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At least 451 records · Page 25Linked to original sources

USGS2009

Factors influencing tropical island freshwater fishes:Species, status, and management implications in puerto rico [Factores que influencian a los peces tropicales de agua dulce: Especies, estado actual e implicaciones para el manejo en Puerto Rico]

Anthropogenic effects including river regulation, watershed development, contamination, and fish introductions have substantially affected the majority of freshwater habitats in Europe and North America. This pattern of resource development and degradation is widespread in the tropics, and often little is known about the resources before they are lost. This article describes the freshwater resources of Puerto Rico and identifies factors that threaten conservation of native fishes. The fishes found in freshwater habitats of Puerto Rico represent a moderately diverse assemblage composed of 14 orders, 29 families, and 82 species. There are fewer than 10 species of native peripherally-freshwater fish that require a link to marine systems. Introductions of nonindigenous species have greatly expanded fish diversity in freshwater systems, and native estuarine and marine species (18 families) also commonly enter lowland rivers and brackish lagoons. Environmental alterations, including land use and development, stream channelization, pollution, and the impoundment of rivers, combined with nonnative species introductions threaten the health and sustainability of aquatic resources in Puerto Rico. Six principal areas for attention that are important influences on the current and future status of the freshwater fish resources of Puerto Rico are identified and discussed.

Fisheries↗

USGS1985

Brown pelican populations and pollutants in Texas 1975-1981

The population status, reproductive success, and levels of environmental contaminants in brown pelicans (P. occidentalis) in Texas were studied from 1975 through 1981. Breeding populations increased from 18 pairs in 1975 to 57 pairs in 1981. All unhatched eggs salvaged for analyses of contaminant residues contained DDT metabolites. Mean DDE levels varied from 0.9 to 2.4 ppm and about 7% of the samples had residues that approached critical levels that could affect reproductive success. DDE levels did not decline from 1975 to 1981 and residues leveled off at higher values than those in South Carolina and Louisiana pelican populations. PCB [polychlorinated biphenyl] residues also remained stable. Endrin was detected only in 1975.

The Wilson Bulletin↗

USGS2007

Methods for Estimating Annual Wastewater Nutrient Loads in the Southeastern United States

This report describes an approach for estimating annual total nitrogen and total phosphorus loads from point-source dischargers in the southeastern United States. Nutrient load estimates for 2002 were used in the calibration and application of a regional nutrient model, referred to as the SPARROW (SPAtially Referenced Regression On Watershed attributes) watershed model. Loads from dischargers permitted under the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System were calculated using data from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Permit Compliance System database and individual state databases. Site information from both state and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency databases, including latitude and longitude and monitored effluent data, was compiled into a project database. For sites with a complete effluent-monitoring record, effluent-flow and nutrient-concentration data were used to develop estimates of annual point-source nitrogen and phosphorus loads. When flow data were available but nutrient-concentration data were missing or incomplete, typical pollutant-concentration values of total nitrogen and total phosphorus were used to estimate load. In developing typical pollutant-concentration values, the major factors assumed to influence wastewater nutrient-concentration variability were the size of the discharger (the amount of flow), the season during which discharge occurred, and the Standard Industrial Classification code of the discharger. One insight gained from this study is that in order to gain access to flow, concentration, and location data, close communication and collaboration are required with the agencies that collect and manage the data. In addition, the accuracy and usefulness of the load estimates depend on the willingness of the states and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to provide guidance and review for at least a subset of the load estimates that may be problematic.

