WATER RESOURCES

May 2016 | Volume 18 | Number 3

AmericAn WAter resources AssociAtion

NATIONAL HYDROGRAPHY DATASET (NHD)

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FEATURE ARTICLES 6 Minnesota’s Use of NHD to

Support Surface Water Quality The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency turned to the National Hydrography Dataset to protect and restore Minnesota’s lakes, streams, and rivers. By Jennifer Crea, et al.

12 Modeling River Spills Using the National Hydrography Dataset Plus Modeling the fate and transport of toxic spills in rivers is critical in forecasting the time-of-travel and concentration of contaminants that may impact water supplies. By William B. Samuels, et al.

16 Washington State: Fish, Stormwater, Pipelines and the National Hydrography Dataset Washington State adopted the National Hydrography Dataset (NHD) in January 2011 with the goal of having a single enterprise standard for hydrography. By Anita Stohr

20 State Water Quality Assessments – Measuring Progress Using NHDPlus In 2006, EPA transitioned to the National Hydrography Dataset Plus to assess surface waters and determine whether their waters are meeting their water quality standards. By Wendy Reid, et al.

23 NHDPlus as a Geospatial Framework for SPARROW Modeling Spatially Referenced Regressions on Watershed Attributes uses nonlinear statistical methods to define conceptual and spatial relations among quantities of contaminant sources. By John W. Brakebill, et al.

26 The Watershed Boundary Dataset for Improved Natural Resource Analysis and Management Since the introduction of the Hydrologic Unit Code concept to the scientific community for organizing watersheds, and the resulting WBD, the watershed system has been used extensively within the NRCS. By J. Steven Nechero, et al.

C O N T E N T S

OTHER FEATURES Messages

5 President’s Message Martha Narvaez, AWRA President

Columns

28 What’s Up with Water? Appalachia, Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow: A Microcosm of Water Resource Problems in the United States

30 The New Economics of Water: Mapping Water Availability and Costs in the West

AWRA Business

31 State Section and Student Chapter News

32 Summer Conference Preliminary Program

33 IWRM Award Call for Nominations

34 April JAWRA Highlights

34 2016 Editorial Calendar

About this issue Issue theme: National Hydrography Dataset (NHD)Associate Editor: Jeff Simley, U.S. Geological Survey (Retired) OfthehundredsofstoriesabouttheNationalHydrographyDataset atwork,Ihavechosensixtorepresentthegreatworkofthousandsofpeopleacrossthenation.FirstCrea,etal.,oftheStateofMinnesota,willtellusaboutprotectingwaterqualityinastatewherewaterisparticularlyvitaltotheeconomyandtothewayoflife.Thisstory,likemanyothers,dealswithintegratinginformationsothatwatermanagershaveaccesstothedatatheyneedtomakedecisions.NextSamuels,etal.,ofLeidos,talkaboutprotectingpublicwatersuppliesfromtheeffectsoftoxicspills,citingtwoexamplesthatveryaccuratelypredictedoutcomes.Oneoftheremarkablecharacteristicsoftheirworkisthatitcanbeappliedanywhereinthecountry,atanytime.Itisnotjustalaboratoryexperiment.

Thenwe’lllookatanotherstate.Thistimeit’stheStateofWashingtonwithStohrgivingusthestoryonprotectingwatertosustainfisheriessosignificanttothestateandtherestofthePacificCoast.We’lllearnhoweveryoneinthestateisnowonthesamepagewhenitcomestowaterresourcedata.UpnextisReid,etal.,oftheEnvironmentalProtectionAgencywhoshowhowcutting-edgethinkingongeospatialdatacanbeusedtospeedupandbettermanagethewaterqualitygoalsoftheCleanWaterAct.ThisisfollowedbyBrakebill,etal.,oftheU.S.GeologicalSurveystudyingthetransportofnutrientsthroughthenation’sdrainagesystemusingsophisticatedmodelingtools.Thevalueofthismodelingisdependentonparticularlygoodgeospatialdata.FinallyNechero,etal.,oftheNaturalResourceConservationServicediscussestheWatershedBoundaryDataset,theessentialcompaniontotheNationalHydrographyDataset.Thisarticlegivesagoodinsightonhowwatersheddata,particularlymorehighlydetailedwatersheddata,allowforbetterlandmanagement.

