Water Quality Trading –
Point Source for Non-point
Source Sediments:
Piasa Creek Watershed Project
Illinois-American Water
Company & Great River’s
Land Trust
Legend of the Piasa Bird
Location of Alton IL
Great River Road Scenic Highway
“Old” Alton Water Treatment Facility
“Wet” Alton Water Treatment Facility
“New” Alton Water Treatment Facility
The Challenge
 Old facility
– Site specific exemption
– Non-standard NPDES permit
– Direct discharge allowed
– Exempt from TSS and total iron effluent standards
 New facility
– “Old” regulatory relief does not apply
– Must apply for/justify new relief
The Regulators
 IL Pollution Control Board (IPCB)
– Writes environmental law
– Arbitrates contested issues
 IL EPA
– Administers/enforces environmental law
– Writes/issues NPDES permit
– Cannot write a permit that IL law does not allow for
The Stakeholders
 Owner, Illinois-American Water Company
 Regulators, IEPA, IPCB
 Local Interest Groups (economic, aesthetic)
 Environmental groups (local, state, national)
 Customers
The Study (SSIS)
 Site Specific Impact Study
 ENSR environmental engineers
 Consider all regulatory tests (BPJ,BPT, BCT)
 Compare residual management control technologies
 Two Alternatives
– Lagoons, dewatering, landfilling
– Direct discharge
The comparison
Lagoon & Landfill
– $7.4 million capital costs,
$0.42 million annual O&M
– Avg 4 trucks/day on Scenic
Route 3
– 8,800 yd3/yr of landfill
space
– Local Opposition
Direct Discharge
–No water quality impacts
–No landfill depletion
–No aesthetic impacts on area
–No cost
–No brainer (?)
The Impacts
 SSIS findings:
– TSS impact insignificant
– 91% of solids originate from river
– Metals nil (note reliance on PAS)
– No harm to aquatic life
– No unnatural buildup
– Mussel survey no problems
 IEPA – nope!
The Solution
 Partnership with Great Rivers Land Trust (GRLT)
– Piasa Creek Watershed Plan
– Sustainable reduction in overall sediment loading to the
Mississippi River
– IL-AWC contribution of $4.15 million over 10-year period
– Minimum 2:1 reduction (6600 ton/year)
 Regulatory Approval
– IEPA, IPCB
– Adjusted Standard AS 99-6 written into IL law
– Terms of AS 99-6 and contract w/GRLT written into special
conditions of NPDES permit
Great Rivers Land Trust
 Local Non-Profit Organization
 Primary Mission:
– Preservation of scenic and ecologically valuable land
along the Alton Lake Heritage Corridor, 20,000 acres
– Land preservation efforts accomplished through
easements and land acquisitions
– Goal: 5,000 to 10,000 acres protected in next 10 years
Piasa Creek Watershed Plan
 Primary Objective:
– “To enhance and restore the natural non-point source
pollutant mitigation functions of the watershed”
Piasa Creek Watershed
Watershed Major Problem Areas
 Planning and Regulation
 Sewage
 Stormwater Runoff and Erosion
– Uncontrolled urbanization
– Sediment
– Road salts, fertilizers, pesticides
– Septic tank effluent
– Other pollutants
Meeting the Objective
 Land acquisition and conservation easements
 Grassed waterways
 Filter strips
 Storm water detention basins
 Terraces
 Grade control structures
 Stream bank stabilization
 Educational programs (communities, schools, landowners)
Project Timeline
 Year 1 (2001): Update 1995 plan, identify potential
sediment reduction sites, contact landowners.
 Years 2-5: Install sediment control structures.
 Year 6: IEPA review.
 Years 6-10: Installation of sediment control
structures continues. Achieve 2:1 suspended
solids reduction.
Project Metrics
 Goal 6600 tons/year sediment reduction
 Use accepted sediment control practices
 Sediment savings estimated in partnership with SWCD
 Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation
 Resource inventory worksheets for each project
 Projected year-end 2003: 2613 tons/year
Streambank Erosion
Streambank Stabilization
Storm water basins
Erosion control
Boy Scout Lake
The Benefits
 Avoid capital and O&M $ for lagooning, landfilling
 Rate impact on customer reduced
 No sludge hauling trucks along the Great River Road
 Save landfill space
 Reduced net sediment load to the river
 Precedent/model for other creative beneficial partnerships
Questions?
Brent Gregory, Director Water Quality
Illinois-American Water Company
618-239-3249
bgregory@illinoisamerican.com