Cheryl Nenn: Milwaukee RiverkeeperJason Schroeder: Water Quality Assistant

Reducing Bacterial Contamination in Waterways

Milwaukee Riverkeeper

Our mission is to protect water quality and wildlife habitat and advocate for sound land use in the Milwaukee, Menomonee, and Kinnickinnic River Watersheds. Our vision is for fishable and swimmable waters in our rivers and Lake Michigan.

We are the Milwaukee Riverkeeper®

One of 188+ Waterkeepers around the world licensed by the Waterkeeper Alliance, based in New York

We are an independent watchdog for the river We respond to citizen concerns and complaints We find solutions to environmental problems affecting our waterways We have a physical presence on the river, coordinate citizen based

stream monitoring, and bacterial monitoring/illicit discharge detection

www.milwaukeeriverkeeper.org

SEWRPC Regional Water Quality Plan

Riverkeeper served on the Technical Advisory Committee

Menomonee model robust with data at 18 assessment points (USGS, DNR, MMSD, citizens)

Modeling showed fecal coliform levels in one section of the Menomonee River (between Burleigh and 60th) that regularly exceeded the recreational use standard (200 colonies/100 mls) by 15 times.

Max fecal coliform was 1,500 times the standard!

Diagnosing a Problem

Modeling showed bacterial levels much higher than anticipated from stormwater runoff alone—subsurface flows suspected

Model predictions did not calibrate with field collected data, and bacteria were high during “dry” weather in this section

Likely source of bacteria from aged and failing sanitary sewage and stormwater infrastructure (illicit discharges and cross connections)

Why Fecal Coliform?

Fecal coliform was selected for modeling because they can be used as an indicator of human sewage

We have water quality standards for fecal coliform in WI (NR 102)

Large amount of data existed for fecal coliform due to regulatory standard.

Fecal used as recreational use standard for beach closings (E. coli standard also exists)

Why Fecal Coliform?

Fecal coliform as well as E. coli serve as indicators of a broader range of threats to human health including pathogens associated with human sewage and animal waste

Pathogens include viruses and bacteria such as Salmonella spp., Vibrio cholerae, Shigella dysenteries, and protozoa such as Cryptosporidium and Giardia.

SEWRPC Recommendations

Fecal not sufficient indicator of threat to human health

SEWRPC recommended new program to focus on pathogens from human sources that are most likely to be harmful to human health (animal sources could also pose threats)

SEWRPC recommended aggressive program for detection and elimination of illicit discharges (also required under national and State stormwater regs)

Also recommended human health and risk assessments to assess pathogens in stormwater runoff (exposure routes, dose-response, etc)

E. coli, Enterococcus, Bacteroides, oh my

E. coli — found in many animals/short lived/but can be counted “dead”

Enterococcus — more human specific/lives longer/less accurate

Bacteroides marker—common marker that is unique to humans and not found in other hosts (cows, raccoons, etc).

Sometimes genes can be inhibited by other pollutants (heavy metals, etc); DNA extraction can be inefficient

Gene targetDNA

Overall Project Overview

Where should we study? 8 mile area of Menomonee River and adjacent tributaries that discharge to this area

What parameters should we monitor for? E. coli, Enterococcus, Bacteroides (for selected “suspicious” outfalls)

Who will test (who will pay), when, and how? Riverkeeper does sample collection; UWM-GLWI does testing; tests during dry and wet weather

Planning phase

GIS data acquisition - can be a lengthy process Obtain data for study area Does area cover multiple municipalities? (One stop

shopping?)

Types of GIS data Stormwater outfalls (local Sewerage District) Storm sewers (local Sewerage District) Aerial imagery (local planning department) Hydrology layers (State DNR, USDA Geospatial Data

Gateway)

Planning phase continued…

GIS analysis to prioritize outfalls Which outfalls drain the largest areas? Which outfalls are likely to contain human bacteria?

Residential areas Industrial areas Agriculture areas

Print maps for identification & field samplingSend coordinates from GIS to GPS for hard to

find outfallsCreate form for field sampling

Form modified from: Center for Watershed Protection @ www.cwp.org

Sampling methods – Year One

Grab all outfalls running in dry weather

Grab as many outfalls during rain events as possible

Sample directly at outfall via sampling pole

Samples immediately stored on ice to preserve bacteria

Sampling methods continued

GLWI cultures for E. coli and Enterococcus on plates

Count bacteria colonies

High bacteria counts are candidates for DNA testing for human marker (Bacteroides)

Resample/verification

Many samples have questionable resultsDiluted from stormwater or interference from

organic substances, metals, etc…

Further testing/retesting

Sample all outfalls not tested in wet weather during the first year

Classify tested outfalls as: “BAD” – need no further testing “GOOD” – need no further testing (requires 2 negative results) “QUESTIONABLE” – need further testing

