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Rosemary M Fanelli, Ph.D.

Rosemary Fanelli is a Hydrologist with the South Atlantic Water Science Center in Raleigh, North Carolina.

Rosemary is a Hydrologist with the USGS. Her research focuses on assessing the impacts of land use and management on freshwater aquatic ecosystems. Current projects include characterizing spatial and temporal patterns in water quality stressors, explaining trends in water quality, and assessing the effects of management and restoration activities on stream ecosystems.

Professional Experience

  • 2019 – Present     Hydrologist, USGS South Atlantic Water Science Center, Raleigh, NC

  • 2016 – 2019        Hydrologist, USGS MD-DE-DC Water Science Center, Baltimore, MD

  • 2014 - 2016        Pathways Career Hydrology Intern, USGS MD-DE-DC Water Science Center, Baltimore, MD

  • 2010 - 2016        Graduate Research Assistant, University of Maryland, College Park, MD

Education and Certifications

  • Ph.D., Marine, Estuarine, and Environmental Science, University of Maryland, College Park, MD

  • M.S., Watershed Hydrology and Management, SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry, Syracuse, NY

  • B.S., Environmental Earth Science, SUNY College at Brockport, Brockport, NY

Science and Products

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Map of sample sites for Triangle Water Supply Monitoring Project

Triangle Area, NC, Water Supply Monitoring

The Research Triangle area, located within the upper Cape Fear and Neuse River basins, is one of the most rapidly developing areas in the Nation. Growth has increased demand for water from public suppliers, the majority of which draw water from streams and lakes in the region. Growth also brings the threat of greater loads of contaminants and new contaminant sources that, if not properly managed...
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South Atlantic Water Science Center (SAWSC)
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Triangle Area, NC, Water Supply Monitoring

The Research Triangle area, located within the upper Cape Fear and Neuse River basins, is one of the most rapidly developing areas in the Nation. Growth has increased demand for water from public suppliers, the majority of which draw water from streams and lakes in the region. Growth also brings the threat of greater loads of contaminants and new contaminant sources that, if not properly managed...
Learn More
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Top reported stressors for each jurisdiction in the Chesapeake Bay watershed

Enhanced understanding of factors affecting stream condition can improve restoration outcomes

Issue: The Chesapeake Bay Watershed Agreement has an outcome to improve stream health. Current restoration approaches have led to mixed improvements in stream conditions, indicating that some major stressors and their sources were likely overlooked. Managers could benefit from synthesized information on most reported stressors responsible for aquatic community impairment and their linkages to...
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Chesapeake Bay Activities
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Enhanced understanding of factors affecting stream condition can improve restoration outcomes

Issue: The Chesapeake Bay Watershed Agreement has an outcome to improve stream health. Current restoration approaches have led to mixed improvements in stream conditions, indicating that some major stressors and their sources were likely overlooked. Managers could benefit from synthesized information on most reported stressors responsible for aquatic community impairment and their linkages to...
Learn More
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White Heron in Marsh

Tracking Status and Trends in Seven Key Indicators of River and Stream Condition in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed

Identifying and tracking the status of, and trends in, stream health within the Chesapeake Bay watershed is essential to understanding the past, present, and future trajectory of the watershed’s resources and ecological condition. A team of USGS ecosystem scientists is meeting this need with an initiative to track the status of, and trends in, key indicators of the health of non-tidal freshwater...
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Chesapeake Bay Activities
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Tracking Status and Trends in Seven Key Indicators of River and Stream Condition in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed

Identifying and tracking the status of, and trends in, stream health within the Chesapeake Bay watershed is essential to understanding the past, present, and future trajectory of the watershed’s resources and ecological condition. A team of USGS ecosystem scientists is meeting this need with an initiative to track the status of, and trends in, key indicators of the health of non-tidal freshwater...
Learn More
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Sand filter and dry detention pond located in Clarksburg, Maryland

Understanding the Effects of Stormwater Management Practices on Water Quality and Flow

Urban development can have detrimental impacts on streams including altering hydrology, increasing nutrient, sediment, and pollutant loadings, and degrading biological integrity. Stormwater Best Management Practices (BMPs) can be used to mitigate the effects of urban development by retaining large volumes of stormwater runoff and treating runoff to remove pollutants. This project focuses on...
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Ecosystems Mission Area, Land Change Science Program, South Atlantic Water Science Center (SAWSC)
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Understanding the Effects of Stormwater Management Practices on Water Quality and Flow