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HAPPILY, WE ARE now fully immersed in spring, and summer is just around the corner. Recent events like World Water Day, Earth Day, and the numerous local spring outreach events are coming to a close. Through my participation at these outreach events I have engaged with the public more often than usual.

While talking to the public at these events, current water resource disasters come to the forefront of the conversation. People ask about events like flooding in the Midwest, the increased frequency of extreme rain events in the Northeast, the 5-year drought in California and most recently, lead contamination in Flint, Michigan. Concerned citizens ask what is our risk, should we drink our tap water, when and how is our property going to be impacted and many other pertinent water-related questions.

As water resource professionals, these are issues we work on daily, yet the public does not typically think about water until it directly impacts them or hits the news outlets. Recently, the public has become more aware of the value and necessity of clean water, the negative impact of polluted water, the tragedy when there is not enough, the devastation of flooding, and the impact of climate variability.

The recent disaster in Flint (and other recent water resource crises) reminds the public that we cannot take clean water for granted. Clean, drinkable water is important and the management of it is complex. The Flint water crisis connects many topic areas in water resources; water quality, infrastructure, drinking water treatment, funding mechanisms, environmental justice, governance and policy, to name a few. The decisions and solutions require action and oversight from all levels of government (city, county, state and federal). Government, nonprofits, academic institutions and the private sector must come together to bring the issue to light and to identify solutions to the problem. The problems and solutions are integrated through sectors and through the wide range of water resource expertise.

The current crises are not an anomaly and water stressed conditions are becoming the norm. According to the U.S. Water Partnership,

Integration and CollaborationP R E S I D E N T ’ S M E S S A G E

“by 2025, nearly two-thirds, of the world’s population will be living under water stressed conditions, including roughly one billion people who will face absolute water scarcity. Drought and floods now affect more people than all other natural disasters combined” (www.uswaterpartnership.org). Let these water-related disasters, past and current, be a reminder to the public and, most importantly, to water resource professionals, that our work is complex and collaboration and integration are essential. Collaboration among all sectors and disciplines is necessary to reduce the risk of such disasters, to effectively research and innovate, and to implement solutions.

The integration required to solve the Flint crisis is not unlike the work we do on a daily basis and the reason so many of us find AWRA an essential part of our work. AWRA has played the role of integrating students and professionals in the field of water resources for over 50 years. AWRA’s philosophy is that water resources management, planning and research are integrated. The multitude of disciplines and levels of expertise must come together to solve our water resources problems, develop solutions, effectively manage the resources and keep our water clean and drinkable. At AWRA we are guided by the principles of enhancing connections and communications between all sectors of the water resource community, and promoting and enabling the water resources research and practices that enhance the water resources field. This is why AWRA’s role has been, and will be, so important throughout the next century.

Many of us will come together in the next few months – Sacramento in July for AWRA’s Summer Specialty Conference on GIS and Water Resources, Orlando in November for AWRA’s Annual Conference, at state section meetings and through the upcoming webinars. At these events, as water resource professionals and students, let us recommit ourselves to the important work we do. Let us recognize that the public is going to be expecting more from us as water-related issues become more common. Finally, as AWRA members, let us continue to foster and strengthen this important space where integration and collaboration among sectors and expertise is a key part of everything we do. ■

Martha Narvaez, President, AWRA president@awra.org

Let us recognize that the public is going to be expecting more from us as water-related issues become more common.

