SIERRA CLUB’S COLORADO RIVER REPORT RE-RELEASED
After extensive internal peer review and revisions, the Colorado River Task Force has released its Colorado River Report. It is at http://www.sierraclub.org/rcc/southwest/COreport/
The report identifies over-allocation of the water and dam operations as the primary environmental challenges facing improved governance of the river. The report recommends 9 priorities of needs to improve the condition of the river and its environs. They are Colorado River Delta Restoration; Endangered Species Recovery; Instream Flow Protection; Grand Canyon Ecosystem Restoration; Implementation of California’s 4.4 Plan; Transbasin Diversion Depletions; Water Quality Protection; Glen Canyon Restoration; and Federal Facilities Transfers and Water Exchanges.
COLORADO’S SNOW PACK MOSTLY BELOW AVERAGE
The Natural Resources Conservation Service reports snow/water equivalents: Gunnison basin at 82% of average; Upper Colorado River at 80%; South Platte at 69%; Laramie/N. Platte at 78%; Yampa/White at 81%; Arkansas at 82%; Upper Rio Grande at 105%; and the San Miguel/Dolores/ Animas/San Juan at 96%.
PLATTE RIVER HABITAT GOING, GOING …
An Interior Dept. report has found that “Nebraska’s Platte River has lost 80% to 90% of its wildlife habitat because of dam diversions” says the Lincoln Journal Star 2/7.
Once “a mile wide and an inch deep,” the river channel continues to get “smaller and smaller” and “will continue to narrow until it loses roughly an additional 25% of its width over the next 50 years.” In response, “water users, environmental groups and the Interior Dept.” are developing a basin-wide recovery program to “address habitat needs for the whooping crane, piping plover and pallid sturgeon.”
COLORADO KAYAK COURSE PITS RECREATION AGAINST RANCHERS FOR WATER
A Colorado town’s new kayak course is drawing national competitions and economic development, but the city’s claim to enough water to operate it has sparked a water war between traditional users and new economy advocates. Denver Post; Feb. 12
MOUNTAIN AND DESERT STATES LEAVE LITTLE COLORADO RIVER FOR THE DELTA
Environmentalists are mounting a campaign to help save the Colorado River delta, once 2 million acres of key habitat and now a three-season mudhole, after the river is drained by irrigators and dams from Colorado to Arizona. Living Rivers and Glen Canyon Action Network have launched a campaign to return 1% of Colorado River water diversions to save a “dying delta at Mexico’s Sea of Cortez” says the Salt Lake Tribune 3/6. The delta, once a “2 million acre oasis” teeming with wildlife is now little more than a “mudhole” where “dozens of endangered species” cling to life because virtually all of the river’s water is diverted by 7 U.S. states and Mexico. The campaign says that it is “not a lot to ask” for the water users to give back 1% of the river’s historic flow “just to keep the delta on life support.” For more information on the “Sustainable Water Project Tour” see http://www.drainit.org
WATER DIVERSIONS PUSH CLAM TOWARD EXTINCTION
Scientists have determined that the fortunes of a species of clam in Mexico’s Colorado River delta are tied to the river’s freshwater flow says UniSci 2/6. Once so abundant that their shells formed whole islands, water diversions have now reduced the Colorado’s flow into the delta to a “trickle,” and the clams to “fewer than 30.”
GO AHEAD BLAME THE HUMPBACK CHUB
A “mandated low-water test” for the endangered humpback chub is being blamed for draining “about half of a $100 million fund used to cushion the rising cost of power processing in the West” says the Arizona Republic 3/7. Because of the test to see if a lower flow from Glen Canyon Dam would help restore the chub, the Bureau of Reclamation had to buy power from “an overheated open market, depleting its savings” and highlighting a “trade-off” that is becoming a “defining struggle” in the “booming” West, restoring species or maximizing power.
TCE, A THREAT TO PUBLIC HEALTH IN LOWER COLORADO RIVER?
A recent study by Brechner RJ, Parkhurst GD, Humble WO, Brown MB, and Herman WH for the Office of Epidemiology and Statistics, Arizona Department of Health Services, Phoenix, rbrechn@hs.state.az.us indicates that ammonium perchlorate (TCE) contamination of Colorado River drinking water is associated with abnormal thyroid function in newborns in Arizona. The Colorado River below Lake Mead, which supplies drinking water for approximately 20,000,000 people, is contaminated by ammonium perchlorate.
The study identified populations who were exposed and unexposed to perchlorate-contaminated drinking water and compared median newborn thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) levels after adjusting for age in days at measurement and for race/ethnicity. Median newborn TSH levels in a city whose drinking water supply was 100% perchlorate-contaminated water from the Colorado River below Lake Mead were significantly higher than those in a city totally supplied with non-perchlorate-contaminated drinking water, even after adjusting for factors known or suspected to elevate newborn TSH levels. This ecological study demonstrates a statistically significant association between perchlorate exposure and newborn TSH levels. It suggests that even low-level perchlorate contamination of drinking water may be associated with adverse health effects in neonates and highlights the need for both further study and control of human low-level perchlorate exposure.
AN END TO FEDERAL RESERVED WATER RIGHTS?
