AAV
Area of Attainment Value
ADV
Area of Degradation Value
ALU
Aquatic Life Use
Ambient Monitoring
Sampling and evaluation of a water body measured immediately upstream (or outside) of the immediate influence of a particular source of pollutants or pollutant parameters during summer-fall normal flow conditions
Aquatic Assemblage
An association of interacting populations of organisms in a given waterbody or habitat, e.g., the fish assemblage, benthic macroinvertebrate assemblage.
Aquatic Community
An association of interacting assemblages in a given waterbody, the biotic component, or "biota" of an ecosystem.
Aquatic Life Use (ALU)
A beneficial use designation in which the waterbody provides suitable habitat for survival and reproduction of desirable fish, shellfish, and other aquatic organisms; classifications specified in State water quality standards (WQS) relating to the level of protection afforded to the resident biological community by the custodial State agency.
Aquatic Macrophytes
Aquatic macrophytes are aquatic higher plants growing in or near water; not algae. They may be emergent (i.e., with parts above the water surface), submerged or floating. Examples of macrophytes in Ohio include Canadian pondweed (Elodea canadensis), American bur-reed (Sparganium americanum), Broadleaf Arrowhead (Sagittaria latifolia), Lizard's Tail (Saururus cernuus) and American water willow (Justicia americana). Water willow, in particular, improves stream habitat by concentration flows in riffles and providing high quality shallow areas for young fish and invertebrates such as dragonfly and damselfly species.
Assemblage
Refers to all of the various species of a particular taxonomic grouping (e.g., fish, macroinvertebrates, algae, submergent aquatic plants, etc.) that exist in a particular habitat. Operationally this term is useful for defining biological assessment methods and their attendant assessment mechanisms, i.e., indices of biotic integrity (IBI), O/E models, or fuzzy set models.
Attainment Status
The state of condition of a waterbody as measured by chemical, physical, and biological indicators. Full attainment is the point at which measured indicators signify that a water quality standard has been met and it signifies that the designated use is both attained and protected. Non-attainment is when the designated use is not attained based on one or more of these indicators being below the required condition or state for that measure or parameter.
Attribute
A measurable part or process of a biological system.
BCG
Biological Condition Gradient
Benchmark
A standard or point of reference by which a receiving waterbody chemical, physical, or biological result is measured and judged.
Beneficial Uses
Desirable uses that acceptable water quality should support. Examples are drinking water supply, primary contact recreation (such as swimming), and aquatic life support.
Benthic Macroinvertebrates
Animals without backbones, living in or on the substrates, of a size large enough to be seen by the unaided eye, and which can be retained by a U.S. Standard No. 30 sieve (0.595 mm openings). Also referred to as benthos, infauna, or macrobenthos.
Best Management Practice
An engineered structure or management activity, or combination of these that eliminates or reduces an adverse environmental effect of a pollutant, pollution, or stressor effect.
Bioassessment Based Approach
This approach includes refined aquatic life uses (ALUs) based on numeric biological criteria and implementation via an adequate monitoring and assessment program that includes biological, chemical, and physical measures, parameters, indicators and a process for stressor identification.
Biological Assessment
An evaluation of the biological condition of a waterbody using surveys of the structure and function of a community of resident biota; also known as "bioassessment". It also includes the interdisciplinary process of determining condition and relating that condition to chemical, physical, and biological factors that are measured along with the biological sampling.
Biological Condition Gradient
A scientific model that describes the biological responses within an aquatic ecosystem to the increasing effects of stressors.
Biological Criteria (Biocriteria)
Scientific meaning: quantified values representing the biological condition of a waterbody as measured by structure and function of the aquatic communities typically derived from regional reference condition; also known as "biocriteria". Regulatory meaning: narrative descriptions or numerical values of the structure and function of aquatic communities in a waterbody necessary to protect a designated aquatic life use, implemented in, or through state water quality standards.
Biological Diversity
Refers to the variety and variability among all living organisms and the ecological complexes in which they occur. Diversity can be defined as the number of different taxa and their relative frequencies. For biological diversity, these taxa are organized at many levels, ranging from complete ecosystems to the biochemical structures that are the molecular basis of heredity. Thus, the term encompasses different ecosystems, species, and genes; also known as "biodiversity".
Biological Indicator
An organism, species, assemblage, or community characteristic of a particular habitat, or that it is indicative of a particular set of environmental conditions; also known as a "bioindicator".
Biological Integrity
The ability of an aquatic ecosystem to support and maintain a balanced, adaptive community of organisms having a species composition, diversity, and functional organization comparable to that of natural habitats within a region (after Karr and Dudley 1981).
