![[logo] US EPA](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/eot2008/20090508065007im_/http://www.epa.gov/epafiles/images/logo_epaseal.gif){kind=logo}
Research Accomplishments
Milestones
Diagnostic Decision Support Tools
Decisions informed by science offer our best hope for achieving beneficial environmental and social outcomes for this and future generations. Decision-support tools developed by the Ecosystem Services Research Program have assisted states and tribes to:
- Determine the causes of impaired and undesirable environmental conditions
- Identify thresholds at which impairments occur
- Associate impairments with the release of nutrients and toxics into waterways
- Develop options for mitigation of contaminants in the environment.
Causal Analysis/Diagnosis Decision Information System
More than 1,000 water bodies in the United States are listed by states as biologically impaired and, in many cases, the cause of the impairment is reported as “unknown.” Understanding the causes of impairment is key to formulating an appropriate management action.
In 2006, ORD released the first of three planned versions of the Causal Analysis/Diagnosis Decision Information System (CADDIS). CADDIS is an online application designed to help regions, states, and tribes evaluate the causes of biological effects observed in streams, lakes, estuaries, and other aquatic systems. Based on EPA's Stressor Identification (SI) Guidance Document, CADDIS effectively updates EPA's process for identifying stressors that cause biological impairments in aquatic ecosystems and includes clarifications and additional material developed since EPA initially developed and published the SI process.
More than 15 states have used the EPA SI process or CADDIS to diagnose the cause of impairment in their stream reaches, resolve court cases, calculate Total Maximum Daily Loads (TMDLs) in waterways as required under the Clean Water Act, and support the delisting of stream reaches as impaired.
Classification Framework For Lakes and Reservoirs
ESRP-funded researchers developed a comprehensive framework for classifying natural lakes and man-made reservoirs in agriculturally dominated ecosystems in Nebraska. Results of this model framework include:
- A protocol for identifying reference conditions for these lake classes
- A protocol for estimating the Achievable Reference Condition for reservoirs
- A new, medium-independent algorithm to accurately estimate chlorophyll-a in turbid waters using remote sensing
- Software that enables managers to dynamically assess water conditions, to consider economic and esthetic factors, and to conduct “what-if” scenarios regarding land cover, land use, and best management practices. This software includes the ability to rank lakes and reservoirs under conditions of uncertain information and uncertain variability.
The Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality (NDEQ) is using the lake classification statistical protocol to define nutrient criteria for the state. Both the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission and NDEQ are using the remote sensing technologies developed in this study to detect potentially toxic cyanobacteria blooms in lakes.