United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
Office of Water
4304
EPA822-B-00-009
December 2000
Ambient Water Quality
Criteria Recommendations
Information Supporting the Development
of State and Tribal Nutrient Criteria

Lakes and Reservoirs in
Nutrient Ecoregion VII

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                                                EPA-822-B-00-009

      AMBIENT WATER QUALITY CRITERIA RECOMMENDATIONS
INFORMATION SUPPORTING THE DEVELOPMENT OF STATE AND TRIBAL
                        NUTRIENT CRITERIA
                                FOR


        LAKES AND RESERVOIRS IN NUTRIENT ECOREGION VII



                      Mostly Glaciated Dairy Region

                    including all or parts of the States of:

New York, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois

                and the authorized Tribes within the Ecoregion
              U.S. ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

                          OFFICE OF WATER
                 OFFICE OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
             HEALTH AND ECOLOGICAL CRITERIA DIVISION
                          WASHINGTON, D.C.
                           DECEMBER 2000

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                                      FOREWORD

       This document presents EPA's nutrient criteria for Lakes and Reservoirs in Nutrient
Ecoregion VII. These criteria provide EPA's recommendations to States and authorized Tribes
for use in establishing their water quality standards consistent with section 303(c) of CWA.
Under section 303(c) of the CWA, States and authorized Tribes have the primary responsibility
for adopting water quality standards as State or Tribal law or regulation. The standards must
contain scientifically defensible water quality criteria that are protective of designated uses.
EPA's recommended section 304(a) criteria are not laws or regulations - they are guidance that
States and Tribes may use as a starting point for the criteria for their water quality standards.

       The term "water quality criteria" is used in two sections of the Clean Water Act, Section
304(a)(l) and Section 303(e)(2).  The term has a different impact in each section. In Section 304,
the term represents a scientific assessment of ecological and human health effects that EPA
recommends to States and authorized Tribes for establishing water quality standards that
ultimately provide a basis for controlling discharges or releases of pollutants or related
parameters.  Ambient water quality criteria associated with specific waterbody uses when
adopted as State or Tribal water quality standards under Section 303 define the level of a
pollutant (or, in the case of nutrients, a condition) necessary to protect designated uses in ambient
waters. Quantified water quality criteria contained within State or Tribal water quality standards
are essential to a water quality-based approach to pollution control. Whether expressed as
numeric criteria or quantified translations of narrative criteria within State or Tribal water quality
standards, quantified criteria serve as a critical basis for assessing attainment of designated uses
and measuring progress toward meeting the water quality goals of the Clean Water Act.

       EPA is developing section 304(a) water quality criteria for nutrients because States and
Tribes consistently identify excessive levels of nutrients as a major reason why as much as half
of the surface waters surveyed in this country do not meet water quality objectives, such as full
support of aquatic life.  EPA expects to develop nutrient criteria that cover four major types of
waterbodies - lakes and reservoirs, rivers and streams, estuarine and coastal areas, and wetlands
- across fourteen major ecoregions of the United States. EPA's section 304(a) criteria are
intended to provide for the protection and propagation of aquatic life and recreation. To support
the development of nutrient criteria, EPA is publishing Technical Guidance Manuals that
describe a process for assessing nutrient conditions in the four waterbody types.

       EPA's section 304(a) water quality criteria for nutrients provide numeric water quality
criteria, as well as procedures by which to translate narrative criteria within State or Tribal water
quality standards. In the case of nutrients, EPA section 3 04(a) criteria establish values for causal
variables (e.g., total nitrogen and total phosphorus) and response variables (e.g., turbidity and
chlorophyll a).  EPA believes that State and Tribal water quality standards need to include
quantified endpoints for causal and response variables to provide sufficient protection of uses
and to maintain downstream uses. These quantified endpoints will most often be expressed as
                                                                                       11

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numeric water quality criteria or as procedures to translate a State or Tribal narrative criterion
into a quantified endpoint.

              EPA will work with States and authorized Tribes as they adopt water quality
criteria for nutrients into their water quality standards.  EPA recognizes that States and
authorized Tribes require  flexibility in adopting numeric nutrient criteria into State and Tribal
water quality standards. States and authorized Tribes have several options available to them.
EPA recommends the following approaches, hi order of preference:

       (1) Wherever possible, develop nutrient criteria that fully reflect localized conditions and
       protect specific designated uses using the process described in EPA's Technical Guidance
       Manuals for nutrient criteria development. Such criteria may be expressed either as
       numeric criteria or as procedures to translate a State or Tribal narrative criterion into a
       quantified endpoint in State or Tribal water quality standards.

       (2) Adopt EPA's section 304(a) water .quality criteria for nutrients, either as numeric
       criteria or as procedures to translate a State or Tribal narrative nutrient criterion into a
       quantified endpoint.

       (3) Develop nutrient criteria protective of designated uses using other scientifically
       defensible methods and appropriate water quality data.
                                               Geoffrey tf. Gru£bs, Director
                                               Office of jScience and Technology
                                                                                      in

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                                   DISCLAIMER

       This document provides technical guidance and recommendations to States, authorized
Tribes, and other authorized jurisdictions to develop water quality criteria and water quality
standards under the Clean Water Act (CWA) to protect against the adverse effects of nutrient
overenrichment. Under the CWA, States and authorized Tribes are to establish water quality
criteria to protect designated uses.  State and Tribal decision-makers retain the discretion to adopt
approaches on a case-by-case basis that differ from this guidance when appropriate and
scientifically defensible.  While this document contains EPA's scientific recommendations
regarding ambient concentrations of nutrients that protect aquatic resource quality, it does not
substitute for the CWA or EPA regulations; nor is it a regulation itself. Thus it cannot impose
legally binding requirements on EPA, States, authorized Tribes, or the regulated community, and
it might not apply to a particular situation or circumstance. EPA may change this guidance in the
future.
                                                                                        IV

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                              EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Nutrient Program Goals
       EPA developed the National Strategy for the Development of Regional Nutrient Criteria
(National Strategy) in June 1998. The strategy presents EPA's intentions to develop technical
guidance manuals for four types of waters (lakes and reservoirs, rivers and streams, estuaries and
coastal waters, and wetlands) and produce section 304(a) criteria for specific nutrient ecoregions
by the end of 2000. In addition, the Agency formed Regional Technical Assistance Groups
(RTAGs) which include State and Tribal representatives working to develop more refined and
more localized nutrient criteria based on approaches described in the waterbody guidance
manuals. This document presents EPA's current recommended criteria for total phosphorus, total
nitrogen, chlorophyll a, and turbidity for lakes and reservoirs in Nutrient Ecoregion VII ( Mostly
Glaciated Dairy Region) which were derived using the procedures described in the Lakes and
Reservoirs Nutrient Criteria Technical Guidance Manual (U.S. EPA, 2000a).

       EPA's ecoregional nutrient criteria are intended to address cultural eutrophication— the
adverse effects of excess nutrient inputs. The criteria are empirically derived to represent
conditions of surface waters that are minimally impacted by human activities and protective of
aquatic life and recreational uses. The information contained in this document represent starting
points for States and Tribes to develop (with assistance from EPA) more refined nutrient criteria.

       In developing these criteria recommendations, EPA followed a process which included,
to the extent they were readily available, the following elements critical to criterion derivation:
       Historical and recent nutrient data in Nutrient Ecoregion VII
       Data sets from Lake Champlain MPD, Legacy STORET, NYCDEP, EPA Region 1 were
       used to assess nutrient conditions from 1990 to 1998.
       Reference sites/reference conditions in Nutrient Ecoregion VII
       Reference sites/reference conditions in Nutrient Ecoregion VII were based on the lake
       population distribution approach using a representative sample of all lakes within the
       Ecoregion (see Nutrient Criteria Technical Guidance Manual-Lakes and Reservoirs, April
       2000, EPA-822-BOO-001). States and Tribes are urged to determine their own reference
       sites for lakes and reservoirs within the ecoregion at different geographic scales and to
       compare them to EPA's reference conditions.

       Models employed for prediction or validation
       EPA did not identify any specific models used in the ecoregion to develop nutrient
       criteria. States and Tribes  are encouraged to identify and apply appropriate models to
       support nutrient criteria development.

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 •     RTAG expert review and consensus
       EPA recommen.ds that when States and Tribes prepare their nutrient criteria, they obtain
       the expert review and consent of the RTAG.

 •     Downstream effects of criteria                     ,
       EPA encourages the RTAG to assess the potential effects of the proposed criteria on
       downstream water quality and uses.

       In addition, EPA followed specific QA/QC procedures during data collection and
 analysis: All data were reviewed for duplications.  All data are from ambient waters that were
 not located directly outside a permitted discharger.  The following States indicated that their data
 were sampled and analyzed using either Standard methods or EPA approved methods:  New
 York, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois.

 The following tables contain a summary of Aggregate and level III ecoregion values for TN, TP,
 water column chl a, and turbidity:
BASED ON 25th PERCENTILE ONLY
Nutrient Parameters
Total phosphorus (/wg/L)
Total nitrogen (mg/L)
Chlorophyll a (/ugfL) (Fluorometric method)
Secchi depth (meters)
Aggregate Nutrient Ecoregion VII
Reference Conditions
14.75
0.66 reported (0.57 calculated)
2.63
3.33
For sub ecoregions, 51, 52, 53, 56, 60, 61, and 83, the ranges of nutrient parameter reference
conditions are:
                                                                                   VI

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BASED ON 25th PERCENTILE ONLY
Nutrient Parameters
Total phosphorus (/ug/L)
Total nitrogen (mg/L)
Chlorophyll a C"g/L) (Fluorometric
method)
Secchi depth (meters)
Range of Level HI Subecoregions
Reference Conditions
10-37.50
0.21 - 1.18
2.84 - 19.44
1.52 - 4.75
                                                                       Vll

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                NOTICE OF DOCUMENT AVAILABILITY

This document is available electronically to the public through the INTERNET at:
(http://www.epa.gov/OST/standards/nutrient.html). Requests for hard copies of the document
should be made to EPA's National Service Center for Environmental Publications (NSCEP),
11029 Kenwood Road, Cincinnati, OH 45242 or (513) 489-8190 or toll free (800) 490-9198.
Please refer to EPA document number EPA-822-R-00-009.
                                                                              vm

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                              ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

      The authors thankfully acknowledge the contributions of the following State and Federal
reviewers: EPA Regions 2, 3, and 5; the States of New York, Pennsylvania, Michigan,
Wisconsin, Minnesota, Ohio, Indiana, Iowa, and Illinois and the Tribes within the Ecoregion;
EPA Headquarters personnel from the Office of Wetlands, Oceans and Watersheds, Office of
Wastewater Management, Office of General Counsel, Office of Research and Development, and
the Office of Science and Technology.  EPA also acknowledges the external peer review efforts
of Eugene Welch (University of Washington), Robert Carlson (Kent State University), Steve
Heiskary (Minnesota Pollution Control Agency), Greg Denton and Sherry Wang (Tennessee
Department of Environment and Conservation), and Gerhard Kuhn (U.S. Geological Survey).
                                                                                   IX

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                          LISTS OF TABLES AND FIGURES
Figures

Figure 1

Figure 2

Figure 3

Figure 4a

Figure 4b

Tables

Table 1


Table 2

Table 3a-g
Aggregate EcoregionVTI	7

Aggregate Ecoregion VII with level III ecoregions shown  	9

Sampling locations within each level III ecoregion  	12

Illustration of data reduction process for lake data	22

Illustration of reference condition calculation	23 .



Lake and reservoir records for Aggregate Ecoregion - Mostly
Glaciated Dairy Region	13

Reference conditions for Aggregate Ecoregion VII lakes   	15

Reference conditions for level III ecoregion lakes  	16

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                               TABLE OF CONTENTS


Foreword 	r	  ii

Disclaimer 	.".	iv

Executive Summary	'.	v

Notice of Document Availability	viii

Acknowledgments	ix

List of Tables and Figures	x

Table of Contents	xi

1.0 Introduction	1

2.0 Best Use of this Information	4

3.0 Area Covered by This Document (waterbody type and ecoregion)	 6
       3.1  Description of Aggregate Ecoregion VII—Mostly Glaciated Dairy Region  	6
       3.2 Geographical Boundaries of Aggregate Ecoregion VII	7
       3.3  Level III Ecoregions within Aggregate Ecoregion VH	7
4.0 Data Review for Lakes and Reservoirs in Aggregate Ecoregion VII  	 9

       4.1  Data Sources	  10
       4.2 Historical Data from Aggregate Ecoregion VII (TP, TN, Chi a, Turbidity)	  10
       4.3  QA/QC of Data Sources	  10
       4.4 Data for All Lakes/Reservoirs within Aggregate Ecoregion VII  	  10
       4.5  Statistical Analysis of Data	  14
       4.6 Classification of Lake/Reservoir Type  	21
       4.7. Summary of Data Reduction Methods	  21

5.0 Reference Sites and Conditions in Aggregate Ecoregion VII	  24

6.0 Models Used to Predict or Verify Response Parameters  	  24

7.0 Framework for Refining Recommended Nutrient Criteria for Lakes and Reservoirs in
 Aggregate Ecoregion VII	  24
                                                                                    xi

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       7.1 Example Worksheet for Developing Aggregate Ecoregion and Subecoregion Nutrient
          Criteria	  24
       7.2  Tables of Refined Nutrient Water Quality Criteria for Aggregate Ecoregion VII and
           Level IH Subecoregions	  25
       7.3  Setting Seasonal Criteria	  27
       7.4  When Data/Reference Conditions Are Lacking	  27
       7.5  Site-Specific Criteria Development  	  28

8.0  Literature Cited  	; ..  28

9.0 Appendices	  29
                                                                                  xn

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1.0    INTRODUCTION
Background

Nutrients are essential to the health and diversity of our surface waters. However, in excessive
amounts, nutrients cause hypereutrophication, which results in overgrowth of plant life and
decline of the biological community. Excessive nutrients can also result in potential human
health risks, such as the growth of harmful algal blooms - most recently manifested in the
Pfiesteria outbreaks of the Gulf and East Coasts.  Chronic nutrient overenrichment of a waterbody
can lead to the following consequences: low dissolved oxygen, fish kills, algal blooms,
overabundance of macrophytes, likely increased sediment accumulation rates, and species shifts
of both flora and fauna.