Urban development can have detrimental impacts on streams including altering hydrology, increasing nutrient, sediment, and pollutant loadings, and degrading biological integrity. Stormwater Best Management Practices (BMPs) can be used to mitigate the effects of urban development by retaining large volumes of stormwater runoff and treating runoff to remove pollutants. This project focuses on...
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Stream stage, stream temperature, and climate metrics for 30 streams spanning land use and management gradients in the Shenandoah Valley region of West Virginia and Virginia, 2021

This data release contains summary metrics describing stream stage, stream water temperature, and short-term climate conditions (daily precipitation and air temperature) for 30 streams spanning gradients of forest and pasture land uses and agricultural best management practice implementation in the Shenandoah Valley region of Virginia and West Virginia, USA. This setting is the first of four setti
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South Atlantic Water Science Center (SAWSC)

Compilation of multi-agency specific conductance observations for streams within the Chesapeake Bay watershed

Freshwater salinization is an emerging issue for freshwater environments in the Chesapeake Bay, USA region. Salinization is often described by measurements of specific conductance (SC). This data release contains specific conductance observations collected by multiple regional agencies for streams within the Chesapeake Bay Watershed. This inventory compiles and harmonizes data from the Water Quali
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Chesapeake Bay Activities, Maryland-Delaware-D.C. Water Science Center, South Atlantic Water Science Center (SAWSC)

Literature review results and regulatory summaries of freshwater stressors influencing biological impairment in the Chesapeake Bay watershed, USA

This data release contains relevant datasets used in the analysis for the Chesapeake Bay stressor identification project, for which results are described in Fanelli and others (in review). For this project, two existing information sources were compiled and summarized to identify key in-stream stressors reported by the scientific literature or through regulatory assessments to be likely affecting
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Chesapeake Bay Activities, South Atlantic Water Science Center (SAWSC)

Stream cross-section, benthic macroinvertebrate and fish taxa counts and abundance, and water chemistry data for the Clarksburg study area in Montgomery County, Maryland, 1992 - 2020

Montgomery County, Maryland Department of Environmental Protection has collected datasets to assess the health of streams since the early 1990s. Datasets include geomorphic stream cross-sectional surveys, fish and benthic macroinvertebrate counts and taxa abundance, and water chemistry data collected at the time of benthic and fish sampling (dissolved oxygen, pH, specific conductance, air temperat
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Chesapeake Bay Activities, New Jersey Water Science Center

Discrete and high-frequency chloride (Cl) and specific conductance (SC) data sets and Cl-SC regression equations used for analysis of 93 USGS water quality monitoring stations in the eastern United States

High frequency estimated chloride (Cl) and observed specific conductance (SC) data sets, along with response variables derived from those data sets, were used in an analysis to quantify the extent to which deicer applications in winter affect water quality in 93 U.S. Geological Survey water quality monitoring stations across the eastern United States. The analysis was documented in the following p
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Maryland-Delaware-D.C. Water Science Center

Streamflow and precipitation event statistics for treatment, urban control, and forested control watersheds in Clarksburg, MD USA (2004-2018)

This dataset describes streamflow and precipitation event statistics for four watersheds located in Clarksburg, Maryland, USA. Streamflow and precipitation events were identified from fourteen years of sub-daily (5- and 15-minute) monitoring data from October 1, 2004 through September 30, 2018. A 6-hour inter-event window was used to define discrete streamflow and precipitation events. The followi
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Chesapeake Bay Activities, South Atlantic Water Science Center (SAWSC)
Close up of running water with the text, "Soaking Up Stormwater". Soaking Up Stormwater
Soaking Up Stormwater
Close up of running water with the text, "Soaking Up Stormwater".

Soaking Up Stormwater

Soaking Up Stormwater

This video acts as a “visual abstract” for a recent publication analyzing the stormwater management practices in Clarksburg, MD. The video features interviews with the team of USGS scientists as well as a water specialist from Montgomery County.

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Chesapeake Bay Activities, Maryland-Delaware-D.C. Water Science Center
Close up of running water with the text, "Soaking Up Stormwater".

