Application of an Environmental Decision Support System to a Water Quality Trading Program Affected by Surface Water Diversions |
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Authors: | Christopher C Obropta Mehran Niazi Josef S Kardos |
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Institution: | (1) Department of Environmental Sciences, Cook College, Rutgers University, 14 College Farm Road, New Brunswick, NJ 08901, USA |
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Abstract: | Environmental decision support systems (EDSSs) are an emerging tool used to integrate the evaluation of highly complex and
interrelated physicochemical, biological, hydrological, social, and economic aspects of environmental problems. An EDSS approach
is developed to address hot-spot concerns for a water quality trading program intended to implement the total maximum daily
load (TMDL) for phosphorus in the Non-Tidal Passaic River Basin of New Jersey. Twenty-two wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs)
spread throughout the watershed are considered the major sources of phosphorus loading to the river system. Periodic surface
water diversions to a major reservoir from the confluence of two key tributaries alter the natural hydrology of the watershed
and must be considered in the development of a trading framework that ensures protection of water quality. An EDSS is applied
that enables the selection of a water quality trading framework that protects the watershed from phosphorus-induced hot spots.
The EDSS employs Simon’s (1960) three stages of the decision-making process: intelligence, design, and choice. The identification of two potential hot spots
and three diversion scenarios enables the delineation of three management areas for buying and selling of phosphorus credits
among WWTPs. The result shows that the most conservative option entails consideration of two possible diversion scenarios,
and trading between management areas is restricted accordingly. The method described here is believed to be the first application
of an EDSS to a water quality trading program that explicitly accounts for surface water diversions. |
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Keywords: | Environmental decision support systems Water quality trading Water resource management Total maximum daily load Watershed management |
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