       Historically, National Water Quality Inventories have repeatedly shown that nutrients are a
major cause of ambient water quality use impairments. EPA's 1996 National Water Quality
Inventory report identifies excessive nutrients as the leading cause of impairment in lakes and the
second leading cause of impairment in rivers (behind siltation). In addition, nutrients were the
second leading cause of impairments reported by the States in their 1998 lists of impaired waters.
Where use impairment is documented, nutrients contribute roughly 25-50% of the impairment
nationally.  The Clean Water Act establishes a national goal to achieve, wherever attainable, water
quality which provides for the protection and propagation of fish, shellfish, and wildlife and
recreation in and on the water.  In adopting water quality  standards, States and Tribes designate
uses for their waters in consideration of the Clean Water Act goals, and establish water quality
criteria that contain sufficient parameters to protect those uses. To date, EPA has not published
information and recommendations under section 304(a) for nutrients to assist States and Tribes in
establishing numeric nutrient criteria to protect uses when adopting water quality standards.

       In 1995, EPA gathered a set of national experts and asked the experts how to best deal
with the national nutrient problem.  The experts recommended that the Agency not develop single
criteria values for phosphorus or nitrogen applicable to all water bodies and regions of the
country.  Rather, the  experts recommended that EPA put  a premium on regionalization, develop
guidance (assessment tools and control measures) for specific waterbodies and ecological regions
across the country, and use reference conditions (conditions that reflect pristine or minimally
impacted waters) as a basis for developing nutrient criteria.

       With these suggestions as starting points, EPA developed the National Strategy for the
Development of Regional Nutrient Criteria (National  Strategy), published in June 1998.  This
strategy presented EPA's intentions to develop technical  guidance manuals for four types of
waters (lakes and reservoirs, rivers and streams, estuaries and coastal waters, and wetlands) and,
thereafter, to publish section 304(a) criteria recommendations for specific nutrient ecoregions.
Technical guidance manuals for lakes/reservoirs and rivers/streams were published in April 2000
and July 2000, respectively.  The technical guidance manual for estuaries/coastal waters will be
published in spring 2000 and the draft wetlands technical guidance manual will be published by
December 2001. Each manual presents EPA's recommended approach for developing nutrient

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 criteria values for a specific waterbody type. In addition, EPA is committed to working with
 States and Tribes to develop more refined and more localized nutrient criteria based on
 approaches described in the waterbody guidance manuals and this document.

 Overview of the Nutrient Criteria Development Process

       For each Nutrient Ecoregion, EPA developed a set of recommendations for two causal
 variables (total nitrogen and total phosphorus) and two early indicator response variables
 (chlorophyll a and some measure of turbidity). Other indicators such as dissolved oxygen and
 macrophyte growth or speciation, and other fauna and flora changes are also deemed useful.
 However, the first four are considered to be the best suited for protecting designated uses.

       The technical guidance manuals describe a process for developing nutrient criteria that
 involves consideration of five factors. The first of these is the Regional Technical Assistance
 Group (RTAG), which is a body of qualified regional specialists able to objectively evaluate all of
 the available evidence and select the value(s) appropriate to nutrient control in the water bodies of
 concern. These specialists may come from such disciplines as limnology, biology, natural
 resources management— especially water resource management, chemistry, and ecology. The
 RTAG evaluates and recommends appropriate classification techniques for criteria determination,
 usually physical within an ecoregional construct.

       The second factor is the historical information available to establish a perspective of the
 resource base. This is usually data and anecdotal information available within the past ten-twenty
 five years.  This information gives evidence about the background and enrichment trend of the
 resource.

       The third factor is the present reference condition.  A selection of reference sites chosen to
 represent the least culturally impacted waters of the class existing at the present time.  The data
 from these sites is combined and a value from the distribution of these observations is selected to
 represent the reference condition, or best attainable, most natural condition of the resource base at
 this time.

       A fourth factor often employed is theoretical or empirical models of the historical and
 reference condition data to better understand the condition of the resource.

       The RTAG comprehensively evaluates the other three elements to propose a candidate
 criterion (initially one each for TP, TN, chl a, and some measure of turbidity).

       The last and final element of the criteria development process is the assessment by the
RTAG of the likely downstream effects of the criterion. Will there be a negative, positive, or
neutral effect on the downstream waterbody? If the RTAG judges that a negative effect is likely,
then the proposed State/Tribal water quality criteria should be revised to ameliorate the potential
for any adverse downstream,effects.

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       While States and authorized Tribes would not necessarily need to incorporate all five
elements into their water quality criteria setting process (e.g., modeling may be significant in only
some instances), the best assurance of a representative and effective criterion for nutrient
management decision making is the balanced incorporation of all five elements, or at least all
elements except modeling.

       Because some parts of the country have naturally higher soil and parent material
enrichment, and different precipitation regimes, the application of the criterion development
process has to be adjusted by region. Therefore, an ecoregional approach was chosen to develop
nutrient criteria appropriate to each of the different geographical and climatological areas of the
country.  Initially, the continental U.S. was divided into 14 separate ecoregions of similar
geographical characteristics.  Ecoregions are defined as regions of relative homogeneity in
ecological systems; they depict areas within which the mosaic of ecosystem components (biotic
and abiotic as well as terrestrial and aquatic) is different than adjacent areas in a holistic sense.
Geographic phenomena such as soils, vegetation, climate, geology, land cover, and physiology
that are associated with spatial differences in the quantity and quality of ecosystem components
are relatively similar within each ecoregion.

       The Nutrient ecoregions are aggregates of U.S. EPA's hierarchal level HI ecoregions. As
such, they are more generalized and less defined than level III ecoregions. EPA determined that
setting ecoregional criteria for the large scale aggregates is not without its drawbacks - variability
is high due to the lumping of many waterbody classes, seasons, and years worth of multipurpose
data over a large geographic area.  For these reasons, the Agency recommends that States and
Tribes develop nutrient criteria at the level III ecoregional scale and at the waterbody class scale
where those data are readily available. Data analyses and recommendations on both the large
aggregate ecoregion scale as well as more refined scales (level III ecoregions and waterbody
classes), where  data were available to make such assessments, are presented for comparison
purposes and completeness of analysis.

Relationship of Nutrient Criteria to Biological Criteria

       Biological criteria are quantitative expressions of the desired condition of the aquatic
community. Such criteria can be based on an aggregation of data from sites that represent the
least-impacted and attainable condition for a particular waterbody type in an ecoregion,
subecoregion, or watershed. EPA's nutrient criteria recommendations and biological criteria
recommendations have many similarities in the basic approach to their development and data
requirements. Both are empirically derived from statistical analysis of field collected data and
expert evaluation of current reference conditions and historical information.  Both utilize direct
measurements from the environment to integrate the effects of complex processes that vary
according to type and location of waterbody. The resulting criteria recommendations, in both
cases, are efficient and holistic indicators of water quality necessary to protect uses.

       States and authorized Tribes can develop and apply nutrient criteria and biological criteria
in tandem, with each providing important and useful information to interpret both the nutrient

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 enrichment levels and the biological condition of sampled waterbodies. For example, using the
 same reference sites for both types of criteria can lead to efficiencies in both sample design and
 data analysis.  In one effort, environmental managers can obtain information to support
 assessment of biological and nutrient condition, either through evaluating existing data sets or
 through designing and conducting a common sampling program. The traditional biological
 criteria variables of benthic invertebrate and fish sampling can be readily incorporated to
 supplement a nutrient assessment. To demonstrate the effectiveness of this tandem approach,
 EPA has initiated pilot projects in both freshwater and marine environments to investigate the
 relationship between nutrient overenrichment and apparent declines in diversity indices of benthic
 invertebrates and fish.

 2.0    BEST USE OF THIS INFORMATION

       EPA recommendations published under section 304(a) of the CWA serve several
 purposes, including providing guidance to States and Tribes in adopting water quality standards
 for nutrients that ultimately provide a basis for controlling discharges or releases of pollutants.
 The recommendations also provide guidance to EPA when promulgating Federal water quality
 standards under section 303(c) when such action is necessary. Other uses include identification of
 overenrichment problems, management planning, project evaluation, and determination of status
 and trends of water resources.

       State water quality inventories and listings of impaired waters consistently rank nutrient
 overenrichment as a top contributor to use impairments.  EPA's water quality standards
 regulations at 40 CFR §131.11 (a) require States and Tribes to adopt criteria that contain sufficient
 parameters and constituents to protect the designated uses of their waters.  In addition, States and
 Tribes need quantifiable targets for nutrients in their standards to assess attainment of uses,
 develop water quality-based permit limits and source control plans, and establish targets for total
 maximum daily loads (TMDLs).

       EPA expects States and Tribes to address nutrient overenrichment in their water quality
 standards, and to build on existing State and Tribal initiated efforts where possible. States and
 Tribes can address nutrient overenrichment through establishment of numerical criteria or through
use of new or existing narrative criteria statements (e.g., free from excess nutrients that cause or
 contribute to undesirable or nuisance aquatic life or produce adverse physiological response in   .
humans, animals, or plants).  In the case of narrative criteria, EPA expects that States and Tribes
 establish procedures to quantitatively translate  these statements for both assessment and source
 control purposes.

       The intent of developing ecoregional nutrient criteria is to represent conditions of surface
waters that are minimally impacted by human activities and thus protect against the adverse
 effects of nutrient overenrichment from cultural eutrophication. EPA's recommended process for
 developing such criteria includes physical classification of waterbodies, determination of current
reference conditions, evaluation of historical data and other information (such as published
literature), use of models to simulate physical and ecological processes or determine empirical
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relationships among causal and response variables (if necessary), expert judgement, and
evaluation of downstream effects. To the extent allowed by the information available, EPA has
used elements of this process to produce the information contained in this document.  The values
for both causal (total nitrogen, total phosphorus) and biological and physical response
(chlorophyll a, turbidity) variables represent a set of starting points for States and Tribes to use in
establishing their own criteria in standards to protect uses.

       In its water quality standards regulations, EPA recommends that States and Tribes
establish numerical criteria based on section 304(a) guidance, section 304(a) guidance modified to
reflect site-specific conditions, or other scientifically defensible methods. For many pollutants,
such as toxic chemicals, EPA expects that section 304(a) guidance will provide an appropriate
level of protection without further modification in most cases. EPA has also published methods
for modifying 304(a) criteria on a site-specific basis, such as the water effect ratio, where site-
specific conditions warrant modification to achieve the intended level of protection. For nutrients,
however, EPA expects that, in most cases, it will be necessary for States  and authorized Tribes to
identify with greater precision the nutrient levels that protect aquatic life and recreational uses.
This can be achieved through development of criteria modified to reflect conditions at a smaller
geographic scale than an ecoregion such as a subecoregion, the State or Tribe level, or specific
class of waterbodies. Criteria refinement can occur by grouping data or performing data analyses
at these smaller geographic scales. Refinement can also occur through further consideration of
other elements of criteria development, such as published literature or models.

       The values presented in this document generally represent nutrient levels that protect
against the adverse effects of nutrient overenrichment and are based on information available to
the Agency at the time of this publication. However, States and Tribes should critically evaluate
this information in light of the specific designated uses that need to be protected. For example,
more sensitive uses may require more stringent values as criteria to ensure adequate protection.
On the other hand, overly stringent levels of protection  against the adverse effects of cultural
eutrophication may actually fall below levels that represent the natural load  of nutrients for certain
waterbodies. In cases such as these, the level of nutrients specified may  not be sufficient to
support a productive fishery. In the criteria derivation process, it is important to distinguish
between the natural load associated with a specific waterbody and current reference conditions,
using historical data and expert judgement. These elements of the nutrient criteria derivation
process are best addressed by States and Tribes with access to information and local expertise.
Therefore, EPA strongly encourages States and Tribes to use the information contained in this
document and to develop more refined criteria according to the methods described in EPA's
technical guidance manuals for specific waterbody types.

       To assist in the process of further refinement of nutrient criteria,  EPA has established ten
Regional Technical Advisory Groups (experts from EPA Regional Offices and States/Tribes). In
the process of refining criteria, States and authorized Tribes need to provide documentation of
data and analyses, along with a defensible rationale, for any new or revised  nutrient criteria they
submit to EPA for review and approval.  As part of EPA's review of State and Tribal standards,
EPA intends to seek assurance from the RTAG that proposed criteria are sufficient to protect uses.

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       In the process of using the information and recommendations contained in this document,
as well as additional information, to develop numerical criteria or procedures to translate narrative
criteria, EPA encourages States and Tribes to:

•      Address both chemical causal variables and early indicator response variables. Causal
       variables are necessary to provide sufficient protection of uses before impairment occurs
       and to maintain downstream uses.  Early response variables are necessary to provide
       warning signs of possible impairment and to integrate the effects of variable and
       potentially unmeasured nutrient loads.
•      Include variables that can be measured to determine if standards are met, and variables
       that can be related to the ultimate sources of excess nutrients.
•      Identify appropriate periods of duration (i.e., how long) and frequency (i.e., how often) of
       occurrence in addition to magnitude (i.e., how much). EPA does not recommend
       identifying nutrient concentrations that must be met at all times, rather a seasonal or
       annual averaging period (e.g., based on weekly measurements) is considered appropriate.
       However, these seasonal or annual central tendency measures should apply each season or
       each year, except under the most extraordinary of conditions (e.g., a 100 year flood).

3.0    AREA COVERED BY THIS DOCUMENT

       The following sections provide a general description of the aggregate ecoregion and its
geographical boundaries.  Descriptions of the level III ecoregions contained within the aggregate
ecoregion are also provided.

3.1    Description of Aggregate Ecoregion VII - Mostly Glaciated Dairy Region

       Region VII has a short, growing season and is dominated by forests, dairy operations, and
livestock farming. It was mostly glaciated and includes flat lake plains, rolling till plains,
hummocky stagnation moraines, hills, and low mountains. Many wetlands and lakes occur.

              Soil,  climate, vegetation, land use, and surficial water characteristics  are
transitional between those of Region VIII and those of regions to the south.  Overall, it is not as
flat nor as cropland-dominated as the Corn Belt and Northern Great Plains (VI) and  not as lake-
studded nor as forest-dominated as Region VIII.  The Mostly Glaciated Dairy Region (VII) has a
mix of nutrient-rich and nutrient-poor soils that contrast with the mostly fertile soils of Region VI
and the relatively thin, nutrient-poor soils of Region VIII.

              Surficial water characteristics are also transitional between more northerly and
more southerly regions and  have been affected by land use. Many lakes are found in Region VII;
their median total phosphorus concentration is less than half of Region VFs and about twice that
of Region VUI's median concentration. Livestock, cropland agriculture, and urban areas have
contributed nutrients and fecal coliform bacteria to streams.  Total nitrogen, and total phosphorus
concentrations from nonpoint sources are usually above the levels found in Region VIII but below
those measured in the Corn  Belt and Northern Great Plains (VI).

