Transforming the impact and effectiveness of responses to “hot spots” and “hot moments” of water contamination.
Issue
All major Pennsylvania river basins have considerable nonpoint source nutrient and sediment pollution. In 2020, nearly one-third of Pennsylvania's streams were impaired, largely from agricultural runoff, abandoned mine runoff, and stormwater. Across the Chesapeake Bay, the Delaware Bay, and the Lake Erie and Ohio River watersheds, the impairment of streams is increasing despite millions of dollars spent to improve water quality. Most nutrients reaching these waterways are transported and transformed during brief periods of time (hot moments) in discrete elements of the landscape (hot spots).
Overcoming complex barriers to the success of water quality investments
Current management solutions largely ignore biophysical hotspots, giving equal credit, irrespective of where on the landscape best management practices (BMPs) are placed. For many BMPs, pollutant removal efficiency is variable through time – successful removal dramatically decreases during large pollution events, or requires multi-year solutions, as is the case with the development of riparian buffers. Typically, these temporal dynamics are not considered when implementing management solutions; and despite overwhelming documentation that maintenance and upkeep is required to maintain pollutant removal efficiency, credit isn't always given for maintenance. Close attention to the temporal variability of BMPs is required to effectively mitigate nonpoint source pollution.
In addition to the biophysical template, complex social, cultural, policy, and economic factors impact the cost effectiveness and willingness to pay for some BMPs over others. Emerging evidence suggests that many management dollars in the U.S. are funneled to a small number of municipalities, especially those in affluent neighborhoods. This initiative aims combine biophysical hotspots and socioeconomic hotspots to create a more realistic and nuanced understanding of sweet spots in the landscape that can produce more effective, cost efficient, and equitable nutrient reductions across the Commonwealth.
Convener
Jonathan Duncan, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Hydrology
Department of Ecosystem Science and Management
Associated Members
Associates
- Bradley Cardinale, Department Head, Ecosystem Science and Management*
- Lara Fowler, Senior Lecturer, Penn State Law & Assistant Director IEE*
- Tyler Groh, Assistant Research Professor*
- Margaret Hoffman, Assistant Professor, Landscape Contracting*
- Heather Karsten, Associate Professor*
- Melissa Kreye, Assistant Professor, Forest Resource Management*
- Jenn Macalady, Professor of Geosciences*
- Heather Preisendanz, Associate Professor*
- Cibin Raj, Assistant Professor, Agricultural and Biological Engineering*
- Matthew Royer, Assistant Research Professor, Director Agriculture & Environment Center*
- Jon Sweetman, Assistant Research Professor, Department of Ecosystem Science & Management*
- Robert Weaver, Professor, Agricultural Economics*
Affiliates
- Elizabeth Boyer, Professor, Water Resources*
- Rachel Brennan, Associate Professor, Environmental Engineering*
- Daniel Brent, Assistant Professor
- Shirley Clark, Professor, Environmental Engineering
- Wayne Curtis, Professor, Chemical Engineering*
- Jill Felker, Lecturer, Biochemistry & Molecular Biology*
- Jennifer Fetter, Extension Educator, Water Resources*
- Michael Fidanza, Professor, Horticulture*
- Jason Keagy, Research Assistant Professor, Ecosystems Science Management
- Peter Kleinman, Adjunct Associate Professor, Soil Science/USDA-ARS
- Melissa Kreye, Assistant Professor, Forest Resource Management*
- Meetpal Kukal, Assistant Research Professor, Agricultural and Biological Engineering*
- Bruce Logan, Kappe Professor, Environmental Engineering*
- Lauren McPhillips, Assistant Professor, Agricultural & Biological Engineering
- Tami Mysliwiec, Associate Professor of Biology, Penn State Berks*
- Meera Surendran Nair, Assistant Clinical Professor Resident, Veterinary Microbiology*
- Andrew Read, Director, Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences*
- John (Jay) Regan, Professor, Environmental Engineering, Civil & Environmental Engineering
- Rui Shi, Assistant Professor, Chemical Engineering*
- Meng Wang, Assistant Professor, Environmental Systems Engineering*
- Nathaniel Warner, Assistant Professor, Civil & Environmental Engineering
- Hong Wu, Stuckeman Career Development Assistant Professor in Design*
- Katherine Zipp, Associate Professor, Environmental & Resource Economics*
