Testimony of
Dr.
Donald Scavia
Senior
Scientist
National
Ocean Service
National
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Before
the
Environment,
Technology, and Standards Subcommittee
U.S.
House of Representatives
March 13, 2003
Good
morning, Mr. Chairman and members of the Subcommittee. I am Donald Scavia, Senior Scientist of NOAA’s National Ocean Service. I appreciate the opportunity to discuss NOAA’s role in addressing national issues surrounding
harmful algal blooms (HABs) and hypoxia in the nation’s Great Lakes
and coastal waters, and the Harmful Algal Bloom and Hypoxia Research and
Control Act of 1998. My testimony today
does not address reauthorization of the Act.
NOAA is currently reviewing the draft bill, and will provide comments in
the future.
Others
on this panel will provide more detailed information on the scope and extent of
Harmful Algal Blooms (HABs) and hypoxia.
So, I will simply report that HABs are
increasing in abundance and intensity in Great Lakes and
coastal waters. Harmful Algal Blooms
occur in the waters of every coastal and Great Lake
State and have been responsible for an estimated $1 billion in economic losses
over the past few decades. These blooms
have decimated the scallop fishery in Long Island’s
estuaries; have led to seasonal closures of various shellfisheries on Georges
Bank, from North Carolina
to Louisiana, and throughout the Pacific
Northwest; may have contributed to the deaths of hundreds of
manatees in Florida, sea lions in
California, and other marine
mammals, including dolphins in the Northern Gulf of Mexico. HABs have also
caused significant respiratory and other illness in coastal residents and
vacationers. There are several causes
of harmful algal blooms. Some are
natural, but others are human‑induced, and on-going research continues to
identify and distinguish these causes.
The
Harmful Algal Bloom and Hypoxia Research and Control Act brings together the
critical issues of harmful algal blooms and hypoxia ‑ or low oxygen
syndrome ‑‑ because excess nutrient loads can be responsible for
the general overgrowth of algae in many coastal ecosystems. And while not all algae are toxic, the death
and subsequent decay of massive non‑toxic blooms can lead to severe
oxygen depletion (e.g., oxygen levels low enough to cause significant
ecological impairment) in the bottom waters of estuaries and coastal
environments.
While
significant attention has been paid in recent years to the enormous hypoxic
area off the coasts of Louisiana
and Texas, NOAA’s recent National
Eutrophication Assessment has revealed that at some time each year, over half
of our Nation’s estuaries experience natural-caused and/or human-induced
hypoxic conditions. Thirty percent
experience anoxia (e.g., areas where all of the oxygen is absent) resulting in
fish kills and other resource impacts.
In addition, hypoxia in the Great Lakes is
re-emerging as a problem. Harmful algal
blooms and hypoxia are now among the most pressing environmental issues facing
coastal states.
To
address these important issues facing the Nation’s coastal communities, the
Harmful Algal Bloom and Hypoxia Research and Control Act of 1998 called for
development of three scientific assessments and an action plan; and authorized
a suite of scientific programs to help support efforts to prevent, control, and
mitigate the impacts of HABs and hypoxia. In response, NOAA and our Federal,
state, and academic partners have made considerable progress in the scientific
understanding, detection, monitoring, assessment, and prediction of HABs and
hypoxia in Great Lakes and coastal ecosystems. These advances are helping coastal managers
undertake short‑ and long‑term efforts to prevent and mitigate the
detrimental effects of these phenomena on human health and on valuable coastal
resources. My remarks outlining these
accomplishments are organized around the key sections of the original Public
Law.
Sec
604(a) - Assessment of Northern
Gulf of Mexico Hypoxia
The
National Science and Technical Council, through the Inter-Agency Task Force on
Harmful Algal Blooms and Hypoxia, delivered the report, “Integrated Assessment
of Hypoxia in the Northern Gulf of Mexico”, to the
Congress in May 2000. The assessment
examined the distribution, dynamics, and causes of Gulf hypoxia; its ecological
and economic consequences; the sources and loads of nutrients transported by
the Mississippi River system to the Gulf of Mexico; the effects of reducing
nutrient loads; methods for reducing nutrient loads; and social and economic
costs and benefits of such methods. This
integrated assessment provided the scientific underpinning for the subsequent
Action Plan to reduce the size of the Gulf of Mexico
hypoxic zone.