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                                                Aggregate Nutrient Ecoregion 7
       Figure 1.      Aggregate Ecoregion VII

3.2    Geographical Boundaries of Aggregate Ecoregion VII

       Ecoregion VII is a mostly contiguous region spanning the northern midwest and northeast
States. From the west, the region encompasses the middle portion of Minnesota, the southern
2/3rds of Wisconsin and Michigan. Small areas of Illinois, Iowa, Indiana, Ohio and Pennsylvania
are included in the region. New York (with the exception of the small areas included in ecoregion
VIII) forms the eastern boundary of the ecoregion.
3.3    Level III Ecoregions Within Aggregate Ecoregion VII

51. Northern Central Hardwood Forests
The North Central Hardwood Forests is transitional between the predominantly forested Northern
Lakes and Forests to the north and the agricultural ecoregions to the south. Land use/land cover
in this ecoregion consists of a mosaic forests, wetlands and lakes, cropland agriculture, pasture,
and dairy operations.

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 The hilly uplands of the Driftless Area easily distinguish it from the surrounding ecoregions.
 Much of the area consists of a loess-capped plateau, deeply dissected by streams.  Also called the
 Paleozoic Plateau, because there is evidence of glacial drift in this region, the glacial deposits
 have done little to affect the landscape compared to the subduing influences in adjacent
 ecoregions. Livestock and dairy farming are major land uses and have had a major impact on
 stream quality.

 53. Southeastern Wisconsin Till Plains
 The Southeastern Wisconsin Till Plains supports a mosaic of vegetation types, representing a
 transition between the hardwood forests and oak savannas of the ecoregions to the west and the
 tall-grass prairies of the Central Corn Belt Plains to the south. Like the Corn Belt Plains, land use
 in the Southeastern Wisconsin Till Plains is mostly cropland, but the crops are largely forage and
 feed grains to support dairy operations, rather than corn and soybeans for cash crops.

 56. Southern Michigan/Northern Indiana Drift Plains
 Bordered by Lake Michigan on the west, this ecoregion is less agricultural than those to the south,
 it is more well drained and  contains more lakes than the flat agricultural lake plain to the east, and
 its soils are not as nutrient poor as the region to the north. The region is characterized by many
 lakes and marshes as well as an assortment of landforms, soil types, soil textures, and land uses.
 Broad till plains with thick  and complex deposits of drift, paleobeach ridges, relict dunes,
 morainal hills, kames, drumlins, meltwater channels, and kettles occur.  Feed grain, soybean, and
 livestock farming as well as woodlots, quarries, recreational development, and urban-industrial
 areas are common.

 60. Northern Appalachian  Plateau and Uplands
 The Northern Appalachian Plateau and Uplands comprise a transition region between the less
 irregular, more agricultural and urbanized Erie/Ontario Drift and Lake Plain and Eastern Great
 Lakes and Hudson Lowlands ecoregions to the north and west and the more mountainous and
 forested, less populated North Central Appalachians and Northeastern Highlands ecoregions to the
 south and east.  Much of this region is farmed and in pasture, with hay and grain for dairy cattle
being the principal crops, but large areas are in forests of oak and northern hardwoods.

 61. Erie Drift Plains
 Once largely covered by a maple-beech-birch forest, much of the Erie Drift Plain is now in farms,
many associated with dairy operations. The Eastern Corn Belt Plains, which border the region on
the west, are flatter, more fertile, and therefore more agricultural. The glaciated Erie Drift Plain is
characterized by low rounded hills, scattered end moraines, kettles, and areas of wetlands, in
contrast to the adjacent unglaciated ecoregions to the south and east that are more hilly and less
agricultural. Areas of urban development and industrial activity occur locally.

83. Eastern Great Lakes and Hudson Lowlands

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                                                        Aggregate Nutrient Ecoregion 7
                                                               Ecoregion ID
              Figure 2.     Aggregate Ecoregion VII with level III ecoregions shown

This glaciated region of irregular plains bordered by hills generally contains less surface
irregularity and more agricultural activity and population density than the adjacent Northeastern
Highlands and Northern Appalachian Plateau and Uplands ecoregions. Although orchards,
vineyards, and vegetable farming are important locally, a large percentage of the agriculture is
associated with dairy operations. The portion of this ecoregion that is in close proximity to the
Great Lakes experiences an increased growing season, more winter cloudiness, and greater
snowfall.
Suggested Ecoregional subdivisions or adjustments.

EPA recommends that the RTAG evaluate the adequacy of EPA nutrient ecoregional and
subecoregional boundaries and refine them as needed to reflect local conditions.
4.0    DATA REVIEW FOR LAKES AND RESERVOIRS IN AGGREGATE
       ECOREGION VH

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       The following section describes the nutrient data EPA has collected and analyzed for this
 Ecoregion, including an assessment of data quantity and quality. The data tables present the data
 for each causal parameter— total phosphorus and total nitrogen (both reported and calculated from
 TKN and nitrite/nitrate), and the primary response variables— some measure of turbidity and
 chlorophyll a. These are the parameters which EPA considers essential to nutrient assessment
 because the first two are the main causative agents of enrichment and the two response variables
 are the early indicators of system enrichment for most of the surface waters
 (See Chapter 5 of the Lakes and Reservoirs Nutrient Criteria Guidance Manual (U.S. EPA, 2000a)
 for a complete discussion on choosing  causal and response variables.)

 4.1    Data Sources

       Data sets from Lake Champlain MPD, Legacy STORET, NYCDEP, EPA Region 1 were •
 used to assess nutrient conditions from 1990-1999.  EPA recommends that the RTAGs identify
 additional data sources that can be used to supplement the data sets listed above.  In addition, the
 RTAGs may utilize published literature values to support quantitative and qualitative analyses.
4.2    Historical Data from Aggregate Ecoregion VII (TP, TN, Chlor a and Secchi Depth)
        Almost all lakes in this region have been subject to increasing land development pressures
over the last 50 years. TN and TP have increased over the last 25 year record as secchi depth has
decreased.  However, reports in 1998 and 1999 have suggested a recent reduction. To gain
additional perspective on more recent trends, it is recommended that States and Tribes assess
nutrient trends over the last 10 years (e.g., what do seasonal trends indicate?)
4.3    QA/QC of data sources

       An initial quality screen of data was conducted using the rules presented in Appendix C.
Data remaining after screening for duplications and other QA measures (.e.g., poor or unreported
analytical records, sampling errors or omissions, stations associated with outfalls, storm water
sewers, hazardous waste sites) were the data used in statistical analyses.

       States within Ecoregion VII were contacted regarding the quality of their data. The
following States provided information on the methods used to sample and analyze their waters:
New York, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois. In all cases, States indicated a Standard
method or an approved EPA method was used. Wisconsin and Pennsylvania did not respond at
this time.
                                                                                     10

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4.4    Data for all Lakes/Reservoirs within Aggregate Ecoregion VII

       The map in Figure 3 shows the location of the sampling stations within each sub
ecoregion.  Table 1 presents all data records for all parameters for Aggregate Ecoregion VII and
subecoregions within the Aggregate Ecoregion.
                                                                                      11

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             Aggregate Nutrient Ecoregion 7
               Lake and Reservoir Stations
                      ^
              Minnescte /"'

                f^<"1' ^ ^
        t i^r^^w^r"^ -^ ^-
         Leva! Ill Ecoreglons

           51
           52
           53
56 [~383 |—| US Stales
60
61
                                   100
< Stations
                                          100  200 Mites
 N




+
Figure 3    Sampling locations within each level III ecoregion.
                                                         12

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-------
                               Definitions used to complete Table 1:

                  1. # of records refers to the total count of observations for that
                  parameter over the entire decade (1990-1999) for that particular
                  aggregate or subecoregion. These are counts for all seasons over
                  that decade.

                  2. # of lake stations refers to the total number of lake and
                  reservoir stations within the aggregate or subecoregion from
                  which nutrient data were collected. Since lakes and reservoirs
                  can cross ecoregional boundaries, it is important to note that only
                  those portions of a lake or reservoir (and data associated with
                  those stations) that exist within the ecoregion are included within
                  this table.
4.5    Statistical Analysis of Data

       EPA's Technical Guidance Manual for Developing Nutrient Criteria for Lakes and Reservoirs
describes two ways of establishing a reference condition.  One method is to choose the upper 25th
percentile (75th percentile) of a reference population of lakes. This is the preferred method to establish
a reference condition. The 75th percentile was chosen by EPA since it is likely associated with
minimally impacted conditions, will be protective of designated uses, and provides management
flexibility. When reference lakes are not identified, the second method is to determine the lower 25th
percentile of the population of all lakes within a region. The 25th percentile of the entire population was
chosen by EPA to represent a surrogate for an actual reference population.  Data analyses to date
indicate that the lower 25th percentile from an entire population roughly approximates the 75th percentile
for a reference population (see case studies for Minnesota lakes in the Lakes and Reservoirs Nutrient
Criteria Technical Guidance Document [U.S. EPA, 2000a], the case study for Tennessee streams in the
Rivers and Streams Nutrient Criteria Technical Guidance Document [U.S. EPA, 2000b], and the letter
from Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation to Geoffrey Grubbs [TNDEC, 2000]).
New York State has also presented evidence that the 25th percentile and the 75th percentile compare well
based on user perceptions of water resources (NYSDEC, 2000).


       The following tables 2 and 3a-g, present the potential reference conditions for both the
aggregate ecoregion and the subecoregions using both methods.  However, the reference lake column
is left blank because EPA does not have observed reference data and anticipates that States will provide
information on reference lakes. Appendix A provides a complete presentation of all descriptive
statistics  for both the aggregate ecoregion and the level III subecoregion.
                                                                                           14

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                    Table 2.Reference conditions for aggregate ecoregion VII.
Parameter
TKN (mg/L)
NO2 + NO3 (mg/L)
TN (mg/L) - calculated
TN (mg/L) - reported
TP (ug/L)
Secchi (meters)
Chlorophyll a («g/L) - F
Chlorophyll a («g/L) - S
Chlorophyll a («g/L) - T
No. of
Lakes
N~
i
514
355
NA
35
787
854
124
302
364
Reported values
Min
0.05
0
0.05
0.37
1.13
0.15
0.53
1.06
1.25
Max
4.29
5.40
9.67
2.69
852.5
8.35
64.34
112.5
140.5
25th Percentiles based on all
seasons data for the Decade
P25* all seasons +
0.56
0.008
0.57
0.66
14.75
3.33
2.63
5.23
5.12
Reference Lakes
**
P75 all seasons









       P25:
       P75:
       **
        F
        S
        T
        NA
© data being checked
25th percentile of all data
75th percentile of all data
as determined by the Regional Technical Assistance Groups (RTAGs)
Median for all seasons' 25th percentiles. E.g. this value was calculated from four seasons' 25th
percentiles. If the seasonal 25th percentile (P25) TP values are - spring lOwg/L, summer ISugfL, fall
12wg/L, and winter 5wg/L, the median value of all seasons P25 will be 1 Iwg/L.
N = largest value reported for a decade / Season.
TN calculated is based on the sum of TKN + NO2+NO3
TN reported is actual TN value reported in the database for one sample.
Chlorophyll a measured by Fluorometric method with acid correction.
Chlorophyll a measured by Spectrophotometric method with acid correction.
Chlorophyll a b c measured by Trichromatic method.
Not Applicable
  Table(s) 3a.- g present the potential reference conditions for lakes and reservoirs in the Level HI
    subecoregions within the Aggregate Ecoregion. The footnotes for Table 2 apply to tables 3a-g.
                                                                                                       15

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 Table 3a.Reference conditions for level III ecoregion 51.
Parameter
TKN(mg/L)
NO2 + NO3(mg/L)
TN (mg/L) - calculated
TN (mg/L) - reported
TP (ug/L)
Sccchi (meters)
Chlorophyll a (ug/L) - F
Chlorophyll a (ug/L) - S
Chlorophyll a fue/L) - T
No. of
Lakes
f N+*
3SS
215
NA
22
469
559
20
273
234
Reported
values
Min
0.05
0.002
0.052
0.65
1.38
0.25
1.93
1.06
1.25
Max
4.14
2.28
6.42
2.67
852.5
7.40
3.48
112.50
111.65
25th Percentiles based on all
seasons data for the Decade
P25* all seasons +
0.65
0.008
0.66
0.81
20
3.20
2.02
5.0
5 51
Reference Lakes
**
P75 all seasons









Table 3b.Reference conditions for level III ecoregion 52.
Parameter
TKN (mg/L)
NO2 + NO3(mg/L)
TN (mg/L) - calculated
TN (mg/L) - reported
TP (ug/L)
Sccchi (meters)
Chlorophyll a (ug/L) - F
Chlorophyll a (ug/L) - S
Chlorophyll a (ug/L) - T
No. of
Lakes
N"
25
10
NA
-
32
29
-
14
21
Reported values
Min
0.29
0.13
0.42
-
4.00
0.32
-
2.47
2.67
Max
3.16
4.35
7.51
-
527.50
5.18
-
50.00
109.3
2S'k Percentiles based on all
seasons data for the Decade
P25* all seasons +
0.58
0.60
1.18
-
37.5
2.1
-
6.84
11.46
Reference Lakes **
P75 all seasons









                                                                     16

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Table 3c.Reference conditions for level III ecoregion 53.
Parameter
TKN (mg/L)
N02 + N03 (mg/L)
TN (mg/L) - calculated
TN (mg/L) - reported
TP (Hg/L)
Secchi (meters)
Chlorophyll a (ug/L) - F
Chlorophyll a (ug/L) - S
Chlorophyll a (ug/L) - T
No. of
Lakes
N"
62
15
NA
-
125
108
-
12
106
Reported values
Min
0.11
0.003
0.113
-
2.13
0.2
-
4.51
1.90
Max
3.58
3.45
7.03
-
570.0
7.15
-
90.7
118.22
25th Percentiles based on all
seasons data for the Decade
P25* all seasons +
0.54
0.04
0.58
-
12.19
3.19
-
19.44
4.77
Reference Lakes **
P75 all seasons









