SCC-PG: Leveraging community partnerships and intelligent technologies to address septic system water quality risks in the Flathead Basin

老化和维护不善的化粪池系统可通过提供营养物质和病原微生物而导致水质恶化。然而，作为非点源污染，化粪池衍生的废物受到监管不力。化粪池系统的维护和最终的更换完全取决于个人房主。在蒙大拿州，近一半的家庭使用化粪池系统来处理废水。不断扩大的人口，分散的开发，因此对化粪池系统的依赖增加，再加上监管执法不力，极有可能导致全州地表水和地下水因化粪池而产生的退化加剧。利用智能技术，包括实时数据收集、传输和自动数据分析，可能为让房主参与化粪池系统最佳实践提供新的机会。该项目将吸引平头盆地活跃的利益相关者团体参与，包括州立法机构平头盆地委员会；非营利性水保护团体；以及州和联邦机构。该项目的跨学科方法结合了各种努力，以了解环境反应、房主的潜在行为反应，以及可能对化粪池问题的政策和治理反应，这是解决阻碍确定解决方案的知识差距的第一步。

Aging and poorly maintained septic systems can contribute to degradation in water quality through supply of nutrients and pathogenic microorganisms. However, as non-point sources of pollution, septic-derived wastes receive poor regulatory oversight. Septic system maintenance and eventual replacement is entirely reliant on individual homeowners. In the state of Montana, nearly half of all homes utilize septic systems for wastewater disposal. The combination of expanding populations, with dispersed development, and hence increased dependence on septic systems, together with weak regulatory enforcement, has high potential to lead to increased septic-derived degradation of surface waters and groundwaters across the state. The harnessing of smart technologies, including real-time data collection, transmission, and automated data analysis, may provide a novel opportunity for engaging homeowners in septic system best practices. This project will engage active stakeholder groups in the Flathead Basin, including the Flathead Basin Commission, a state-legislated organization; nonprofit water protection groups; and state and federal agencies. By forging new collaborations between natural and social scientists and the basin-wide community, the project will identify data-driven solutions to a growing problem specific to lake water quality.This project will engage a local stakeholder network, building on their work to date to address septic systems as a non-point source of pollution to Flathead Lake in northwest Montana. Specific planned activities as part of the project include: (a) co-host a 3-day workshop of local and basin stakeholders to identify gaps in research, knowledge, and expertise; (b) proof-of-concept on the use of real-time data to motivate homeowners to adopt septic system best management practices; (c) pilot a shoreline monitoring approach using a combination of remote sensing and microbial source tracking technologies to identify lakeshore areas receiving poorly treated septic leachate; and (d) assess policies and governance frameworks, including incentives and financing solutions, that work to mitigate the risks from failing septic systems to public health and surface water and groundwater contamination. This project's interdisciplinary approach combines efforts to understand environmental responses, potential behavioral responses of homeowners, and possible policy and governance responses to the septic issue, which is a first step to resolving knowledge gaps that prevent identifying solutions. Outcomes from our activities will inform a subsequent effort to advance data and research infrastructure in geospatial and socio-hydrological sciences, with specific focus on strategies for developing a smart and connected basin community.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.