Electrofishing survey of the River Calder and its tributaries - April 1978.

An electrofishing survey was undertaken in the period April 24th - 28th as part of the detailed biological study of the Calder Catchment being carried out by this department in early 1978. The sites to be fished were selected to indicate broadly the fishing status of the major sections of the main river and its larger tributaries and by no means intended to describe the fishing status of the whole catchment in detail. The results on the distributions of fish species are discussed, in general, in relation to the major polluting influences on the catchment. The results of the second survey are given and discussed separately in Appendix I.

A hydrological assessment of the Delamere Sandsheets and environs

This is the technical report of a hydrogeological assessment of the Delamere sandsheet and environments by the Environment Agency. The overall objective of the study is to carry out Stage 3-appropriate assessment, under the EU Habitats Directive (92/43/EEC), of the influence of activities permitted by the Agency relating to groundwater on candidate Special Areas of Conservation (cSAC). The geology of Delamere area, based on published and collected information is described in Section2. Groundwater flow and water quality are described in Section 3, including sections on groundwater levels, aquifer properties, groundwater discharge and hydrogeochemisty. A water balance for the sandsheet for the period 2001-2002 is presented in Section 4, and the hydrogeological conceptual model of the area is described in Section 5. The assessment of the possible impacts of Agency-permitted groundwater abstractions on Oakmere and Abbots Moss is presented in Section 6 whilst conclusions and recommendations are given in Section 7.

Biological survey of the River Teign and tributaries, with reference to the effect of ball clay discharges

This is the Biological survey of the River Teign and tributaries, with reference to the effect of ball clay discharges report produced by South West Water Authority in 1979. A survey of the macroinvertebrate riffle fauna in the Ball Clay mining area of the Bovey Basin, following a period of low rainfall, indicated that the River Bovey and the River Teign between Chudleigh and Teign Bridge, Newton Abbot were of good quality. Further downstream, the R. Teign and the lower reaches of the Ugbrooke Stream were identified as being of doubtful quality with the discharge from ECC Broadway continuing to give cause for concern.

Evaluation of the economic costs and benefits of methods for reducing nutrient loads to the Gulf of Mexico: Topic 6 Report for the Integrated Assessment on Hypoxia in the Gulf of Mexico.

In this report we analyze the Topic 5 report’s recommendations for reducing nitrogen losses to the Gulf of Mexico (Mitsch et al. 1999). We indicate the relative costs and cost-effectiveness of different control measures, and potential benefits within the Mississippi River Basin. For major nonpoint sources, such as agriculture, we examine both national and basin costs and benefits. Based on the Topic 2 economic analysis (Diaz and Solow 1999), the direct measurable dollar benefits to Gulf fisheries of reducing nitrogen loads from the Mississippi River Basin are very limited at best. Although restoring the ecological communities in the Gulf may be significant over the long term, we do not currently have information available to estimate the benefits of such measures to restore the Gulf’s long-term health. For these reasons, we assume that measures to reduce nitrogen losses to the Gulf will ultimately prove beneficial, and we concentrate on analyzing the cost-effectiveness of alternative reduction strategies. We recognize that important public decisions are seldom made on the basis of strict benefit–cost analysis, especially when complete benefits cannot be estimated. We look at different approaches and different levels of these approaches to identify those that are cost-effective and those that have limited undesirable secondary effects, such as reduced exports, which may result in lost market share. We concentrate on the measures highlighted in the Topic 5 report, and also are guided by the source identification information in the Topic 3 report (Goolsby et al. 1999). Nonpoint sources that are responsible for the bulk of the nitrogen receive most of our attention. We consider restrictions on nitrogen fertilizer levels, and restoration of wetlands and riparian buffers for denitrification. We also examine giving more emphasis to nitrogen control in regions contributing a greater share of the nitrogen load.

Major and trace element analytical methods of the National Status and Trends Program: 2000-2006

This document contains analytical methods that detail the procedures for determining major and trace element concentrations in bivalve tissue and sediment samples collected as part of the National Status and Trends Program (NS&T) for the years 2000-2006. Previously published NOAA Technical Memoranda NOS ORCA 71 and 130 (Lauenstein and Cantillo, 1993; Lauenstein and Cantillo, 1998) detail trace element analyses for the years 1984-1992 and 1993-1996, respectively, and include ancillary, histopathology, and contaminant (organic and trace element) analytical methods. The methods presented in this document for trace element analysis were utilized by the NS&T Mussel Watch and Bioeffects Projects. The Mussel Watch Project has been monitoring contaminants in bivalves and sediment for over 20 years, and is the longest active contaminant monitoring program operating in U.S. costal waters. Approximately 280 Mussel Watch sites are monitored on biennial and decadal timescales using bivalve tissue and sediment, respectively. The Bioeffects Project applies the sediment quality approach, which uses sediment contamination measurements, toxicity tests and benthic macroinfauna quantification to characterize pollution in selected estuaries and coastal embayments. Contaminant assessment is a core function of both projects. Although only one contract laboratory was used by the NS&T Program during the specified time period, several analytical methods and instruments were employed. The specific analytical method, including instrumentation and detection limit, is noted for each measurement taken and can be found at http://NSandT.noaa.gov. The major and trace elements measured by the NS&T Program include: Al, Si, Cr, Mn, Fe, Ni, Cu, Zn, As, Se, Sn, Sb, Ag, Cd, Hg, Tl and Pb.