Biological Monitoring
The use of a biological entity (taxon, species, assemblage) as a detector and its response to change as a measure of response in determining environmental conditions. Ambient biological surveys and toxicity tests are common biological monitoring methods; also known as "biomonitoring".
Biological Survey
The collection, processing, and analysis of a representative portion of the resident aquatic community to determine its structural and/or functional characteristics and hence its condition using standardized methods.
BNA
Base Neutral Acid Compound
Channel Metric
A metric of the cQHEI and QHEI that assesses the features and condition (e.g., natural vs. channelized channels) of stream channels that provide habitat important to aquatic life.
Citizen Qualitative Habitat Evaluation Index (cQHEI)
A simplified form of the QHEI, a qualitative habitat evaluation assessment tool that is applied to streams and rivers in the Midwest and which is used to identify habitat variables that are important to aquatic assemblages in streams.
Clean Water Act (CWA)
An act passed by the U.S. Congress to control water pollution (formally referred to as the Federal Water Pollution Control Act of 1972). Public Law 92-500, as amended. 33 U.S.C. 1251 et seq.; referred to herein as the "CWA".
Cover or Structure Metric
A metric of the cQHEI and QHEI that assesses the presence (cQHEI, QHEI) and condition (QHEI) of physical structural components (logs, boulders, undercut banks, root wads, aquatic plants, etc.,) that provide habitat important to aquatic life.
Criteria
The level of a particular pollutant, physical characteristic, or condition of a biological assemblage presumed to support or protect the designated use or uses of a waterbody. Criteria may be narrative or numeric and are commonly expressed as a chemical concentration, a physical parameter, or a biological assemblage endpoint.
CSO
Combined Sewer Overflow
CWA
Clean Water Act
CWA Section 303(d)
This section of the Act requires States, territories, and authorized Tribes to develop lists of impaired waters for which applicable water quality standards are not being met, even after point sources of pollution have installed the minimum required levels of pollution control technology. The law requires that these jurisdictions establish priority rankings for waters on the lists and develop TMDLs for these waters. States, territories, and authorized Tribes are to submit their list of waters on April 1 in every even-numbered year.
CWA Section 305(b)
Biennial reporting required by the Act to describe the quality of the Nation’s surface waters, to serve as an evaluation of progress made in maintaining and restoring water quality, and describe the extent of remaining problems.
DELT
Deformities, Erosions, Lesions, and Tumors (fish)
DELT Anomalies
The percentage of Deformities, Erosions (e.g., fins, barbels), Lesions and Tumors on fish assemblages (DELT). An important fish assemblage attribute that is a commonly employed metric in fish IBIs.
Designated Uses
Those uses specified in state water quality standards (WQS) for each waterbody or segment, whether or not they are being attained.
Disturbance
Any activity of natural or human causes that alters the natural state of the environment and its attributes and which can occur at or across many spatial and temporal scales.
DOSD
Division of Sewers and Drains
DOW
Division of Water
DPU
Department of Public Utilities
ECC
Environmental Control Center
Ecological integrity
The summation of chemical, physical, and biological integrity capable of supporting and maintaining a balanced, integrated adaptive community of organisms having a species composition, diversity, and functional organization comparable to that of natural habitats in the region.
Ecoregion
A relatively homogeneous geographical area defined by a similarity of climate, landform, soil, potential natural vegetation, hydrology, or other ecologically relevant variables; ecoregions are portioned at increasing levels of spatial detail from level I to level IV.
ECOS
Ohio EPA database framework used by MBI
EPA
Environmental Protection Agency
EPT
Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera, Trichoptera
EWH
Exceptional Warmwater Habitat
Existing Use
A use that was actually attained in a waterbody on or after November 28, 1975, whether or not they are included in the state water quality standards (November 28, 1975 is the date on which U.S. EPA promulgated its first water quality standards regulation in 40CFR Part 131). Existing uses must be maintained and cannot be removed.
HD
Hester Dendy artificial substrate sampler
IBI
Index of Biotic Integrity for fish assemblages
ICI
Invertebrate Community Index
Impairment
Occurs when a waterbody is too polluted or degraded to meet water quality standards.
Index of Biotic Integrity (IBI)
An integrative expression of site condition across multiple metrics comprised of attributes of a biological assemblage. It refers to the index developed by Karr (1981) and explained by Karr et al. (1986). It has been used to express the condition of fish, macroinvertebrate, algal, and terrestrial assemblages throughout the U.S. and in each of five major continents.
