Title: Land Use Changes and Water Quality Impacts: St. Lucie Estuary, Florida
1Land Use Changes and Water Quality Impacts St.
Lucie Estuary, Florida
- Jawed Hameedi
- National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
- Silver Spring, Maryland
- National Water Quality Monitoring Council Meeting
- West Palm Beach, FL
- October 31, 2006
2NOAAs Study ofEnvironmental Toxicity in St.
Lucie Estuary, Florida
- Collaborators and Partners
- Dr. Joan Browder, NOAA (Fish Disease and
Deformities) - Dr. Ed Johnson, NOAA (Contaminants, Database,
Study Coordination) - Dr. Tony Pait, NOAA (Endocrine Disruption)
- Dr. Kimani Kimbrough, NOAA (Information
Synthesis) - Dr. Mike Fulton, NOAA (Clam assay, Microtox,
Field Support) - Dr. Pete Key, NOAA (AChE Test)
- Dr. Laura McConnel, USDA/ARS (Pesticides)
- Dr. Scott Carr, USGS (Sea Urchin Bioassays)
- Dr. Scott Steinert, CSC (Comet Assay)
- Dr. Nancy Denslow, University Florida (Endocrine
Disruption) - Mr. Mark Perry, FOS (Field Operational Support)
- Dr. Jack Anderson, CAS (HRGS Test)
- Dr. Jim Brooks, TDI (Contaminant Analyses)
- Mr. Dave Lewis, TOXSCAN (Amphipod Toxicity)
- Ms. Michele Redmond, NW Aquatic Sciences
(Amphipod Toxicity) - Barry A. Vittor and Associates, Inc. (Benthos)
3St. Lucie Estuary
- St. Lucie Metropolitan
- 381,033 (2005)
- St. Lucie County
- Population 241,305 (est.)
- Percent change
- 1990-2000 28
- 2000-2005 25
- Listed among the fastest growing counties in the
U.S. - Data U.S. Census Bureau
- Graphics SFWMD
4SLE Water Quality Concerns
- Impact of Freshwater Discharge
- Fish health (disease and deformities) osmotic
stress - Oyster mortality, decreased growth, reproduction
and spat recruitment - Resuspension (contaminants, sediment, fungi)
- Muck sediment displaced normal SAV substrate
- Impact of Land-Use Activities
- Agrochemicals
- Industrial chemicals
- Sewage and stormwater
- Legacy contaminants
- Habitat loss and alteration
5El Nino-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) December
1997-April 1998
- Heavy rainfall 30 in (2.65 x normal)
- Extremely large release of water from Lake
Okeechobee - Incidence of disease in fish and mortality
- Toxic dinoflagellate blooms
- Reduced biodiversity (freshwater and estuarine
fish) - Increased muck sediment stirred-up toxics
- SLRIT funded 8 studies in 2000 (and beyond)
Joint Project Agreement with NOAA
6The study area is also a component of the
Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan
Indian River Lagoon South
- Water storage reservoirs
- Freshwater flow diversions
- Stormwater treatment areas
- Wetlands and SAV restoration and enhancement
- Nitrogen and phosphorus reductions
- Restoration of oyster beds
- Removal of muck sediment from hot spots in SLE
7Principal Study Objective
- Characterize St. Lucie Estuary in terms of (1)
levels of contaminants, (2) incidence and
severity of toxicity, and (3) benthic macrofaunal
communities i.e., Sediment Quality Triad (SQT)
approach
8Supplementary Objectives contaminant of concern
- Elucidate cause-effect relationships in terms of
contaminant effects on biota (Fulton, Ringwood) - Develop a simulation model for the estuary that
is capable of describing environmental conditions
under different freshwater discharge scenarios
(AEE) - Formulate a long-term monitoring strategy that
could be adopted for use by resource management
entities, e.g., state, SFWMD, etc.