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F E A T U R E

Minnesota’s Use of NHD to Support Surface Water Quality

Jennifer Crea, Mark Olsen, and Susanne Maeder

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Using the

MODELING RIVER SPILLS

National Hydrography Dataset Plus

F E A T U R E

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William B. Samuels, Rakesh Bahadur, Christopher Ziemniak and David E. Amstutz

The United States has over 250,000 rivers totaling about 3,500,000 miles when mapped at 1:100,000-scale. Rivers provide drinking

water, irrigation water, transportation, electrical power, drainage, food and recreation. There are approximately 155,000 public water systems in the United States (EPA, 2015a). Sixty five percent of these systems use rivers and streams as their water supply (American Rivers, 2015). In the lower 48 states, 357,404 total miles of streams provide water for public drinking water systems (EPA, 2015b). Toxic spills can disrupt the drinking water supply as evidenced by the January 2014 chemical spill in the Elk River, West Virginia, that contaminated the city of Charleston’s water supply, which services nearly 200,000 residents. The Elk River flows into the Kanawha River, which confluences with the Ohio River, a major water supply for cities such as Huntington, WV, and Cincinnati, OH. In August 2015, a breach of the Gold King mine in Colorado resulted in the release of approximately 3,000,000 gallons of metal-rich mine waste water into Cement Creek, a tributary of the Animas River which flows into the San Juan River and ultimately into the Colorado River.

Modeling the fate and transport of toxic spills in rivers is critical in forecasting the time-of-travel and concentration of contaminants that may impact water supplies. This information, in turn, can be used by decision-makers regarding when and how long to shut down a water intake to avoid contamination coming downstream. A model, (funded by the EPA, FEMA, Technical Support Working Group, U.S. Forest Service and the Defense Threat Reduction Agency) the Incident Command Tool for Drinking Water Protection (ICWater), has been developed (Figure 1) which integrates a hydrologically connected river network (NHDPlus), real-time stream gages, drinking water intakes, contaminant database and other related features (i.e., dams, municipal and industrial dischargers, transportation, etc.) to answer the following questions: (1) where is the contaminant going; (2) is there a drinking water intake in the path; (3) when will it reach drinking water; and (4) is the level high enough to be a human threat. An overview of the data sets, model structure and two case studies are presented below to illustrate how this tool has been set up and used for contaminant spill response.

Model and data setsThe NHDPlus is the hydrologic

framework that is used by ICWater for downstream and upstream tracing of contaminants in rivers. The NHDPlus is organized by hydrologic regions and further subdivided into subregions. It is also available as a single national dataset. It is packaged as Geographic Information System (GIS) databases to facilitate loading into ICWater and other applications. The NHDPlus contains more

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Washington State:Fish,Stormwater,PipelinesandtheNationalHydrographyDataset

F E A T U R E

Anita Stohr

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Washington State adopted the National Hydrography Dataset (NHD) in January 2011 with the goal of having a single enterprise standard for hydrography (Policy 161.03).

Previously, each major natural resource agency in the state was managing its own proprietary hydrography

dataset to meet its own business needs, resulting in the duplication of effort and complicating data transfer and

analysis among partner agencies. Since the adoption of the NHD standard, the state has focused on associating the highest priority water resources, human health and fisheries datasets with the NHD, correcting the most prominent errors in the data, assisting other government agencies to adopt the NHD and providing access to the

NHD for a variety of users.

A shared surface water dataset is critical for effective management of the state’s natural resources. Local, state, federal and tribal agencies all have the common goal of putting water resources to work for drinking, recreation, fish and wildlife, industry, forestry, agriculture and hydropower. Washington and neighboring states on the west coast are unique in that they have threatened and endangered Pacific salmon and shellfish industries that rely on high quality freshwater and marine habitat.

Case studiesThe four cases presented here are examples of improvements in resource

management that are possible because agencies with different missions are talking about the same water using the same geospatial dataset. The common theme in these cases is how Washington uses the NHD to ensure safe habitat for fisheries.