Open-File Report↗

USGS2012

Drivers of change in estuarine-coastal ecosystems: Discoveries from four decades of study in San Francisco Bay

Poised at the interface of rivers, ocean, atmosphere and dense human settlement, estuaries are driven by a large array of natural and anthropogenic forces. San Francisco Bay exemplifies the fast-paced change occurring in many of the world's estuaries, bays and inland seas in response to these diverse forces. We use observations from this particularly well-studied estuary to illustrate responses to six drivers that are common agents of change where land and sea meet: water consumption and diversion; human modification of sediment supply; introduction of non-native species; sewage input; environmental policy; and climate shifts. In San Francisco Bay, responses to these drivers include, respectively, shifts in the timing and extent of freshwater inflow and salinity intrusion; decreasing turbidity; restructuring of plankton communities; nutrient enrichment; elimination of hypoxia and reduced metal contamination of biota; and food web changes that decrease resistance of the estuary to nutrient pollution. Detection of these changes and discovery of their causes through environmental monitoring have been essential for establishing and measuring outcomes of environmental policies that aim to maintain high water quality and sustain services provided by estuarine-coastal ecosystems. The wide range of variability time scales and the multiplicity of interacting drivers place heavy demands on estuarine monitoring programs. But the San Francisco Bay case study illustrates why the imperative for monitoring has never been greater.

California↗

USGS2008

Environmental contaminant hazards to wildlife at National Capital region and Mid-Atlantic National Park Service units

Pollutant data for air, water, soil and biota were compiled from databases and internet sources and by staff interviews at 23 National Park Service (NPS) units in 2005. A metric was derived describing the quality and quantity of data for each park, and in combination with known contaminant threats, the need for ecotoxicological study was identified and ranked. Over half of NP units were near Toxic Release Inventory sites discharging persistent pollutants, and fish consumption advisories were in effect at or near 22 of the units. Pesticide and herbicide use was found to be minimal, with the exception of those units with agricultural leases. Only 70 reports were found that describe terrestrial vertebrate environmental contaminant data at or near the units. Of the >75,000 compounds in commerce, empirical exposure data were limited to merely 58 halogenated compounds, insecticides, rodenticides, metals, and some contemporary compounds. Further ecotoxicological monitoring and research is warranted at several units including Shenandoah National Park, Richmond National Battlefield Park, Chesapeake & Ohio Canal National Historical Park, Valley Forge National Historical Park, Hopewell Furnace National Historic Site, Monocacy National Battlefield, and Harpers Ferry National Historical Park. The types of investigations vary according to the wildlife species present and potential contaminant threats, but should focus on contemporary use pesticides and herbicides, polychlorinated biphenyls, mercury, lead, and perhaps antibiotics, flame retardants, pharmaceuticals, and surfactants. Other management recommendations include inclusion of screening level contaminant risk assessments into the NPS Vital Signs Program, development of protocols for toxicological analysis of seemingly affected wildlife, alternative methods and compounds for pest management, and use of non-toxic fishing tackle by visitors.

Book chapter↗

USGS2025

Tracing mercury from land to river: Global sources, retention, and implications for sustainability

Mercury (Hg) pollution in river systems is a global sustainability challenge. Yet the transport, transformation, and retention of Hg within global rivers remain poorly quantified, particularly in regions with sparse observations such as Southeast Asia and Africa, hindering effective pollution mitigation and reinforcing geographic inequities in scientific knowledge and environmental governance. Here, we present the first global, high-resolution simulation of riverine Hg dynamics using a process-based model that traces Hg from land-based sources through river networks to the ocean. Under a realistic scenario, we estimate that ~1,900 megagrams per year (Mg/yr) of Hg enters global rivers, including 1,500 Mg/yr from human-induced sources and 400 Mg/yr from soil erosion. Nearly half of this flux (~1,000 Mg/yr) is retained in reservoirs and dams, which act as major sinks. While such retention limits downstream delivery to the oceans, it also heightens in-reservoir Hg methylation risks. By bridging the gap between Hg releases and observed riverine exports, our framework offers a scalable tool for data-limited regions, promotes data access, and supports global freshwater and pollution-management strategies.