9Sampling strata and sites (30)
10Spatial Extent of Sediment Toxicity
- Toxicity Bioassays
- Amphipod survival (solid phase)
- Sea urchin fertilization and larval development
(pore water) - Microtox test (organic extract)
- HRGS bioassay (organic extract)
- Contaminant Levels
- Trace elements
- Chlorinated pesticides
- Polychlorinated biphenyls
- Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons
- Butyltins
- Dioxins, dibenzofurans, planar PCBs, new
contaminants - Benthic Biological Community
- Species richness
- Species diversity
- Indicator species (pollution tolerant, pollution
sensitive) - Benthic Index
11Copper in Sediment (µg/ dry g)
NOAA Ocean Service
Copper ERL 34 ERM 270 (µg/ dry g)
12Results of Amphipod Toxicity Testing, Year 2003
sampling
13(No Transcript)
14(No Transcript)
15NOAA Ocean Service
16Aggregated SQT values for two sampling strata in
Galveston Bay. Note the relative sizes and
numerical values of the two strata (550 and
21)(Hameedi, 2004 Hameedi, in prep.)
17Aggregated SQT values for sampling strata in St.
Lucie Estuary
18General Conclusions
- Low levels of toxic contaminants, including
contaminants of emerging concern - Copper a possible chemical of concern
- Relatively speaking, Strata 1 and 2 (North and
South Forks, respectively) are degraded due to
toxic chemicals, incidence of toxicity and
depleted benthic fauna - Pockets or sites with relatively high levels of
toxic chemicals, such as mercury
19Copper a contaminant of concern
- Ambient levels in sediments exceed ERL and TEL
levels (34 and 19 mg/kg) consensus level of
concern 100 mg/kg - Tissue residues in oysters high relative to the
85th percentile of nationwide MW data - EC 50 values Cu spiked assays (LC50 125
mg/kg LOEC 31 mg/kg) - Probability of toxicity based on logistics
regression (nationwide data Field, et al., 2002)
for 100 mg/kg Cu, p0.52 - Biomarker response
20Evidence from biomarkersA. Ringwood
- Bioaccumulation of Cu in deployed oysters
- 375 to 500 mg/kg
- MW 85th percentile 360 ppm
- Three biomarkers
- Lysosomal destabilization
- Glutathione concentration
- Lipid peroxidation levels
- Cu concentrations sufficiently high to be
causing significant sub-lethal effects
21Vitellogenin expression in SLE fish --
feminization of male fish
- Vitellogenin (Vtg) is an egg yolk precursor
protein expressed only in female fish it is
normally dormant in male fish. - However, when male fish are exposed to EDCs the
Vtg gene is expressed in a dose dependent manner
APEs, other contaminants - Vtg is also a carrier binds to materials that
are essential for normal development (it will
also bind to certain pollutants causing
reproductive impairment or failure)
22Presence of plasma Vtg in male fish(Jupiter
Inlet St. Lucie Estuary)Denslow/Kroll 2002
- Irish pompano
- 38 to 100 percent of fish from JI
- 79 percent of fish from SLE
- Mangrove snapper
- 66 percent of fish from JI
- 42 to 100 percent fish from SLE
- Spottail pinfish a sequential hermaphrodite
23What Next?
- Copper as a contaminant of concern
- Follow-up copper sampling in 2005 (FL DEP) more
than 100 sites - Mass balance and source attribution of copper
- Forecasting of copper loading and distribution
(modeling and monitoring) under different source
control scenarios - BMPs implementation
- TMDL calculations
24Whats next for FL grapefruit?
- Grapefruit growers receive the lowest share of
the retail price (14 percent) - U.S. consumer demand has been declining
throughout the 2000s - Increased variety of fruit available in winter
- Grapefruit is not a convenient food
- Association side effects -- between grapefruit
and certain medicines (cholesterol blood
pressure arrhythmic heart) - Citrus canker, citrus greening quarantine?
- Hurricanes Frances and Jeanne (2004)
- Devastating and long-lasting damage to orchards
in St. Lucie and Indian River counties.
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