Case Study: Fish Distribution and the Clean Water ActSalmon and steelhead fisheries in Washington are co-managed by the

Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) and Treaty Tribes in Washington. A grant from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) provided the resources to form a team charged with jointly mapping fish distribution on the NHD. Prior to this, the WDFW and the Northwest Indian

Fisheries Commission (NWIFC) each had its own fish distribution mapped onto its own agency hydrography layers. Agreeing on upper extents of various fish

species is difficult enough, but having them on different versions of spatial stream hydrography data made it extremely challenging.

The WDFW’s SalmonScape web mapping application, released in February 2015, shows the joint agency fish distribution located on the NHD through linear event referencing, a method of linking data about water to the hydrography. Data in this web map are currently undergoing field verification with biologists across the state.

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F E A T U R E

State Water Quality Assessments –

Wendy Reid, Dwane Young, Tommy Dewald

Under the Clean Water Act, Sections 303(d) and 305(b), U.S. states assess surface waters and determine whether their waters are meeting their water quality standards. These standards are specific to each water, and are comprised of designated uses (or desired uses for the water), numeric or narrative water quality criteria and an anti-degradation

policy. Criteria may include physical, chemical and biological characteristics. States make decisions that determine whether a water is fully supporting or not supporting the standards for all of its assessed designated uses, and list the causes of impairment if a water is impaired (i.e., not supporting). Total Maximum Daily Loads (TMDLs), which are effectively pollutant budgets, are developed to guide restoration of the impaired waters so they meet the criteria for achieving their designated use(s). States report these water quality assessment decisions and the locations of the corresponding waters to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) every two years. The EPA compiles the state decision data into a national database and publishes the results in web reports, online maps and downloadable geospatial files.

Measuring Progress Using NHDPlus

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Successful water-resource management requires thorough knowledge and understanding of the relations among water-quality contaminant sources and the factors that affect the transport throughout a

hydrologic system. Surface-water modeling is a valuable tool that can be applied to help advance and achieve the understanding of these dynamic relations that affect ecological habitat, ecosystems and human health. A variety of approaches for successful environmental assessments can then be constructed when modeling approaches are coupled with detailed spatial connections and data like those provided in the National Hydrography Dataset Plus (NHDPlus).

NHDPlus asaGeospatialFrameworkforSPARROWModeling

John W. Brakebill and Gregory E. Schwarz

Spatially Referenced Regressions on Watershed Attributes (SPARROW) is one such model that uses nonlinear statistical methods to define conceptual and spatial relations among quantities of contaminant sources, monitored contaminant load, aquatic transport processes and any physical characteristics that affect contaminant transport to and within streams (Preston et al., 2009).

NHDPlus is a digital representation of a hydrologic network of streams and associated catchments first released in 2006. NHDPlus Version 2 (V2) is a more recent release with many improvements. Together, NHDPlus and SPARROW are used to help address a variety of environmental-management decisions at broad spatial and temporal scales.

NHDPlus V2 provides the fundamental spatial framework for SPARROW modeling. The dataset is comprised of two main components: 1) a network of stream segments, represented as lines, that map stream pathways and carry data about rivers and water bodies such as flow estimates and water body area; and 2) catchments, represented as polygons, that map the drainage area for each stream segment, and carry data such as quantities of land cover area (Moore and Dewald, 2016). Using Geographical Information System (GIS) processes and software, geospatial data representing contaminant sources are localized to individual stream segments and their associated drainage catchments. The stream segment connections and pathways are defined by the digitized network used by many applications to navigate the movement of constituents throughout the system. Associated stream, water body and catchment characteristics are used specifically by SPARROW to quantify sources and the efficiency with which these contaminants are transported from their landscape origin to the aquatic environment.

Water body and stream properties are used to describe the efficiency of transport through the stream network (Brakebill et al., 2011).

The USGS National Water Quality Assessment (NAWQA) project recently adopted the medium-resolution (based on 1:100,000-scale maps) NHDPlus V2 network as the primary framework supporting SPARROW modeling because it provides an excellent framework of the nation’s drainage network and is available nationally. SPARROW models in development by the NAWQA project include mean annual steady-state flow, nutrients and suspended sediment. These regional models will be combined to form national assessments, in addition to being

Figure2.Mapshowingselecteddiversion-affectedflowlinesinthePacificNorthwest.

