RAPID: Collaborative Research: Impacts of Extreme Flooding on Hydrologic Connectivity and Water Quality in the Atlantic Coastal Plain and Implications for Vulnerable Populations

2016年10月，飓风马修带来了极端降雨，导致北卡罗来纳州东部发生极端洪水，包括木材河流域。该地区的土地利用以大规模作物种植为主，包括美国密度最高的一些集中动物饲养作业（cafo）和加工设施。3000平方公里的Lumber River流域及其邻近地区也是美国印第安人Lumbee部落的大多数6万多成员的家园，代表了一个贫困率高、医疗保健、教育和基础设施差距大的地区。该地区被宣布为国家灾区，由于牲畜被淹死、废物泻湖受损、景观被淹没、化粪池系统失灵以及洪水期间与水文相连的其他污染物来源，该地区正在处理地表水、浅层地下水和饮用水供应的广泛污染。该项目旨在记录未来几个月极端洪水对该地区水质的影响，并加深对水文过程、土地利用和社会脆弱性如何结合起来，将与洪水有关的短暂水文连通性转化为持久的水质影响的理解。该项目将通过公民科学和公共教育让受影响的蓝比部落成员参与进来。该RAPID项目旨在对区域性洪水对Lumber River流域水质的近期影响进行初步评估，以更好地了解洪水驱动的高地污染源与水文系统（地表水、浅层地下水、公共供水）之间的连通性及其对弱势群体的水质影响。该项目解决了极端洪水对低梯度溪流和广泛的河流湿地、浅层含水层和提供公共饮用水供应的承压含水层水质的近期影响。具体来说，该项目将1)评估飓风后生物（废水中的微生物群落标记物）、化学（非靶向高分辨率质谱筛选）和物理(？O18O, ?Ô2H，比电导)地表水、浅层地下水、承压含水层的水质特征；2)评估各水文池在系统从洪水中恢复和水文连通性消退时水质的时间演变，从而提高我们对水文连通性与水质之间联系的理解；3)通过公民科学和交流让蓝蜂部落参与进来，同时提供有关水质的宝贵信息。

In October 2016, Hurricane Matthew brought extreme rainfall that led to extreme flooding across eastern North Carolina, including the Lumber River basin. Land use in this region is dominated by large-scale crop-cultivation and includes some of the highest densities of concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs) and processing facilities in the United States. The 3,000 km2 Lumber River watershed and immediately adjacent areas are also home to most of the Lumbee Tribe of American Indian¡¦s 60,000+ members and represents a region characterized by high rates of poverty and large disparities in healthcare, education, and infrastructure. The region, declared a National Disaster area, is dealing with widespread contamination of surface waters, shallow groundwater, and drinking water supplies due to drowned livestock, compromised waste lagoons, inundated landscapes, failed septic systems, and other contaminant sources that have become hydrologically connected during flooding. This project seeks to document the impacts of extreme flooding on water quality in this region in the coming months and to improve understanding of how hydrological processes, land use, and social vulnerability combine to translate ephemeral, flood-related hydrologic connectivity into persistent water quality impacts. This project will engage members of the affected Lumbee Tribe through both citizen science and public education.This RAPID project seeks to conduct a preliminary assessment of the near-term impacts of regional flooding on water quality in the Lumber River watershed in an effort to better understand flood-driven connectivity between upland contaminant sources and hydrologic systems (surface water, shallow groundwater, public water supplies) and its water quality implications for vulnerable populations. The project addresses the near-term impacts of extreme flooding on water quality across low gradient streams and extensive riverine wetlands, in surficial aquifers, and in the confined aquifers that provide public drinking water supplies. Specifically, this project will 1) evaluate the post-hurricane spatial variability of biological (microbial community markers in wastewater), chemical (non-targeted high-resolution mass spectrometry screening), and physical (?Ô18O, ?Ô2H, specific conductance) water quality characteristics of surface water, shallow groundwater, and the confined aquifer; 2) assess the temporal evolution of water quality in each hydrologic pool as the system recovers from the floods and hydrologic connectivity recedes, thus improving our understanding of linkages between hydrologic connectivity and water quality; 3) engage the Lumbee Tribe through citizen science and communication while providing valuable information about water quality.