Buckeye Basins Newsletter: Spring 2008

Buckeye Basins is produced by the Ohio State University Extension, Watershed Team. It is compiled quarterly for Watershed Coordinators, Extension Educators and Natural Resource Professionals to include within their newsletters, programs or however they see fit. Please, feel free to ask questions, share ideas, or provide feedback.

In This Issue:

• Welcome
• Ordinances, Setbacks, and Zoning - Oh MY!
• 16th National Nonpoint Source Monitoring Conference
• Update on Ohio Household Sewage Treatment Systems
• Criteria for Effective Representatives in Natural Resource Management
• About World Water Day
• River Rally 2008
• Riparian Tree Planting Tips
• Ohio Lake Erie Commission Awards More Than $80,000 In Grants To Give Organizations For Research and Recreation

Ordinances, Setbacks, and Zoning - Oh MY!

Dana Oleskiewicz
Extension Educator, Watershed Management

Zoning ordinances (or resolutions) that include riparian and wetland setbacks or the use of low impact development designs are important tools in the fight against water pollution in our communities. Streams and wetlands serve a purpose. They filter out nutrients and sediment from rain water, known as nonpoint source pollution, and they store excess water during rain events. Any land use practice that increases or maintains the natural stream function will result in a wise use of our natural resources.

The land area adjacent to streams are called riparian areas, and when vegetated will help to stabilize the streambanks, reduce erosion, protect against flooding, and removes pollution in water runoff. Therefore, riparian and wetland setbacks provide for public health and safety because they assist with flood and erosion control, as well as protect water quality. This zoning tool is used to minimize the disturbance of soil in riparian areas that is often associated with development Ð thus no bulldozers, pavement, structures, or buildings. Recommended riparian setbacks range from 25 feet to 300 feet, on both sides of the channel, depending on the drainage area.

Riparian and wetland setbacks benefit communities both environmentally and economically. They will minimize encroachment to the natural stream channel so that expensive protection devices are not needed, such as dams or riprap. The stream is free to meander, change channel location within the riparian area, over time as nature intended. The aesthetic value, recreational benefits, and property values are enhanced when the streambed is forested. Property damage and potential hazards to residents is reduced as the water flow is slowed down when there is vegetation along the streambanks, as well as providing for flood control. Vegetated riparian areas and wetlands can save the community money and protect water quality as a result of setbacks in local zoning practices.

Another zoning practice that helps in the fight to protect our waterways is low impact development (LID), which is a design strategy that tries to replicate the natural hydrology of the land as it was before being developed. One such tool is conservation or cluster development for new construction on housing subdivisions. Homes are built in clusters, on smaller lots, but adjacent to large open areas that are shared by residents of a homeowners association. This maintains a rural character with undisturbed land, promotes infiltration of rain water into the soil thus decreasing water pollution in runoff, and actually costs less than traditional development designs.

For more information on riparian and wetland setbacks, model ordinances, cluster development, and other low impact techniques, visit the following resources:

http://urban.csuohio.edu/planningcenter/countryside/

http://www.crwp.org/model_ordinances/model_ordinances.htm

http://www.nemo.uconn.edu/

http://nemo.osu.edu/

http://www.lowimpactdevelopment.org/

return to top

16th National Nonpoint Source Monitoring Conference

When: September 14-18, 2008

Where: Marriot Renaissance Hotel, Columbus, Ohio

What: A forum dedicated to advancing the understanding, monitoring, and control of NPS pollution. Topics include monitoring techniques, technological advancements, the Section 319 National Monitoring Program, and more from local, state, and national projects and agencies.

Also, if you're interested in presenting, abstracts are due April 4, 2008.

Visit http://streams.osu.edu/conf.php for more information.

A PDF with additional information including the Call for Papers can be found here: NPS_call_for_papers.pdf

return to top

Update on Ohio Household Sewage Treatment Systems

J.P. Lieser, OSU Extension

Introduction

The Ohio EPA estimates there are more than 1,000 communities across Ohio with high densities of failing systems. However, the prospects for building new sewer treatment plants or accessing centralized sewers are often unrealistic or affordable remedies. The solutions to this on going problem are many and will take a concerted effort of Ohio's local health departments, local governments, home owners, Ohio Department of Health and Ohio EPA.