EarthArXiv↗

USGS2011

Environmental policy analysis, peer reviewed: Reservoir sediment cores show US lead declines

As a result of the Clean Air Act, lead (Pb) emissions to the atmosphere have been greatly reduced since the mid-1970s. As part of its National Water Quality Assessment, the U.S. Geological Survey has been using paleolimnological techniques to assess past trends in hydrophobic contaminants. In urban-suburban environments, reservoir sediment cores show prominent peaks in Pb distributions that correlate well with the rise and fall of leaded gasoline. However, Pb concentrations in sediments are approximately double those of baseline values prior to the 1950s and 1960s. It is apparent that significant concentrations of anthropogenic Pb still exist in soils and aquatic sediments and that it will take many years to reduce these concentrations to prepollution values, even if there are no new sources of Pb pollution.

Environmental Science & Technology↗

USGS2004

Estimation of Total Nitrogen and Phosphorus in New England Streams Using Spatially Referenced Regression Models

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in cooperation with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) and the New England Interstate Water Pollution Control Commission (NEIWPCC), has developed a water-quality model, called SPARROW (Spatially Referenced Regressions on Watershed Attributes), to assist in regional total maximum daily load (TMDL) and nutrient-criteria activities in New England. SPARROW is a spatially detailed, statistical model that uses regression equations to relate total nitrogen and phosphorus (nutrient) stream loads to nutrient sources and watershed characteristics. The statistical relations in these equations are then used to predict nutrient loads in unmonitored streams. The New England SPARROW models are built using a hydrologic network of 42,000 stream reaches and associated watersheds. Watershed boundaries are defined for each stream reach in the network through the use of a digital elevation model and existing digitized watershed divides. Nutrient source data is from permitted wastewater discharge data from USEPA's Permit Compliance System (PCS), various land-use sources, and atmospheric deposition. Physical watershed characteristics include drainage area, land use, streamflow, time-of-travel, stream density, percent wetlands, slope of the land surface, and soil permeability. The New England SPARROW models for total nitrogen and total phosphorus have R-squared values of 0.95 and 0.94, with mean square errors of 0.16 and 0.23, respectively. Variables that were statistically significant in the total nitrogen model include permitted municipal-wastewater discharges, atmospheric deposition, agricultural area, and developed land area. Total nitrogen stream-loss rates were significant only in streams with average annual flows less than or equal to 2.83 cubic meters per second. In streams larger than this, there is nondetectable in-stream loss of annual total nitrogen in New England. Variables that were statistically significant in the total phosphorus model include discharges for municipal wastewater-treatment facilities and pulp and paper facilities, developed land area, agricultural area, and forested area. For total phosphorus, loss rates were significant for reservoirs with surface areas of 10 square kilometers or less, and in streams with flows less than or equal to 2.83 cubic meters per second. Applications of SPARROW for evaluating nutrient loading in New England waters include estimates of the spatial distributions of total nitrogen and phosphorus yields, sources of the nutrients, and the potential for delivery of those yields to receiving waters. This information can be used to (1) predict ranges in nutrient levels in surface waters, (2) identify the environmental variables that are statistically significant predictors of nutrient levels in streams, (3) evaluate monitoring efforts for better determination of nutrient loads, and (4) evaluate management options for reducing nutrient loads to achieve water-quality goals.

Scientific Investigations Report↗

USGS2009

Changes in reproductive biomarkers in an endangered fish species (bonytail chub, Gila elegans) exposed to low levels of organic wastewater compounds in a controlled experiment

In arid regions of the southwestern United States, municipal wastewater treatment plants commonly discharge treated effluent directly into streams that would otherwise be dry most of the year. A better understanding is needed of how effluent-dependent waters (EDWs) differ from more natural aquatic ecosystems and the ecological effect of low levels of environmentally persistent organic wastewater compounds (OWCs) with distance from the pollutant source. In a controlled experiment, we found 26 compounds common to municipal effluent in treatment raceways all at concentrations <1.0 μg/L. Male bonytail chub (Gila elegans) in tanks containing municipal effluent had significantly lower levels of 11-ketotestosterone (p = 0.021) yet higher levels of 17β-estradiol (p = 0.002) and vitellogenin (p = 0.036) compared to control male fish. Female bonytail chub in treatment tanks had significantly lower concentrations of 17β-estradiol than control females (p = 0.001). The normally inverse relationship between primary male and female sex hormones, expected in un-impaired fish, was greatly decreased in treatment (r = 0.00) versus control (r = −0.66) female fish. We found a similar, but not as significant, trend between treatment (r = −0.45) and control (r = −0.82) male fish. Measures of fish condition showed no significant differences between male or female fish housed in effluent or clean water. Inter-sex condition did not occur and testicular and ovarian cells appeared normal for the respective developmental stage and we observed no morphological alteration in fish. The population-level impacts of these findings are uncertain. Studies examining the long-term, generational and behavioral effects to aquatic organisms chronically exposed to low levels of OWC mixtures are needed.

