United States Environmental Protection Agency Office of Research and Development National Exposure Research Laboratory Research Abstract Government Performance Results Act (GPRA) Goal (GPRA) Goal 2.2 Annual Performance Measure #199: Report on methods/indicators for determining when biological impairments of rivers and streams are due to sediment loads. Significant Research Findings: Causal Analysis Database of Literature (CADLit): Suspended and Settled Particle Module Scientific The Clean Water Act (CWA) requires that states adopt water quality standards Problem and that support designated uses including aquatic life use. States and tribes often Policy Issues measure a waterbody's ability to support aquatic life by sampling fish, invertebrates, and plants. If the measurements that are based on biological entities deviate from expected norms, then the waterbody may be impaired. If a waterbody is impaired, Section 303(d) of the CWA requires states and tribes to determine the cause of the biological impairment, to calculate a level of the pollutant that may occur while allowing the biological condition to return to acceptable levels, and to prepare an implementation plan to achieve these objectives. Determining the cause of a biological impairment can be a daunting task; nevertheless, the probable causes of biological impairments can be determined and the findings can be used to reduce or remove detrimental causes and improve the condition of biological communities. Stream bed embeddedness is one of the most commonly cited causes of biological impairment by states and tribes. Stream bed embeddedness can reduce the availability of suitable habitats for many aquatic organisms. To enable resource managers to more easily find information from the literature that can be used as evidence that supports or weakens the case for hypothesized causes of biological impairment, a database has been developed and populated with information for suspended and settled particles, also known as suspended and bedded sediments, or clean sediments. The type and format of the stored information is compatible with a formal process for organizing and analyzing evidence as described in a set of stressor identification guidelines developed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA) (U.S. EPA 2000b, Suter et al. 2002). Research The Agency is now engaged in developing a web-enabled aid for stressor Approach identification, the Causal Analysis and Diagnosis Decision Information System (CADDIS). One functional component of CADDIS is CADlit, a database that a user can query and obtain the levels of stressors that have been reported to cause changes to aquatic systems or biological effects. The database was constructed in Microsoft Access. The scientific literature was searched and documents that reported associations between aquatic stressors and a biological effect were selected. More than one hundred publications were reviewed and data extracted and entered into the database for suspended and settled particles on aquatic ------- organisms. Information includes the reported sources, stressors, organisms affected, type of impairment, geographic location, stressor level reported to cause a biological effect, description of usefulness for causal analysis and citation information. A simple query interface allows users to extract information from the database. Information is presented in a standard report format or users can extract information with routine Access functions. Results and This effort will help risk managers determine if an impairment is due to excess Impact sediment and will help them establish TMDL goals. This work also supports the development of guidance for states and tribes to set standards for bedded and suspended sediments, a joint ORD/OW effort. The CADlit database is available as a compact disc by request for EPA personnel and scientific collaborators. This efforts resulted from an inter-agency collaboration involving the following individuals from the National Exposure Research Laboratoy (NERL) and the National Center for Environmental Assessment (NCEA): Susan M. Cormier, Ph.D., NERL; Glenn W. Suter II, Ph.D., NCEA: Susan Braen Norton, Ph.D., NCEA; Bhagya Subramanian, NERL; Patricia Shaw-Allen, Ph.D., NCEA; Michael Griffith, Ph.D., NCEA Peer Reviewers: Barbara Shayne Washburn, Ph.D. Ecotoxicology Unit Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment California Environmental Protection Agency Christine Russom, Mid-Continent Ecology Division, National Health and Environmental Effects Research Laboratory Walter Berry,Ph.D. Altantic Ecology Division,National Health and Environmental Effects Research Laboratory The authors would like to recognize others who helped to prepare this document including Jeroen Gerritsen, Ph.D., Benjamin Jessup, and Susan Moegenburg, Tetra Tech, Inc. Future Research Based on peer reviewer comments the ACCESS format was acceptable for development purposes but all reviewers felt that the only way to ensure full accessibility was to move the database from ACCESS to an ORACLE format, the Agency standard for databases, and to provide web access. The database will be converted to the ORACLE format; but in the meantime, the ACCESS format will be made available on a request basis. Also, through efforts of the National Center for Environmental Assessment, information is being gathered and entered into CADlit for other common aquatic stressors including nutrients, metals, temperature and dissolved oxygen. Questions and inquiries can be directed to: Susan M. Cormier, Ph.D. US EPA National Exposure Research Laboratory Cincinnati, OH 45268 Phone: 513-569-7995 Research Collaboration and Research Products Contacts for Additional Information ------- E-mail: cormier.susan@epamail.epa.gov Funding for this project was through the U.S. EPA's Office of Research and Development, National Exposure Research Laboratory, and the work was conducted by the EERD and Subcontracts to Tetra Tech, Inc. Contract 68-C-01- 022 and TN & A Associates, Inc., Contract 68-C-04-004. ------- |