Table 3d.Reference conditions for level III ecoregion 56.
Parameter
TKN (mg/L)
NO2 + NO3 (mg/L)
TN (mg/L) - calculated
TN (mg/L) - reported
TP («g/L)
Secchi (meters)
Chlorophyll a (ug/L) - F
Chlorophyll a (ug/L) - S
Chlorophyll a (ug/L) - T
No. Of
Lakes
N"
107
106
NA
-
Ill
95
-
-
-
Reported values
Min
0.31
0
0.31
-
6.0
0.76
-
-
—
Max
1.55
0.73
2.28
-
160
4.57
-
-
—
25* Percentiles based on all
seasons data for the Decade
P25* all seasons +
0.43
0
0.43
-
10.0
3.35
-
-
	
Reference Lakes **
P75 all seasons









                                                                      17

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Table 3e.Reference conditions for level III ecoregion 60.
Parameter
TKN (mg/L)
NO2 + NO3(mg/L)
TN (mg/L) - calculated
TN (mg/L) - reported
TP (;/g/L)
Sccchi (meters)
Chlorophyll a («g/L) - F
Chlorophyll a (wg/L) - S
Chlorophyll a (ug/L) - T
No. of
Lakes
. N44
13
24
NA
4
33
40
35
-
-
Reported values
Min
0.10
0.01
0.11
1.30
9.0
0.9
1.13
-
-
Max
1.53
0.59
2.12
1.40
214.0
6.0
18.95
-.
-
25" Percentiles based on all
seasons data for the Decade
P25* all seasons 4
0.2 zz
0.01
0.21
1.31 zz
11.75
4.0
3.41
-
-
Reference Lakes **
P75 all seasons









Table 3f.Reference conditions for level III ecoregion 61.
1 Parameter
TKN (mg/L)
NO2 + NO3(mg/L)
TN (mg/L) - calculated
TN (mg/L) - reported
TP (ug/L)
Sccchi (meters)
Chlorophyll a (ug/L) - F
Chlorophyll a (ug/L) - S
Chlorophyll a (ug/L) - T
No. of
Lakes
N44
35
34
NA
7
42
16
3z
3z
3z
Reported values
Min
0.36
0.02
0.38
0.63
6.25
0.31
12.73
23.05
28.77
Max
1.48
0.30
1.78
1.75
202.50
1.75
28.49
90.93
114.58
25" Percentiles based on all
seasons data for the Decade
P25* all seasons +
0.51
0.025
0.54
0.85 zz
28.25
1.52
12.73 zz
23.05
28.77
Reference Lakes **
P75 all seasons









                                                                     18

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Table Sg.Reference conditions for level III ecoregion 83.
Parameter
TKN (mg/L)
NO2 + NO3(mg/L)
TN (mg/L) - calculated
TN (mg/L) - reported
TP («g/L)
Secchi (meters)
Chlorophyll a («g/L) - F
Chlorophyll a («g/L) - S
Chlorophyll a (ug/L) - T
No. of
Lakes
N~
21
54
NA
22 S
83
100
66
-
-
Reported values
Min
0.17
0.01
0.18
0.42
4.0
0.5
0.73
-
-
Max
1.01
1.05
2.06
0.44
107.5
8.35
64.34
-
-
25th Percentiles based on all
seasons data for the Decade
P25* all seasons +
0.25
0.01
0.26
0.42
11.25
4.75
2.84
-
-
Reference Lakes **
P75 all seasons









                                                                      19

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         Definitions used in filling Tables 2 and 3  - Reference Condition tables

         1.  Number of Lakes in Table 2 refers to the largest number of lakes and
         reservoirs for which data existed for a given season within an aggregate nutrient
         ecoregion.

         2.  Number of Lakes in Table 3 refers to the number of lakes and reservoirs for
         which data existed for the summer months since summer is generally when the
         greatest amount of nutrient sampling is conducted. If another season greatly
         predominates, notification is made (s=spring, f=fall, w=winter).

         3.  Medians. All values (min, max, arid 25th percentiles) included in the table are
         based on waterbody medians.  All data for a particular parameter within a lake
         for the decade were  reduced to one median for that lake. This prevents over-
         representation of individual waterbodies with a great deal of data versus those
         with fewer data points within the statistical analysis.

         4. 25th percentile for all seasons is calculated by taking the median of the 4
         seasonal 25th percentiles. If a season is missing, the median was calculated with 3
         seasons of data.  If less than 3 seasons were used to derive the median, the entry is
         flagged (z).

         5. A 25th percentile for a season is best derived with data from a minimum of 4
         lakes/season.  However, this table provides 25th percentiles that were derived with
         less than 4 lakes/season in order to retain all information for all seasons.  In
         calculating the 25th percentile for a season with less than 4 lake medians, the
         statistical program automatically used the minimum value within the less-than-4
        population. If less than 4 lakes were used in developing a seasonal quartile and or
         all-seasons median, the entry is flagged (zz).
Preferred data choices and recommendations when data is missing

I. Where data are missing or are very low in total records for a given parameter, use 25th percentiles for
parameters within an adjacent, similar subecoregion within the same aggregate nutrient ecoregion or
when a similar subecoregion can not be determined, use the the 25th percentile for the Aggregate
ecoregion or consider the lowest 25th percentile from a subecoregion (level III) within the aggregate
nutrient ecoregion.  The rationale being that without data, one may assume that the subecoregion in
question may be as sensitive as the most sensitive subecoregion within the aggregate.

2.  TN calculated: When reported Total Nitrogen (TN) median values are lacking or very low in
comparison to TKN and Nitrate/Nitrite-N values, the medians for TKN and nitrite/nitrate-N were
                                                                                         20

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added, resulting in a calculated TN value.  The number of samples (N) for calculated TN is not filled in
since it is represented by two subsamples of data:  TKN and nitrite/nitrate-N. Therefore, N/A is placed
in this box.                                  .

3. TN reported: This is the median based on reported values for TN from the database.

4. Chlorophyll a: Medians based on all methods are reported, however, the acid corrected medians are
preferred to the uncorrected medians.  In developing a reference condition from a particular method, it
is recommended that the method with the most observations be used. Fluorometric and
Spectrophotometric are preferred over all other methods. However, when no
data exist for Fluorometric and Spectrophotometric methods, Trichromatic values may be used. Data
from the variance techniques are not interchangeable.

5. Periphyton: Where periphyton data exist, record them separately  For periphyton-dominated
streams, a measure of periphyton chlorophyll is a more appropriate response variable than planktonic
chlorophyll a. See Table 4, p. 101 of the Rivers and Streams Nutrient Technical Guidance Manual (U.
S. EPA, 2000b) for values of periphyton and planktonic chlorophyll a related to eutrophy in streams.

6. Secchi depth:  The 75th percentile is reported for Secchi depth since this is the only variable for
which the value of the parameter increases with greater clarity.  (For lakes and reservoirs only.)

7. Turbidity units: All turbidity units from all methods are reported. FTUs and NTUs are preferred
over JCUs. If FTUs and NTUs do not exist, use JCUs. These units are not interchangeable. Turbidity
is chosen as a response variable in streams since it can be an indicator of increasing algal biomass due
to nutrient enrichment. See pages 32 -33 of the Rivers and Streams Nutrient Technical Guidance
Manual for a discussion of turbidity and correlations with algal growth.

8. Lack of data: A dash (-) represents missing, inadequate, or inconclusive data. A zero (0) is reported
if the reported median for a parameter is 0 or if the component value is below detection.

4^6.    Classification of Lake/Reservoir Type

       It is anticipated that assessing the data by lake class will further reduce the variability in the data
analysis. There was no readily available classification data in the National datasets used to develop these
criteria to make this assessment for this ecoregion and set of subecoregions.  States and Tribes are strongly
encouraged to classify their lakes before developing a  final criterion.

4.7.    Summary of Data Reduction Methods

       All descriptive statistics were calculated using the medians for each lake within ecoregion VII,
for which data existed. For example, if one lake had 300 observations for phosphorus  over the  decade
or one year's time, one median resulted.  Each median from each lake was then used in calculating the
percentiles for phosphorus for the aggregate nutrient ecoregion/subecoregion (level in ecoregion) by
season and year (Figure 4a & b).
                                                                                            21

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        Observations for All Lakes/Reservoirs
          Ecoregion
   "Winter
Rainy Lake Median
Fish Reservoir Median
Swan Lake Median
Moon Lake...
"nnrber...
    Spring
                                  Data Reduced
                                      to
                                  Median Value
                                    for each
                                  Lake/Reservoir
                                      by
                                     Season
   Summer
     Fall
Rainy Lake Median
Rsh Reseivoir Median
Swan Lake Median
Moon Lake...
Tinnber...
Rainy Lake Median
Rsh Reseivoir Median
Swan Lake Median
Moon Lake...
Timber...
Rainy Lake Median
Rsh Reservoir Median
Swan Lake Median
Moon Lake...
Tirrber...
     Figure 4a.    Illustration of data reduction process for lake data.
                                                                                         22

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    25th
        Winter
 •p

 TKN      f 25%
NO2+NO3
5ECCHI    f 75%
}
                  25%
                                    Select 25th Percentile
                                      from Distribution
                                         of Median
                                          Values
                                                   25%
                       Spring
                                                      ,  Summer
                                        Calculate Median
                                        -  Value of the
                                        25th Percentiles
                                      for the Four Seasons
                              Half values
                              Below Median
                                             Half values
                                             Above Median

1
25%
Season A

1
25%
Season B

1
25%
Season C

1
25%
Season D
25%
      Fall
                                            Median = Reference Condition for the Ecoregion
                                    Figure 4b.    Illustration of reference condition calculation.
                                                                                                              23

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 5.0    REFERENCE SITES AND CONDITIONS IN AGGREGATE ECOREGION VII

       Reference conditions represent the natural, least impacted conditions or what is considered to be
 the most attainable conditions. This section compares the different reference conditions determined
 from the two methods and establishes which reference condition is most appropriate.

 A priori determination of reference sites. The preferred method for establishing reference condition is
 to choose the upper percentile of an a priori population of reference lakes.  States and Tribes are
 encouraged to identify reference conditions based on this method.

 Statistical determination of reference conditions (25th percentile of entire database.) See Tables 2 and
 3a-g in section 4.0.

 RTAG discussion and rationale for selection of reference sites and conditions in Ecoregion VII.
 The RTAG should compare the results derived from the two methods described above and present a
 rationale for the final selection of reference sites.

 6.0    MODELS USED TO PREDICT OR VERIFY RESPONSE PARAMETERS

       The RTAG is encouraged to identify and apply relevant models to support nutrient criteria
 development.  The following are three scenarios under which models may be used to derive criteria or
 support criteria development.

 •      Models for predicting correlations between causal and response variables

 •      Models used to verify reference conditions based on percentiles

 •      Regression models used to predict reference conditions in impacted areas
7.0    FRAMEWORK FOR REFINING RECOMMENDED NUTRIENT CRITERIA FOR
       LAKES AND RESERVOIRS IN AGGREGATE ECOREGION VII

       Information on each of the following six weight of evidence factors is important to refine the
criteria presented in this document. All elements should be addressed in developing criteria, as is
expressed in our nutrient criteria technical guidance manuals. It is our expectation that EPA Regions,
States, and Tribes (as RTAGs) will consider these elements as States/Tribes develop their criteria. This
section should be viewed as a work sheet (sections are left blank for this purpose) to assist in the
refinement of nutrient criteria. If many of these elements are ultimately unaddressed, EPA may rely on
the proposed reference conditions presented in Tables 3a-g and other literature and information readily
available to the HQ nutrient team to develop nutrient water quality recommendations for this ecoregion.

7.1    Example Worksheet for Developing Aggregate Ecoregion and Subecoregion Nutrient
                                                                                         24

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      Criteria
      Literature sources
      Historical data and trends
      Reference condition
      Models
      RTAG expert review and consensus
      Downstream effects
7.2   Tables of Refined Nutrient Water Quality Criteria for Aggregate Ecoregion VII and Level
      III Subecoregions for TP, TN, Chi a, Turbidity (where sufficient data exist)

                                                                                        25

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Aggregate Ecoregion VII- Mostly
Glaciated Dairy Region
Total Phosphorus (yUg^L)
Total Nitrogen (mg/L)
Chlorophyll a C"g/L or mg/m2)
Secchi depth (meters)
Other (Index; other parameter such as DO)
Proposed Criterion





       Literature sources
       Historical data and trends
•      Reference condition
       Models
                                                                                           26

-------
      RTAG expert review and consensus
      Downstream effects
Ecoregion #51- North Central Hardwood
Forests
Total Phosphorus (Mg/L)
Total Nitrogen (mg/L)
Chlorophyll a (/ug/L or mg/m2)
Secchi depth (meters)
Other (Index; other parameter such as DO)
Proposed Criterion





7.3    Setting Seasonal Criteria

       The criteria presented in this document are based in part on medians of all the 25th percentile
seasonal data (decadal), and as such are reflective of all seasons and not one. particular season or year.
It is recommended that States and Tribes monitor in all seasons to best assess compliance with the
resulting criterion. States/Tribes may choose to develop criteria which reflect each particular season or
a given year when there is significant variability between seasons/years or designated uses that are
specifically tied to one or more seasons of the year (e.g., recreation, fishing). Using the tables in
Appendix A arid B, one can set reference conditions based on a particular season or year and then
develop a criterion based on each individual season. Obviously, this option is season-specific and
would also require increased monitoring within each season to assess compliance.


7.4     When Data/Reference Conditions are Lacking

        When data are unavailable to develop a reference condition for a particular parameter(s) within
a subecoregion, EPA recommends one of three options:  1. Use data from a similar neighboring
subecoregion. E.g., If data are few or nonexistent for the northern cascades, consider using the data and
reference condition developed for the cascades; or 2.  Use the 25th perecentiles for the Aggregate
ecoregion or 3.  Consider using the lowest of the yearly medians for that parameter calculated for all the
                                                                                              27

-------
 subecoregions within the Aggregate Ecoregion.


 7.5    Site-specific Criteria Development


       Criteria may be refined in a number of ways. The best way to refine criteria is to follow the
 critical elements of criteria development as well as to refer to the Lakes and Reservoirs technical
 guidance manual (U. S. EPA, 2000a).


       The Lakes and Reservoirs Nutrient Criteria Technical Guidance Manual presents sections on
 each of the following factors to consider in setting criteria


 -  refinements to ecoregions (Chapter 3)
 -  classification of waterbodies (Chapter 3)
 -  setting seasonal criteria to reflect major seasonal climate differences (Chapter 7)
 -  accounting for significant or cyclical rainfall events - high flow/low flow conditions (Chapter 7)
 -  setting criteria for reservoirs only (The technical guidance manual recommends that data be
   separated for lakes and reservoirs and treated independently if possible because of differing physical
   conditions that occur in lakes and reservoirs. In this document all data from both reservoirs and
   lakes were considered together since STORET does not allow for the differentiation of data except
   by waterbody name.)
8.0   LITERATURE CITED
      NYSDEC (New York State Department of Environment and Conservation). 2000.
      Memorandum from Scott Kishbaugh to Jay Bloomfield, September 26, 2000, regarding
      reference lakes for nutrient criteria.


