Neuse River Compliance Association: A Success Story but What Does the Future Hold?

Phthisic, Haywood; McLawhorn, Dan; Bailey, Erika

doi:10.2175/193864718824939981

Cited by 2 publications

(3 citation statements)

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“…Our approach can support watershed planning and financing schemes for larger projects with cost‐sharing and benefits for multiple jurisdictions. There is precedent in the neighboring Neuse River Basin for creative strategies, including a nutrient credit and trade system that financed headwater protection with additional flood storage benefits (Phthisic et al., 2018; Walls & Kuwayama, 2019), partnerships between local governments and conservation groups (Upper Neuse River Basin Association, 2021), and upper basin protection financed through a fee levied in the City of Raleigh (Patterson et al., 2012).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Landscape Pollution Source Dynamics Highlight Priority Locations for Basin‐Scale Interventions to Protect Water Quality Under Hydroclimatic Variability

Schaffer‐Smith,

DeMeester,

Tong

et al. 2023

Earth's Future

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Extreme weather is associated with a variety of water quality issues that can pose harm to humans and aquatic ecosystems. Under dry conditions, contaminants become concentrated in streams with a greater potential for harmful algal blooms, while wet conditions can cause flooding and broadcast pollution. Developing interventions to improve water quality in a changing climate requires a better understanding of how hydroclimatic variability affects watershed processes, and which places are most vulnerable. We developed a Soil and Water Assessment Tool model of the Cape Fear River Basin (CFRB) in North Carolina, USA, representing contemporary land use, point and non‐point sources, and weather conditions from 1979 to 2019. The CFRB is a large, complex river basin undergoing urbanization and agricultural intensification, with a history of droughts and floods. To identify intervention priorities, we developed a Water Quality Risk Index (WQRI) using the average and variability of contaminant loads across dry, normal and wet conditions. The landscape generally contributed the majority of pollutants (e.g., via erosion, fertilizer and manure applications), including 90.1% of sediment, 83.2% of total nitrogen, and 52.4% of total phosphorus at the City of Wilmington's drinking water intake, yet point sources were influential during dry periods. Approximately 16% of the watershed contributed most of the pollutants across conditions—these represent priority locations for interventions such as restoration, urban, or agricultural best management practices. The WQRI approach considering risks to water quality across conditions can help identify locations where interventions are more likely to improve water quality under climate change.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Landscape Pollution Source Dynamics Highlight Priority Locations for Basin‐Scale Interventions to Protect Water Quality Under Hydroclimatic Variability

Schaffer‐Smith,

DeMeester,

Tong

et al. 2023

Earth's Future

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show abstract

“…Basin for nutrient trading schemes for permitted dischargers (Phthisic, 2018), creative partnerships between local governments and conservation groups such as the Upper Neuse River…”

Section: Solutions To Address Water Quality Issues and Improve Resili...mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Phosphorusbased limits could be an appropriate intervention, given high existing legacy phosphorus concentrations (Wegmann et al, 2013); of statewide soil samples from 2016-2018, over 50 % had 'very high' phosphorus (Mehlich-3 soil test extractant) and additional phosphorus applications would not increase yields for 84% of the fields tested . In the Neuse Basin, the implementation of a nutrient credit and trade system successfully reduced water quality issues and led to headwater protection that also provides flood storage, and other benefits (Phthisic et al, 2018;Walls & Kuwayama, 2019). Incentive programs can complement regulations to help reduce losses of sediment and nutrients.…”

Section: Solutions To Address Water Quality Issues and Improve Resili...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Landscape pollution source dynamics highlight priority locations for basin-scale interventions to protect water quality under extreme events

Schaffer‐Smith¹,

DeMeester²,

Tong

et al. 2022

Preprint

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Extreme weather conditions are associated with a variety of water quality issues that can pose harm to humans and aquatic ecosystems. Under dry extremes, contaminants become more concentrated in streams with a greater potential for harmful algal blooms, while wet extremes can cause flooding and broadcast pollution. Developing appropriate interventions to improve water quality in a changing climate requires a better understanding of how extremes affect watershed processes, and which places are most vulnerable. We developed a Soil and Water Assessment Tool model of the Cape Fear River Basin (CFRB) in North Carolina, USA, representing contemporary land use, point and non-point sources, and weather conditions from 1979 to 2019. The CFRB is a large and complex river basin undergoing urbanization and agricultural intensification, with a history of extreme droughts and floods, making it an excellent case study. To identify intervention priorities, we developed a Water Quality Risk Index (WQRI) using the load average and load variability across normal conditions, dry extremes, and wet extremes. We found that the landscape generated the majority of contaminants, including 90.1% of sediment, 85.4% of total nitrogen, and 52.6% of total phosphorus at the City of Wilmington's drinking water intake. Approximately 16% of the watershed contributed most of the pollutants across conditions-these represent high priority locations for interventions. The WQRI approach considering risks to water quality across different weather conditions can help identify locations where interventions are more likely to improve water quality under climate change.

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Neuse River Compliance Association: A Success Story but What Does the Future Hold?

Cited by 2 publications

References 0 publications

Landscape Pollution Source Dynamics Highlight Priority Locations for Basin‐Scale Interventions to Protect Water Quality Under Hydroclimatic Variability

Landscape Pollution Source Dynamics Highlight Priority Locations for Basin‐Scale Interventions to Protect Water Quality Under Hydroclimatic Variability

Landscape pollution source dynamics highlight priority locations for basin-scale interventions to protect water quality under extreme events

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