Legislation: Ohio Sewage Treatment Systems (STS)

Chapter 3718 of the Ohio Revised Code became law in 2005 governing HSTS and small flow on-site sewage treatment systems (SFOSTS) jointly referred to as sewage treatment systems (STS). Though much of this law has been postponed until July of 2009, definitions for STS and the option for local boards of health to assume authority for SFOSTS were not suspended. (ODH, 2007)

Section 737.11 of Amended Substitute HB 119 (the biennium budget bill enacted June 30, 2007) established the Household Sewage and Small Flow On-Site Sewage Treatment System Study Commission to study HSTS and SFOSTS issues, recommend appropriate legislation for the purpose of the treatment of sewage and the prevention of public health nuisances, and consider economic impact, alternative technology, and funding sources and mechanisms for providing assistance to homeowners. (ODH, 2007)

Ohio Septic System Facts

• Approximately 25% or 1 million Ohio homes rely upon on-site wastewater treatment.
• 100+ local health districts permit as many as 20,000 new and replacement HSTS annually.
• Over 250,000 septic systems discharge wastes that do not meet water quality standards of the Clean Water Act.
• Poor system designs have also led to surface and ground water contamination and disease outbreaks.
• Nearly a billion dollars has been spent in recent years to extend sewers to areas of failing systems and surveys of Ohio communities indicate that another billion dollars is needed.

(ODH, 2007)

HSTS Health Risks

The failure of one or two HSTS may release only a small amount of polluted discharge, but an entire community with failing systems can have a dramatic cumulative impact within a watershed. This impact is not only a water quality problem but a human health risk.

Improperly designed systems can lead to pollution discharges and become potential health risks to both surface and ground water. Systems improperly installed in very permeable soils allow both pathogens and nutrients to enter our ground water while those installed in shallow soils, very slowly permeable soils and saturated soils threaten our surface waters. (OSU SETTL, 2008)

It is estimated that up to 900,000 gallons of sewage is discharged daily throughout Ohio from failed systems and temporarily inoperable mechanical systems. These discharges could potentially lead to direct human contact with diseases such as, typhoid fever, gastroenteritis, cholera, dysentery, infectious hepatitis, aseptic meningitis and encephalitis. Not to mention, the risk of disease transmission to the general public via our drinking water.

Solutions

Sewage Nuisance Abatement and Remediation Program (SNARP)
In 2006, the Clermont GHD started the Sewage Nuisance Abatement and Remediation Program (SNARP) to assist homeowners in addressing sewage nuisances by incrementally making repairs that work toward the total replacement of their system.

• Started in 2006 by Clermont GHD to assist homeowners in addressing sewage nuisances by incrementally making repairs that work toward the total replacement of their system.
• Homeowner and installer work together within a framework of repair options that essentially enable a homeowner to install a replacement system step-by-step over time.
• As long as the completed repairs eliminate the sewage nuisance the owner is not required to continue with the next step in the process.
• If the system fails again, there is already a plan in place and the homeowner continues to the next step of their existing plan.

Basic System Assessment (BSA)

Clermont County GHD expects by end of the 2010 to routinely inspect all known onsite sewage treatment systems. Currently there are over 16,000 systems in the program.

Systems will be inspected on a rotating basis

• Non-mechanical systems assessed every 38 months
• Mechanical systems assessed every 19 months.
• In 2006, over 6400 systems were assessed.
• The "Septic Gazette" introduced in 2006 to notify residents of the month their systems will be inspected and to provide education on maintaining their onsite sewage treatment systems.

