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Conventional and Toxics Monitoring
Conventional and toxics monitoring includes monitoring for conventional pollutants such as temperature, dissolved oxygen, and nutrients, as well as toxic pollutants such as polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), current and legacy use pesticides, pharmaceuticals, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), and flame retardants (polybrominated diphenyl ethers [PBDES]). This monitoring includes the following elements:
Fixed Station, Seasonal, and Semipermeable Membrane Device Water Quality Monitoring
Juvenile Salmon Monitoring
Development of Three Toxics Models
The Estuary Partnership's Monitoring Partners provide information about other water quality and salmon monitoring programs, which helps facilitate coordination and avoid duplication of monitoring efforts in the lower Columbia River and estuary.
During 2004 and 2005, the Estuary Partnership worked with USGS to collect water-chemistry data at four sites on the mainstem of the Columbia River and one site on the Willamette River (See map). The locations of these sites was coordinated with the juvenile salmonid sampling efforts implemented by NOAA for the Estuary Partnership so that water chemistry and salmon sampling results could be compared and used to inform the tree toxics models.
USGS collected monthly water-column samples from May 2004 through April 2005 at three fixed stations: the Columbia River at Warrendale, the Willamette River at Portland, and the Columbia River at Beaver Army Terminal. Samples were collected and analyzed for nutrients, alkalinity, carbon species, trace elements, chlorophyll a, biomass, suspended sediment, and a select listing of pesticides. An expanded listing of pesticides and degradates were analyzed quarterly. Bacteria samples were analyzed by the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (ODEQ) for E. coli and total coliform. In addition, field parameters, such as pH, dissolved oxygen, temperature, and specific conductance were measured. At the Beaver Army Terminal site, suspended-sediment samples were analyzed for organochlorine compounds, (DDT, endosulfan, etc.) on a monthly basis. Four times throughout the year, suspended-sediment samples were also analyzed for trace elements at all three fixed stations.
Beyond the fixed-station sampling, water-column samples were collected synoptically to characterize low-flow (August 2004) and high-flow (April 2005) conditions. Besides the constituents listed above for the fixed station monitoring, an expanded listing of pesticides and degradates, wastewater compounds, and antibiotics were also analyzed during these samplings.
Analysis performed on the fixed station and seasonal flow samples will provide detailed data on over 130 emerging contaminants such as pharmaceuticals, estrogen compounds, and personal care products; approximately 50 commonly used insecticides, herbicides and fungicides over 130 moderately used pesticides; nearly 20 trace elements including chromium, copper, and lead; and more than 25 suspended organic contaminants. These data, along with information on sampling methods and quality-assurance data, will be available in an online data report.
In a similar effort to characterize toxic concentrations during low-flow and high-flow conditions, semipermeable membrane devices (SPMDs) were deployed and suspended-sediment samples were collected during April and August 2005 at the three fixed stations and the Columbia River near Point Adams. SPMDs, which are sometimes referred to as "virtual fish" because they can mimic the accumulation of organic contaminants in the fatty tissues of fish, are fat bags that are suspended in the river in a protective cage for roughly a month. The fat absorbs hydrophobic pollutants much like a fish would accumulate compounds from the water column and provides a way to estimate a fish's exposure to toxics. SPMDs also make it easier to detect specific toxics that otherwise might be metabolized by fish. SPMDs and the suspended-sediment samples collected at the time of deployment were analyzed for four different groups of compounds: organochlorine compounds, PAHs, PCBs, and PBDEs.
Water quality data collected during this sampling period is now being analyzed. A series of summary reports will be available throughout 2007. For more information on toxics monitoring in the Columbia River, the States of Washington and Oregon recently completed extensive sampling utilizing SPMDs in the lower river. Washington’s Department of Ecology published the following report detailing the results of this sampling: “Concentrations of 303(d) Listed Pesticides, PCBs, and PAHs Measured with Passive Samplers Deployed in the Lower Columbia River.”
During 2005, the Estuary Partnership contracted with NOAA to assess contaminant uptake by juvenile outmigrant salmon by collecting salmon (primarily juvenile fall Chinook), and sediment samples. The sites were chosen to provide geographical coverage of the lower Columbia River and estuary from Bonneville Dam to the mouth and for their proximity to water-quality monitoring sites. Sampling occured monthly from April through September 2005. NOAA collected data on sediments and salmon stomach contents for measurement of chlorinated, brominated, and aromatic hydrocarbons (e.g., PAHs, PCBs, PBDEs, DDTs, and other organochlorine pesticides); salmon whole bodies for measurement of chlorinated hydrocarbons; bile for measurement of PAH metabolites; and blood for measurement of vitellogenin, which provides information on estrogenic compound exposure. Fin clips were collected for genetic analysis to identify the Evolutionary Significant Unit (ESUs) origin of each fish. Juvenile Chinook salmon and feed samples were also collected for chemical analysis from several hatcheries (Elochoman, Cowlitz, Lewis River, Washougal, Little White Salmon, Spring Creek, Klickitat, and Priest Rapids) that release fall Chinook juveniles into the lower Columbia River and estuary to determine their toxics exposure prior to release. The salmonid sampling is helping to assess the extent to which contaminants may affect salmon growth, immune systems, and reproductive capability and is helping to inform the development of the three toxics models being developed by NOAA for the Estuary Partnership.