Sec
604(b) - Plan to Reduce, Mitigate, and Control
Gulf Hypoxia.
The
Action Plan was delivered to the Congress in January 2001 by the Mississippi
River/Gulf of Mexico Watershed Nutrient Task Force, which is composed of eight
Federal agencies, nine Mississippi Basin States, and two Indian Tribes. The Action Plan was based on the Integrated Assessment
required by this statute, as well as other scientific and public input and
consultations required by the law, gathered through seven public meetings. In balancing the environmental, social, and
economic needs of this enormous watershed, the Plan established three goals:
- Coastal
Goal: By the year 2015, reduce the 5-year running average extent of the Gulf
of Mexico hypoxic zone to less than 5,000 square kilometers.
- Basin
Goal: Restore and protect the waters of the 31 States and Tribal lands
within the Mississippi/Atchafalaya River Basin.
- Quality
of Life Goal: To improve the communities and economic conditions across
the Mississippi/Atchafalaya River Basin.
To
connect the environmental endpoint goal for the Gulf of Mexico
to actions within the basin, the Action Plan also recognized the need to reduce
nitrogen loads by at least 30%. This
Watershed Task Force is currently creating sub-basin committees that are to be
led by States and tasked with developing implementation strategies. This approach was chosen by the Watershed
Task Force with input from the States to best meet local needs. The action plan highlights that there are a
variety of options available to meet the overall goal and each has associated costs
and benefits that vary by locale. The Watershed Task Force has also drafted a
Monitoring, Modeling, and Research Strategy to ensure that actions taken over
the next decade to reduce hypoxia are guided by the best science.
Sec
603(b) - National Assessment of Coastal Harmful Algal Blooms
The
National Science and Technical Council, through its Inter-Agency Task Force on
Harmful Algal Blooms and Hypoxia, produced the report, “National Assessment of
Harmful Algal Blooms in US Waters.” The
assessment, delivered to the Congress in February 2001, examines the ecological
and economic consequences of harmful algal blooms; alternatives for reducing,
mitigating, and controlling harmful algal blooms; and the social and economic
costs and benefits of such alternatives.
Highlights from the assessment include:
- HAB
events threaten human health and marine mammals, contaminate local fish
and shellfish, and depress coastal tourist and recreational industries.
- HAB
events are increasing nationwide.
There are more toxic species, more events, and more areas affected
than 25 years ago.
- Natural
events (e.g., storms and ocean currents), as well as human activities
(e.g., excess nutrient loads), appear to contribute to this increase.
- Management
options are limited at this time, with the focus on diligent monitoring. Recent advances in both molecular and
remote-sensing detection methods are promising.
- It
may be possible to prevent some HABs by controlling nutrient inputs, or to
control blooms with clays to precipitate or viruses to attack the algal
cells. More research is needed to
determine the effectiveness and the potential environmental impacts of
these methods.
While
the analyses in this report have helped shape subsequent investments in our
research and monitoring programs, there is still much to do.
Sec
603(c) - National Assessment of Coastal Hypoxia
The Inter-Agency Task Force on Harmful Algal Blooms and
Hypoxia delayed development of this assessment to take advantage of the
findings and recommendations of the Gulf of Mexico Integrated Assessment,
outlined above, the NOAA Eutrophication Survey, and the National Research
Council report, Clean Coastal Waters. With those studies now complete, the Task
Force has drafted the assessment. The
assessment outlines status and trends in coastal hypoxia, its causes and
consequences, methods available to reduce its occurrence, and the science
needed to reduce uncertainties in future assessments. As soon as the report is finalized, we will
deliver the report to the Congress.