      TNDEC (Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation).  2000.  Letter to Geoff
      Grubbs, October 5,2000, containing comments on draft nutrient criteria recommendations.


      U.S. EPA. 2000a.  Nutrient Criteria Technical Guidance Manual: Lakes and Reservoirs, U.S.
      Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, DC. EPA-822-BOO-001.


      U.S. EPA. 2000b.  Nutrient Criteria Technical Guidance Manual: Rivers and Streams, U.S.
      Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, DC. EPA-822-BOO-002.
                                                                                       28

-------
9.0    APPENDICES
A. Descriptive Statistics Data Tables for Aggregate Ecoregion





B. Descriptive Statistics D"ata Tables for Level HI Subecoregions within Aggregate Ecoregion
C. Quality Control/Quality Assurance Rules
                                                                                           29

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-------
                    APPENDIX A
Descriptive Statistics Data Tables for Aggregate Ecoregion

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            APPENDIX C
Quality Control/Quality Assurance Rules

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         INDUS
 	CORPORATION
 Knowledge-Based Solutions
Support for the Compilation and Analysis of
National Nutrient Data
15 Nutrient Ecoregion/Waterbody Type Summary
Chapters	:	
Prepared for:
        Robert Cantilli
        Environmental Protection Agency
        OW/OST/HECD
Prepared by:
        INDUS Corporation
        1953 Gallows Road
        Vienna, Virginia 22182
Contract Number:
Task Number:
Subtask Number:
68-C-99-226
04
4
August 8, 2000

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15 Nutrient Ecoregion/Waterbody Type Summary Chapters. Contract # 68-C-99-226, TO# 04

                                    CONTENTS
August 8, 2000
1.0   BACKGROUND  	•	1
      1.1    Purpose	,	1
      1.2    References	 -	1

2.0   QA/QC PROCEDURES 	                          2
      2.1    National Data Sets	-	• • • 3
      2.2    State Data	•	3
      2.3    Laboratory Methods	4
      2.4    Waterbody Name	4
      2.5    EcoregionData	.'',' "^

3.0   STATISTICAL ANALYSIS REPORTS		 5
      3.1    Data Source Reports 	6
      3.2    Remark Code Reports 	7
      3.3    Median of Each Waterbody	,	7
      3.4    Descriptive Statistic Reports 	7
      3.5    Regression Models	•• • 8

4.0   TIME PERIOD  	8

5.0   DATA SOURCES AND PARAMETERS FOR THE AGGREGATE NUTRIENT
      ECOREGIONS  	9
      5.1    Lakes and Reservoirs	•	9
             5.1.1   Aggregate Nutrient Ecoregion 2	• ••		9
             5.1.2   Aggregate Nutrient Ecoregion 6	*0
             5.1.3   Aggregate Nutrient Ecoregion 7	10
             5.1.4   Aggregate Nutrient Ecoregion 8	11
             5.1.5   Aggregate Nutrient Ecoregion 9	12
             5.1.6   Aggregate Nutrient Ecoregion 11  	12
             5.1.7   Aggregate Nutrient Ecoregion 12  	••	13
             5.1.8   Aggregate Nutrient Ecoregion 13  		13
      5.2    Rivers and Streams	14
             5.2.1   Aggregate Nutrient Ecoregion 2	14
             5.2.2  Aggregate Nutrient Ecoregion 3  	15
             5.2.3   Aggregate Nutrient Ecoregion 6	16
             5.2.4  Aggregate Nutrient Ecoregion 7  	-	16
             5.2.5  Aggregate Nutrient Ecoregion 9 	17
             5.2.6  Aggregate Nutrient Ecoregion 11	^
             5.2.7  Aggregate Nutrient Ecoregion 12 	19
                                          u

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 15 Nutnetu Ecorcgion/'Waierbody Type Summary Chapters. Contract # 68-C-99-226, TO# 04

             5.2.8  Aggregate Nutrient Ecoregion 14 	
                                                         August 8, 2000

                                                        	20
APPENDIX A
APPENDIX B

APPENDIX C
Process Used to QA/QA the Legacy STORE! Nutrient Data Set
Process for Adding Aggregate Nutrient Ecoregions and Level in
Ecoregions
Glossary
                                          in

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15 Nutrient Ecorezion/Waterbody Type Summary Chapters. Contract tf 68-C-99-226. TO# 04

1.0    BACKGROUND
August 8. 2000
The Nutrient Criteria Program has initiated development of a national Nutrient Criteria Database
application that will be used to store and analyze nutrient data. The ultimate use of these data
will be to derive ecoregion- and waterbody-specific nutrient criteria ranges. EPA converted
STOrage and RETrieval (STORET) legacy data, National Stream Quality Accounting Network
(NASQAN) data, National Water-Quality Assessment (NAWQA) data, and other relevant
nutrient data from universities and States/Tribes into the database. The data imported into the
Nutrient Criteria Database will be used to develop national nutrient criteria ranges.

1.1    Purpose

The purpose of this deliverable is to provide EPA with information regarding the data used to
create the statistical reports which will be used to derive ecoregion- and waterbody-specific
nutrient criteria ranges for Level IE ecoregions.  There are fourteen aggregate nutrient
ecoregions. Each aggregate nutrient ecoregion is divided into smaller ecoregions referred to as
Level IE ecoregions. EPA will determine criteria ranges for the waterbody types and Level HI
ecoregions within the following aggregate nutrient ecoregions:

       Lakes and Reservoirs
              Aggregate Nutrient ecoregions: 2,6,7, 8,9,11,12,13

•      Rivers and Streams
       -      Aggregate Nutrient ecoregions: 2, 3, 6, 7, 9, 11, 12, 14

1.2    References

This section lists documents that contain baselines, standards, guidelines, policies, and referencas
that apply to the data analysis. Listed editions were valid at the time of publication.  All
documents are subject to revision, but these specific editions govern the concepts described in
this document.

Nutrient Criteria Technical Guidance Manual: Lakes and Reservoirs (Draft).- EPA, Office of
Water, EPA 822-D-99-001, April 1999.

Nutrient Criteria Technical Guidance Manual: Rivers and Streams (Draft).  EPA, Office of
Water. EPA 822-D-99-003, September 1999.

Guidance for Data Quality Assessment: Practical Methods for Data Analysis. EPA, Office of
Research and Development, EPA QA/G-9, January 1998.

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 15 Nument Ecoregion/Watcrbody Type Summary Chapters, Contract # 68-C-99-226. T0# 04

 2.0    QA/QC PROCEDURES
August 8, 2000
 In order to develop nutrient criteria, EPA needed to obtain nutrient data from the states.  EPA
 requested nutrient data from the states and forwarded the data sets to INDUS via e-mail and/or
 US mail. In addition, EPA tasked INDUS to ponvert data from three national data sets.  EPA
 provided INDUS with a Legacy STORET extraction to convert into the database. The United  '
 States Geologic Survey (USGS) sent INDUS a CD-ROM with NASQAN data to convert.
 INDUS downloaded NAWQA files from the USGS Web site to convert the data. In total,
 INDUS converted and imported the following national and state data sets into the Nutrient
 Criteria Database:

       Legacy STORET  ,
       NAWQA
       NASQAN
 •      Region 1
 •      Region 2 - Lake Champlain Monitoring Project
       Region 2 - NYSDEC Finger Lakes Monitoring Program
 •      Region 2 - NY Citizens Lake Assessment Program
 •      Region 2 - Lake Classification and Inventory Survey
       Region 2 - NYCDEP (1990-1998)
       Region 2 - NYCDEP (Storm Event data)
 •      Region 2 - New Jersey Nutrient Data ( Tidal Waters)
 •      Region 5
 •      Region3.
 •      Region 3 - Nitrite Data
 •      Region 3 - Choptank River files
       Region 4 - Tennessee Valley Authority
 •      Region 7 - Central Plains Center for BioAssessment (CPCB)
       Region 7 - REMAP
       Region 2 - Delaware River Basin Commission (1990-1998)
       Region 3 - PA Lake Data
 •      Region3-University of Delaware
•      Region 10                                                  .
•      University of Auburn

As part of the conversion process, INDUS performed a number of Quality Assurance/Quality
Control (QA/QC) steps to ensure that the data was properly converted into the Nutrient Criteria
 Database. Section 2 explains the steps performed by INDUS to convert the data.

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15 Nutrient Ecoregioro Waterbody Type Summary Chapters. Contract # 68-C-99-226, TO# 04

2.1     National Data Sets
August 8. 2000
INDUS converted three national data sets into the Nutrient Criteria Database: Legacy STORE!
data, NASQAN data, and NAWQA data. A previous EPA contractor performed the extraction of
Legacy STORE! data'and documented the QA/QC procedures used on the data. This
documentation is included in Appendix A.  INDUS performed minimal QA/QC on the Legacy
STORET data set because the previous contractor completed the steps outlined in Appendix A.
INDUS and EPA also agreed to convert the NAWQA and NASQAN data sets with minimal
QA/QC on the assumption that the source agency, the USGS, QA/QC'd the data.

For each of the three national data sets, INDUS ran queries to determine if 1) samples existed
without results and 2) if stations existed without samples. Per Task Order Project Officer
(TOPO) direction, these records were deleted from the system.  For analysis purposes, EPA
determined that there was no need to keep station records with no samples and sample records
with no results. INDUS also confirmed that each data set contained no duplicate records.

In addition, INDUS deleted all composite results from the Legacy STORET data. Per TOPO
direction, it was decided that composite sample results would not be used in the statistical
analysis.

2.2    State Data

Each state data set was delivered in a unique format. Many of the data sets were delivered to
INDUS without corresponding documentation. INDUS analyzed each state data set in order to
determine which parameters should be converted for analysis. INDUS obtained a master
parameter table from EPA and converted the parameters in the state data sets according to those
that were present in the EPA parameter table. INDUS converted all of the data elements in the
state data sets that mapped directly to the Nutrient Criteria Database; data elements that did not ,
map to the Nutrient Criteria Database were not converted. In some cases, state data elements that
did not directly map into the Oracle database were inserted into a comment field within the
database.  Also. INDUS maintained an internal record of which state data elements were inserted
into the comment field.

As part of the data clean-up efforts, INDUS determined whether or not there were any duplicate
records in the state data sets and deleted the duplicate records.  INDUS checked the waterbody,
station, and sample entities for duplicate records. In addition, INDUS deleted station records
with no samples and sample records with no results. INDUS also deleted waterbody records that
were not associated with a station.  In each case, INDUS maintained an internal record of how
many  records were deleted.-

 If INDUS encountered referential integrity errors, such as samples that referred to stations that
 did not exist, or if INDUS was unsure of whether a record was a duplicate, INDUS contacted the

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 15 Nutrient Ecorcgion/Waierbody Type Summary Chapters. Contract # 68-C-99-226, TO** 04
                                                                              August 8, 2000
 agency directly via e-mail or phone to resolve any issues that arose. INDUS saved an electronic
 copy of each e-mail correspondence with the states to ensure that a record of the decision was
 maintained.  INDUS also contacted each agency to determine which laboratory methods were
 used for each parameter.

 Finally, INDUS examined the remark codes of each result record in the state data sets. INDUS
 mapped the remark codes to the STORET remark codes listed in Table 2 of Appendix A. If any
 of the state result records were associated with remark codes marked as "Delete" in Table 2 of
 Appendix A, the result records were not converted into the database.

 2.3    Laboratory Methods

 Many of the state data sets did not contain laboratory method information.  In addition,
 laboratory method information was not available for the three national data sets.  In order to
 determine missing laboratory method information, EPA tasked another contractor to contact the
 data owners to obtain the laboratory method.  In some cases, the data owners responded and the
 laboratory methods were added to the database.

 2.4    Waterbody Name and Class Information

 A large percentage of the data did not have waterbody-specific information. The only waterbody
 information contained in the three national data sets was the waterbody name, which was
 embedded in the station  'location description' field.  Most of the state data sets contained
 waterbody name information; however, much of the data was duplicated throughout the data sets.
 Therefore, the waterbody information was cleaned manually.  For the three national data sets, the
 'location description' field was extracted from the station table and moved to a temporary table.
 The 'location description' field was sorted alphabetically. Unique waterbodies were grouped
 together based on name similarity and whether or not the waterbodies fell within the same
 county, state, and waterbody type. Finally, the 'location description' field was edited to include
 only waterbody name information, not descriptive  information. For example, 110 MILE CREEK
 AT POMONA DAM OUTFLOW, KS PO-2 was edited to  110 MILE CREEK. Also, if 100
 MELE CREEK was listed ten times in New York, but in four different counties, four 100 MILE
 CREEK waterbody records were created.

 Similar steps were taken to eliminate duplicate waterbody records in the state data sets. If a
number of records had similar waterbody names and fell within the same state, county, and
waterbody type, the records were grouped to create a unique waterbody record.

Most of the waterbody data-did not contain depth, surface area, and volume measurements.  EPA
needed this information to classify waterbody types.  EPA attempted to obtain waterbody class
                                           4

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15 Nutrient Ecoregion/Waterbody Type Summary Chapters, Contract # 68-C-99-226. TO# 04                     August 8, 2000

information from the states. EPA sent waterbody files to the regional coordinators and requested
that certain class information be completed by each state. The state response was poor; therefore,
EPA was not able to perform statistical analysis for the waterbody types by class.

2.5    Ecoregion Data

Aggregate nutrient ecoregions and Level DI ecoregions were added to the database using the
station latitude and longitude coordinates. If a station was lacking latitude and longitude
coordinates or county information, the data were not included in the statistical analysis.
Appendix B lists the steps taken to add the two ecoregion types (aggregate and Level HI) to the
Nutrient Criteria Database.  The ecoregion names were pulled from aggregate nutrient ecoregion
and Level in ecoregion Geographical Information System (GIS) coverages.  In summary, the
station latitude and longitude coordinates were used to determine the ecoregion under the
following circumstances:

       The latitude and longitude coordinates fell within the county/state listed in the station
       table.
•      The county data was missing.

