Dr. Steve Peene to Serve on WERF Site-Specific Nutrient Criteria Project Sub-Committee
Dr. Steve Peene will serve as as a Project Sub-Committee member overseeing a project for the Water Environment Research Foundation (WERF). The project will help define modeling tools to be used nationally for use in developing Numeric Nutrient Criteria. From www.werf.org:
Almost 40 years ago, the Clean Water Act directed the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to develop water quality criteria that were to be revised from “time to time thereafter” to accurately reflect “the latest scientific knowledge” on a multitude of animals, plants, pollutants, and processes. In August, WERF convened a group of national experts to discuss whether additional science should be directed toward providing enhanced tools and guidance for deriving and implementing site-specific water quality nutrient criteria. The answer was a resounding yes.
WERF will lead researchers in developing a practical modeling-based approach for deriving site-specific water quality criteria that protect designated uses against the impacts of nitrogen and phosphorus. This approach will address lakes, streams, rivers of all sizes and estuaries, and will seek to provide better scientific support to derive criteria for “indicators” that might include, for example, clarity, dissolved oxygen, chlorophyll a. Using our unique collaboration among permit holders, state agencies, and modeling experts, WERF will produce and/or refine models appropriate to a variety of waterbodies to derive breakpoints or thresholds for N and P, along with the necessary guidance on what data needs to be collected to apply the model locally. The resulting guidance and models would be a set of tools within a suite of approaches that a state or utility might use for deriving and implementing site-specific criteria.
Dr. Peene has been involved in the national and local evaluation of impacts to surface waters including the development of Total Maximum Daily Loads (TMDL), Environmental Impact Assessments (EIA), and Ecosystem Restoration projects. He has worked with the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP) and EPA on the development and evaluation of TMDLs in the southeast since 1996, and has worked with both agencies on development of hydrodynamic and water quality models, as well as the design and implementation of water quality monitoring programs. He has also worked with both FDEP and EPA on issues associated with the determination of the level of impairment in waterbodies, including development of numeric nutrient criteria. He works closely with numerous cities, counties, and Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) to provide technical support on water quality issues with specific emphasis on water body listing, TMDLs and Basin Management Action Plans (BMAPs)] in Florida. He is a Vice President with ATM.