Conclusion

The Ohio Department of Health (ODH) feels that the solution to our STS problems rests in the improved siting, design, installation, operation and maintenance of Ohio's decentralized wastewater infrastructure. However, the costs for alternative and replacement treatment systems are considered to be exorbitant by some public officials. They worry that an undue burden would be placed on homeowners that may already be financially strapped. When contemplating this issue ODH asks that Ohioans also consider the costs associated with installing centralized sewer systems in communities with failed systems, cleaning up drinking water, and the reduced property values in communities with failing systems.

References

Clermont HD, 2004. Reduction of NPS Pollution in the East Fork Special Sanitary District. Contact: Robert Wildey.

ODH, 2007. Sewage Treatment Systems: Ohio's Decentralized Wastewater Infrastructure http://www.odh.ohio.gov/ASSETS/22E1223A9A9A4E5AB044E91B0A7AF61C/InfraFS.pdf

OSU SETTL, 2008.
http://www.ag.ohio-state.edu/~setll/publications.html

return to top

Criteria for Effective Representatives in Natural Resource Management

Anne Baird
Extension Educator - Watershed Management

Good representatives are critical in public participation efforts in order to reach acceptable environmental decision that can be implemented according to Rockloff & Moore (2006). Using the views of participants involved in agriculture in 10 natural resource management efforts in south Western Australia Rockloff & Moore (2006) identified seven qualities of effective representatives on natural resource management groups.

The qualities included being an active participant, competency (skills and knowledge), credibility, group commitment, communicating outside the group, having established social networks, and an ability to function in multiple roles (see Table I: Qualities of an Effective Representative). Natural resource management groups at all spatial scales included in the study (e.g., state, regional, county and subwatershed) highly valued commitment and active participation and were concerned with poor communication.

Rockloff and Moore (2006) concluded that it is important for policy makers to understand the qualities desired in representatives and how these are affected by scale. Their findings suggest that for groups at broader organizing scales (e.g., state level) representation was closer to achieving the desired qualities than for groups at smaller scales of organizing. The authors suggested that the improved performance at the broader organizing scale may have been influenced by members being selected based on competency and given a clear group mandate.

Rockloff & Moore (2006) concluded their article by suggesting that success of representation and public participation in natural resource management is likely influenced not only by the scale of organizing, but by how representatives are selected and what they are expected to achieve.

Rockloff, S. F. & Moore S. A. (2006). Assessing Representation at Different Scales of Decision Making: Rethinking Local is Better. The Policy Studies Journal, 34(4), 649-670.

return to top

About World Water Day

The international observance of World Water Day is an initiative that grew out of the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) in Rio de Janeiro.

The United Nations General Assembly designated 22 March of each year as the World Day for Water by adopting a resolution.This world day for water was to be observed starting in 1993, in conformity with the recommendations of the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development contained in chapter 18 (Fresh Water Resources) of Agenda 21.

States were invited to devote the Day to implement the UN recommendations and set up concrete activities as deemed appropriate in the national context.

The Subcommittee welcomes the assistance offered by IRC International Water and Sanitation Centre to contribute to an information network centre in support of the observance of the Day by Governments, as required.

For a complete list of World Water Day events worldwide, visit: http://www.worldwaterday.org/page/1037

return to top

River Rally 2008

Sawmill Creek Resort
Huron, OH
May 2-5th

The Lakes of Greatness are Calling!

River Network's National River Rally 2008 will help grassroots groups, tribes and agencies harness the power of citizen involvement to protect rivers and build healthier communities and watersheds. The River Rally will bring together hundreds of friends of rivers, water keepers, monitors, watchdogs, stewards, guardians and others involved in watershed protection and restoration. Together, we will celebrate rivers, teach and learn from each other, and explore the power of citizen action.

http://www.rivernetwork.org/rn/rally/

return to top

Riparian Tree Planting Tips

Jerry Iles
Extension Agent - Watershed Management
OSU South Centers

Tree planting season has nearly arrived. I hope several watershed groups around the state are working toward planting trees to re-establish cover along riparian corridors and enhance stream habitat. I have been involved in many spring tree planting days and they can be tons of fun provided enough volunteers turn out to lighten the load. A good general number of trees per person for planning purposes is 50 - 75 trees per volunteer. Think in terms of quality not quantity. Plant only what you can monitor and manage. The following are a few tips I learned at "The University of Hard Knocks".