Figure1.MapshowingthevariationsinspatialdetailwithinNHDPlusV2intheNewEnglandarea(ModifiedfromBrakebilletal.,2011).

F E A T U R E

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F E A T U R E

The Watershed Boundary Dataset for Improved Natural Resource Analysis and ManagementJ. Steven Nechero and Kevin Ingram

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Natural Resources Conservation Service

(NRCS) is the primary federal agency that works with private landowners to help them conserve, maintain and improve their natural resources. The agency emphasizes voluntary, science-based conservation, technical assistance, partnerships, incentive-based programs and cooperative problem solving at the community level. The NRCS has spent more than 75 years helping people help the land. Its goal is not just a sustainable, nutritious, abundant food supply, but also thriving ecosystems that support a diversity of life. In the next century, NRCS will not only continue to tackle familiar challenges like ensuring clean water and healthy soil, but will also rise to meet new issues, such as clean air, clean energy, climate change and new technology. An essential tool of the NRCS is the Watershed Boundary Dataset (WBD).

Figure1.AnHUCmaptoshowtheroadsandstreamswithinthewatershedboundary.

Figure2.AdigitalHUCmapforVirginiadevelopedfromCensusTIGER1:100,000-scalebasedata.

Figure3.NRCSLandscapeConservationInitiatives.

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W H A T ’ S U P W I T H W A T E R

Appalachia, Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow: A Microcosm of Water Resource Problems in the United States Eric J. Fitch

IN MANY PHILOSOPHIC and religious systems, the concept of microcosm holds an important role. In both ancient Greek philosophy and several Eastern faiths originating on the Indian subcontinent, a key tenet is that the universe (microcosm) is represented in its entirety by much smaller microcosms. For example in the Hindu faith, the human body is considered a microcosm with the spine being Mt. Meru or the “Axis Mundi” – the center of the universe. The entirety of the universe

is represented and is present in the smaller entity.

In a sense, Appalachia represents the larger nation and world, and within it society’s failures of water management and stewardship can be clearly seen. For the uninitiated, geologically the Appalachian Mountains start much farther north than most people realize: Belle Island in Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. The Appalachians also extend much farther south to Cheaha

Mountain in northeastern Alabama, the southernmost mountain in the chain. Culturally, socially, politically and economically, Appalachia is generally considered to contain the southern two-thirds of the geologic/geographic range: from the southern tier of New York to northeastern Alabama. Although parts of these two states, plus parts of Pennsylvania, Ohio, West Virginia, Kentucky, Virginia, Tennessee, North and South Carolina, Georgia and Mississippi

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T H E N E W E C O N O M I C S O F W A T E R

A RECENT STUDY developed by Sandia National Laboratories in collaboration with Idaho National Laboratory, University of Idaho, University of Texas, Austin, and the Western States Water Council takes a novel approach to mapping water source locations and the cost of acquiring and developing those supplies to meet growing water needs in the west.

The study, titled “Mapping water availability, projected use and cost in the western United States,” estimates water availability, change in consumptive use and acquisition costs to inform water planning decisions at a regional level. Through collaboration with western water managers, the study developed water availability and acquisition cost estimates for five water sources including unappropriated surface water and groundwater, appropriated water, municipal wastewater and brackish groundwater in over 1,200 watersheds throughout the western United States.

A water cost estimate for each of the five sources of water is a unique aspect of the study. Few studies have attempted to evaluate the cost of procuring and developing water supplies at a watershed level for such a large region. The study

Mapping Water Availability and Costs in the WestClay Landry and Tanner Ketellapper

recognized that there are very different cost structures and components for developing and utilizing each of the five identified water supplies. The study attempted to normalize the cost metric by estimating the capital and annual costs required to deliver and provide potable water from each type of water supply. Capital costs included cost of purchasing water rights as well as the construction costs of wells, conveyance and treatment facilities. These costs were annualized based on a 30-year horizon at a 6% discount rate. Similarly, annual costs were estimated based on the expected operational and maintenance (O&M) costs for each supply type. These included chemical and membrane costs, labor, energy and other typical O&M expenses.

