CHRP Project Manager’s Briefing on Hypoxia in Narragansett Bay

 

When: Monday October 15, 2007 -- 1:00 pm - 4:00 pm

Where: University of Rhode Island, Narragansett Bay Campus

Hazard Conference Room, Coastal Institute Building

 

Directions: http://www.gso.uri.edu/howtoreach.html

Campus Map: http://www.gso.uri.edu/campusmap.html

 

Workshop description and purpose

 

On behalf of the Coastal Hypoxia Research Program (CHRP) Project and in cooperation with the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management (RIDEM), the University of Rhode Island, Graduate School of Oceanography (URI-GSO) invites you to attend and participate in a workshop on hypoxia in Narragansett Bay. The workshop, organized as a briefing for state and federal managers, is the second in a series of annual meetings associated with a 5-year multi-institution research project supported by NOAA’s Coastal Hypoxia Research Program. Scientists collaborating on the effort represent the URI Graduate School of Oceanography, Brown University, University of Connecticut, Virginia Institute of Marine Science, and the Narragansett Bay Estuary Program. The second year of research, including field- work in Narragansett Bay, is nearing completion.

 

CHRP research in Narragansett Bay is aimed at developing modeling tools for hypoxia.The model’s components are tested/verified/validated by collecting suitable field measurements. As work continues toward the endpoint of a functioning model, important insights can be gained from datasets developed by the research team.  This workshop is designed to provide a forum for scientists to share with state and federal managers information of note generated to date via the CHRP project in Narragansett Bay. RIDEM will also share with researchers information on the state’s assessment of water quality in Narragansett Bay and the status of implementation of Rhode Island’s strategy to reduce nutrient pollutant loadings from wastewater treatment facilities. The discussion is timely given on-going efforts in Rhode Island and the region to enhance planning and management of the Bay and its watershed.

 

Following selected presentations by state officials and investigators, there will be a panel discussion on questions of interest. All workshop attendees are encouraged to provide feedback and suggestions by participating in this discussion.

 

Please confirm you participation via e-mail with Dan Codiga, URI-GSO at d.codiga@gso.uri.edu  or Sue Kiernan, DEM Office of Water Resources at sue.kiernan@dem.ri.gov.

 

 

 

Preliminary Workshop Agenda

 

1:00 pm -- Welcoming Remarks

 

1:10 pm -- Presentations -- Updates from Managers- NOAA and RIDEM

 

An Overview of Coastal Hypoxia Research Program (CHRP)

- Libby Jewett, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)

 

State Assessment of Hypoxia in Narragansett Bay - Heather Stoffel, URI-GSO in collaboration with the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management- Office of Water Resources (RIDEM-OWR)

 

Status of WWTF Nitrogen Reduction - Angelo Liberti, Chief of Surface Water Protection RIDEM-OWR

 

 

Q& A

 

2:00 -- Presentations - Updates from CHRP Research- Forcing Factors on Hypoxia

 

Spatially coherent intermittent stratification and hypoxia in disparate sub-regions of an estuary - Jamie Vaudrey, UCONN

 

 

Empirical Input-Output Modeling of Narragansett Bay Stratification and Hypoxia - Dan Codiga URI-GSO

 

Fill in title - Chris Kincaid, URI-GSO

 

 

3:00 - 3:10 Break


 

3:10-4:00 -- Panel Discussions for Presenters:

 

  1. Previous research identified an association between hypoxia in the Bay and neap tides.  Does the availability of more data continue to support this association?

 

  1. Since 2003, monitoring by both the state and researchers has provided a lot of new data about the water quality in Narragansett Bay. Given what we are learning, would you recommend any changes to monitoring programs to improve our effectiveness in characterizing water quality and ecological changes in the Bay?

 

  1. The analysis of fixed-site data for Greenwich Bay indicates it is consistently impaired which is in contrast to the variability of the data at stations in the rest of upper Narragansett Bay. New physical data is helping us understand the circulation patterns near the mouth of Greenwich Bay.  What are the implications of this information for managers?

 

  1. Researchers expect to continue to see average water temperatures in the Bay slowly increase over the long term.  Can we expect hypoxia to increase in the future as well?