Watershed analysis of urban stormwater contaminant 6PPD-Quinone hotspots and stream concentrations using a process-based ecohydrological model
Coho salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch), are highly sensitive to 6PPD-quinone (6PPD-q), a transformation product of the ubiquitously used tire rubber antiozonant 6PPD and found in stormwater runoff [1, 2]. Details of the hydrological and biogeochemical processes controlling spatial and temporal dynamics of 6PPD-q fate and transport from points of deposition to receiving waters (e.g., streams, estuaries) are poorly understood. To understand the fate and transport of 6PPD and mechanisms leading to salmon mortality, VELMA, an ecohydrological model developed by US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), was enhanced to better understand, and inform stormwater management planning by municipal, state, and federal partners seeking to reduce stormwater contaminant loads in urban streams draining to the Puget Sound National Estuary. This work focuses on the 5.54 km2 Longfellow Creek upper watershed (Seattle, Washington, United States), which has long exhibited high rates of an acute urban runoff mortality syndrome in coho salmon. We present VELMA model results to elucidate these processes for the Longfellow Creek watershed across multiple scales – from 5-meter grid cells to the entire watershed. Our results highlight hydrological and biogeochemical controls on 6PPD-q flow paths, and hotspots within the watershed and its stormwater infrastructure, that ultimately impact contaminant transport to Longfellow Creek and Puget Sound. Simulated daily average 6PPD-q and available observed 6PPD-q peak in-stream grab sample concentrations (ng/L) correspond within an order of magnitude. Most importantly, VELMA’s high-resolution spatial and temporal analysis of 6PPD-q hotspots provides a tool for prioritizing the locations, amounts, and types of green infrastructure that can most effectively reduce 6PPD-q stream concentrations to levels protective of coho salmon and other aquatic species.