Aquatic Toxicology↗

USGS2004

Potential health impacts of burning coal beds and waste banks

Uncontrolled release of pollutants from burning coal beds and waste banks presents potential environmental and human health hazards. On a global scale, the emissions of large volumes of greenhouse gases from burning coal beds may contribute to climate change that alters ecosystems and patterns of disease occurrence. On regional and local scales, the emissions from burning coal beds and waste banks of acidic gases, particulates, organic compounds, and trace elements can contribute to a range of respiratory and other human health problems. Although there are few published reports of health problems caused by these emissions, the potential for problems can be significant. In India, large numbers of people have been displaced from their homes because of health problems caused by emissions from burning coal beds. Volatile elements such as arsenic, fluorine, mercury, and selenium are commonly enriched in coal deposits. Burning coal beds can volatilize these elements, which then can be inhaled, or adsorbed on crops and foods, taken up by livestock or bioaccumulated in birds and fish. Some of these elements can condense on dust particles that can be inhaled or ingested. In addition, selenium, arsenic, lead, tin, bismuth, fluorine, and other elements condense where the hot gaseous emissions come in contact with ambient air, forming mats of concentrated efflorescent minerals on the surface of the ground. These mats can be leached by rainwater and washed into local water bodies providing other potential routes of exposure. Although there are little data linking burning coal beds and waste banks to known health problems, a possibly analogous situation exists in rural China where mineralized coal burned in a residential environment has caused widespread and severe health problems such as fluorosis and arseniasis. ?? 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

International Journal of Coal Geology↗

USGS2018

Prediction uncertainty and data worth assessment for groundwater transport times in an agricultural catchment

Uncertainties about the age of base-flow discharge can have serious implications for the management of degraded environmental systems where subsurface pathways, and the ongoing release of pollutants that accumulated in the subsurface during past decades, dominate the water quality signal. Numerical groundwater models may be used to estimate groundwater return times and base-flow ages and thus predict the time required for stakeholders to see the results of improved agricultural management practices. However, the uncertainty inherent in the relationship between (i) the observations of atmospherically-derived tracers that are required to calibrate such models and (ii) the predictions of system age that the observations inform have not been investigated. For example, few if any studies have assessed the uncertainty of numerically-simulated system ages or evaluated the uncertainty reductions that may result from the expense of collecting additional subsurface tracer data. In this study we combine numerical flow and transport modeling of atmospherically-derived tracers with prediction uncertainty methods to accomplish four objectives. First, we show the relative importance of head, discharge, and tracer information for characterizing response times in a uniquely data rich catchment that includes 266 age-tracer measurements (SF 6 , CFCs, and 3 H) in addition to long term monitoring of water levels and stream discharge. Second, we calculate uncertainty intervals for model-simulated base-flow ages using both linear and non-linear methods, and find that the prediction sensitivity vector used by linear first-order second-moment methods results in much larger uncertainties than non-linear Monte Carlo methods operating on the same parameter uncertainty. Third, by combining prediction uncertainty analysis with multiple models of the system, we show that data-worth calculations and monitoring network design are sensitive to variations in the amount of water leaving the system via stream discharge and irrigation withdrawals. Finally, we demonstrate a novel model-averaged computation of potential data worth that can account for these uncertainties in model structure.