The county centroid was used to determine the ecoregions under the following circumstances:

       The latitude and longitude coordinates were missing, but the state/county information was
       available.
       The latitude and longitude coordinates fell outside the county/state listed in the station
       table. The county information was assumed to be correct; therefore, the county centroid
       was used.

If the latitude and longitude coordinates fell outside the continental US county coverage file
(i.e., the point fell in the ocean or Mexico/Canada), the nearest ecoregion was assigned to the
station.
 3.0    STATISTICAL ANALYSIS REPORTS

 Aggregate nutrient ecoregion tables were created by extracting all observations for a specific
 aggregate nutrient ecoregion from the nutrient criteria database.  Then, the data were reduced to
 create tables containing only the yearly median values.  To create these tables, the median value
 for each waterbody was calculated using all observations for each waterbody by Level IE
 ecoregion, year, and season. Tables of decade median values were created from the yearly
 median tables by calculating the median for each waterbody by Level ffl ecoregion by decade and
 season.

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 15 Nutnem Ecoregion/Waterbody Type Summary Chapters, Contract # 68-C-99-226, TO# 04
                                                                               August 8, 2000
 The Data Source and the Remark Code reports were created using all observations (all reported
 values). All the other reports were created from either the yearly median tables or the decade
 median tables. In other words, the descriptive statistics and regressions were run using the
 median values for each waterbody and not the individual reported values.

 Statistical analyses were performed under the assumption that this data set is a random sampled
 If this-assumption cannot be verified, the observations may or may not be valid. Values below
 the 1st and 99th percentile were removed from the Legacy STORE! database prior to the creation
 of the national database.  Also, data were treated according the Legacy STORET remark codes in
 Appendix A.

 The following contains a list of each report and the purpose for creating each report:

 •      Data Source—Created to provide a count of the amount of data and to identify the
       source(s).
       Remark Codes—Created to provide a description of the data.
 •      Median of Each Waterbody by Year—This was an intermediate step performed to obtain
       a median value for each lake to be used in the yearly descriptive statistics reports and the
       regression models.
 •      Median of Each Waterbody by Decade—This was an intermediate step performed to
       obtain a median value for each lake to be used in the decade descriptive statistics.
 •      Descriptive Statistics—Created to provide EPA with the desired statistics for setting
       criteria levels.
 •      Regression Models—Created to examine the relationships between biological and
       nutrient variables.

Note: Separate reports were created for each season.
                                                                                      »
3.1    Data Source Reports

Data source reports were presented in the following  forfeits:

•      The number and percentage of data from each data source were summarized in tables for
       each aggregate nutrient ecoregion by season and waterbody type.

•      The number and percentage of data from each data source were summarized in tables for
       each Level III ecoregion by season and waterbody type.

The 'Frequency' represent? the number of data values from a specific data source for each
parameter by data source.  The 'Row Pet' represents the percentage of data from a specific data
source for each parameter.

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15 Nutrient Ecoregion/ Waterbody Type Summary Chapters. Contract * 68-C-99-226, TO# 04                     August 8. 2000

3.2    Remark Code Reports

Remark code reports were presented in the following formats:

•      The number and percentage of data associated with a particular remark code for each
       parameter were summarized in tables by Level HI ecoregion by decade and season.

•       The number and percentage of data associated with a particular remark code for each
       parameter were summarized in tables by Level in ecoregion by year and season.

The 'Frequency' represents the number of data values corresponding to the remark code in the
column. The 'Row Pet' represents the percentage of data that was associated with die remark
code in that row.

In the database, remark codes that were entered by the states were mapped to Legacy STORET
remark codes.  Prior to the analysis, the data were treated according to these remark codes. For
example, if the remark code was 'K,' then the  reported value was divided by two. Appendix A
contains a complete list of Legacy STORET remark codes.

Note: For the reports, a remark code of 'Z' indicates that no remark codes were recorded. It does
not correspond to Legacy STORET code 'Z.'

3.3    Median of Each Waterbody

To reduce the data and to ensure heavily sampled waterbodies or years were not over represented
in the analysis, median value tables (described above) were created. The yearly median tables
and decade median tables were delivered to the EPA in electronic format as csv (comma
separated value or comma delimited) files.

3.4    Descriptive Statistic Reports

The number of waterbodies, median, mean, minimum, maximum,  5Ih. 25th , 75th , 95th percentiles,
standard deviation, standard error, and coefficient of variation were calculated. The tables
(described above) containing the decade median values for each waterbody for each parameter
were used to create descriptive statistics reports for:

•      Level III ecoregions by decade and season
       Aggregate nutrient ecoregions by decade and season

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 15 Nucnent Ecoregion/Waterbody Type Summary Chapters. Contract # 68-C-99-226, TO# 04
                                                                        August 8. 2000 .
 In addition, the tables containing the yearly median values for each waterbody for each parameter
 were used to create descriptive statistics reports for:

 •       Level EH ecoregions by year and season  .

 3.5    Regression Models

 Simple linear regressions using the least squares method were performed to examine the
 relationships between biological and nutrient variables in lakes and reservoirs, and rivers and
 streams.  Regressions were performed using the yearly median tables. Chlorophyll(s) in
 imcrograms per liter (ug/L), secchi in meters (m), dissolved oxygen in milligrams per liter
 (mg/L), turbidity, and pH were the biological variables in these models.  When there was little or
 no data for chlorophyll, then pH or dissolved oxygen was substituted for chlorophyll. Secchi'
 data were used in the lake and reservoir models, and turbidity data were used in the river and
 stream models.  The nutrient variables in these models include: total phosphorus in ug/L, total
 nitrogen in mg/L, total kjeldahl nitrogen in mg/L, and nitrate and nitrite in mg/L.  Regressions
 were also run for total nitrogen and total'phosphonis for ecoregions where both these variables
 were measured.

 Note: At the time of creation of this document only regressions for aggregate nutrient ecoregion 7
 for lakes and reservoirs were delivered to the EPA. Regressions for the remaining aggregate
 nutrient ecoregions will be delivered in August 2000.


4.0    TIME PERIOD

Data collected from January 1990 to December 1999 were used in the statistical analysis reports.
To capture  seasonal differences, the data were classified as follows:
                                            8
Aggregate nutrient ecoregions: 6, 7, and

       Spring:       April to May
-      Summer:     June to August
-      Fall:         September to October
-      Winter:       November to March

Aggregate nutrient ecoregions: 1, 2. 9. 10, 11, 12, and 13

       Spring:     - March to May
-      Summer:     June to August
       Fall:         September to November
       Winter:       December to February

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 1 5 Nutrient Ecoregion/ Waterbody Type Summary Chapters, Contract # 68-C-99-226. TO# 04                    August 8. 2000
 5.0    DATA SOURCES AND PARAMETERS FOR THE AGGREGATE NUTRIENT
 ECOREGIONS

 This section provides information for the nutrient aggregate ecoregions that were analyzed by
 waterbody type. Each'section lists the data sources for the aggregate nutrient ecoregion
 including: 1) the data sources, 2) the parameters included in the analysis, and 3) the Level HI
 ecoregions within the aggregate nutrient ecoregions.

 Note: For analysis purposes, the following parameters were combined to form Phosphorous,
 Dissolved Inorganic (DIP):

 Phosphorus, Dissolved Inorganic (DIP)
 Phosphorus, Dissolved (DP)
 Phosphorus, Dissolved Reactive (DRP)
 Orthophosphate, dissolved, mg/L as P
 Orthophosphate (OPO4_PO4)

 5.1    Lakes and Reservoirs

-5.1.1   Aggregate Nutrient Ecoregion 2

 Data Sources:

 Legacy STORE!
 EPA Region 10
Parameter:

Chlorophyll A, Fluorometric, Corrected
Chlorophyll A, Phytoplankton, Spectrophotometric Acid
Chlorophyll A, Trichromatic, Uncorrected
Phosphorous. Dissolved Inorganic (DIP)
Dissolved Oxygen (DO)
Nitrite and Nitrate, (NO2+NO3)
Nitrogen, Total (TN)
Nitrogen. Total Kjeldahl (TKN)
Phosphorus. Total (TP)
Phosphorus. Total Reactive
SECCHI        .       .'          ,
pH
                                                      (ug/L)
                                                      (ug/L)
                                                      (ug/L)
                                                      (ug/L)
                                                      (mg/L)
                                                      (ug/L)

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  15 Nutrient Ecorcgion/Waterbody Type Summary Chapters, Contract # 68-C-99-226, TOtf 04

  Level III ecoregions:

  1,2,4,5,9, 11, 15, 16, 17, 19,21,23,41,77,78

 5.1.2   Aggregate Nutrient Ecoregion 6

 Data Sources:

 Legacy STORE!

 Parameters:

 Chlorophyll A, Fluorometric, Corrected                 (ug/L)
 Chlorophyll A, Phytoplankton, Spectrophotometric Acid   (ug/L)
 Chlorophyll A, Trichromatic, Uncorrected               (ug/L)
 Dissolved Oxygen (DO)                               (mg/L)
 Nitrite and Nitrate, (NO2+NO3)                        (mg/L)
 Nitrogen, Total (TN)                                  (mg/L)
. Nitrogen, Total Kjeldahl (TKN)                         (mg/L)
 Phosphorus, Total (TP)                                (ug/L)
 SECCHI                                             (m)

 Level III ecoregions:

 46,47, 48, 54, 55, 57

 5.1.3   Aggregate Nutrient Ecoregion 7

 Data Sources:

 LCMPD
 Legacy STORET
 NYCDEP
 EPA Region 1

 Parameters:

 Chlorophyll A, Fluorometric Corrected                        (ug'L)
 Chlorophyll A, Phytoplankton, Spectrophotometric Acid         (ug/L)
 Chlorophyll A, Phytoplankton, Spectrophotometric. Uncorrected  (ug/L)
 Chlorophyll A, Trichromatic, Uncorrected                     (ug/L)
 Phosphorous. Dissolved Inorganic (DIP)                       (ug/L)
August 8, 2000
                                          10

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15 Nutnem Ecoregiom Waterbody Type Summary Chapters. Contract # 68-C-99-226, TO* 04

Dissolved Oxygen (DO)
Nitrite and Nitrate, (NO2+NO3)
Nitrogen, Total. (TN)
Nitrogen, Total Kjeldahl (TKN)
Phosphorus, Orthophosphate, Total as P
Phosphorus, Total (TP)
SECCHI

Level EH ecoregions:

51,52,53,56,60,61,83

5.1.4   Aggregate Nutrient Ecoregion 8

Data sources:

LCMPD
Legacy STORET
NYCDEP
NYCDEC
EPA Region 1
EPA Region 3

Parameters:

Chlorophyll A, Fluorometric, Corrected
Chlorophyll A, Phytoplankton, Spectrophotometric Acid
Chlorophyll A. Phytoplankton, Spectrophotometric, Uncorrecfed
Chlorophyll A, Trichromatic, Uncorrected
Chlorophyll B
Chlorophyll C
 Phosphorous, Dissolved Inorganic (DIP)
 Dissolved Oxygen (DO)
Nitrite and Nitrate, (NO2+NO3)
 Nitrogen, Total (TN)
 Nitrogen, Total Kjeldahl (TKN)
 Phosphorus. Total (TP)
 SECCHI

 Level III ecoregions:

 49, 50, 58, 62. 82
                August 8. 2000
(mg/L)
(mg/L)
(mg/L)
(mg/L)
(ug/L)
(ug/L)
(m)
 (ug/L)
 (ug/L)
 (ug/L)
 (ug/L)
 (ug/L)
 (ug/L)
 (ug/L)
 (mg/L)
 (mg/L)
 (mg/L)
 (mg/L)
 (ug/L)
 (m)
                                          11

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  15 Nutnem Ecorcgion/Waterbody Type Summary Chapters. Contract tt 68-C-99-226, TO# 04

  5.1.5  Aggregate Nutrient Ecoregion 9

  Data sources:
                    i
  Auburn University
  Legacy STORET
  EPA Region 4

  Parameters:

  Chlorophyll A, Fluorometric, Corrected                        (ug/L)
  Chlorophyll A, Pheophytin                                   (ug/L)
 Chlorophyll A, Phytoplankton, Spectrophotometric Acid          (ug/L)
 Chlorophyll A, Phytoplankton, Spectrophotometric, Uncorrected   (ug/L)
 Chlorophyll A, Trichromatic, Uncorrected                       (ug/L)
 Phosphorous, Dissolved Inorganic (DIP)                        (ug/L)
 Dissolved Oxygen (DO)                                      (mg/L)
 Nitrite and Nitrate. (NO2+NO3)                               (mg/L)
 Nitrogen, Total (TN)                                         (mg/L)
 Nitrogen, Total Kjeldahl (TKN)                                (mg/L)
 Phosphorus, Total (TP)                                       (ug/L)
 SECCHI                                                    (m)

 Level in ecoregions:

 29, 33, 35, 37, 40, 45, 64, 65, 71, 72, 74

.5.1.6  Aggregate Nutrient Ecoregion 11

 Data sources:

 Auburn University
 Legacy STORET
 NYSDEC
 EPA Region 3
 EPA Region 4

 Parameters:

 Chlorophyll A. Fluorometric, Corrected                        (ug/L)
 Chlorophyll A. Pheophytin                                   (ug/L)
 Chlorophyll A, Phytoplankton, Spectrophotometric Acid         (ug/L)
August 8. 2000
                                          12

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15 Nutrient Ecoregion/Waterbody Type Summary Chapters. Contract # 68-C-99-226, TO# 04

Chlorophyll A, Phytoplankton, Spectrophotometric, Uncorrected
Chlorophyll A, Trichromatic, Uncorrected
Phosphorous, Dissolved Inorganic (DIP)
Dissolved Oxygen (DO)
Nitrite and Nitrate, (NO2+NO3)
Nitrogen, Total (TN)
Nitrogen, Total Kjeldahl (TKN)
Phosphorus, Total (TP)
SECCHI

Level HI ecoregions:

36, 38, 39, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70

5.1.7   Aggregate Nutrient Ecoregion 12

Data sources:

Legacy STORET

Parameters:
                       August 8. 2000
      (ug/L)
      (ug/L)
      (ug/L)
      (mg/L)
      (mg/L)
      (mg/L)
      (mg/L)
      (ug/L)
      (m)
Chlorophyll A, Phytoplankton, Spectrophotometric Acid
Chlorophyll A, Trichromatic, Uncorrected
Dissolved Oxygen (DO)
Nitrite and Nitrate, (NO2+NO3)
Nitrogen, Total (TN)
Nitrogen, Total Kjeldahl (TKN).
Phosphorus, Total (TP)
SECCHI

