MODELING FATE AND EFFECTS OF POLLUTANTS WITH AQUATOX

Part of ISEM 2004 Quebec City, Sunday August 22nd

Richard A. Park, Eco Modeling
David A. Mauriello, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (retired)
Jonathan S. Clough, Warren Pinnacle Consulting

AQUATOX is a PC-based simulation model for aquatic ecosystems and covers eutrophication, chemical fate, bioaccumulation, and ecotoxicology. It predicts the fate of various pollutants, such as nutrients and organic chemicals, and their effects on the ecosystem, including fish, invertebrates, and aquatic plants. AQUATOX is a valuable tool for ecologists, biologists, water quality modelers, and anyone involved in modeling or performing ecological risk assessments of aquatic ecosystems. Release 2 has just been issued by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of Science and Technology and is being used by the Office of Pollution Prevention and Toxics and the Office of Pesticide Programs.

This course will be for one full day and will be split approximately 30% theory and 70% hands-on practical application. Lectures and labs are interspersed to maintain interest. All course material will use Microsoft PowerPoint and handouts will be prepared as PowerPoint notes. The course is a distillation of a three-day comprehensive course and is similar to a course offered last November at the WEF TMDL conference. Comments on the course included: “Very good presentation. Appropriate balance of hands-on and theory…” “Speakers clearly experts in this area and excellent in their presentations.” The code, example files, and lecture and practical material for the course will be provided on CD and will be mailed to participants in advance. Material will draw heavily on the AQUATOX Technical Documentation and User's Manuals from the U.S. EPA. Participants will be expected to bring their own laptops or share one (we will have a few “loaners”).

The outline follows:

8:00-8:15 Introduction: Why AQUATOX? Comparison with other water quality models (Dick Park)

8:15-9:00 Ecosystem primer, state variables, loadings, uncertainty analysis, physical characteristics (Dick Park)
9:00-10:00 Lab: Setup for a new study, Lake Coralville, IA (Wizard, site characteristics, importing loadings) (Jon Clough, Dick Park)
10:00-10:15 Morning Break
10:15-10:30 Plants (Dick Park)
10:30-11:30 Lab: Eutrophication in Lake Coralville, IA, and Lake Onondaga, NY (Dave Mauriello, Dick Park)
11:30-12:00 Animals and remineralization (Dick Park)
12:00-1:00 Lunch Break
1:00-2:00 Lab: Habitat impairment in Cahaba River, AL (calibration; impairment by nutrients and sediments, and effects on periphyton, invertebrates, and fish) (Dick Park)
2:00-2:30 Lab: Demonstration of BASINS GIS extension (linkage to HSPF and SWAT for modeling watersheds) (Jon Clough)
2:30-3:00 Modeling fate, bioaccumulation, and effects of toxicants (Dick Park)
3:00-3:15 Afternoon Break
3:15-4:00 Lab: Dieldrin in Lake Coralville (fate, impacts, and recovery; stressor identification); Risk assessment of herbicide in Ohio Stream (use of Cahaba River calibration, detailed toxicity data) (Dick Park and Dave Mauriello)
4:00-4:30 Lab: Shellfish and finfish fisheries in Galveston Bay, TX (estuarine ecosystem, bioaccumulation) (Dick Park)
4:30-5:00 Sources of data, summary, wrap-up

Send mail to webmaster@isemna.org with questions or comments about this web site.