Maryland↗

USGS1996

Recovery of burrowing mayflies (Ephemeroptera: Ephemeridae: Hexagenia ) in western Lake Erie

Burrowing mayflies ( Hexagenia spp.) are native to western Lake Erie and were abundant until the 1950s, when they disappeared due to degraded water and sediment quality. Nymphs were absent from the sediments of most of western Lake Erie after the 1950s, although small, widely disjunct populations apparently persisted near shore. Sediment samples collected in 1993 revealed several small populations near the western and southern shores and beyond the mouths of the Detroit and Maumee rivers. A larger population was found in the southern island area, but nymphs were absent in the middle of the basin. By 1995, nymphs had spread throughout the western half and eastern end of the basin but remained absent from the middle of the basin. These data indicate that Hexagenia began recolonizing nearshore areas before offshore areas. Increasingly large swarms of winged Hexagenia on shore and over the lake between 1992 and 1994 further indicate that mayflies are recolonizing the basin. Factors that have permitted Hexagenia recovery in western Lake Erie probably include improved sediment and water quality attributed to pollution abatement programs implemented after the early 1970s, and perhaps environmental changes in the early 1990s attributed to effects of the exotic zebra mussel ( Dreissena polymorpha ).

Journal of Great Lakes Research↗

USGS1998

Seasonal and spatial patterns of nitrate and silica concentrations in Canajoharie Creek, New York

The impact of nonpoint-source pollution on surface waters in agricultural watersheds is an emerging environmental issue. As part of the U.S. Geological Survey National Water Quality Assessment program in the Hudson River Basin, Canajoharie Creek was monitored for seasonal and spatial patterns of nutrient chemistry from March 1993 to January 1996. Nitrate and silica concentrations in Canajoharie Creek suggest that seasonal and spatial variations of these nutrients are dominated by biological processes, particularly uptake by phytoplankton. Observed concentration patterns were more typical of those observed in much larger, low-gradient streams. The median nitrate and silica concentrations in Canajoharie Creek were significantly lower from April through November than during winter. Concentrations of both constituents declined downstream from the headwaters during base-flow conditions in June 1995. Groundwater and surface water chemistry data support biological causes for downstream decreases in silica. The strong correlation between nitrate and silica in samples collected along the mainstem suggests that most of the nitrate decrease is due to uptake by diatoms. Downstream patterns of chlorophyll-a in phytoplankton strongly suggest the conversion of in-stream nutrients to algal biomass. Data collected from Canajoharie Creek outlet during the northeast drought of 1995 indicate that silica concentrations in May had possibly declined to a level that adversely affected the diatom community. This decline in the diatom population and subsequent resurgence is inferred from a sharp rise in silica concentrations between May and July and a reversal of this trend from mid-July through October without associated changes in hydrology.

Journal of Environmental Quality↗

USGS2000

U.S. Geological Survey Quality-Assurance Project for Sediment Analysis

Introduction Sediment is derived primarily from natural weathering of rock and is an assemblage of individual mineral grains that are then deposited by some physical agent, such as water, wind, ice, or gravity (Fetter, 1988). The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) samples sediments and collects data on the amount of sediment in selected waterways. The most pressing sediment-related problems are associated with environmental questions, such as the transport and fate of attached pollutants, effects of sediment on aquatic biota and their habitats, and effects on sediment transport from land-use changes. Current (2000) sediment issues require that sediment studies address multiple objectives in water-resources management (Koltun and others, 1997). To support sediment research, the USGS operates laboratories for the analysis of the physical characteristics of sediment. Sediment laboratories producing data for the USGS have two principal functions: (1) the determination of suspended-sediment concentration in samples and (2) the determination of sand/fine separations. The reliability of these determinations and the usefulness of the data are dependent on the accuracy and reliability of the laboratory analyses (Guy, 1969).

