Overview. Over the past year the MRPI team has met on a near weekly basis to develop coordinated field and research activities, participated in two all-hands-on-deck conferences (one at UCR and one at UCI), and carried out field tours of campus storm water infrastructure at UCSB and UCSD. The planning conferences and weekly meetings allowed us to narrow our focus from the six “research themes” described in the original MRPI proposal (plant and animal communities, microbial communities, hydrologic budgets, pollutant removal, governance and policy, and economics and structural equation modeling) to three “research products” (water neutrality, treatment credit and services/disservices). Progress in each of these areas is outlined next.
Water Neutrality. In this topic area we are exploring how close the UCs can come to satisfying all water needs by locally capturing, treating, and using storm water runoff for potable and non-potable activities. To kick off this effort and in partnership with the Sustainability Office at UCI, the MRPI team held a half-day conference centered on the following questions: (a) What is the existing campus water portfolio, and how might the capture and use of storm water runoff fit into long range planning efforts, such as the Water Action Plan? (b) To what extent can storm water runoff retention address evolving requirements for runoff monitoring and treatment under the new Phase II storm water permit? (c) What does the water-energy nexus look like on campus, and how might it change if storm water becomes a primary water resource? The conference provided a forum for MRPI researchers to interact directly with on-the-ground managers, and jump-started several focused research projects including: (1) analysis of historical water and energy use data, in order to understand how consumption of potable water and reclaimed water has evolved over time (UCI and UCLA); (2) simulation of storm water runoff generation on the UCI campus, using both lumped (HEC-RAS) and physically-based (Hydrus 1D and 2D) modeling tools (UCI); (3) analysis of campus storm Phase II water permits and the campus management structures (UCLA); and (4) analysis of water conservation programs (e.g., turf replacement programs) by UCI and the surrounding residential communities (UCI and UCLA). The MRPI graduate student leading the latter effort (Ms. Kimberly Duong) is the 2018 recipient of the Mirzayan Fellowship (http://sites.nationalacademies.org/pga/policyfellows/).
Treatment Credit. The goal here is to evaluate the degree to which natural treatment systems (NTS, such as biofilters and streams) can be relied on to consistently remove pollutants from storm water runoff. We have settled on two categories of pollutants (nitrogen and pathogens, including antibiotic resistant genes) and are interested in characterizing how their removal responds to environmental perturbations, for example associated with heavy metal and pesticide accumulation in soil media. Two types of field studies are being conducted. In the first, we have selected a set of NTS at UCSB, UCI, and UCSD that collectively span a gradient in metal pollution. Field measurements are just getting underway, and include: (a) nitrification and denitrification potential assays, soil eluate preparation for analysis of fecal indicator bacteria, soil nutrient extraction, substrate induced respiration, and microbial community analysis (diversity, functional gene abundance and expression of nitrifiers and denitrifiers) (UCSB); (b) analysis of heavy metal speciation in soil samples using Inductiverly Coupled Plasma – Mass Spectroscopy (ICP-MS) (UCR); and (c) measurement of antibiotic resistance genes including sul1 and blaSHV genes (UCLA). In the second, we are utilizing a biofilter test facility at Orange County Public Works (OCPW) to carry out well controlled pollutant challenge experiments, in which mixtures of sewage and simulated storm water are applied to 1m3 biofilter test cells while measuring: (a) differential fecal indicator bacteria, pathogen, and antibiotic resistant genes removal (UCSB, UCLA, UCSD, SCCWRP, OCPW); (b) nitrogen fluxes and cycling (UCSB and UCI); (c) heavy metal mobilization and speciation (UCR); and (d) water inflow, soil water pressure head, volumetric moisture content, ponding height, and water table height (UCI). We anticipate running our first set of biofilter challenge experiments in December 2017. The controlled nature of the these latter experiments will allow mechanistic modeling studies (e.g., with Hydrus 1D), with the goal of translating field observations into design tools that can be used in engineering practice (UCI). The graduate student on this latter project (Ms. Emily Parker) is finishing up a prestigious Knauss Sea Grant Policy Fellowship (http://seagrant.noaa.gov/Knauss) in Washington D.C.
Services/Disservices. The goal of this effort is to evaluate ecosystem services and disservices in NTS compared to surrounding landscape types (e.g., lawns, ornamental gardens, and remnant natural ecosystems), and evaluate public perception and perceived values of NTS. Field surveys of NTS on all five campuses will yield information on plant and insect communities, carbon storage, microclimate effects, and nitrous oxide emissions (using the portable gas analyzer discussed in item 6 of the annual report). Preliminary measurements of soil invertebrate diversity in biofilters indicate that enhanced moisture and organic matter in campus lawns and biofilters significantly increases soil invertebrate richness relative to native coastal sage scrub habitats (UCSD). Field data collection on all five campuses will begin in earnest in March 2018 to coincide with plant and insect emergences (UCLA and UCSD). To evaluate perceived services/disservices a survey has been developed and tested, and is currently under review with the UCI IRB. We intend to offer the survey to student, faculty, and staff at all five campuses (UCI, UCLA, UCSD, UCSB, UCR).
Outreach and Education. Beginning April 2018, UCLA will offer a service learning class in which undergraduates collaborate with 7th graders at St. Anne’s School and high school students at Crossroads School in Los Angeles. Undergraduates will develop lessons on water quality, climate change, and storm water treatment. Student teams will conduct a climate change data analysis and design-build-test a storm water treatment system. The class will culminate in a symposium in which middle school students present a research poster and present their results to a panel of undergraduates. Professional evaluators (Smart Start Inc.) will refine course objectives and assess student interest in, and understanding of, local-to-global environmental science issues. The MRPI team is also: (1) co-organizing an upcoming symposium “Reaching for Resilience: Imagining Regional Stormwater Neutrality” with San Diego Coastkeeper. The conference will feature many MRPI researchers (UCSD, UCLA, UCI); and (2) working with OCPW to leverage the utility’s $1.2M outreach budget, to disseminate study results to frontline practitioners.