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Models are being developed to identify toxic contaminant sources and describe likely modes and routes of transport (e.g., sediment transport and deposition, trophic processes), potential exposure and uptake, and possible effects on survival and productivity on listed salmon species, based on existing scientific information. Existing data continues to be reviewed to determine which types of quantitative information are available on contaminant releases, transport and sedimentation processes, relevant salmon life history characteristics, and contaminant concentrations in sediment and biota that could be used for more quantitative assessments. Three models are currently in development:
Conceptual Model of Contaminant and Endangered Salmonid Species Interactions within the Columbia River Estuary
Models of Contaminant Uptake and Bioaccumulation in Juvenile Salmon from the Columbia River Estuary - PCB Case Study
Modeling Impacts of Chemical Contaminant on Salmon Populations in the Columbia River Estuary
The Estuary Partnership contracted with NOAA in 2005 to develop three models related to toxics and salmonids in the lower Columbia River and estuary. The Conceptual Model of Contaminant and Endangered Salmonid Species Interactoins within the Columbia River Estuary (conceptual model) will be used in conjunction with GIS layers, as a basis for informed decision making regarding efficient environmental monitoring. The first component of the conceptual model is exposure analysis in which contaminant distribution patterns are combined with the abundance and distributions of listed salmon species to generate an exposure profile for salmon and their habitat that identifies the major contaminants of concern for different populations and ESUs. The second component is ecological response analysis, where the potential effects of contaminants on salmon and their habitat, including the species with which they interact (i.e. predators, pathogens, and prey), are identified. In summary, the conceptual model provides a qualitative description of contaminant exposure and associated risks to listed salmon in the Columbia, and identifies the chemical stressors that salmon encounter throughout their life-histories, the likely sources of exposure, and the physical and biological factors that influence their exposure, and the potential effects of these contaminants on their health and survival. The conceptual model also provides a framework for a quantitative assessment of contaminant exposure levels and responses in salmon, which is being conducted through the contaminant uptake and bioaccumulation and chemical contaminants impacts on salmon population models.
The Estuary Partnership is also funding NOAA’s development of a contaminant uptake and bioaccumulation model, which is building on the work of the conceptual model and is being developed to assist in determining the potential sources of contaminant uptake by juvenile salmon in the lower Columbia River and estuary. This model is utilizing data collected through the Ecosystem Monitoring Project on contaminant concentrations in water, bed and suspended sediments, salmon prey, and juvenile salmon to develop quantitative exposure profiles for the different salmon stocks that utilize the estuary, and to identify major contaminant sources and locations where exposure may occur (e.g., freshwater vs. estuary; hatchery feed vs. prey in the environment). Various uptake mechanisms and scenarios will be explored with the model, and results for bioaccumulative contaminants will be compared to actual contaminant body burdens measured in juvenile salmon from the Columbia to identify the scenarios that best account for exposure patterns observed in the field. For this and the chemical contaminants impacts on salmon populations model (see below), NOAA selected PCBs and copper as the model contaminants since these contaminants are known to be historically present, accumulate in biotic tissues through water column, sediment and dietary exposures, and produce effects in salmonids that are well-characterized. Moreover, they represent two different classes of contaminants in terms of exposure pathways and effects. PCBs accumulate in biotic tissues primarily through sediment and dietary exposures, and effects are associated with long-term exposure. With copper on the other hand, exposure may occur through sediment and dietary pathways, but short-term exposure to copper in the water column is also very important, and associated with acute impacts on olfactory function and behavior. Other contaminants (e.g., DDTs, PAHs, organophosphate pesticides) and mixtures will be considered as data permit.
Finally, the Estuary Partnership is contracting with NOAA to develop a Chemical Contaminants Impact Model to provide a quantitative measure of the impact of contaminant exposure on population numbers of salmonids in the Columbia River Basin. Two complementary modeling approaches are being used for this work: a Leslie Matrix-based model that will compare impacts of contaminants on salmon from different populations or ESUs based on average exposure characteristics for the group, and an individually-based model that can capture variability in exposure levels in salmon based on their specific migration patterns and residence time in the estuary. The models will link predicted or measured contaminant body burdens or exposure levels in specific salmon stocks based on field data collected as part of this project to potential adverse health effects in individuals, and model the consequences of those impacts on population growth rates and related parameters associated with stock viability. Information on health impacts of contaminants will be derived from past and current laboratory studies conducted by NOAA and other research groups that explicitly link the dose of a contaminant to specific health outcomes. As noted above, PCBs and copper are the model contaminants to be considered first in these analyses, since their effects in salmonids are well-characterized.
All three of the models will be updated with emerging data during 2007 and the details of each will be provided in the final report of the Estuary Partnership's Ecosystem Monitoring Project available in September 2007. Overall, the models will characterize how contaminants may contribute to the risk of extinction of ESA-listed salmonids. This analysis can then be used to guide potential management actions that could mitigate this risk.
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