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research, education and extension
4th Annual Meeting at University of Puerto Rico, June 15-16, 2006
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Regional Program Priority
Issue Areas


Animal Waste Management

Drinking Water and Human Health

Nutrient Management

Watershed Management

Regional Initiatives

Animal Waste Management for Small Farms

Onsite Wastewater Treatment System Management

Water Quality Trading

Watershed Management

Water Reuse

Success Stories

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Annual Meetings

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Meeting Overview:

This year’s Regional Water Quality Coordination Program (RWQP) annual meeting, hosted by the University of Puerto Rico and the Puerto Rico Department of Natural Resources and the Environment, was held in San Juan, Puerto Rico on June 15 th and 16 th of 2006. Approximately 50 Land Grant faculty members, extensionists and regulatory personnel attended the meeting to explore the priority regional water quality issues and workable solutions, drawing on the collective capabilities of the program partners and stakeholders. The institutions represented at the meeting included Rutgers University, Cornell University, the University of Puerto Rico, the United States Environmental Protection Agency, the Natural Resources Conservation Service, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the Puerto Rico Water Resources and Environmental Research Institute, the Puerto Rico Department of Natural Resources and the Environment, the Puerto Rico Department of Agriculture, the Puerto Rico Permits and Regulatory Board, Puerto Rico Sea Grant, local environmental groups and the private sector. The organization and planning of the meeting was conducted by a team of people under the direction of Dr. Rafael Dàvila-Lopez, Professor and RWQP Team Leader for animal waste management, Agricultural Agent Yamil Toro-Toro (both of the University of Puerto Rico) and Jorge Santini from the Department of Natural Resources and the Environment.

The annual meeting was scheduled to overlap with a training session focusing on the new Puerto Rico Environmental Quality Board regulations for waste management on confined animal farms. This two-day workshop (held on June 14 th and 15 th) educated Extension Service County Agents, farmers, and professionals from local environmental agencies, providing details about the regulations and tools to address them. RWQP annual meeting attendees sat in on the training session that reviewed how to use the newly developed computer-based design tool for implementing animal waste management plans. The tool, which was discussed in both English and Spanish, is a user-friendly spreadsheet interface that uses a variety of input values and mathematical equations suggested by the Environmental Quality Board, leading to a standardized design of plans. A priority for the RWQP team leaders is to adapt the training program for the rest of the region as similar regulations become required in other states, especially New Jersey where small horse farms are abundant.

Following the training session, presentations were given by Land Grant university faculty from the University of Puerto Rico, Rutgers University and Cornell University on a variety of water quality topics including anaerobic digestion as a waste management option for small horse farms, watershed modeling of best management practices, and the impact of sanitary wastewater on the Puerto Rico western shelf coral reefs.

The second day of the annual meeting consisted of field visits to four locations in Puerto Rico. The first visit was to a small confined swine farm operation in Peñuelas, which showcased a waste management system built according to the Agricultural Extension Service’s standardized tool. The second visit was to a confined dairy operation in Gurabo which used a similar waste management system. The swine and dairy operations provided good examples of a successful waste management systems built in response to the new regulations. RWQP stakeholders also visited the Agricultural Experiment Station in Gurabo, where anaerobic digesters tanks are being readied for a new research initiative to be conducted by Dr. Dàvila-Lopez and Mr. Toro-Toro in collaboration with Dr. Donna Fennel, Assistant Professor of Environmental Sciences at Rutgers University. The final site visit was to the Jobos Bay National Estuary Research Reserve, a 2,883-acre estuary facing unique water quality problems due to changes in upland potable water usage, upland agriculture and estuarine dynamics. RWQP team leaders are planning to conduct new research initiative in Jobos Bay watersheds to determine the potential for improving water quality. Efforts in Jobos Bay will hopefully have a positive impact on the valuable mangrove forests, coral reefs, aquatic life and wildlife that thrive there.