Soaking Up Stormwater

Soaking Up Stormwater

This video acts as a “visual abstract” for a recent publication analyzing the stormwater management practices in Clarksburg, MD. The video features interviews with the team of USGS scientists as well as a water specialist from Montgomery County.

By
Chesapeake Bay Activities, Maryland-Delaware-D.C. Water Science Center
Close up of running water with the text, "Soaking Up Stormwater". Soaking Up Stormwater (AD)
Soaking Up Stormwater (AD)
Close up of running water with the text, "Soaking Up Stormwater".

Soaking Up Stormwater (AD)

Soaking Up Stormwater (AD)

This video acts as a “visual abstract” for a recent publication analyzing the stormwater management practices in Clarksburg, MD. The video features interviews with the team of USGS scientists as well as a water specialist from Montgomery County.

By
Chesapeake Bay Activities, Maryland-Delaware-D.C. Water Science Center
Close up of running water with the text, "Soaking Up Stormwater".

Soaking Up Stormwater (AD)

Soaking Up Stormwater (AD)

This video acts as a “visual abstract” for a recent publication analyzing the stormwater management practices in Clarksburg, MD. The video features interviews with the team of USGS scientists as well as a water specialist from Montgomery County.

By
Chesapeake Bay Activities, Maryland-Delaware-D.C. Water Science Center
Filter Total Items: 13

Triangle Area Water Supply Monitoring Project, North Carolina—Overview of hydrologic and water-quality monitoring activities and data quality assurance

Surface-water supplies are important sources of drinking water for residents in the Triangle area of North Carolina, which is located within the upper Cape Fear and Neuse River Basins. Since 1988, the U.S. Geological Survey and a consortium of local governments have participated in a cooperative effort, known as the Triangle Area Water Supply Monitoring Project, to track water-quality and quantity
Authors
J.C. Diaz, R.M. Fanelli
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Water Resources Mission Area, South Atlantic Water Science Center (SAWSC)

Progress in reducing nutrient and sediment loads to Chesapeake Bay: Three decades of monitoring data and implications for restoring complex ecosystems

For over three decades, Chesapeake Bay (USA) has been the focal point of a coordinated restoration strategy implemented through a partnership of governmental and nongovernmental entities, which has been a classical model for coastal restoration worldwide. This synthesis aims to provide resource managers and estuarine scientists with a clearer perspective of the magnitude of changes in water qualit
Authors
Qian Zhang, Joel Blomquist, Rosemary M. Fanelli, Jennifer L. Keisman, Doug L. Moyer, Michael J. Langland
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Water Resources Mission Area, Chesapeake Bay Activities, Maryland-Delaware-D.C. Water Science Center

Tracking status and trends in seven key indicators of stream health in the Chesapeake Bay watershed

“The Bay Connects us, the Bay reflects us” writes Tom Horton in the book “Turning the Tide—Saving the Chesapeake Bay”. The Chesapeake Bay watershed contains the largest estuary in the United States. The watershed stretches north to Cooperstown, New York, south to Lynchburg and Virginia Beach, Virginia, west to Pendleton County, West Virginia, and east to Seaford, Delaware, and Scranton, Pennsylvan
Authors
Samuel H. Austin, Matt J. Cashman, John W. Clune, James E. Colgin, Rosemary M. Fanelli, Kevin P. Krause, Emily Majcher, Kelly O. Maloney, Chris A. Mason, Doug L. Moyer, Tammy M. Zimmerman
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Ecosystems Mission Area, Water Resources Mission Area, Environmental Health Program, Chesapeake Bay Activities, Eastern Ecological Science Center, Maryland-Delaware-D.C. Water Science Center, Pennsylvania Water Science Center, South Atlantic Water Science Center (SAWSC), Virginia and West Virginia Water Science Center

Identifying key stressors driving biological impairment in freshwater streams in the Chesapeake Bay watershed, USA

