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。通过在自然和社会科学家以及整个流域社区之间建立新的合作，该项目将确定数据驱动的解决方案，以解决日益严重的特定于湖泊水质的问题。该项目将吸引当地利益相关者网络，以他们迄今所做的工作为基础，解决化粪池系统作为蒙大拿州西北部平头湖非点源污染的问题。作为该项目的一部分，计划开展的具体活动包括：(A)与地方和流域利益攸关方共同主办一次为期3天的讲习班，以查明研究、知识和专门知识方面的差距；(B)就如何利用实时数据鼓励房主采用化粪池系统最佳管理做法进行概念验证；(C)结合遥感和微生物来源追踪技术，试行海岸线监测办法，以查明湖滨地区粪便渗滤液处理不当的地区；(D)评估旨在减少化粪池系统失效对公共健康、地表水和地下水污染造成的风险的政策和治理框架，包括奖励和筹资解决方案。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。我们活动的成果将为后续推进地理空间和社会水文科学数据和研究基础设施的努力提供参考，特别关注发展智能和互联盆地社区的战略。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

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.