Section
605 - Authorization of Appropriations
The
Harmful Algal Bloom and Hypoxia Research and Control Act of 1998 also provided
authority for NOAA to make progress in addressing some of the eight objectives
outlined in the 1993 National Plan for Marine Biotoxins and Harmful Algae. It also extends NOAA’s efforts related to
Gulf hypoxia. Most
of the efforts authorized by this Act are implemented by NOAA through
competitive, peer review to engage the best scientists to focus on these
important issues.
In
our laboratories and through the Ecology
and Oceanography of Harmful Algal Blooms program (ECOHAB), NOAA and
our partners have investigated factors that regulate the dynamics of HABs and
the mechanisms by which they cause harm.
We have produced coupled bio-physical models that form a critical base
for building HAB forecasts; applied technology from remote sensing, and medical
science, to the detection and tracking of algal species and their toxins to
help states target their monitoring and management efforts; and developed a
national database where research findings are shared and made available to
scientists and the public. Through the Monitoring and Event Response for Harmful
Algal Blooms program (MERHAB), NOAA puts these new tools within reach for the routine monitoring efforts of States and tribes in
several U.S. coastal regions.
MERHAB partners are testing and refining these technologies for
reliable, cost-effective detection and monitoring of harmful algal species and
their toxins. Through the Coastal Ocean
Program, we have expanded efforts to monitor, model, and predict changes and
impacts of hypoxia on Gulf of
Mexico resources. The following paragraphs highlight
accomplishments in the five areas of statutory authority:
HAB Research and Assessment Activities in
NOAA Laboratories - NOAA’s laboratories have focused on two key impediments
to effective HAB management: 1) the lack of sensitive, toxin-specific assays
and toxin standards for research and field application, and 2) an understanding
of how the physiology of these organisms affect toxin movement through the food
web. Results from investments in these
laboratories have led to developments that are now aiding coastal scientists
and managers with critical, timely information on the occurrence of HAB and
other toxins. Recent accomplishments
include:
- Identification
of the chemical structures of some key HAB toxins;
- Development
of toxin- and species-specific detection probes and assays that will
significantly enhance HAB research, monitoring, and management;
- Increased
understanding of bio-physical processes controlling red tides originating
in the Gulf of Mexico that have traveled in the Gulf Stream as far north
as North Carolina; and
- Added
insight into physiology and environmental toxicity of Pfiesteria species.
Ecology and Oceanography of Harmful Algal
Blooms (ECOHAB) - Administered by NOAA’s Coastal Ocean Program, ECOHAB is
run cooperatively with the National Science Foundation, U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, and the
Office of Naval Research. ECOHAB seeks
to understand the causes and dynamics of HABs; develop forecasts of HAB growth,
movement, landfall, and toxicity; and produce new detection methodologies for
HABs and their toxins. Projects selected
for support must successfully compete in a peer-review process that ensures
high-level scientific merit. Some
highlights of ECOHAB’s large-scale regional studies include:
·
The Florida
project is testing the hypothesis that the iron in Saharan dust clouds may
stimulate red tides in the Gulf of Mexico. Iron in this dust may stimulate growth of
nitrogen-fixing algae, ultimately providing a new nitrogen source for red tide
organisms. Using satellite sensors,
which can detect dust clouds, it may be possible to forecast these offshore red
tide blooms.
·
The Long Island Brown Tide study has correlated
this organism’s unique physiology and ecological niche with the series of
complex environmental conditions that precipitate these blooms, showing that
its ability to grow in conditions of high dissolved organic nitrogen allows it
to occupy a particular niche in phytoplankton bloom succession.
·
The Gulf
of Maine project has described the
critical life-history stages of the Paralytic Shellfish Poisoning (PSP)
species, documented its dependence on environmental oceanographic conditions
and is nearing completion of a biophysical model for simulating and ultimately
forecasting the distribution of the species responsible for PSP Gulf of Maine.
·
A new large-scale regional effort will begin
this year to develop a model of bloom formation and movement in the Pacific
Northwest based on physical and biological factors controlling
blooms of domoic-acid producing organisms that cause amnesic shellfish
poisoning.