Figure 1 displays the relative cost of developing each supply across the west. Regions where a supply is unavailable are shown in white. In general, brackish groundwater was found to be the costliest supply due to high treatment and infrastructure costs. Unappropriated groundwater represents a low cost supply relative to alternatives, but was found to be unavailable across much of the west. Municipal wastewater cost was found to

vary widely and is largely dependent on the size of treatment plants and quality of treated water. Appropriated water is the only supply that was found to be available across the entire west, and was typically found to be cost competitive compared to the other potential sources. One limitation to the study is that no costs were assigned to developing unappropriated surface water. However, unappropriated surface water was found to be unavailable across most of the west with some exceptions including Oklahoma and the Dakotas.

The study successfully mapped water availability and cost, and provided insight into the cost of developing various water supplies across the west. The availability of unappropriated water supplies was found to be limited across most of the west, while alternative water supplies such as brackish water and municipal wastewater had high costs. Appropriated water right transfers represent a widely available and cost effective method of meeting growing water supply needs.

A free copy of the report is available here: http://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/9/6/ 064009/meta. ■

Figure 1: Estimatedwatercostmetricsfor(a)unappropriatedgroundwater,(b)appropriatedwater,(c)municipalwastewater,and(d)brackishgroundwater.Warmercolorsindicatehighercosts.

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A W R A S T A T E S E C T I O N A N D S T U D E N T C H A P T E R N E W S

University of Florida Student Chapter Coordinates Let’s Talk About Water Event

UF AWRA STARTED the year off with a splash by coordinating a Let’s Talk About Water (LTAW) event. LTAW is a challenge grant program funded through the NSF-sponsored Consortium of Universities for the Advancement of Hydrologic Science, Inc. (CUAHSI). In partnership with

CUAHSI and the University of Florida Water Institute, UF AWRA created a two-day water awareness program that included the following happenings: • Screeningofthewater-focuseddocumentary

“The Last Call At The Oasis”• Water-themedartshowincludingsubmissionsbystudentartists• Expertpaneldiscussionwithathemeof“FocusingonFlorida’s

Future: preparing the next in line to manage our freshwater”• StudentadmissiontotheUniversityofFloridaWaterInstitute

Research Poster SymposiumIf any other AWRA student chapters are interested in applying to

LTAW, check out www.cuahsi.org/TalkAboutWater and feel free to contact nataliegnelson@ufl.edu for more details about the UF event!

Indiana State Section (IWRA) to Host 37th Annual Symposium

THE INDIANA SECTION (IWRA) of AWRA will convene June 8-10, 2016, for the 37th Annual Indiana Water Resources Association Symposium at the Potawatomi Inn in Pokagon State Park, on beautiful Lake James, in Steuben County, Indiana. “Evaluating the Restoration of Indiana’s Water Resources” is the theme for the Symposium, which will include a combination of presentations and field trips to see restoration in action.

The IWRA provides economic incentive and assistance to students attending Indiana colleges and universities to present papers and posters at the Spring Symposium through the IWRA Student Scholarship Fund. IWRA plans to select one of our student presenters to present at the AWRA National Conference. We want to encourage student participation this year in the form of a poster session before our awards banquet. For more information about section events, please visit the Indiana Section web site Indiana Water Resources Association.

North Carolina StateSection Holds Forum THE NORTH CAROLINA section held its latest forum February 8, 2016 in Raleigh. The topic was “SCITS, WRAPS, and FLOATS - New Tools

to Satisfy Regulatory Needs and Track Water Restoration and Protection Efforts”. The speaker was from the NC Department of Environmental Quality, Division of Water Resources. This presentation focused on workflows, mobile applications and other tools being developed within the Department to address 303(d) listed waters, as well as to evaluate the benefits and return on investment for small and large scale restoration projects in North Carolina.