Biological communities in freshwater streams are often impaired by multiple stressors (e.g., flow or water quality) originating from anthropogenic activities such as urbanization, agriculture, or energy extraction. Restoration efforts in the Chesapeake Bay watershed, USA seek to improve biological conditions in 10% of freshwater tributaries and to protect the biological integrity of existing healt
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Rosemary M. Fanelli, Matt J. Cashman, Aaron J. Porter
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Water Resources Mission Area, Chesapeake Bay Activities, Maryland-Delaware-D.C. Water Science Center, South Atlantic Water Science Center (SAWSC)

Lessons learned from 20 y of monitoring suburban development with distributed stormwater management in Clarksburg, Maryland, USA

Urban development is a well-known stressor for stream ecosystems, presenting a challenge to managers tasked with mitigating its effects. For the past 20 y, streamflow, water quality, geomorphology, and benthic communities were monitored in 5 watersheds in Montgomery County, Maryland, USA. This study presents a synthesis of multiple studies of monitoring efforts in the study area and new analysis o
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Kristina G. Hopkins, Sean Woznicki, Brianna Williams, Charles C. Stillwell, Eric Naibert, Marina Metes, Daniel Jones, Dianna M. Hogan, Natalie Celeste Hall, Rosemary M. Fanelli, Aditi S. Bhaskar
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Water Resources Mission Area, Energy Resources Program, Geology, Energy & Minerals Science Center, Chesapeake Bay Activities, Florence Bascom Geoscience Center, Maryland-Delaware-D.C. Water Science Center, New Jersey Water Science Center, South Atlantic Water Science Center (SAWSC)

Nitrogen in the Chesapeake Bay watershed—A century of change, 1950–2050

ForewordSustaining the quality of the Nation’s water resources and the health of our diverse ecosystems depends on the availability of sound water-resources data and information to develop effective, science-based policies. Effective management of water resources also brings more certainty and efficiency to important economic sectors. Taken together, these actions lead to immediate and long-term e
Authors
John W. Clune, Paul D. Capel, Matthew P. Miller, Douglas A. Burns, Andrew J. Sekellick, Peter R. Claggett, Richard H. Coupe, Rosemary M. Fanelli, Ana Maria Garcia, Jeff P. Raffensperger, Silvia Terziotti, Gopal Bhatt, Joel D. Blomquist, Kristina G. Hopkins, Jennifer L. Keisman, Lewis C. Linker, Gary W. Shenk, Richard A. Smith, Alex M. Soroka, James S. Webber, David M. Wolock, Qian Zhang
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Water Resources Mission Area, Chesapeake Bay Activities, Maryland-Delaware-D.C. Water Science Center, New York Water Science Center, Pennsylvania Water Science Center, South Atlantic Water Science Center (SAWSC), Utah Water Science Center, Virginia and West Virginia Water Science Center

Time marches on, but do the causal pathways driving instream habitat and biology remain consistent?

Stream ecosystems are complex networks of interacting terrestrial and aquatic drivers. To untangle these ecological networks, efforts evaluating the direct and indirect effects of landscape, climate, and instream predictors on biological condition through time are needed. We used structural equation modeling and leveraged a stream survey program to identify and compare important predictors driving
Authors
Richard H Walker, Matthew J. Ashton, Matt J. Cashman, Rosemary M. Fanelli, Kevin P. Krause, Gregory B. Noe, Kelly O. Maloney
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Eastern Ecological Science Center, Chesapeake Bay Activities

High-frequency data reveal deicing salts drive elevated specific conductance and chloride along with pervasive and frequent exceedances of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency aquatic life criteria for chloride in urban streams

Increasing specific conductance (SC) and chloride concentrations [Cl] negatively affect many stream ecosystems. We characterized spatial variability in SC, [Cl], and exceedances of Environmental Protection Agency [Cl] criteria using nearly 30 million high-frequency observations (2–15 min intervals) for SC and modeled [Cl] from 93 sites across three regions in the eastern United States: Southeast,
Authors
Joel Moore, Rosemary M. Fanelli, Andrew Sekellick

Changes in event‐based streamflow magnitude and timing after suburban development with infiltration‐based stormwater management

Green stormwater infrastructure implementation in urban watersheds has outpaced our understanding of practice effectiveness on streamflow response to precipitation events. Long‐term monitoring of experimental urban watersheds in Clarksburg, Maryland, USA, provided an opportunity to examine changes in event‐based streamflow metrics in two treatment watersheds that transitioned from agriculture to s
Authors
Kristina G. Hopkins, Aditi S. Bhaskar, Sean Woznicki, Rosemary M. Fanelli
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Water Resources Mission Area, Chesapeake Bay Activities, Maryland-Delaware-D.C. Water Science Center, South Atlantic Water Science Center (SAWSC)