Monitoring and Event Response for Harmful Algal
Blooms (MERHAB) - Also administered by NOAA’s Coastal Ocean Program, MERHAB
works through existing tribal, state, and regional monitoring efforts to
transfer research results to local monitoring jurisdictions for early detection
of HAB events. Projects selected for
support successfully compete in a peer-review process that ensures high-level
scientific merit and resource management relevance. Highlights of program accomplishments to
date include:
- Support
for regional HAB mitigation efforts include developing early warning
systems along the Olympic coast; providing rapid, cost effective, and
highly sensitive toxin detection methods to the Quileute Tribe to help
reduce public health risks of coastal Native Americans from California to
Alaska; and incorporating continuous, real-time monitoring of inaccessible
and remote coastal habitats into Chesapeake Bay and Florida state HAB
monitoring programs.
- Similar,
recently-initiated efforts seek to augment state HAB monitoring and
response capabilities in the Great Lakes, Eastern Gulf of Mexico and Gulf
of Maine; and are currently testing the feasibility of new detection
methods in coastal waters of Texas, Florida, and Virginia.
- New
techniques have enhanced Pfiesteria
bioassay laboratories in Florida and North Carolina and improved access to
expertise, laboratory facilities, sampling platforms, and remote sensing
imagery by local and Federal agencies responding to unexpected HAB-related
events, such as die-offs of sea lions, bottle-nose dolphins, and manatees;
- Support
through the Alliance for
Coastal Technologies and the Small Business and Innovative Research
program has brought together scientists, state managers, and the private
sector to overcome impediments of adopting new technologies
Research on HAB Prevention, Control, and Mitigation (PCM) –
While research on HAB prevention and
control has received only limited attention to date, some advancements have
been made in: using clay to scavenge HAB
organisms from the water column; identifying natural Pfiesteria
predators; using viral agents for suppressing brown tide organisms; and using
bacterial agents that may ultimately prove useful in controlling red tide
organisms. While research on prevention
and control has been limited, there have been significant ECOHAB and MERHAB
investments to develop tools that help mitigate HAB impacts. For example:
- New
remote sensing tools are used to track Florida
Gulf coast HAB movements and
provide the first-ever HAB forecasts for Florida
resource managers. These tools are
also being tested in Texas
waters and off the West Coast.
- Biophysical
models for the Gulf of Maine
and the west Florida Shelf will enhance this ability to forecast HAB
movement and landfall providing early warnings.
- New
analytical capabilities for rapid and inexpensive detection of algae and
toxins, including molecular probes for Pfiesteria,
moored detectors for species responsible for Amnesic Shellfish Poisoning,
optical detectors on moorings and autonomous gliders to detect and map red
tide species.
Hypoxia Research and Monitoring - In the
1990s, through support from NOAA’s Coastal Ocean Program, the scientific
community documented the distribution and dynamics of the hypoxic zone over the
Louisiana continental shelf. These model simulations and research studies
produced considerable evidence that nutrient loading from the Mississippi
and Atchafalaya River
system is the dominant factor in driving hypoxia and that the duration and
extent of hypoxia in the region is far greater than it was historically. These efforts provided the primary data and
information for the six technical reports and the Integrated Assessment of the
causes and consequences of Gulf hypoxia and the Action Plan produced under
Sections 604(a) and 604 (b) of this statute.
The
Coastal Ocean Program initiated a new study in the Gulf in 2000 to improve our
understanding of, and ability to forecast the effects of changes in ocean
conditions and river nutrient loads on hypoxia and its effects on Gulf
productivity. These studies are providing
a consistent and sequential series of long-term data that document the temporal
and spatial extent of hypoxia, and are collecting the hydrographic, chemical
(including nutrient), and biological data related to the development and
maintenance of hypoxia over seasonal cycles.
Studies focus on relationships among nutrient fluxes, nutrient ratios,
phytoplankton species composition, and carbon production and flux are being
conducted and augmented with efforts to model changes in oxygen budgets and the
effects of the hypoxic zone on fisheries.
These studies are a key component of the Task Force’s monitoring,
modeling, and research strategy supporting the Action Plan.