Prioritize questionable outfalls for retesting: Outfalls with highest bacteria counts and negative for human

marker Outfalls with largest drainage area for 2nd year

Reasons for using a GIS

Repository for outfall results and field notes

Reasons for using a GIS continued…

Provide analysis for outfall prioritization

Produce professional quality maps Provide documentation to Municipalities

Export to Google Maps or Google Earth for public viewing Google Earth (basic KML editor) Import KML to Google Maps

Use of Google Earth

Basic functions of a GIS to the desktop for free

Satellite imagery already there

Easy to share GIS data for others to view Export layers from GIS as a KML file KML file is an overlay on Google Earth Publish KML file on web site or email sharing

Use as a KML editor Display and edit text, data, and images easily

“Export to KML” Google Earth or Maps

Google Maps and alternatives

Constantly getting easier to make maps

Advantage: Anyone can view – no special software

Quick access

Balloons allow display of data, pictures, text

Promote our work to the general public, fundraise

Can integrate our Citizen Based Stream Monitoring and Cleanup Sites

Bacteria statistics

93 samples analyzed for E. coli & Enterococcus

E. coli ranged from 0 – 630,000 and greater (Too Numerous To Count)

Enterococcus ranged from 0 – 1,300,000 Median = 2,620 Mean = 48,941 Geometric Mean = 3,465

Bacteroides statistics

144 total outfalls identified

93 total samples analyzed 48 during baseflow 45 during wet weather

74 unique outfalls (19 samples – duplicates) 46 during baseflow & wet weather 28 during wet weather only

(40.5%) of outfalls sampled tested positive for human Bacteroides (30 of 74 outfalls)

GIS Resources

GIS software: ArcGIS desktop for non-profits (ArcView, $175, 3D Analyst, Spatial Analyst, $195) -

www.techsoup.org ArcGIS grants program (ArcView, ArcEditor, ArcINFO, extensions - Minimum $100) -

http://www.esri.com/grants/ GRASS GIS (Open source, free) - http://grass.osgeo.org/ Google Earth (free) - http://earth.google.com/

GIS tools: Minnesota DNR GPS tool for ArcGIS (free) -

http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/mis/gis/tools/arcview/extensions/DNRGarmin/DNRGarmin.html

ESRI Export to KML script (City of Portland, free download) - http://arcscripts.esri.com/details.asp?dbid=14273

KML to Shapefile converter (online web browser, free) - http://www.zonums.com/online/kml2shp.php

Shapefile to KML converter (free download) - http://www.zonums.com/shp2kml.html

GIS data: USDA Geospatial Data Gateway - http://datagateway.nrcs.usda.gov/ U.S. Geodata – www.geodata.gov

Working with Municipalities

Opportunity for partnerships with municipalities for illicit discharge detection and public outreach

Help municipalities prioritize repairs

Outreach to private homeowners regarding need for lateral repairs (e.g. 78th and Mt. Vernon); city pilot project

Encouraging/supporting requests for stimulus, SRF funding, Great Lakes Restoration funding, etc.

Milwaukee area alone needs $1B in sewer repairs

Stimulus/Infrastructure Funding

State of WI SRF program: $200M per year

Stimulus funds for wastewater in 2009: $106M

Requested “shovel ready” projects for SRF in Wisconsin for 2009 (Intent to Apply): $1.2B

Need for additional funds

Need for new technologies (pipe sealing, end of the pipe treatments, etc)?

Help is on the way?!

Southeastern Wisconsin Watershed Trust (SWWT) - goal to implement programs and practices that will most cost-effectively improve water quality

Joyce funded NGOs — received funding to help create and implement watershed restoration plans (based on SEWRPC plans) for the Menomonee and KK Watersheds.

Milwaukee 7 Water Council – focused on advancing technologies to improve water quality/making Milwaukee a freshwater tech “hub”and UN Global Compact City

UW-Milwaukee - investing in new school of Freshwater Sciences and expansion of Great Lakes Water Institute

And not a moment too soon!

Milwaukee Riverkeeper

Phone: (414) 287-0207Cheryl Nenn x229

cheryl_nenn@milwaukeeriverkeeper.orgJason Schroeder x235

jason_schroeder@milwaukeeriverkeeper.orgwww.milwaukeeriverkeeper.org

Bacteria Resources

Great Lakes Water Institute (McLellan Lab) - http://www.glwi.uwm.edu/research/genomics/ecoli/index_sep08.php

Bacteria research publications: Bower, P.A., Scopel, C.O., Jensen, E.T., Depas, M.M. & McLellan, S.L.

2005. Detection of genetic markers of fecal indicator bacteria in Lake Michigan and determination of their relationship to Escherichia coli densities using standard microbiological methods.Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 71(12): 8305-8313

McLellan, S.L. 2004. Genetic diversity of Escherichia coli isolated from urban rivers and beach water. Appl. Environ. Microbiol.70(8):4858-65

McLellan, S.L., Daniels, A.D. & Salmore, A.K. 2003. Genetic characterization of Escherichia coli populations from host sources of fecal pollution by using DNA fingerprinting. Appl. Environ. Microbiol.69(5):2587-94