IPS
Integrated Prioritization System
Life History
How and where a fish or macroinvertebrate species forages, ages, grows, and reproduces throughout its life. Habitat specialist likely have strong preferences for specific habitat features depend on life history stage. For example, some fish species prefer to nest over pebble sized substrates while other may lay eggs on the undersurfaces of large rocks or boulders.
LIMS
Laboratory Information Management System
M&A
Monitoring and Assessment
MBI
Midwest Biodiversity Institute
Metric
A calculated term or enumeration representing an attribute of a biological assemblage, usually a structural aspect, that changes in a predictable manner with an increased effect of human disturbance.
MIwb
Modified Index of Well-Being
Modified Index of Well-Being (MIwb)
The Modified Index of Well-Being (MIwb) is based on fish assemblage measures including numbers, biomass, and two diversity indices (Shannon Index) based on numbers and biomass. The numbers and biomass metrics exclude highly tolerant species. It reflects the overall productivity and diversity of the fish assemblage and it frequently responds before the IBI to improvements in water quality and habitat.
Monitoring and Assessment
The entire process of collecting data from the aquatic environment using standardized methods and protocols, managing that data, analyzing that data to make assessments in support of multiple program objectives, and disseminating the assessments to stakeholders and the public.
Multimetric Index
An index that combines assemblage attributes, or metrics, into a single index value. Each metric is tested and calibrated to a scale and transformed into a unitless score prior to being aggregated into a multimetric index. Both the index and metrics are useful in assessing and diagnosing ecological condition.
Narrative Biocriteria
Written statement(s) describing the narrative attributes of the structure and function of aquatic communities in a waterbody necessary to protect a designated aquatic life use.
Natural Condition
This includes the multiplicity of factors that determine the physical, chemical, or biological conditions that would exist in a waterbody in the absence of measurable impacts from human activity or influence.
NPDES
National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System
Numeric Biocriteria
Specific quantitative and numeric measures of the structure and function of aquatic communities in a waterbody necessary to protect a designated aquatic life use.
OAC
Ohio Administrative Code
OARS
OSIS Augmentation Relief Sewer
OCDL
Ohio Credible Data Law
ORC
Ohio Revised Code
OWEA
Ohio Water Environment Association
PAH
Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbon
PCR
Primary Contact Recreation
Pool Metric
Pools are the slower flowing areas of streams that are often wider than riffles, runs, and glides, are often locations of physical structures (logs, deep areas, backwaters, undercut banks/root wads, etc.,). These areas provide important habitat types of more lentic species, provide areas for nesting of sunfish and bass, and resting areas for other species. Important features of pools includes deep areas, their morphology (width relative to riffles and runs, and the presence of structure (logs, root wads, boulders, etc.,)
PSP
Project Study Plan
QAPP
Quality Assurance Program Plan
QDC
Qualified Data Collector
QHEI
Qualitative Habitat Evaluation Index
Qualitative Habitat Evaluation Index
A qualitative habitat evaluation assessment tool, used by professionals after taking training, that is applied to streams and rivers in Ohio and which is used to identify habitat variables that are important to attainment of the Ohio biological criteria.
Reference Condition
The condition that approximates natural, unimpacted, to best attainable conditions (biological, chemical, physical, etc.) for a waterbody. Reference condition is best determined by collecting measurements at a sufficient number of sites in a similar waterbody class or region under minimally or least disturbed conditions (by human activity), if they exist. Since undisturbed or minimally disturbed conditions may be difficult or impossible to find in some states, least disturbed conditions, combined with historical information, models or other methods may be used to approximate reference condition as long as the departure from natural or ideal is understood. Reference condition is used as a benchmark to establish numeric biocriteria.
Reference Site
A site selected to represent an approximation of reference condition and by comparison to other sites being assessed. For the purpose of assessing the ecological condition of other sites, a reference site is a specific locality on a waterbody that is minimally or least disturbed and is representative of the expected ecological condition of other localities on the same waterbody or nearby waterbodies.
Regional Reference Condition
A description of the chemical, physical, or biological condition based on an aggregation of data from reference sites that are representative of a waterbody type in an ecoregion, subregion, bioregion, or major drainage unit.
Riffle/Run Metric
The riffle areas of the stream is where the water breaks over cobbles, boulders and gravel or where the surface of the water is visibly broken. These are relatively shallow areas of a streams. The run areas of a stream are generally deeper and rapid and are often located downstream from riffles or cover features that narrow the stream (e.g., logs). The cQHEI and QHEI rate riffle/run depth and characteristic substrate types which generally reflect the quality of these features for aquatic life.
