LOUISIANA DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY | Secretary Aurelia S. Giacometto
A DEPARTMENT OF THE STATE OF LOUISIANA
Nonpoint Source News-Notes is an occasional bulletin dealing with the condition of the water-related environment, the control of nonpoint sources of water pollution (NPS), and the ecosystem-driven management and restoration of watersheds.
Established by Section 319 of the Clean Water Act, requires States and U.S. territories to identify navigable waters that cannot attain water quality standards without reducing nonpoint source pollution and develop management plans to reduce nonpoint source pollution; Section 319 of the Clean Water Act (CWA) [Public Law 100‐4, February 4, 1987] directed the Governor of each state to prepare and submit a Nonpoint Source Assessment Report and Nonpoint Source Management Plan for reduction and control of pollution from nonpoint sources to navigable waters in the State; Louisiana Revised Statute 30:2011, signed by the Governor in 1987 as Act 272, instructed Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality, designated at the Lead Agency for the state’s Nonpoint Source Program, to develop and implement a NPS Management Program. The NPS Management Program is to be developed in coordination with appropriate state agencies, including, but not limited to, the Department of Natural Resources, the Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, the Department of Agriculture and Forestry, and the State Soil and Water Conservation Committee in those areas pertaining to their respective jurisdictions (La.R.S. 30:20).
The Agricultural Policy/Environmental eXtender (APEX) model was developed for use in whole farm/small watershed management (Williams et al., 2000). The model was constructed to evaluate various land management strategies considering sustainability, erosion (wind, sheet, and channel), economics, water supply and quality, soil quality, plant competition, weather, and pests. Management capabilities include irrigation, drainage, furrow diking, buffer strips, terraces, waterways, fertilization, manure management, lagoons, reservoirs, crop rotation and selection, pesticide application, grazing, and tillage. Besides the farm management functions, APEX can be used in evaluating the effects of global climate/CO2 changes; designing environmentally safe, and economical landfill sites; designing biomass production systems for energy; and other spin-off applications. The model operates on a daily time step and is capable of simulating hundreds of years if necessary. Farms may be subdivided into fields, soil types, landscape positions, or any other desirable configuration.
This standard establishes the acceptable criteria and documentation requirements for a plan that addresses the application and budgeting of nutrients for plant production. All nutrient sources, including soil reserves, commercial fertilizer, manure, organic byproducts, legume crops, and crop residues shall be accounted for and properly utilized. These criteria are intended to minimize nutrient entry into surface water, groundwater, and atmospheric resources while maintaining and improving the physical, chemical, and biological condition of the soil.
Long-term Agroecosystem Research (LTAR) network of sites within HUC 2 level to provide platform for research on sustainability of US agricultural systems. As of Nov 2012, there are no Long-term monitoring locations in Louisiana.
This web-based software application was designed to provide a simple, convenient way to express multiple water quality parameters into a single, easy to understand value. A calculated WQIag# value is ranked from 1 to 10, where a value of 10 is assigned to the runoff water of highest quality and value of 1 to lowest water quality.
ACWA is a national, nonpartisan professional organization. ACWA members are the state, Interstate and territorial officials who are responsible for the implementation of surface water protection programs throughout the nation. In addition to serving as a liaison among these officials, ACWA facilitates communication with federal government; promotes public education; is the national voice for state/tribal/territorial clean water program concerns, interests, and priorities; facilitates technical and policy innovation among national and state/tribal/territorial water programs (best practices); fosters the collaboration needed for sound public policy; and carries out activities in an efficient, ethical and fiscally sound manner.
The Alliance is providing a collaborative approach to build and evaluate tools needed to reduce excess nutrients and restore coastal waters that have been negatively impacted by nutrients. Long-term Goals: o Design a regional process for comparing nutrient criteria across coastal and estuarine waters, o Develop and implement strategies that reduce nutrient inputs and hypoxia, o Establish a comprehensive ecosystem approach to manage nutrient inputs and reduce impacts to coastal ecosystems, o Increase the capacity of Gulf coastal communities so that nutrient impacts are better managed and reduced. Actions: • Nutrient characterization, • Nutrient criteria, • Hypoxia, • Nutrient Reduction Strategies, o Low Tech Nutrient Reduction, o Mississippi Delta Nutrient Reduction, o Nutrient Reduction in St. Louis Bay, o Smart Yard Healthy Campaign.
Web-based tool that compares agricultural management systems to calculate a change in nitrogen, phosphorous, sediment loss potential, and crop yield. Agricultural producers and land managers can enter a baseline management system and an alternative conservation management system and produce a report showing the nitrogen, phosphorous, sediment loss potential, and crop yield difference between the two systems.
Our water quality is constantly threatened by many different sources and types of pollution. Under the Clean Water Act, every state must adopt water quality standards to protect, maintain and improve the quality of the nation's surface waters. These standards represent a level of water quality that will support the goal of "swimmable/fishable" waters. Water quality standards are ambient standards as opposed to discharge-type standards. These ambient standards, through a process of back calculation procedures known as total maximum daily loads or wasteload allocations form the basis of water quality based permit limitations that regulate the discharge of pollutants into surface waters under the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit program.