Fact Sheet↗

USGS2010

Endocrine active chemicals and endocrine disruption in Minnesota streams and lakes: Implications for aquatic resources, 1994-2008

The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with St. Cloud State University, Minnesota Department of Health, Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, Metropolitan Council Environmental Services, and the University of Minnesota, has conducted field monitoring studies and laboratory research to determine the presence of endocrine active chemicals and the incidence of endocrine disruption in Minnesota streams and lakes during 1994–2008. Endocrine active chemicals are chemicals that interfere with the natural regulation of endocrine systems, and may mimic or block the function of natural hormones in fish or other organisms. This interference commonly is referred to as endocrine disruption. Indicators of endocrine disruption in fish include vitellogenin (female egg yolk protein normally expressed in female fish) in male fish, oocytes present in male fish testes, reduced reproductive success, and changes in reproductive behavior. The results from a series of studies during 1994–2008 demonstrate that endocrine active chemicals are present in Minnesota surface waters, indicating that aquatic organism exposure is likely. Endocrine active chemicals have been identified in wastewater-treatment plant effluent and surface waters downstream from discharge of wastewater-treatment plant effluent throughout Minnesota at low concentrations. Biological indicators of endocrine disruption have been detected in wild fish throughout Minnesota at sites directly downstream from wastewater-treatment plant effluent, indicating that endocrine active chemicals in effluent contribute to endocrine disruption in fish. This finding was confirmed in a controlled study exposing fathead minnows to wastewater-treatment plant effluent at an onsite fish exposure laboratory. During this controlled study, changes in biological responses coincided with changes in wastewater-treatment plant effluent composition demonstrating that effluent effects on fish endocrine systems are temporally variable. Although chemicals contributing to endocrine disruption in fish are complex, several laboratory studies have further confirmed that certain classes of chemicals, such as hormones and alkylphenols, which are components of wastewater-treatment plant effluent, affect the endocrine systems of fish through biochemical, structural, and behavioral disruption. Although these studies indicate that wastewater-treatment plant effluent is a conduit for endocrine active chemicals to surface waters, endocrine active chemicals also were present in surface waters with no obvious wastewater-treatment plant effluent sources. Endocrine active chemicals were detected and indicators of endocrine disruption in fish were measured at numerous sites upstream from discharge of wastewater-treatment plant effluent. These observations indicate that other unidentified sources of endocrine active chemicals exist, such as runoff from land surfaces, atmospheric deposition, inputs from onsite septic systems, or other groundwater sources. Alternatively, some endocrine active chemicals may not yet have been identified or measured. The presence of biological indicators of endocrine disruption in male fish indicates that the fish are exposed to endocrine active chemicals. However indicators of endocrine disruption in male fish does not indicate an effect on fish reproduction or changes in fish populations.

Minnesota↗

USGS2023

Development of the North Carolina stormwater-treatment decision-support system by using the Stochastic Empirical Loading and Dilution Model (SELDM)

The Federal Highway Administration and State departments of transportation nationwide need an efficient method to assess potential adverse effects of highway stormwater runoff on receiving waters to optimize stormwater-treatment decisions. To this end, the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Federal Highway Administration and the North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT), developed a decision-support software tool based on a statewide version of the Stochastic Empirical Loading and Dilution Model (SELDM). This decision-support tool is designed to identify potential adverse effects of highway runoff by using a criterion based on a measurable change in water quality from a surrogate pollutant. The NCDOT worked with the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality to select a 25-percent change in suspended sediment concentration as the decision-rule criterion for identifying measurable downstream water-quality change; this selection was based on available data and widely accepted stormwater monitoring uncertainties. Development of the statewide tool and its application to the Piedmont ecoregion are described in this report. Because SELDM can be applied to build a similar decision-support tool in any State, this report describes practice-ready methods that other State departments of transportation and municipal permittees can use to streamline environmental permitting and project delivery while protecting the environment. Hydraulic design engineers can use this decision-support tool to establish stormwater-treatment goals for highway construction or improvement projects without having to learn SELDM or interpret its statistical output. The tool is a spreadsheet that determines if a selected highway segment can directly discharge highway runoff, if the highway segment can discharge runoff following treatment using a basic vegetated conveyance best management practice (BMP), or if treatment using an advanced BMP is needed to minimize effects of discharges on downstream water quality. To use the tool, hydraulic design engineers obtain upstream-basin characteristics from the U.S. Geological Survey StreamStats application and highway-site characteristics from preliminary design plans. They then enter these characteristics in the decision-support tool, which identifies the necessary stormwater-treatment goal. The Piedmont ecoregion was used as a case study to demonstrate the type of information the decision-support tool can provide. In this ecoregion, 100 percent of direct discharges meet the water-quality criterion when the drainage-area ratio is less than about 0.007 acres of highway per square mile of upstream basin. Advanced BMPs are needed in 100 percent of basins with drainage-area ratios greater than about 50 acres per square mile. Between these drainage-area ratios, the selection of direct discharge, a basic vegetated conveyance BMP, or an advanced BMP is a function of highway-site and upstream-basin properties.