Riparian Metric
The riparian zone of a stream is the area adjacent to the edges of rivers, streams, lakes, and other water bodies. They differ from the surrounding uplands because their soils and vegetation are shaped by the presence of water. In the cQHEI and QHEI, the riparian metric includes information on the width of the zone, the influence of land uses outside of the immediate riparian zone and the condition of banks (i.e., degree of erosion).
Root Mats
The fine fibrous root systems for trees such as willow that provide habitat for chironomids and similar taxa and places for you fish to feed or hide. Often associated with undercut banks.
Root Wads
The large diameter roots of trees such as American sycamore that are in contact with the water and provide important refuge and habitat for many fish and macroinvertebrate species. Sycamore trees, with their large, deep root systems and their association with riparian systems are among the highest quality in Ohio. Their importance to stream habitat and morphology is such that recent research identifies them as a "keystone" species. A keystone species is one that if removed from an ecosystem will result in measurable changes to biological ecosystems.
SCR
Secondary Contact Recreation
Stream Gradient
Stream gradient is the elevation drop of a stream between two point. It is not measured as part of the cQHEI, but is included in the QHEI. In the QHEI the gradient measure is known as a “map gradient” and is measured by measuring the distance between two contour lines on a 7.5 minute topographic map in a segment that includes the QHEI. Thus it is not a local gradient at a site, but more of an average gradient in the vicinity of a site. For QHEI it is score differently for different sized streams based on fish species responses to map gradient for streams and rivers.
Stressors
Physical, chemical, and biological factors that can adversely affect aquatic organisms and result in impairment of a designated use. The effect of stressors is apparent in the biological responses.
STV
Statistical Threshold Value
Substrate
Streambed substrate refers to the type of substance on the bottom of the stream. The cQHEI and QHEI measure the size of the substrates (e.g., from fine sediment various sizes of gravels and cobbles, up to boulders). Both cQHEI include measure of smothering by sands and other fines and from siltation.
TALU
Tiered Aquatic Life Use
Threshold
The measurable point at which an effect becomes evident in an ambient biological response, i.e., the concentration or otherwise measured level or quantity of a particular chemical, physical, or land use stressor corresponding to a change in a biological assemblage measure.
Tiered Aquatic Life Uses (TALUs)
As defined: The structure of designated aquatic life uses that incorporates a hierarchy of use subclasses and stratification by natural divisions that pertain to geographical and waterbody class strata. TALUs are based on representative ecological attributes and these should be reflected in the narrative description of each TALU subcategory and be embodied in the measurements that extend to expressions of that narrative through numeric biocriteria and by extension to chemical and physical indicators and criteria. As used: TALUs are assigned to water bodies based on the protection and restoration of ecological potential. This means that the assignment of a TALU subcategory to a specific waterbody is done with regard to reasonable restoration or protection expectations and attainability. Hence knowledge of the current condition of a waterbody and an accompanying and adequate assessment of stressors affecting that waterbody are needed to make these assignments.
TMDL
Total Maximum Daily Load
Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL)
The maximum amount of a pollutant that a body of water can receive while still meeting water quality standards. Alternatively, a TMDL is an allocation of a water pollutant deemed acceptable to attain the designated use assigned to the receiving water.
UAA
Use Attainability Analysis
Use Attainability Analysis (UAA)
A structured scientific assessment of the physical, chemical, biological or economic factors affecting attainment of the uses of waterbodies.
Use Attainability Analysis (UAA)
A structured scientific assessment of the physical, chemical, biological or economic factors affecting attainment of the uses of waterbodies. TALU assignments in the Ohio WQS have been derived using a UAA process.
Use Classes
A broad capture of a designated use for general purposes such as recreation, water supply, and aquatic life.
Use Subclasses
A subcategorization of use classes into discrete and meaningful descriptions. For aquatic life this would include a hierarchy of warmwater and cold water uses and additional stratification provided by different levels of warmwater uses and further stratification by waterbody types.
VOC
Volatile Organic Compound
Water Quality Management
A collection of management programs relevant to a water resource protection that includes problem identification, the need for and placement of best management practices, pollution abatement actions, and measuring the effectiveness of management actions.
Water Quality Standards (WQS)
A law or regulation that consists of the designated use or uses of a waterbody, the narrative or numerical water quality criteria (including biocriteria) that are necessary to protect the use or uses of that particular waterbody, and an antidegradation policy.
WLA
Waste Load Allocation
WMAO
Water Management Association of Ohio
WQS
Water Quality Standards
WWH
Warmwater Habitat
WWMP
Wet Weather Management Plan
WWTP
Wastewater Treatment Plant