Monitoring
• USGS Stream Flow Data

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Hydrology Data Christina River

• Graphed data points with polynomial regression
  trend line.

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Example 2 Land-Use Indicators
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Comments / Questions?