WRRC Report No. 141, PROCEEDINGS WATER RESEARCH AT THE UNIVERSITY OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA A Technical Symposium Tuesday, April 28, 1992 D.C. WATER RESOURCES RESEARCH CENTER UNIVERSITY OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA WASHINGTON, D.C. WRRC Report No. 141 PROCEEDINGS WATER RESEARCH AT THE UNIVERSITY OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA A TECHNICAL SYMPOSIUM Sponsored by THE WATER RESOURCES RESEARCH CENTER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA TUESDAY, APRIL 28,1992 1:00PM to 4:OOPM VAN NESS CAMPUS, BUILDING NO. 44, ROOM A-03 WASHINGTON, D.C. The activities on which this report is based were financed in part by the Department of the Interior, U.S. Geological Survey, through the Water Resources Research Center, the University of the District of Columbia. The contents of this publication do not necessarily reflect the views and policies of the Department of the Interior, nor does mention of trade names or commercial products constitute their endorsement by the United States Government. The University of the District of Columbia is an equal opportunity and affirmative action institution. Its programs, employment and educational opportunities are available to all qualified persons regardless of race, color religion, national origin, sex, age, marital status, personal appearance, sexual orientation, family responsibilities, matriculation, physical handicap or political affiliation. TABLE OF CONTENTS PREFACE...............................................................................................………... ...i. OPENING REMARKS ..............................................................................………. ii PROGRAM AGENDA ...................……….........................................................… iii PART I: PHYSICAL SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING ........................................1 "Drilling Into the District of Columbia Ground Water" James V.O'Connor and Norris Etienne ......................................................…........ 2 "The Anacostia River: Ecological Studies of River Pollution Biology" Victoria C. Guerrero.............................................................................……..….......14 "Litter Layer Productivity and Decomposition" Winston Corona and Isidro Carranza .......................................................…......... 33 "A Survey of Street Drainage Inlets in the District of Columbia" Fred Chang and Julius Elui...........................................................................………39 "An Environmental Study of Melvin Hazen Park" Kathleen Robinson ..........................................................................…….……...........79 "A Preliminary Study for the Identification of Sediment Toxics in the Anacostia River" Harriette L. Phelps .........................................................................…………….........87 "Dry Weather Screening of Storm Water Outfalls in the District of Columbia" Clarence Wade................................................…………........................................….. 92 "Effect of Lime and Sludge on Metal Content of Vegetables" James Preer, Ahmed N. Abdi, Harkewal Sekhon, G.B. Murchinson, Jr................. 98 PART II: WATER RESOURCES PROGRAM MANAGEMENT ............…….... 107 "Citizens Attitudinal Survey on the District of Columbia" Y. Choi and H. Azani.......................................................................…………..........108 "Master Gardener and Extension Volunteers Program" Pamela Ann Marshall........................................................................………….........119 "FIFRA - How it Affects D.C. and the Role of UDC" Mohamed S. Khan...........................................................................……………...…..121 "Urban Land Use Activities and the Ground Water: A Background Survey" Jutta Schneider, Fred Chang, Clarence Wade and James V.O'Connor................. 123 "Urban Stormwater Management & Sediment Control Clearinghouse" Ham6 M. Watt and Mohammed Yusuf Mohammed .................................….......... 129 "The Forgotten Tributaries of the Anacostia River in the District of Columbia" James V. O'Connor and Norris Etienne..........................…….......…....................... 133 APPENDICES............................................................……...........…………................145 I. List of Participants......................................................……….........……................146 II. Background Brief........................................………...........................……..............148 PREFACE The D.C. Water Resources Research Center is proud, once again, to salute the faculty and students of the University of the District of Columbia, for their significant and long standing contributions in the field of water research and education, particularly as these issues impact on the health and well being of the citizens of the District of Columbia. These proceedings present the results of the second forum in recent years, sponsored by the DC WRRC, to focus on the work of UDC faculty and students in the areas of water research and water resources. Earlier, in April of 1987, a half day seminar was convened by DC WRRC on "UDC Science Research on the Anacostia River." This full day symposium reflects the broad range of current water research investigations and related activities engaged in by faculty members and students from several university colleges and by others from extension components such as the Agricultural Experiment Station, the Cooperative Extension Service and by members of the DC WRRC staff. It is noted that due to technical difficulties, we have not been able to provide all the papers or the pertinent remarks that were presented during the symposium. We do apologize for that and for potential errors or mistakes that might be found in these proceedings. OPENING REMARKS BY JAMES G. PETERS, PROJECT OFFICER Office of the Hydrologist, U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) I will keep my remarks short so as not to fall victim to the time keeper. I am very interested in the type of academic research being done here in the District of Columbia in various aspects of hydrology. It is in light of this research that I will talk about the U.S. Geological Survey and its water-related program. Included in these programs is the Water Resources Research Institute program, which I will discuss later. As we all know, water-related issues are becoming an important concern on the part of national, state and local policy makers as public awareness has been refocused on the environment in recent years. The U.S. Geological Survey is the Federal Government's major scientific agency for evaluating natural resources. Within the last decade, water-resource issues have dominated USGS program growth, especially issues related to the quality of ground water. We anticipate this growth to continue well into the next century. The USGS, headquarters is located in Reston, Virginia about 25 miles west of here. If you have not visited us, I suggest that you do so. We are very active in the water-resources community in the DC area. This morning, in fact, I had the pleasure of meeting two ex-employees of the USGS who are attending this symposium. Briefly, let me mention that the work of the USGS in hydrology is in two broad areas. The first is data collection and applied research managed through offices in each state (usually located in the state capital) and usually done in cooperation with other federal and state agencies. Academic research is centered in Reston, Virginia; Denver, Colorado; and Menlo Park, California. This research provides new directions in the hydrologic sciences as well as support for the work of applied research in our state offices. For both programs, the USGS continues to give great emphasis The design and preparation of these proceedings was a joint effort of Mr. James H. Hannaham, Mr. Mohammed Yusuf and Mrs. Jutta Schneider and Ms. Joseline Castanos of the DC WRRC staff. We also wish to thank Mr. Tom Kelly of the UDC Office of Public Affairs, for taking on the task of reviewing and editing the papers. Finally, we wish to thank the authors who provided their papers as well as various other persons including Dr. Victoria C. Guerrero, who volunteered to review these proceedings. High among the charges of the USGS is the administration of the Federal Water Resources Research Institute Program. Although this program has existed for about 30 years, the USGS has been the program sponsor for only 5 years. Between $5 and $6 million dollars is allocated by the Congress each year, which is distributed equally among the 54 Institutes, located in every state, the District, and several trust territories. This amount provides about $100K annually to each Institute. There is a 2:1 matching requirement for these funds. Some Institutes do very well at securing additional research funds well beyond the Federal Program. For others the Program is their major funding source. But overall, the program provides a viable research institute at each location. Innovation in the use of Federal program funds is encouraged. For example, the Institute in Indiana is using all program funds for student assistantships. One individual present today who is funded in part by this program is Dr. Victoria Guerrero. So as not to usurp time from other speakers, I will stop at this point to answer any questions you may have regarding the Federal Institute Program or the USGS. Thank you. PROGRAM AGENDA INTRODUCTIONS: Hamé M. Watt, Director Water Resources Research Center, UDC James H. Hannaham Water Resources Research Center,