{"id":7309,"date":"2014-11-01T10:49:33","date_gmt":"2014-11-01T14:49:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/rinsfepscor\/?p=7309"},"modified":"2014-11-01T10:49:33","modified_gmt":"2014-11-01T14:49:33","slug":"study-aims-to-preserve-protect-ri-watersheds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/rinsfepscor\/2014\/11\/01\/study-aims-to-preserve-protect-ri-watersheds\/","title":{"rendered":"Study aims to preserve, protect RI watersheds"},"content":{"rendered":"

The North East Water Resources Network<\/a> (NEWRnet) study is a multi-faceted, many layered project that pulls together people, resources and disciplines in three different states in pursuit of one common goal \u2014 water quality.<\/p>\n

Yet, the implied simplicity of those two words belies the great challenge of the three-year, $6 million project ($2 million to each state), which is as ambitious as it is pioneering.<\/p>\n

We are facing a very critical water quality challenge.\u00a0In order for us to be efficient in the way we are protecting and restoring our water resources, we must understand how and when pollutants move.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR) program, the Research Infrastructure Improvement (RII) Track-2 project <\/a>features the best and brightest minds of Rhode Island, Delaware and Vermont, in the fields of hydrology, biology, chemistry, economics, and marine robotics.<\/p>\n

\"Maidford
The Track-2 project gives students firsthand experience with high tech sensors placed in watersheds to collect data.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Pooling the latest technology with cutting edge science, the Track-2 project is providing researchers with new, incredibly detailed information to better assess, protect and preserve water resources. Although tailored to each of the three states, the project\u2019s framework will set the stage for the next frontier of watershed management.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis study gives us for the first time, real-time data from streams that drain into our drinking water and coastal waters,\u201d explained Professor\u00a0Art Gold, the project\u2019s Principal Investigator for Rhode Island, University of Rhode Island, Department of Natural Resources Sciences.<\/p>\n

Information gathered by the study provides high-resolution information that can capture the movement of pollutants during extreme storm events.<\/p>\n

Sensors provide immediate impact<\/h3>\n

\u201cWe have never had this kind of capacity before,\u201d Gold said. \u201cHistorically, we\u2019d go out and monitor once a week. Now, with sensors, we can remotely sense all intense floods and monitor the pulses of contaminants every 15 minutes or half hour.\u201d<\/p>\n

Researchers immediately noticed the value of the sensors during the July 4 arrival of the 2014 hurricane season\u2019s first storm, Arthur. A two- to three-hour period saw large amounts of sediment swept into the stream and downstream waters. These sediments were associated with a number of other contaminants and suggest the need for better sediment controls. Under the old methods, the event likely would have been missed.<\/p>\n

Given the real time data, communities can make better decisions on behalf of their water resources. To gauge the importance of this capability, we don\u2019t have to look any further than this summer\u2019s crisis in Toledo, Ohio, where a toxic algal bloom made the city\u2019s water unsafe for consumption and use.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are facing a very critical water quality challenge,\u201d Gold said. \u201cIn order for us to be efficient in the way we are protecting and restoring our water resources, we must understand how and when pollutants move.<\/p>\n

\"3
Scientists from Rhode Island, Vermont and Delaware meet at Salve Regina University to work out details and test sensors.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cWhen we talk about water resources, we are very interested in how do we protect and restore drinking water reservoirs, lakes, streams, beaches, and estuaries. These are our receiving waters, the waters we recreate in and drink; the waters that are important for our fisheries.\u201d<\/p>\n

Essentially, the quality of these water resources mirrors what takes place on the land draining into water. They reflect the human activity and the decisions made about how the land is used.<\/p>\n

During rainfall, whatever is on the pavement washes off and flows into the watershed. Subsurface, leaking sewer pipes drain into the watershed as well. On agricultural land, farming practices typically include applications of fertilizer, manure or pesticides, potentially contributing to further pollution.<\/p>\n

How land use decisions are made<\/h3>\n

Extreme weather events, with increased and prolonged downfalls, compound the problem and impact the flow of pollutants. What may stay put in lighter rain flushes into the water under the greater force of an intense storm.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis project has a number of different components,\u201d Gold said. \u201cHow do we deal with the challenges to water resources posed by the intense land use that characterizes Rhode Island? How do our watersheds react to extreme climactic events? How do we sustain high water quality in dry and wet weather conditions?\u201d<\/p>\n

The key is that as we begin to understand the consequences of our land use, from how we farm to where and how much we build and what we pave, we can better appreciate the risks, grasp the scope of the problems we create, target problem areas and quantify the costs of resolution.<\/p>\n

Through the work of the social scientists, the project moves from identifying levels and sources of contamination to designing effective rewards and subsidies for more environmentally conscious land use and decisions.<\/p>\n

\"Maidford
Salve Regina University students Zoe Moskwa, left, and Meaghan Senack spent Summer 2014 with the NEWRnet project, conducting macro invertebrate samplings as part of their work.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cThe problem that we have in the Northeast is that we have very high expectations for our receiving waters, yet we have no backup,\u201d Gold said. \u201cWe need to be pulling water on a daily basis, whether it\u2019s for our drinking water or our tourist industry.\u201d<\/p>\n

With the Rhode Island sensors placed in three distinct locations \u2014 pristine forested, highly urbanized and agricultural \u2014 the Track-2 project offers a comprehensive look of the interactions between weather events and land use practices. Additionally, working back through the tributaries farther inland, researchers can extrapolate a more detailed picture of what contaminants are moving where and how.<\/p>\n

Looking to the future, Gold said the scientists expect to see the cost of the sensor technology decrease and, subsequently, the use increase. What is being done now, he said, could not have been done 10 years ago.<\/p>\n

The Track-2 study is laying the groundwork for other Rhode Island communities and other states to tap into the expertise and knowledge gained through the NEWRnet project, from static sensors placed in streams to the mobile systems being developed to roam the watersheds and economic models capturing human behavior.<\/p>\n

Between the three NEWRnet states, Gold said, the project incorporates about a dozen sites in the study: \u201cWe don\u2019t have a parallel situation. The way we are setting it up and the level of data we\u2019re obtaining is unrivaled. EPSCoR is pioneering the use of real-time sensors for water management in the Northeast.\u201d<\/p>\n

Photo and stories by Amy Dunkle<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The North East Water Resources Network (NEWRnet) study is a multi-faceted, many layered project that pulls together people, resources and disciplines in three different states in pursuit of one common goal \u2014 water quality. Yet, the implied simplicity of those two words belies the great challenge of the three-year, $6 million project ($2 million to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7309","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/rinsfepscor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7309","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/rinsfepscor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/rinsfepscor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/rinsfepscor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/rinsfepscor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7309"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/rinsfepscor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7309\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/rinsfepscor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7309"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/rinsfepscor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7309"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/rinsfepscor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7309"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}