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Contaminant Fate WG 5 Year Plan. RMP CFWG Meeting January 15, 2008. Management Context. CFWG addresses linkages between sources and exposure/effects In Bay transport/partition/transformation/removal processes
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Contaminant Fate WG 5 Year Plan RMP CFWG Meeting January 15, 2008
Management Context • CFWG addresses linkages between sources and exposure/effects • In Bay transport/partition/transformation/removal processes • Project effects of loads changes (management actions) on processes & ultimately exposure • Fate work to date driven by TMDL needs • Mass budget/ conceptual models for priority pollutants, e.g. PCBs, Hg
Questions to be answered: • Are the priorities and questions appropriate ? • Have we identified & prioritized the right workplan elements? • Are the budget allocations and timing appropriate?(gross evaluation)
Pollutant Priorities • To date prioritized by focusing on individual contaminants (mirroring TMDLs) • Pollutant priorities • High: PCBs (via multi-box fate model) (mostly done?), Hg – in progress • Medium: dioxin, Se, current pesticides, pharma • Low: OC pesticides, trace metals
#0: PCBs Priorities • Are PCBs mostly done for now? • Yes - already more effort than for anything else • Continued coring (not just for PCBs) • Golden Gate export (also not just PCBs) • Other possibilities but low priority? • No - large uncertainties in many parameters • Full 2 or 3-D ? Model complexity outpaces input data? • Does sedimentation component need revision
#1: Hg Priorities • Which processes, sources, and pathways contribute disproportionately to food web accumulation of mercury? (Hg Strategy Q2) • SPLWG focus on sources & loads • CFWG focus on process linkages • Sed/water transport/mixing, speciation, partitioning, de/methylation, export, burial, uptake* • EEWG focus on food web/effects • *CFWG linkage via abiotic factors affecting uptake at primary producer/consumer level
Process Priorities • (Particulate?) multi-pollutant priorities • Sediment cores: for PCBs and other analytes, & sediment mixing/transport processes • Golden Gate export estimates • Multi-pollutant model generalization: • Hydrophobic organics first? • Food web structure secondary (or for EEWG?) • Are there tweakable management levers?
#2: Persistent Particulate Pollutant Process Priorities • What patterns of impairment are forecast for persistent, particle-associated pollutants for major segments and the Estuary as a whole under various management scenarios? • Piggyback off PCBs? [coring, Golden Gate export, model estimates also benefit other pollutants] • Multi-box application to other pollutants (PBDE>dioxins>Se>PAH>pyreth>pharma>Cu)
#2: Persistent Particulate Pollutant Process Priorities • Prioritize multibox generalization • Some efficiency in grouping contaminants, e.g. hydrophobic organics • But responsiveness to stakeholder needs important (RMP mission relevance and timeliness) • Need/ability to develop input data to match • Priority not necessarily set by TMDL but by stakeholder interest • Or multibox revision? • Adjustable sedimentation in segments first?
Questions Review: • Are the priorities and questions appropriate? 0. PCB specific questions sufficiently answered for now? • Which processes, sources, and pathways contribute disproportionately to food web accumulation of mercury? • What patterns of impairment are forecast for persistent, particle-associated pollutants for major segments and the Estuary as a whole under various management scenarios? Any others, or tweaks to the above?
#0 PCB elements • Right elements, right study priorities? • None specifically planned for PCBs (more general transport) • More PCB specific questions • Degradation rates? Hot spot transport? – currently put into the lower priority category for potential studies
#1: Hg Elements • Right elements, right study priorities? • Already funded • Sediment reactive Hg special study (UCSC) • 2008 RMP Data Integration- MeHg mass budget as a tool for prioritizing data gaps • 2008 bioaccumulation (EEPS & CFWG) small fish project expansion • To be funded • 2008 SS RFP and proposal package: “Identify high leverage sources, processes, pathways” • Missing components?
#2: Process Priority Elements • Right elements, right study priorities? • Continued coring (alternate years special study? S&T element?) • How much is sufficient/ representative? • Sediment export – • Remote observations (Oram), G Gate, other bridges (Schoellhamer) • Multibox Screening application or revision for bathymetry • Would need loads, literature review for new pollutants • Pollutant Priorities set by stakeholder interest
Budget and Timeline • Appropriate distribution?
Budget & Timeline Review: • Are the budget allocations and timing appropriate? • Commensurate with importance of pollutant questions • In time to inform management actions • TMDL schedule may affect prioritization