Multi-Criterion Decision Tool to Address 6PPDQ Tire Wear Particles
WQNEPSW-2023-KiCoRD-00003
King County (KC) and University of Washington (UW) teams propose to use existing and emerging data to create a GIS tool that will identify road segments that are potential sources of toxic tire wear particle pollutants. These pollutants are conveyed to streams via stormwater and contribute 6PPD and 6PPD-Q to coho waters, causing coho pre-spawn mortality and adverse effects to other salmonids. The project will create a logical user interface to support clear decision-making for stormwater retrofits that remove tire-derived pollutants, benefitting salmon (and thereby many other species) by prioritizing locations for treatment and validating GIS-based observations. The tool will help KC prioritize locations where stormwater treatment will have maximum benefit to salmon and receiving waters and will build upon findings discussed in the “6PPD in Road Runoff: Assessment and Mitigation Strategies” report (Ecology 2022)._x000D_
_x000D_
KC will develop the GIS tool in collaboration with UW’s scientists involved in 6PPD-Q research. KC participates in the ECY-supported “6PPD sub-group of the Stormwater Work Group and will incorporate emerging data from that group and collaborate with other entities doing similar work (e.g., Ecology, NOAA). Existing road and traffic attribute data will be selected for their potential to predict tire-derived pollutant input into coho streams. The best-performing attributes will be used in our model to generate a heatmap predicting the highest concentrations of 6PPD and 6PPD-Q. The heat map will provide a relative ranking of the pollution potential of road segments in concert with salmon habitat in the associated receiving waters. Heatmap accuracy will be validated using stormwater sampling and analysis by the UW researchers. This validated heatmap will be incorporated into an open-source web-based tool for prioritizing stormwater retrofits. The tool will be scalable beyond unincorporated KC and adaptable to other jurisdictions and stakeholder inputs."