The 2016 Water Resources Research Institute Annual Conference and NCWRA Symposium was held March 17-18 in Raleigh. The symposium, “Blue to Green: Beyond the Economic Value of Water” featured panelists representing the brewery industry, agriculture, recreation and tourism surrounding water-based industrial revitalization. Lydia Olander of Duke University delivered the keynote speech. ■

Delaware State Section to Host MAC Conference

THE DELAWARE SECTION of AWRA is hosting the 2016 Mid-Atlantic Conference on September 15-16, at the Chase Center located along Wilmington Delaware’s revitalized riverfront. The Mid-Atlantic Sections involved with this conference include the New Jersey State Section,

National Capital Region Section, Pennsylvania State Section, and Philadelphia Metropolitan Section. The Sections of the Mid-Atlantic Region are committed to fostering interdisciplinary communication among persons of diverse backgrounds working on any aspect of water resources.

Highlights of the Conference include two days of technical sessions, including keynote presentations, poster sessions, exhibits, and a banquet. This year’s theme of “Solving Tomorrow’s Water Resource Challenges Today” will address topics such as modernization and protection of water infrastructure, innovative solutions to water resource problems, planning for resiliency in a changing climate, and much more! If you would like to become part of the conversation, please visit www.mac2016.wildapricot.org.

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A W R A I W R M A W A R D

2016 Call for NominationsTHE INTEGRATED WATER RESOURCES MANAGEMENT (IWRM) approach to water resources has been a hallmark of AWRA since its establishment in 1964. The AWRA Policy Statement on Integrated Water Resources Management in the US recommends that water management goals, policies, programs and plans be organized around the concept. AWRA is committed to helping organizations throughout the nation, and the world, further the implementation of IWRM.

To recognize excellence in the use of the IWRM approach to water resources projects, AWRA established an award to recognize outstanding IWRM work on water resources projects. AWRA reserves the right to make multiple awards that recognize and celebrate the application of IWRM principles in diverse settings and circumstances to include large, landscape-level settings, communities, small watersheds, etc. Any consulting, government, nonprofit, or academic organization may submit projects for consideration. The award is presented annually, or at such time as there are qualified nominees. If no suitable projects are received in a given year AWRA reserves the right not to make an award.

Criteria for Award: This award recognizes outstanding IWRM teamwork on a complex water resources project. The project chosen for this award will be conducted by a team representing multiple disciplines such as engineering, biophysical science, economics, social science, law, planning, political science, etc. The project team will have developed a common project mission with defined responsibilities, and collaborated to achieve a water resources management objective organized around IWRM principles. To that end, the project should include:• Sustainableandcommunity-directedeconomicgoals• Restorationandprotectionofenvironmentalqualityasanessentialelementandgoal

• Advancementandprotectionofpublichealthandsafety• Inclusiveparticipationofcommunitymembersandaffectedstakeholders

during all its phases• Enhancementofsocialequityandcommunityvalues• Coordinatedandintegratedplanning,development,protectionandmanagement

of water and related resourcesProjects worthy of this award should include all or most of the following elements associated with IWRM:• Cleanwaterandsanitationasbasichumanrights• Planningforlongtermsustainability• Participatorydecisionmaking• Soundscientificprinciples• Adaptivemanagementandrealisticmeasurementofresults.• Improvementofinstitutionalcapacityatalllevels• UseoftheIWRMteamapproachshouldhaveresultedinsignificantimprovementsin:• Qualityandsustainabilityofsolutions• Abilitytobuildrelationshipsandcreateconsensusamongdiversecommunity

members and stakeholders• Acceptability,efficiencyandeffectivenessofsolutionsDeadline:Applicationsaredueelectronicallyby11:59PMEasternUSTime, June 13, 2016.

