Explanation
The purpose of this legislation is to authorize the Director of Public Utilities to enter into a yearly agreement with the National Center for Water Quality Research (NCWQR) at Heidelberg University to provide funding for the continued operation of the Tributary Loading Stations on the Scioto River at Chillicothe and Piketon and to calculate the separate contributions of point-source and nonpoint-source loads of phosphorus and other pollutants in the Scioto watershed upstream of these stations. The first phase of this work was completed during the calendar years of 2014 through 2016. This second phase of the work is to be done during the calendar years of 2017 through 2021.
The NCWQR, founded in 1969 by Dr. David B. Baker, is a research organization within the science division of Heidelberg University in Tiffin, Ohio. The Heidelberg Tributary Loading Program (HTLP) began in 1975, and the Scioto River at Chillicothe has been included in the HTLP since 1996. Presently, there are 16 stations in the HTLP in Ohio and Michigan and in both the Ohio River and Lake Erie basins. The HTLP is funded by a combination of state and federal agencies, foundations and industries, and all of the resulting data, including those for the Scioto, are publicly available at the tributary download website.
Measurements of pollutant export from watersheds are used to compare the amounts of pollutants derived from diffuse nonpoint sources, such as agricultural and urban storm runoff, with contributions from point sources, such as publicly owned wastewater treatment plants and industrial facilities. The two City of Columbus wastewater treatment plants (Southerly and Jackson Pike) are the two largest point source dischargers into the Scioto River watershed. Accordingly, collecting pollutant monitoring data in the Scioto watershed to enable the comparison of Columbus discharges with other pollutant sources is of significant interest to the City.
At the request of the Di...
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