Find and secure written permission from the landowner of the potential planting site. You may want to enhance or widen an area where there is a narrow band of trees or establish a streamside forest where none currently exists. Develop a planting plan to determine your spacing. Use some tree flags if you want to eliminate volunteer questions. Depending on your watershed, public lands may provide a great opportunity for long term protection. Make sure you have chosen native species appropriate for riparian areas.

Don't let those roots dry out! Bare root plants can dry out while you are planting. Consider using small buckets, small trash bags or tree planting bags. Store the trees in a cool shady place. I think it is a good idea to mix up a batch of Terrasorb and dip the tree roots right before planting.

It is very important to have an experienced planter give everyone a good demonstration of how to properly plant using a dibble bar. Be sure to seal your roots and eliminate air pockets by watering each tree to get them off to a good start.

Prepare the site by removing exotic vegetation such as honeysuckle and multi-flora rose. Studies have shown that weed control is essential to long term survival. In one study after 11 years, results show 73% of the seedlings survived where weeds were controlled (mowing or careful application of herbicides) as compared to 7% where no weed control was used. Other studies indicate that the use of tree shelters (3 - 4 foot plastic transparent tubes that enclose seedlings) increased growth rate and survivorship of seedlings.

Streamside forest restoration may be one of the most effective and practical activities a local watershed group can accomplish. Good event planning, site preparation and a long term maintenance plan are needed to ensure success.

return to top

Ohio Lake Erie Commission Awards More Than $80,000 In Grants To Give Organizations For Research and Recreation

TOLEDO, OH - The Ohio Lake Erie Commission has awarded a total of $82,554 to five projects that will enhance recreational opportunities and increase knowledge of the lake's ecosystem.
Case Western Reserve University will receive $14,992 for a two-year study of sediment oxygen demand and its effect on lake water quality. The results will be incorporated into the ECOFORE modeling framework, a five-year multi-disciplinary project that began in 2006.
The Ashtabula Lighthouse Society will receive $15,000 to install a floating dock at the lighthouse in order to allow greater public access and increased visitation. Future plans are to restore the lighthouse as a complement to nearby Geneva State Park Lodge & Conference Center, as well as other area parks and beaches.
The U.S Geological Survey will receive $15,000 to add Edgewater Beach to the Ohio Nowcast, which measures water turbidity and bacteria levels at beaches. The project will install a probe on an existing nearshore buoy at Edgewater. The probe will transmit data to a remote station and eliminate the need for beach sampling. The project will also install a photosynthetically active radiation (PAR) measuring device at Huntington Beach. PAR has been shown to reduce bacterial concentrations in the environment.
The U.S. Geological Survey will receive $12,880 to study turbidity and its relationship to E. coli concentrations in the Cuyahoga River within Cuyahoga Valley National Park. Recreational value of the river is often impaired by elevated bacteria counts. This study will create a predictive model for more effective management of the park's water, while reducing the public's risk of exposure to bacteria. Cinecraft Production, Inc. of Cleveland will receive $24,682 to produce a "Best Land Use Practices" DVD as recommended by the Balanced Growth Blue Ribbon Task Force. The DVD will be distributed to attendees at technical workshops held to instruct local planners, developers and public officials about the Balanced Growth Project. 

The commission was created to preserve Lake Erie's natural resources, enhance its water quality and promote economic development in the region. The director of the Ohio Department of Natural Resources serves as the commission's chairman. Additional members include the directors of the departments of transportation, development, health, agriculture and the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency.
The commission oversees the Ohio Lake Erie Protection Fund, which is the source of grant funding. This fund is supported by Ohioans each time they purchase a Lake Erie license plate displaying the Marblehead Lighthouse as designed by Ohio artist Ben Richmond.

For Further Information Contact:
Edwin J. Hammett, Executive Director;
Ohio Lake Erie Commission
(419) 245-2514

return to top