Meeting Agenda:

June 15 th, 2006

Morning Small Farm Animal Waste Management Workshop

Plan de Cierre Charcas de Oxidacion
Guia Para Estimar El Consumo De Aqua En Las Empresas Pecuarias

12:45 – 1:15 Opening Remarks

  • Rafael Dàvila-Lopez (moderator) – Professor and RWQP Team Leader, Department of Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering, University of Puerto Rico
  • Javier Vèlez – Secretary, Puerto Rico Department of Natural and Environmental Resources
  • Hector Lopez – Professor and Department Chair, Department of Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering, University of Puerto Rico

1:00 – 2:00 Animal Waste Management Workshop Presentation

2:00-4:30 Presentations

  • Emerging Caribbean Nonpoint Source Issues (onsite wastewater management, sediment runoff from construction sites, and upland impacts on coral reefs), Jeffrey Potent, Land Grant – EPA Liaison
  • Detection of Fecal Pollution using Molecular Assays and Declining Populations of Threatened Elk-Horn Coral (Acropora palmate) Suggest Chronic Sewage Impacts
    in the Puerto Rico Western Shelf Coral Reefs
    ,
    Edwin Hernandez Delgado, Professor, Department of Biology, University of Puerto Rico

4:30 – 5:00 RWQP Business Meeting

June 16 th, 2006

Field Trip 1: Tour of the Echevarria Swine Farm,
Peñuelas, Puerto Rico - swine farm photos

Field Trip 2: Tour of the Jobos Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve,
Salinas, Puerto Rico - Jobos Bay photos

Field Trip 3: Tour of the University of Puerto Rico Agricultural Experiment Station in Gurabo, Puerto Rico

Field Trip 4: Dairy Farm,
Gurabo, Puerto Rico - dairy farm photos

Action Items:

  • Review past studies on Jobos Bay (particularly those conducted by PRWRERI).
  • Discuss past efforts in Jobos Bay with the appropriate contact person at EPA Region 2. This discussion might provide direction for future research efforts.
  • Look into possible funding sources that could lead to a grant for a research project to better understand the anthropogenic impacts to the Bay and changes in estuarine dynamics. Several grant opportunities from NOAA have been identified (http://www.cop.noaa.gov/opportunities/grants/fundingarchive/fy2007.html).
  • Facilitate coordination between UPR/UVI and USEPA on research and control of land based impacts on coral reef communities near Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. This will include sharing Edwin Hernandez Delgado’s findings on coral reefs/water quality research with USEPA, soliciting their input and identifying funding sources.
  • UVI will move forward with a demonstration animal waste project like the Echevarria Swine Farm in Peñuelas, PR.
  • Adapt animal waste management design tools for broader use in the Region. Part of this effort will involve translating materials to English (including two animal waste management educational brochures).
  • UPR and Rutgers University will continue to collaborate on anaerobic digestion research as a possible solution for animal waste management.

The following additional presentations were given at the Annual Meeting:


The Water Quality Program in the Virgin Islands
Kofi Boateng, Associate State Director of the University of the Virgin Islands Cooperative Extension Service, RWQP Team Leader

Water Quality Initiatives in the Lake Loiza Watershed and Others
Rafael Dàvila-Lopez, Professor and RWQP Team Leader, Department of Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering, University of Puerto Rico - Lake Loiza photos

Environmental Management Demonstration Facility at the Rutgers Equine Science Center

Christopher Obropta, Assistant Extension Specialist, Rutgers Cooperative Extension, Assistant Professor, Department of Environmental Sciences, Rutgers University, and RWQP Director

Contact Information:
Rafael Dàvila-Lopez
Phone: (787) 767-8281
Email: radavila@upr.edu

Edwin Hernandez Delgado
Phone: (787) 764-0000 x4855
Emails: coral_giac@homtail.com, diploria@coqui.net

Donna Fennell
Phone: (732) 932-8750
Email: fennel@envsci.rutgers.edu

Christopher C. Obropta
Phone: (732) 932-4917
Email: obropta@envsci.rutgers.edu

Jeffrey Potent
Phone: (212) 637-3857
Email: potent.jeffrey@epa.gov

Jorge Rivera Santos
Phone: (787) 265-3826
Email: wrri_rum@rumac.uprm.edu

Tammo Steenhuis
Phone: (607) 255-2489
Email: tss1@cornell.edu

Yamil Toro-Toro
Phone: (787) 767-8281
Email: yw_toro@hotmail.com

 

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