Causes of toxicity to Hyalella azteca in a stormwater management facility receiving highway runoff and snowmelt. Part II: Salts, nutrients, and water quality Original Research Article

The Terraview–Willowfield Stormwater Management Facility (TWSMF) features a tandem of stormwater management ponds, which receive inputs of multiple contaminants from highway and residential runoff. Previous research determined that benthic communities in the ponds were impacted by poor habitat quality, due to elevated sediment concentrations of metals and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHS), and salinity in the overlying water, but did not address seasonal changes, including those caused by the influx of contaminants with the snowmelt. In order to address this issue, water and sediment samples were collected from the TWSMF during the fall and spring, and four-week sediment toxicity tests were conducted with Hyalella azteca. The effects of metals and PAHs are discussed in a companion paper; the effects of road salt, nutrients, and water quality are discussed here. After exposure to fall samples, survival of Hyalella was reduced (64–74% of controls) at three out of four sites, but growth was not negatively affected. After exposure to spring samples, survival was 0–75% of controls at the two sites furthest downstream, and growth was significantly lower in four out of five sites when comparing Hyalella exposed to site water overlying site sediment versus control water overlying site sediment. Toxicity appeared to be related to chloride concentrations: little or no toxicity occurred in fall samples (200 mg Cl−/L), and significant effects on survival and growth occurred in spring samples above 1550 mg Cl−/L and 380 mg Cl−/L, respectively. Sodium chloride toxicity tests showed similar results: four-week LC50s and EC25s (growth) were 1200 and 420 mg Cl−/L, respectively. Although water quality and nutrients were associated with effects observed in the TWSMF, chloride from road salt was the primary cause of toxicity in this study. Chloride persists during much of the year at concentrations representing a significant threat to benthic communities in the TWSMF.