Nitrogen loading from the BB-LEH watershed and overlying airshed has resulted in shifts in ecosystem structure and function of the estuary reflected by the repeated occurrence of detrimental toxic and nuisance algal blooms, loss of essential seagrass habitat, and declining fisheries. Most of the nitrogen load enters the estuary from watershed surface-water inflow. While nitrogen loading has been modeled in several watersheds dominated by agriculture, the proposed project uses novel methods of modeling nutrient flow to characterize the effects of rapid urbanization and altered land use in the BBLEH watershed.
START DATE: 02-MAR-2009
END DATE: 31-MAR-2012
PROJECT NUMBER: LJ00DSK
STUDY OBJECTIVES:
- Document the influence of human altered land use on past and present nutrient export from the BB-LEH watershed to the BB-LEH estuary using physical and chemical watershed data and land-use patterns, and spatially explicit models;
- More sensitive modeling of loading will be developed and relative contributions of nutrient loadings from lawn care practices, protected riparian buffers, and stormwater management systems (SWMS) and other land-use characteristics will be estimated.
STATEMENT OF PROBLEM:
The Barnegat Bay-Little Egg Harbor (BB-LEH) estuary, which also includes Manahawkin Bay, has been classified as a highly eutrophic system based on application of NOAA’s National Estuarine Eutrophication Assessment (NEEA) model (2007) and Nixon’s trophic classification (1995). Nitrogen loading from the BB-LEH watershed and overlying airshed has resulted in shifts in ecosystem structure and function of the estuary reflected by the repeated occurrence of detrimental toxic and nuisance algal blooms, loss of essential seagrass habitat, and declining fisheries. Most of the nitrogen load enters the estuary from watershed surface-water inflow. While nitrogen loading has been modeled in several watersheds dominated by agriculture, the proposed project uses novel methods of modeling nutrient flow to characterize the effects of rapid urbanization and altered land use in the BBLEH watershed.
STRATEGY AND APPROACH:
The most recent and comprehensive data available will be used to determine current nitrogen and phosphorus loading, and both temporal and spatial variability. Loading determined for earlier time periods, together with other monitoring data for earlier time periods, will be evaluated for potential utility in characterizing an appropriate reference condition for use in establishing nutrient criteria. Meteorological, hydrologic, water-quality, land-use, and atmospheric data will be used in conjunction with the models PLOAD (CH2M Hill, Inc,) and BASINS3 (USEPA). Loading will be determined from model simulations for subbasins which lack sufficient data to directly calculate nutrient loads.
DISCLAIMER: This webpage contains information about completed or inactive projects from the NJ Water Science Center. It has been created for historical purposes and may be a utility to locate published information. This page should not be considered an authoritative source. You are encouraged to contact the NJ WSC for more current information.
Below are publications associated with this project.
Nutrient concentrations in surface water and groundwater, and nitrate source identification using stable isotope analysis, in the Barnegat Bay-Little Egg Harbor watershed, New Jersey, 2010–11
- Overview
Nitrogen loading from the BB-LEH watershed and overlying airshed has resulted in shifts in ecosystem structure and function of the estuary reflected by the repeated occurrence of detrimental toxic and nuisance algal blooms, loss of essential seagrass habitat, and declining fisheries. Most of the nitrogen load enters the estuary from watershed surface-water inflow. While nitrogen loading has been modeled in several watersheds dominated by agriculture, the proposed project uses novel methods of modeling nutrient flow to characterize the effects of rapid urbanization and altered land use in the BBLEH watershed.
START DATE: 02-MAR-2009
END DATE: 31-MAR-2012
PROJECT NUMBER: LJ00DSK
STUDY OBJECTIVES:
- Document the influence of human altered land use on past and present nutrient export from the BB-LEH watershed to the BB-LEH estuary using physical and chemical watershed data and land-use patterns, and spatially explicit models;
- More sensitive modeling of loading will be developed and relative contributions of nutrient loadings from lawn care practices, protected riparian buffers, and stormwater management systems (SWMS) and other land-use characteristics will be estimated.
STATEMENT OF PROBLEM:
The Barnegat Bay-Little Egg Harbor (BB-LEH) estuary, which also includes Manahawkin Bay, has been classified as a highly eutrophic system based on application of NOAA’s National Estuarine Eutrophication Assessment (NEEA) model (2007) and Nixon’s trophic classification (1995). Nitrogen loading from the BB-LEH watershed and overlying airshed has resulted in shifts in ecosystem structure and function of the estuary reflected by the repeated occurrence of detrimental toxic and nuisance algal blooms, loss of essential seagrass habitat, and declining fisheries. Most of the nitrogen load enters the estuary from watershed surface-water inflow. While nitrogen loading has been modeled in several watersheds dominated by agriculture, the proposed project uses novel methods of modeling nutrient flow to characterize the effects of rapid urbanization and altered land use in the BBLEH watershed.
STRATEGY AND APPROACH:
The most recent and comprehensive data available will be used to determine current nitrogen and phosphorus loading, and both temporal and spatial variability. Loading determined for earlier time periods, together with other monitoring data for earlier time periods, will be evaluated for potential utility in characterizing an appropriate reference condition for use in establishing nutrient criteria. Meteorological, hydrologic, water-quality, land-use, and atmospheric data will be used in conjunction with the models PLOAD (CH2M Hill, Inc,) and BASINS3 (USEPA). Loading will be determined from model simulations for subbasins which lack sufficient data to directly calculate nutrient loads.
DISCLAIMER: This webpage contains information about completed or inactive projects from the NJ Water Science Center. It has been created for historical purposes and may be a utility to locate published information. This page should not be considered an authoritative source. You are encouraged to contact the NJ WSC for more current information.
- Publications
Below are publications associated with this project.
Nutrient concentrations in surface water and groundwater, and nitrate source identification using stable isotope analysis, in the Barnegat Bay-Little Egg Harbor watershed, New Jersey, 2010–11
Five streams in the Barnegat Bay-Little Egg Harbor (BB-LEH) watershed in southern New Jersey were sampled for nutrient concentrations and stable isotope composition under base-flow and stormflow conditions, and during the growing and nongrowing seasons, to help quantify and identify sources of nutrient loading. Samples were analyzed for concentrations of total nitrogen, ammonia, nitrate plus nitriAuthorsChristine M. Wieben, Ronald J. Baker, Robert S. Nicholson