A discussion at the recent Environmental Commission meeting revealed that the city is developing a new method to explain and track how policy decisions affect water quality in Austin.

Since 1994, the Watershed Protection Agency has used the Environmental Integrity Index (EII), which evaluates the quality of 50 watersheds covering a total of 500 miles of stream channels.

That sounds impressive, says Andrew Clamann, conservation program manager, until you realize that Austin has about 5,500 miles of streams in total. The department is currently testing a new system that will more closely track how “drivers” such as stormwater controls and land use affect water quality and what solutions will fix water quality problems even as population and pollutants are expected to continue to grow.

To that end, the city is now evaluating its existing data from the past 30 years and grouping them by similarities to “process” the data using a model that can explain the physical, chemical and biological parameters for 3,000 points in the city (as opposed to the previous 120 locations). The clusters, Clamann explained, will help develop “instant” solutions to water quality problems based on the results the data provides.

The city currently publishes the results of its water quality monitoring online at www.atxwatersheds.comso that the results on overall quality and more specific categories such as habitat quality and water chemistry are accessible to everyone.

“We certainly don’t update it as frequently as we have in the past because we are moving toward something much better and more advanced,” he said, noting that the generalized information they had collected and disseminated up to that point was “good for communication, bad for science.”

The city collects data on streams annually and will continue to do so as the new models come online. Currently, the Water Conservation Department is waiting for the models to have enough data to be properly calibrated. “Some aspects are ready now, other aspects might take a year or two. Other aspects might take five or six years before we can do all of these calculations. We’re in this for the long haul; we have the in-house expertise and knowledge to do it,” Clamann said. “It’s going to take some time because the math…

“We are facing a very, very big change, not a big change in the actual data collection. per sebut in how we use that data, how we communicate it and what that data can do for us. It is much more powerful,” he said.

While the city works to bring the new model online, data collection for the citywide environmental index will continue and the city will continue to monitor a wide range of water quality issues (and potential issues). Monitoring will consider factors such as water pH, temperature and conductivity, as well as the presence of substances such as nitrogen, phosphorus, arsenic, mercury, pesticides and herbicides. In addition, the city will keep an eye on biological indicators and monitor ecological diversity and the flora and fauna of local waterways.

“My head spins when I start really getting into the details,” Clamann said. “The issue of water quality is a bit like the issue of health … (it’s) complicated.”

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