Please visit our website at http://www.awra.org/about/awards/iwrm-award.html for more information on the application process. ■

The Nominations Committee of AWRA, chaired by Past President Mark Dunning, announces the following slate of candidates for terms commencing January 1, 2017:

Candidates for AWRA Officers and Directors 2017

PRESIDENT-ELECT: (1-year term)Brenda Bateman, State of Oregon Water Resources Department, Salem, OR

BOARD MEMBERS: (3-year term)Jerad Bales, USGS, Reston, VAMichael Davidson, Altadena, CASharon Megdal, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZMay Wu, Argonne National Labs, Lemont, IL

As set forth in Article III, Section 5D of the AWRA Bylaws “members may nominate additional candidates by submitting a written petition to the Association Headquarters signed by not less than 25 association members in good standing. A letter signed by the nominee expressing a willingness to accept the nomination and

to serve if elected and a brief biographical sketch must accompany the petition. Such petition with the requisite signatures, the acceptance letter, and the biographical sketch must be received no later than May 24, 2016.”

C A N D I D A T E S 2 0 1 7

34 •WaterResourcesIMPACTMay2016

• Wigingtondiscusseswaysinwhichauthorscanstrengthenjournalarticles.• Somerset al. used heat pulses associated with urban storms as a tracer for pavement-derived

stormwater inputs, providing a conservative estimate of the frequency with which these pollutants are transported into and through protected stream reaches downstream of urban areas.

• Wohlet al. propose a decision process for managing large wood in floodplains and streams and for assessing the relative benefits and hazards associated with individual wood pieces and accumulations of wood.

• StephanandEndrenydevelopedadispersalareanonpointsourcemodeltosimulatehowwatershedproperties of elevation, land cover, and soils upslope and downslope of each watershed pixel influence nutrient loading.

• Nullusedaspatially-scaledapproachtoevaluatewatersupplyreliabilitytradeoffsbetweenremoving reservoir storage and improving water conveyance in California.

• Bachmanet al. conducted a watershed-scale assessment to evaluate the influence of turf, urban, forest, native meadow, and mixed landuses on nitrogen export.

• Foxet al. evaluated the effects of white water parks on upstream fish passage by concurrently monitoring fish movement and hydraulic conditions at multiple sites in a wadeable river in northern Colorado.

• McConaghieandCadenassoexaminedtherelativecontributionofurbandrainageinfrastructureand landuse to nitrogen export from a California urban system.

• Leibowitzet al. developed a hydrologic landscape system to characterize hydrologic conditions across the Pacific Northwest states of Oregon, Washington, and Idaho.

• McManuset al. used principal component analysis and linked micromaps to evaluate the influence of water quality and habit factors on biotic conditions in West Virginia streams.

• TabariandWillemsstudiedanomaliesindailyprecipitationextremesbyapplyingthequantileperturbation method (QPM) to data from 31 Iranian weather stations. Analyzing relationships among the anomalies and atmospheric indices identified possible causes of the anomalies. ■

2016 Editorial CalendarJANUARY 2016 Hydrophilanthropy

MARCH 2016 Drought, Response, Adaptation and Long Term Planning in a Changing Environment

MAY 2016 National Hydrography Dataset (NHD)

JULY 2016Water Reuse and Recycling: Once Is Not Enough

SEPTEMBER 2016Issues in National Water Governance

NOVEMBER 2016Morality, Ethics and Water Resource Management

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AWRA’s unique multidisciplinary structure provides your company the opportunity to advertise to readers representing over 60 professions and living in over 65 countries around the world!

Contact Josh Abramowitz, Naylor Association Solutions, 800-369-6220, jabramowitz@naylor.com

FOR MORE INFORMATION VISIT www.awra.org

APRIL 2016

AMERICAN WATER RESOURCES ASSOCIATION

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wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/jawra

Moving to

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in 2016

Highlights of the JAWRA Technical Papers

WATER RESOURCES

Volume 52, Issue 2, April 2016