Level III ecoregions:

75

5.1.8  Aggregate Nutrient Ecoregion 13

Data sources:

 Legacy STORET
 (ug/L)
(ug/L)
(mg/L)
(mg/L)
(mg/L)
(mg/L)
(ug/L)
 (m)
                                           13

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  15 Nutrient Ecoregion/Watcrbody Type Summary Chapters, Contract # 68-C-99-226. TO# 04
  Parameters:

  Chlorophyll A, Fluorometric, Corrected                 (ug/L)
  Chlorophyll A, Phytqplankton, Spectrophotometric Acid   (ug/L)
  Chlorophyll A, Trichromatic, Uncorrected               (ug/L)
  Dissolved Oxygen (DO)                               (mg/L)
 Nitrite and Nitrate, (NO2+NO3)                        (mg/L)
 Nitrogen, Total (TN)                                  (mg/L)
 Nitrogen, Total Kjeldahl (TKN)                         (mg/L)
 Phosphorus, Total (TP)                                (ug/L)
 SECCHI                                            (m)

 Level HI ecoregions:

 76

 5.2    Rivers and Streams

 5.2.1  Aggregate Nutrient Ecoregion 2

 Data sources:

 Legacy STORET
 NASQAN
 NAWQA
 EPA Region 10

 Parameters:

 Chlorophyll A, Fluorometric,  Corrected                        (ug/L)
 Chlorophyll A, Phytoplankton, Spectrophotometric Acid          (ug/L)
 Chlorophyll A, Phytoplankton, chromotographic- fluorometric     (ug/L)
 Chlorophyll A, Trichromatic, Uncorrected                      (ug/L)
 Chlorophyll B, Phytoplankton, chromotographic- fluorometric     (ug/L)
 Phosphorous, Dissolved Inorganic (DIP)                        (ug/L)
 Dissolved Oxygen (DO)                                      (mg/L)
Nitrite and Nitrate, (NO2+NO3)                               (mg/L)
 Phosphorus. Orthophosphate,  Total as P                        (ug/L)
Phosphorus, Total (TP) Reactive                               (ug/L)
Nitrogen, Total  (TN)                                         (mg/L)
Nitrogen, Total Kjeldahl (TKN)                               (mg/L)
Phosphorus, Total (TP)                                       (ug/L)
August 8. 2000
                                         14

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1 5 Nutrient Ecoregion/ Waterbody Type Summary Chapters. Contract 2 68-C-99-226. TO# 04

Turbidity                                                   (FTU)
Turbidity                                                   (JCU)
Turbidity                                                   (NTU)

Level III ecoregions:

1, 2, 4, 5, 8, 9, 1 1, 15, 16, 17, 19, 21, 23, 41, 77, 78

5.2.2   Aggregate Nutrient Ecoregion 3

Data sources:

Legacy STORET
NASQAN
NAWQA
EPA Region 10

Parameters:

Chlorophyll A, Fluorometric, Corrected
Chlorophyll A, Phytoplankton, Spectrophotometric Acid
Chlorophyll A, Phytoplankton, chromotographic- fluorometric
Chlorophyll A, Trichromatic, Unconnected
Chlorophyll B, Phytoplankton, chromotographic- fluorometric
Phosphorous, Dissolved Inorganic (DIP)
Dissolved Oxygen (DO)
Nitrite and Nitrate, (NO2+NO3)
Nitrogen, Total (TN)                                "
Nitrogen, Total Kjeldahl (TKN)
Phosphorus, Total (TP)
Turbidity                                                   (FTU)
Turbidity                                                   (JCU)
Turbidity                                                   (MTU)

Level IE ecoregions:

6, 10, 12, 13, 14.  18. 20, 22, 24, 79, 80, 81
                                 August 8. 2000
                (ug/L)
                (ug/L)
                (ug/L)
                (ug/L)
                (ug/L)
                (ug/L)
                (mg/L)
                 (mg/L)
                 (mg/L)
15

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 15 Nument Ecorcgion/Waterbody Type Summary Chapters, Contract tt 68-C-99-226. TO# 04

 5.2.3   Aggregate Nutrient Ecoregion 6

 Data sources:

 Legacy STORE!
 NASQAN
 NAWQA
 EPA Region 5
 EPA Region 7

 Parameters:

 Chlorophyll A, Fluorometric, Corrected
 Chlorophyll A, Phytoplankton, Spectrophotometric Acid
 Chlorophyll A, Phytoplankton, chromotographic- fluorometric
 Chlorophyll A, Trichromatic, Uncorrected
 Chlorophyll B, Phytoplankton, chromotographic- fluorometric
 Phosphorous, Dissolved Inorganic (DIP)
 Dissolved Oxygen (DO)
 Nitrite and Nitrate, (NO2+NO3)
 Nitrogen, Total (TN)
 Nitrogen, Total Kjeldahl (TKN)
 Organic, Phosphorus
 Phosphorus, Total (TP)
 Phosphorus, Orthophosphate, Total as P
 Turbidity
 Turbidity
 Turbidity

 Level TIT ecoregions:

46, 47, 48, 54, 55, 57

5.2.4   Aggregate Nutrient Ecoregion 7

Data sources:

LCMPD
Legacy STORET
NASQAN
NAWQA
NYCDEP
                 August 8, 2000
(ug/L)
(ug/L)
(ug/L)
(ug/L)
(ug/L)
(ug/L)
(mg/L)
(mg/L)
(mg/L)
(mg/L)
(ug/L)
(ug/L)
(ug/L)
(FTU)
(JCU)
(NTU)
                                         16

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                                                          (ug/L)
                                                          (ug/L)
                                                          (ug/L)
                                                          (ug/L)
                                                          (ug/L)
                                                          (ug/L)
                                                          (ug/L)
                                                          (mg/L)
                                                          (mg/L)
                                                          (mg/L)
                                                          (mg/L)
                                                          (ug/L)
                                                          (ug/L)
                                                          (ug/L)
                                                          (FTU)
                                                          (JCU)
                                                          (NTU)
15 Nutrient EcoregiorvWaierbody Type Summary Chapters. Contract # 68-C-99-226, TO# 04

Parameters;

Chlorophyll A, Fluorometric, Corrected
Chlorophyll A, Phytoplankton, Spectrophotometric Acid
Chlorophyll A, Phytoplankton, Spectrophotometric, Uncorrected
Chlorophyll A, Phytoplankton, chromotographic- fluorometric
Chlorophyll A, Trichromatic, Uncorrected
Chlorophyll B, Phytoplankton, chromotographic- fluorometric
Phosphorous, Dissolved Inorganic (DIP)
Dissolved Oxygen (DO)
Nitrite and Nitrate, (NO2+NO3)
Nitrogen, Total (TN)
Nitrogen, Total Kjeldahl (TKN)
Organic, Phosphorus
Phosphorus, Orthophosphate, Total as P
Phosphorus, Total (TP)
Turbidity                                    ,
Turbidity
Turbidity

Level III ecoreaions:

51,52,53,56,60,61,83

5.2.5  Aggregate Nutrient Ecoregion 9

 Data sources:

 Auburn University
 Legacy STORET
 NASQAN
 NAWQA
 EPA Region 3
 EPA Region 5
 EPA Region 7

 Parameters:
Chlorophyll A, Fluorometric, Corrected
Chlorophyll A, Phytoplankton, chromotographic- fluorometnc    (ug/L
Chlorophyll A, Phytoplankton, Spectrophotometric Acid         (ug/L)
Chlorophyll A, Phytoplankton, Spectrophotometric, Uncorrected  (ug/L)
                                                                          August 8. 2000
                                          17

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 15 Nutnent Ecorcgion/Watcrbody Type Summary Chapters, Contract # 68-C-99-226. TO# 04

 Chlorophyll A, Trichromatic, Uncorrected                      (ug/L)
 Chlorophyll B, Phytoplankton, chromotographic- fluorometric     (ug/'L)
 Chlorophyll B, Phytoplankton, Spectrophotometric               (ug/L)
 Phosphorous, Dissolved Inorganic (DIP)                        (ug/L)
 Dissolved Oxygen (DO)                                      (mg/L)
 Organic, Phosphorus                                         (ug/L)
 Phosphorus, Orthophosphate, Total as P                        (ug/L)
 Nitrite and Nitrate, (NO2+NO3)                               (mg/L)
 Nitrogen, Total (TN)                                         (mg/L)
 Nitrogen, Total Kjeldahl (TKN)                                (mg/L)
 Phosphorus, Total (TP)                                       (ug/L)
 Turbidity                                                   (FTU)
 Turbidity                                                   (JCTJ)
 Turbidity                        '                           (NTU)

 Level HI ecoresions:

 29, 33, 35,37,40, 45, 64, 65, 71, 72, 74

 5.2.6  Aggregate Nutrient Ecoregion 11

 Data sources:

 Auburn University
 Legacy STORET
 NASQAN
 NAWQA
 EPA Region 3
 EPA Region 5
 EPA Region 7

Parameters:

Chlorophyll A, Fluorometric, Corrected                        (ug/'L)
Chlorophyll A, Phytoplankton, chromotographic- fluorometric     (ug/L)
Chlorophyll A, Phytoplankton, Spectrophotometric Acid          (ug/L)
Chlorophyll A, Phytoplankton, Spectrophotometric, Uncorrected   (ug/L)
Chlorophyll A, Trichromatic, Uncorrected                      (ug/L)
Chlorophyll B, Phytoplankton, chromotographic- fluorometric     (ug/L)
Phosphorous,  Dissolved Inorganic (DIP)                        (ug/L)
Dissolved Oxygen (DO)                                      (mg/L)
Organic, Phosphorus                                         (ug/L)
August 8, 2000
                                          18

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15 Nutrient Ecoregion/ Waterbody Type Summary Chapters. Contract tt 68-C-99-226, TO# 04

Phosphorus, Orthophosphate, Total as P                        (ug/L)
Nitrite and Nitrate, (NO2+NO3)                               (mg/L)
Nitrogen, Total (TN)         -                               (mg/L)
Nitrogen, Total Kjeldahl (TKN)                               (mg/L)
Phosphorus, Total (TP)                                       (ug/L)
Turbidity                      •                             (FTU)
Turbidity                                                   (JCU)
Turbidity                                                   (NTU)

Level III ecoregions:

36,38,39,66,67,68,69,70

5.2.7   Aggregate Nutrient Ecoregion 12

Data sources:

Legacy STORET
NASQAN
NAWQA

Parameters:

Chlorophyll A, Phytoplankton, Spectrophotometric Acid         (ug/L)
Chlorophyll A, Phytoplankton, Spectrophotometric, Uncorrected  (ug/L)
Chlorophyll A, Trichromatic, Uncorrected                     • (ug/L)
Chlorophyll B, Phytoplankton, Spectrophotometric              (ug/L)
Phosphorous. Dissolved Inorganic (DIP)                        (ug/L)
Dissolved Oxygen (DO)                                      (mg/L)
Nitrite and Nitrate, (NO2+NO3)                 '              (mg/L)
Nitrogen, Total (TN)                                         (mg/L)
Nitrogen, Total Kjeldahl (TKN)                               (mg/L)
Phosphorus, Orthophosphate, Total as P                        (ug/L)
Phosphorus, Total (TP)                                       (ug/L)
Turbidity                                    .               (FTU)
Turbidity                                                   (NTU)

Level III ecoregions:
 75
August 8, 2000
                                          19

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 15 Nutrient Ecorcgion/Watcrbody Type Summary Chapters, Contract # 68-C-99-226, TO# 04

 5.2.8   Aggregate Nutrient Ecoregion 14

 Data sources:

 Legacy STORE!
 NASQAN
 NAWQA
 NYCDEP
 EPA Region 1
 EPA Region 3

 Parameters:

 Chlorophyll A, Fluorometric, Corrected
 Chlorophyll A, Phytoplankton, Spectrophotometric Acid
 Chlorophyll A, Phytoplankton, Spectrophotometric, Uncorrected
 Chlorophyll A, Trichromatic, Uncorrected
 Phosphorous, Dissolved Inorganic (DIP)
 Dissolved Oxygen (DO)
 Nitrite and Nitrate, (NO2+NO3)
 Phosphorus, Orthophosphate, Total as P
 Nitrogen; Total Kjeldahl (TKN)
 Nitrogen, Total (TN)
 Phosphorus, Total (TP)
Turbidity
Turbidity
Turbidity

Level III ecoregions:

59, 63, 84
                 August 8, 2000
(ug/L)
(ug/L)
(ug/L)
(ug/L)
(ug/L)
(mg/L)
(mg/L)
(ug/L)
(mg/L)
(mg/L)
(ug/L)
(FTU)
(JCU)
(NTU)
                                         20

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August 8, 2000
                                      APPENDIX A
               Process Used to QA/QA the Legacy STORE! Nutrient Data Set

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15 Nutrient Ecoregion/Water-body Type Summary Chapters. Contract * 68-C-99-226, TO# 04

I.
                                                                         August 8, 2000
STORET water quality parameters and Station and Sample data items were retrieved
from USEPA's mainframe computer.  Table 1 lists all retrieved parameters and data
items.
TABLE 1 : PARAMETERS AND DATA ITEMS RETRIEVED FROM STORET
Parameters Retrieved
(STORET Parameter Code)

TN-mg/1(600)
TKN - mg/1 (625)
Total Ammonia (NH3+NH4) - mg/1 (610)
Total NO2+NO3 - mg/1 (630)
Tota!Nitnte-mg/l(6l5)
Total Nitrate - mg/1 (620)
Organic N - mg/L (605)
TP - mg/1 (665)
Chlor a - ug/'L (spectrophotometric method.
32211)
Chlor a - ug/L (fluorometric method corrected.
32209)
Chlor a • ug/L (trichromatic method corrected,
32210)
Secchi Transp. - inches (77)
Secchi Transp. - meters (78)
+Turbidity JCUs (70)
^Turbidity FTUs (76)
^Turbidity NTUs field (82078)
-Turbidity NTUs lab (82079)
-DO - mg/L (300)
+ Water Temperature (degrees C, 10/degrees F,
11)
Station Data Items Included
(STORET Item Name)

Station Type (TYPE)
Agency Code (AGENCY)
Station No. (STATION)
Latitude - std. decimal degrees
(LATSTD)
Longitude - std. decimal degrees
(LONGSTD)
Station Location (LOCNAME)
County Name (CONAME)
State Name (STNAME)
Ecoregion Name - Level III
(ECONAME)
Ecoregion Code -Level III
(ECOREG)
Station Elevation (ELEV)
Hydrologic Unit Code
(CATUNIT)
RF1 Segment and Mile
(RCHMIL)
RF ION/OFF tag (ONOFF)



Sample Data Items
Included
(STORET Item Name)
Sample Date (DATE)
Sample Time (TIME)
Sample Depth (DEPTH)
Composite Sample Code
(SAMPMETH)


















- If data record available at a station included data only for this or other such marked parameters, data record was
deleted from data set.
       The following set of retrieval rules were applied to the retrieval process:

        •   Data were retrieved for waterbodies specified only as 'lake', 'stream', 'reservoir',
           or 'estuary' under "Station Type" parameter.  Any stations specified as 'well,'
           'spring,' or 'outfall' were eliminated from the retrieved data set.