Phosphorus and the Chesapeake Bay: Lingering issues and emerging concerns for agriculture

Hennig Brandt's discovery of phosphorus (P) occurred during the early European colonization of the Chesapeake Bay region. Today, P, an essential nutrient on land and water alike, is one of the principal threats to the health of the bay. Despite widespread implementation of best management practices across the Chesapeake Bay watershed following the implementation in 2010 of a total maximum daily lo
Authors
Peter Kleinman, Rosemary M. Fanelli, Robert M. Hirsch, Anthony R Buda, Zachary M. Easton, Lisa A. Wainger, Chris Brosch, Mark Lowenfish, Amy S. Collick, Adel Shirmohammadi, Kathy Boomer, Jason A. Hubbart, R. B. Bryant, Gary Shenk
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Chesapeake Bay Activities

Point sources and agricultural practices control spatial-temporal patterns of orthophosphate in tributaries to Chesapeake Bay

Orthophosphate (PO4) is the most bioavailable form of phosphorus (P). Excess PO4 may cause harmful algal blooms in aquatic ecosystems. A major restoration effort is underway for Chesapeake Bay (CB) to reduce P, nitrogen, and sediment loading to CB. Although PO4 cycling and delivery to streams has been characterized in small-scale studies, regional drivers of PO4 patterns remain poorly understood b
Authors
Rosemary M. Fanelli, Joel Blomquist, Robert M. Hirsch
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Chesapeake Bay Activities

Stormwater management network effectiveness and implications for urban watershed function: A critical review

Deleterious effects of urban stormwater are widely recognized. In several countries, regulations have been put into place to improve the conditions of receiving water bodies, but planning and engineering of stormwater control is typically carried out at smaller scales. Quantifying cumulative effectiveness of many stormwater control measures on a watershed scale is critical to understanding how sma
Authors
Anne J. Jefferson, Aditi S. Bhaskar, Kristina G. Hopkins, Rosemary M. Fanelli, Pedro M. Avellaneda, Sara K. McMillan
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Water Resources Mission Area, Maryland-Delaware-D.C. Water Science Center

Non-USGS Publications**

Moore, J, R. Fanelli, and A. Sekellick. 2020. High-frequency data reveal deicing salts drive elevated conductivity and chloride along with pervasive and frequent exceedances of the EPA chloride aquatic life criteria in urban streams. Environ. Sci. Technology 54, 2, 778-789.
Fanelli, R, K. Prestegaard, and M. Palmer. 2019. Urban legacies: Aquatic stressors and low biodiversity persist despite regenerative stormwater conveyance implementation. Freshwater Science. DOI: 10.1086/706072.
Fanelli, R, J. Blomquist, and R. Hirsch. 2019. Point sources and agricultural practices control spatial-temporal patterns of orthophosphate in tributaries to Chesapeake Bay. Science of the Total Environment. 652: p 422-433. doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2018.10.062
Fanelli, R., K. Prestegaard, and M. Palmer. 2017 Evaluation of infiltration-based stormwater management to restore hydrological processes in urban headwater streams. Hydrological Processes. doi.org/10.1002/hyp.11266
Palmer, M.A., S. Filoso and R. Fanelli. 2014. From ecosystems to ecosystem services: restoration as ecological engineering. Ecological Engineering. 65:62-70. doi.org/10.1016/j.ecoleng.2013.07.059
Lautz, LK and R. Fanelli. 2008. Seasonal multivariate analysis of streambed biogeochemical hotspots around stream restoration structures. Biogeochemistry, 91(1): 85-104. doi.org/10.1007/s10533-008-9235-2
Fanelli, R. and LK Lautz. 2008. Patterns of water, heat and solute flux through streambeds around small dams. Ground Water 46(5): 671-687. doi.org/10.1111/j.1745-6584.2008.00461.x

**Disclaimer: The views expressed in Non-USGS publications are those of the author and do not represent the views of the USGS, Department of the Interior, or the U.S. Government.

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