EPA’s Fifth Water Quality Modeling Webinar Focuses on Nutrients

EPA conducted a webinar this week entitled, “Modeling Nutrients: Nutrient Cycles, Potential Impacts on Water Quality, and Developing Nutrient Endpoints.”  This was the fifth of six webinars in a series to help water quality professionals better understand modeling and how models can be used to solve the problems facing water quality regulators.  During this webinar, staff from EPA Region 4 and the EPA’s Office of Science and Technology provided an overview of the nitrogen and phosphorus life cycles and their role in the formation of harmful algal blooms and eutrophication.  They also presented information about how the models work and can be used to develop numeric water quality criteria for nutrients and Total Maximum Daily Loads (TMDLs); and how to include considerations for chlorophyll-a and microcystin concentrations related to harmful algal blooms.  For more information about water quality standards, visit the EPA web site at:  http://water.epa.gov/scitech/swguidance/standards/wqsregs.cfm.