While
the focus to date has been on hypoxia on the Louisiana
and Texas continental shelf, we
have recently supported development of a consensus science plan for addressing
hypoxia issues nationally. We have begun
discussions with that academic science community and other Federal agencies on
implementation of a potential joint national program.
Efforts in the Great Lakes
We
understand this Subcommittee is particularly concerned with issues related to
harmful algal blooms and hypoxia in the Great Lakes.
I would like to outline recent accomplishments from our related Great Lakes efforts and suggest where we may be
going in the near future.
Support in
the early 1990s from the Coastal Ocean Program (COP) helped move the
Great Lakes Coastal Forecast System
from research to operations. This
system, developed by the Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory (GLERL)
and the Ohio State University for forecasting local winds, waves,
water levels, and currents, is now being run routinely for forecasts in Lake
Erie and nowcasts in all five Great Lakes. Discussions are underway for incorporating it
into NOAA’s operational run streams.
Early COP support also developed the Great Lakes CoastWatch Program, which is now run out of
GLERL. CoastWatch produces remotely
sensed environmental data and products to support Great Lakes
environmental science, resource management, and decision-making.
These early efforts provided key tools that were
subsequently used in two five-year, multi-million dollar regional efforts
supported through a joint COP-NSF Coastal Ocean Processes program. From 1998 through 2002, COP and NSF, with
support from GLERL and EPA’s Great Lakes National Program Office, sponsored the
Episodic Events-Great Lakes Experiment
(EEGLE) program in Lake Michigan and the Keewenaw Interdisciplinary Transport Experiment in Superior (KITES)
in Lake Superior. The EEGLE program
produced information and models of storm-related release, redistribution, and
impacts of biologically important materials (sediment, nutrients, contaminants)
at the whole-lake scale. The companion
KITES study focused on the Keewenaw Current and its role in the transport of
these biologically important materials along the Keewenaw
Peninsula.
In FY 2002, COP’s MERHAB program initiated a new five-year,
multi-million dollar effort to develop an improved monitoring system for toxic
cyanobacteria in the lower Great Lakes and Lake
Champlain. This enhanced
'early warning' system will be based on transferring state-of-the-art HAB
research products into local management tools.
This tiered system uses a series of indicators or alerts to trigger more
intense monitoring and response protocols to provide maximum protection to the
public.
To guide future
investments in Great Lakes research and monitoring, COP
recently sponsored a Great Lakes
Research Issues Workshop at the University
of Michigan to identify major Great
Lakes issues that fit within the goals and mandates of COP and
HABHRCA. Scientists from U.S.
and Canadian agencies, academia, and the private sector outlined current issues
and identified those requiring the most immediate research attention. While the report from that workshop has not
been finalized, it appears that the consensus of that community is that the
recent degradation of water quality and habitat warrants most immediate
research attention.
This
“re-degradation” of Great Lakes water quality, which is
surprising in that it is a problem that most thought was solved decades ago, is
especially evident in Lake Erie where harmful algal
blooms, and hypoxia, and phosphorous concentrations have increased in recent
years despite decreased phosphorus loads.
The origins and fate of nutrients in the Great Lakes
seem to be operating under a potentially new paradigm. This situation raises fundamental questions
about interactions between land and lake production, including land-lake margin
processes, benthic-pelagic coupling, episodic events, species introductions,
physical-biological coupling, long-term weather and climate changes, and
ecosystem resiliency.
We will continue
to work with the Great Lakes community to define and
develop a new set of tools to address these re-emerging issues, with a focus on
developing ecological forecast models that account for the new ecological state
of the Lakes.
Concluding
Remarks
The
impacts of harmful algal blooms and hypoxia on coastal and Great
Lakes ecosystems, resources, and economies are as great now as
they were in 1998. Reauthorization and
revision of the Harmful Algal Bloom and Hypoxia Research and Control Act is
timely and warranted.
We
have not had sufficient time to review and provide comment on the draft bill
provided in the invitation to testify at this hearing. However, we will provide those comments soon,
and we look forward to working with you and your staff on this important issue.
Mr. Chairman, this concludes my testimony. I would be pleased to answer any questions
that you or other Members may have.