        •   Data were retrieved for station types described as 'ambient' (e.g., no pipe or facility
           discharge data) under the "Station Type" parameter.

        •   Data were retrieved that were designated as 'water' samples only.  This includes
           'bottom' and 'vertically integrated' water samples.
                                           A-l

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August 8, 2000
       •   Data were retrieved that were designated as either 'grab' samples and 'composite'
           samples (mean result only).

       •   No limits were specified for sample depths.

       •   Data were retrieved for all fifty states, Puerto Rico, and the District of Columbia.

       •   The time period specified for data retrieval was January 1990 to September 1998.

       •   No data marked as "Retired Data" (i.e., data from a generally unknown source) were
           retrieved.

       •   Data marked as "National Urban Runoff data" (i.e., data associated with sampling   •
           conducted after storm events to assess nonpoint source pollutants) were included in
           the retrieval. Such data are part of STORET's 'Archived' data.

       •   Intensive survey data (i.e., data collected as part of specific studies) were retrieved.

     Any values falling below the 1st percentile and any values falling above the 99th
     percentile were transformed into  'missing' values (i.e., values were effectively removed
     from the data set, but were not permanently eliminated).

     Based on the STORET 'Remark Code' associated with each retrieved data point, the
     following rules were applied (Table 2):
TABLE 2: STORET REMARK CODE RULES
•
STORET Remark Code
blank - Data not remarked.
A-
B-
C-
D-
E-
F-
G-
Value reported is the mean of two or more determinations.
Results based upon colony counts outside the acceptable ranges.
Calculated. Value stored was not measured directly, but was
calculated from other data available.
Field measurement.
Extra sample taken in compositing.process.
In the case of species. F indicates female sex.
Value reported is the maximum of two or more determinations.
Keep or Delete Data Point
Keep
Keep
Delete
Keep
Keep
Delete
Delete
Delete
                                          A-2

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August 8. 2000
TABLE 2: STORET REMARK CODE RULES
H - Value based on field kit determination; results may not be accurate.
I - The value reported is less than the practical quantification limit and
greater than or equal to the method detection limit.
J- Estimated. Value shown is not a result of analytical measurement.
K - Off-scale low. Actual value not known, but known to be less than
value shown.
L - Off-scale high. Actual value not known, but known to be greater
than value shown.
M - Presence of material verified, but not quantified. Indicates a
positive detection, at a level too low to permit accurate
quantification.
N- Presumptive evidence of presence of material.
O - Sample for, but analysis lost. Accompanying value is not
meaningful for analysis.
P - Too numerous to count.
Q - Sample held beyond normal holding time.
R - Significant rain in the past 48 hours.
S - Laboratory test.
T - Value reported is less than the criteria of detection.
U - Material was analyzed for, but not detected. Value stored is the •
limit of detection for the process in use.
V - Indicates the analyte was detected in both the sample and associated
method blank.
W - Value observed is less than the lowest value reportable under
remark "T."
X - Value is quasi vertically-integrated sample.
Y - Laboratory analysis from unpreserved sample. Data may not be
accurate.
Z - Too manv colonies were present to count.
Delete
Keep, but used one-half the
reported value as the new value.
Delete
Keep, but used one-half the reported
value as the new value.
Keep
Keep, but used one half the reported
value as the new value.
Delete
Delete
Delete
Delete
Delete
Keep
Keep, but replaced reported value with
0.
Keep, but replaced reported value with t
0.
Delete
Keep, but replaced reported value with
.0.
No data point with this remark code in
data set. . . .
Delete
Delete
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                           TABLE 2: STORET REMARK CODE RULES
   If a parameter (excluding water temperature) value was less than or equal to zero and no remark code was present,
   the value was transformed into a missing value.
   Rationale - Parameter concentrations should never be zero without a proper explanation. A method detection limit
   should at least be listed.
 4.  Station records were eliminated from the data set if any of the following descriptors were
    present within the "Station Type" parameter:

          >•   MONITR - Source monitoring site, which monitors a known problem or to detect
              a specific problem.
          >   HAZARD - Site of hazardous or toxic wastes or substances.
          *•   ANPOOL - Anchialine pool, underground pools with subsurface connections to
              watertable  and ocean.
          >   DOWN - Downstream (i.e., within a potentially polluted area) from a facility
              which has a potential to pollute.
          *•   IMPDMT - Impoundment.  Includes waste pits, treatment lagoons, and settling
              and evaporation ponds.
          »•   STMSWR - Storm water sewer.
          ••   LNDFL - Landfill.
          +   CMBMI -  Combined municipal and industrial facilities.
          *•   CMBSRC - Combined source (intake and outfall).

      Rationale - these descriptors potentially indicate a station location that at which an
      ambient water sample would not be obtained (i.e., such sampling locations are potentially
      biased) or the sample location is not located within one of the designated water body types
      (i.e. ANPOOL).

5.    Station records were eliminated from data set if the station location did not fall within any
      established cataloging unit  boundaries based on their latitude and longitude.

6.    Using nutrient ecoregion GIS coverage provided by US.EPA. all station locations with
      latitude and longitude coordinates were tagged with a nutrient ecoregion identifier
      (nutrient region identifiers are values 1-14) and the associated nutrient ecoregion name.
      Because no nutrient ecoregions exist for Alaska, Hawaii, and Puerto Rico, stations located
      in these states were  tagged with "dummy" nutrient ecoregion numbers (20 = Alaska, 21  =
      Hawaii, 22 = Puerto Rico).
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7.
                                                                               August 8,2000
      Using information provided by TV A, 59 station locations that were marked as 'stream'
      locations under the "Station Type" parameter were changed to 'reservoir' locations.

8.     The nutrient data retrieved from STORET were assessed for the presence of duplicate data
      records. The duplicate data identification process consisted of three steps: 1)  identification
      of records that matched exactly in terms of each variable retrieved; 2) identification of
      records that matched exactly in terms of each variable retrieved except for their station
      identification numbers; and 3) identification of records that matched exactly in terms of
      each variable retrieved except for their collecting agency codes.  The data duplication
      assessment procedures were conducted using SAS programs.
      Prior to initiating the data duplication assessment process, the STORET nutrient data set
      contained:

           41,210 station records
           924,420 sample records

      •     Identification of exactly matching records
           All data records were sorted to identify those records that matched exactly.  For two
           records to match exactly, all variables retrieved had to be the same. For example,
           they had to have the same water quality parameters, parameter results and associated
           remark codes, and have the same station data item and sample data item information.
           Exactly matching records were considered to be exact duplicates, and one duplicate
           record of each identified matching set were eliminated from the nutrient data set. A
           total of 924 sample records identified as duplicates by this process were  eliminated
           from the data set.

      •     Identification of matching records with the exception of station identification number
           All data records were sorted to identify those records that matched exactly except for
           their station identification number (i.e., they had the same water quality parameters,
           parameter results and associated remark codes, and the same station and sample data
           item information with the exception of station identification number). Although the
           station identification numbers were different, the latitude and longitude for the
           stations were the same indicating a duplication of station data  due to  the existence of
           two station identification numbers for the same station. For each set of matching
           records, one of the station identification numbers was randomly selected and its
           associated data were eliminated from the data set. A total of 686 sample records
           were eliminated from the data set through this process.

           Identification of matching records  with the exception of collecting aeencv codes
           All data records were sorted to identify those records that matched exactly except for
           their collecting agency codes (i.e.,  they had the same water quality parameters,
           parameter results and associated remark codes, and the same station and sample data
           item information with the exception of agency code). The presence of two matching

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           data records each with a different agency code attached to it suggested that one
           agency had utilized data collected by the other agency and had entered the data
           into STORET without realizing that it already had been placed in STORET by the
           other agency. No matching records with greater than two different agency codes
           were identified. For determining which record to delete from the data set, the
           following rules were developed:

              >•   If one of the matching records had a USGS agency code, the USGS record
                  was retained and the other record was deleted.
              *•   Higher level agency monitoring program data were retained. For example,
                  federal program data (indicated by a "1" at the beginning of the STORET
                  agency code) were retained against state (indicated by a "2") and local
                  (indicated by values higher than 2) program data.
              »•   If two matching records had the same level agency code, the record from the
                  agency with the greater number of overall observations (potentially indicating
                  the data set as the source data set) was retained.

           A total of 2,915 sample records were eliminated through this process.

     As a result of the duplicate data identification process, a total of 4,525 sample records and
     36 individual station records were removed from the STORET nutrient data set.  The
     resulting nutrient data set contains the following:

     41,174 station records
     919,895 sample records
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                                         APPENDIX B




          Process for Adding Aggregate Nutrient Ecoregions and Level ffl Ecoregions

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Steps for assigning Level EH ecoregions and aggregate nutrient ecoregion codes and names to the
Nutrient Criteria Database (performed using ESRI's ARCView v 3.2 and its GeoProcessing
Wizard). This process is performed twice; once for the Level in ecoregions and once for the
aggregate nutrient ecoregions:

       Add the station .dbf data table, with latitude and longitude data, to project by 'Add Event
       Theme'
       Convert to the shapefile format
       Create 'stcojoin' field, populate the 'stcojoin' field with the following formula:
       'County.LCase+State.LCase'
       Add field 'stco_flag' to the station shapefile
       Spatially join the station data with the county shapefile (cntysjnedshp)
       Select 'stcojoin' (station shapefile) field = 'stcojoin2' (county shapefile) field
       Calculate'stco_flag = 0 for selected features
       Step through all blank stco_flag records, assign the appropriate stco_flags, see list on the
       following page
       Select all stco_flags = 4 or 7, switch selection
       Calculate ctyfips (station) to cntyfips (county)
       Stop editing and save edits,  remove all joins
       Add in 2 new fields'x-coordl1 and'y-coordl'into station table
       Select all stco_flags =1,2, and 6
       Link county coverage with station coverage
       Populate 'x-coordl' and 'y-coord 1' with 'x-coord' and 'y-coord1 from county coverage
       Select all stco_flags = 1,2, and 6, export to new .dbf file
       Add new .dbf file as event theme
       Convert to shapefile format
       Add the following fields to both tables (original station and station!26 shapefiles):
       'eco_omer', 'name_omer', 'dis_aggrl, 'code_aggrl, 'name_aggrl
       Spatially join station!26 and eco-omer coverage
       Populate the 'ecojsmer1 field with the 'eco' value
       Repeat the previous step using the nearest method (line coverage) to determine ecoregion
       assignment for the line coverage, if some records are blank
              Spatially join the ecoregion line coverage to station coverage, link the
              LPoly# (from the spatially joined table) to Poly# (of the ecoregion polygon
coverage)
              Populate the Eco fields with the appropriate information.
              Follow the same steps to the Rpolytf
       Remove al 1 tab le j oins
       Link the useco-om table with station 126 table and populate 'name-omer1 field
       Spatially join station aggr coverage and populate the rest of the fields. Follow the same
       procedures as outlined above
       Remove all joins
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                                                                                August 8, 2000
        Make sure the new Eco field added into the station 126 shapefile are different than the
        ones in the original station shapefile
        Join station 126 and station coverage by station-id
        Populate all the Eco fields in the original station coverage
        Remove all joins
        Save table
        Make sure that all ctyfips records are populated; the county shapefile may have to be
       joined to populate the records, if the stco_flag = 4
        Create 2 new fields, 'NewCounry' and TSfewState'
        Populate these new fields with a spatial join to the county coverage
       Select by feature (ecoregion shapefile) all of the records in the station shapefile
              Switch selection (to get records outside of the ecoregion shapefile)
              If any of the selected records have stco_flag = 0 (they are outside the ecoregion
              shapefile boundary), calculate them to stco_flag = 3

stco_flags (state/county flags in order of importance)
       0     The state and county values from the data set  matched the state and county values .
             from the spatial join.
             (Ecoregions were assigned based on the latitude/longitude coordinates.)
       1     The state  and county values from the data set  did not match the state and county
             values from the spatial join, but the point was inside the county coverage
             boundary.
             (Ecoregions were assigned based on the county centroid.)
       2     The state and county values  from the data set did not match the state and county
             values from the spatial join because the point was outside the county coverage
             boundary; therefore, there was nothing to compare to the point (i.e., the point
             falls in the ocean/Canada/Mexico). This occurred for some coastal samples.
             (Ecoregions were assigned based on the county centroid.)
       3     The state and county values  from the data set matched the state and county from
             the spatial join, but the point was outside the ecoregion boundary.
             (Ecoregions were assigned to the closest ecoregion to the point.)
             (No ecoregions were assigned to AK, HI, PR,  BC, and GU.)
       4     Latitude/longitude coordinates were provided, but there was no'county
             information.
             (Ecoregions were assigned based on the latitude/longitude coordinates.)
       5     The state and county values from the data set did not match the state and county
             values from  the spatial join due  to spelling or naming convention errors.
             The matches were performed manually.
             (Ecoregions  were assigned based on the latitude/longitude coordinates.)
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       6
                                                                      August 8, 2000
No latitude/longitude coordinates were provided, only state and county
information was available.
(Ecoregions were assigned based on the county centroid.)
No latitude/longitude coordinates were provided, only state information was
available; therefore, no matches were possible.
(Ecoregions were not assigned. Data is not included in the analysis.)
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                                          APPENDIX C




                                              Glossary

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 Coefficient of Variation—Equal to the standard deviation divided by the mean multiplied by 100.

 Maximum—The highest value.

 Mean—The arithmetic average.

 Median—The 50th percentile or middle value. Half of the values are above the median, and half
of the values are below the median.

Minimum—The lowest value.

Standard Deviation—Equal to the square root of the variance with the variance defined as the
sum of the squared deviations divided by the sample size minus one.

Standard Error— Standard error of the mean is equal to the standard deviation divided by the
square root of the sample size.
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