North Carolina↗

USGS1970

Sediment problems in urban areas

A recognition of and solution to sediment problems in urban areas is necessary if society is to have an acceptable living environment. Soil erosion and sediment deposition in urban areas are as much an environmental blight as badly paved and littered streets, dilapidated buildings, billboard clutter, inept land use, and air, water, and noise pollution. In addition, sediment has many direct and indirect effects on streams that may be either part of or very remote from the urban environment. Sediment, for example, is widely recognized as a pollutant of streams and other water bodies. One obstacle to a scientific recognition and an engineering solution to sediment-related environmental problems is that such problems are bound in conflicting and generally undefinable political and institutional restraints. Also, some of the difficulty may involve the fact that the scientist or engineer, because of his relatively narrow field of investigation, cannot always completely envision the less desirable effects of his work and communicate alternative solutions to the public. For example, the highway and motor-vehicle engineers have learned how to provide the means by which one can transport himself from one point to another with such great efficiency that a person's employment in this country is now commonly more than 5 miles from his residence. However, providing such efficient personal transport has created numerous serious environmental problems. Obstacles to recognition of and action to control sediment problems in and around urban areas are akin to other environmental problems with respect to the many scientific, engineering, economic, and social aspects.

Circular↗

USGS2022

Human and ecosystem health in coastal systems

U.S. coastal economies and communities are facing an unprecedented and growing number of impacts to coastal ecosystems including beach and fishery closures, harmful algal blooms, loss of critical habitat, as well as shoreline damage. This paper synthesizes our present understanding of the dynamics of human and ecosystem health in coastal systems with a focus on the need to better understand nearshore physical process interactions with coastal pollutants and ecosystems (e.g. fate and transport, circulation, depositional environment, climate change). It is organized around two major topical areas and six subtopic areas: 1) Identifying and mitigating coastal pollutants, including fecal pollution, nutrients and harmful algal blooms, and microplastics; and 2) Resilient coastal ecosystems, which focuses on coastal fisheries, shellfish and natural and nature-based features (NNBF). Societal needs and the tools and technologies needed to address them are discussed for each subtopic. Recommendations for scientific research, observations, community engagement, and policies aim to help prioritize future research and investments. A better understanding of coastal physical processes and interactions with coastal pollutants and resilient ecosystems (e.g. fate and transport, circulation, depositional environment, climate change) is a critical need. Other research recommendations include the need to quantify potential threats to human and ecosystem health through accurate risk assessments and to quantify the resulting hazard risk reduction of natural and nature-based features; improve pollutant and ecosystem impacts forecasting by integrating frequent and new data points into existing and novel models; collect environmental data to calibrate and validate models to predict future impacts on coastal ecosystems and their evolution due to anthropogenic stressors (land-based pollution, overfishing, coastal development), climate change, and sea level rise; and develop lower cost and rapid response tools to help coastal managers better respond to pollutant and ecosystem threats.

Shore and Beach↗