Senators Crapo and Craig have introduced the State Water Sovereignty Protection Act (S 446) “To preserve the authority of States over water within their boundaries, to delegate to States the authority of Congress to regulate water, and for other purposes.” The bill would make the United States subject to all procedural and substantive laws of the States relating to the allocation, adjudication, appropriation, acquisition, use, and exercise of water rights to the same extent as a private person is subject to those laws. The bill goes on to say that the United States, when a party to a water court proceeding, shall be deemed to have waived any right to plead that the State laws are inapplicable or that the United States is not amenable to the State laws by reason of its sovereignty.
Another provision of the act states that the withdrawal, designation, or other reservation of land by the United States for any purpose (whether by statute or administrative action) does not give rise by implication to a Federal reserved right to water relating to that purpose.
N.M. PLAN TO FUND WATER PROJECTS BEARS WATCHING
New Mexico lawmakers are looking at spending $100 million of the state’s budget surplus to create annual financing for water projects outside the normal appropriations process. It could be a bargain, if it catalogs the state’s water resources and comes up with ways to live within the limits. Albuquerque Journal; Feb. 15
PLAN TO SAVE MINNOW LACKS CREATIVITY & MONEY
Even federal water managers admit that a draft plan for keeping water in New Mexico’s Rio Grande to save the endangered silvery minnow depends on “weather conditions” and that this “could be a tough year” says the Albuquerque Journal 2/27. With water reserves already low, the draft plan looks to use the very limited money available to buy water and also pump from the “low-flow channel” to get through this year. Forest Guardians says the plan “didn’t look at more creative options” and instead relies on “activities that are easy for them to do.” The December survey found “101 silvery minnows” in the river, below the 179 counted last February.
TAX CUTS EQUATE TO BUDGET CUTS
The Bush administration wants Congress to make deep cuts in the Department of Interior budget to offset tax cuts and spending increases for other domestic programs. Although line-item details of the President’s budget may not be available until April, Hill sources report that the Interior’s FY’02 appropriations could be $9.8 billion, a 4% decrease from this year. It is rumored that BLM’s budget could be slashed by 20% including programs for reclaiming abandoned coal mines. Particularly disturbing are unconfirmed reports the USFWS budget is slated for a 14% reduction. Designating critical habitat for endangered species already listed have ground to a complete halt with the exception of those under court order.
The EPA is set to take a $500 million hit from this year’s budget. The EPA will be funded at $7.3 billion next year, down from $7.8 billion this year.
The Army Corps of Engineers is slated for $3.9 billion in FY’02, a 14% reduction.
The USDA’s budget will drop from $19.4 billion to $17.9 billion.
EXCESS WATER IS MOST DEBATED BY-PRODUCT
Some ranchers embrace methane development for the wealth it brings, but irrigators are worried that groundwater pumped out will ruin surface sources they rely on. Billings Gazette; Feb. 22
GROUPS WANT EPA CONTROL OF METHANE DISCHARGES
Two environmental groups want the EPA to take over Wyoming’s permits for water discharges, saying the state agency is too lax and too susceptible to coal-bed methane industry influence. Billings Gazette; March 8
WATER RIGHTS ARE NOT FOREVER?
A case now before the Nevada Supreme court, that “challenged the notion that water rights are forever,” could have wide ranging ramifications for water law in the West says the SF Chronicle, AP 2/8. Mineral County, NV wants the state’s high court to “reallocate the upstream water rights” on the Walker River to allow more water to reach Walker Lake. Because of water diversions for irrigation, the lake has “dropped 140 feet and lost 74% of its volume since 1882” and is now facing an “ecological disaster” that imperils the threatened Lahontan Cutthroat trout and the lake’s recreational fishery.
YELLOWSTONE CUTTHROAT DENIED LISTING
The USFWS has optimistically placed the future of Yellowstone cutthroat trout in the hands of state and private conservation efforts as it denied an ESA listing petition says the Idaho Falls Post-Register 3/1. According to the local chapter of Trout Unlimited, denying ESA protection “doesn’t solve a darn thing.
The population is still going downhill” and its now up to local and state efforts to “stop the slide.” GREEN sources report 2/26 that most cutthroat populations are isolated in small headwater streams unable to expand their range because of poor water quality downstream with even secure populations in Yellowstone N.P. facing severe competition from lake trout.
TROUT STOCKING PROGRAM CUT BACK
The California Dept. of Fish and Game has said that it will not stock state lakes with hatchery trout until they have been “cleared as a habitat where trout are not impacting frogs” says the SF Chronicle 2/18. Hatchery stocks in the Shasta-Cascade region have been cut back by 80% due to possible impacts on the Cascade frog, a “species of concern” and even “more severe cutbacks are expected” in high Sierra lakes, which provide habitat for the mountain yellow-legged frog, a candidate for listing under the ESA.
IDAHO COURT REJECTS FEDERAL CLAIMS FOR WILDLIFE REFUGE WATER
The Idaho Supreme Court rejected federal claims to Snake River water that federal attorneys argued was essential for habitat within the Snake River’s Deer Flat NWR, while state officials said the claims threatened irrigation on 1 million acres of farmland. The decision “again confirms Idaho’s sovereignty over water within the Snake River system” and continues the federal government’s losing streak that has seen “all but 8” of over 3,700 water rights claims disallowed. Idaho Statesman; Feb. 23 http://www.idahostatesman.com/news/daily/20010223/LocalNews/83672.shtml
WATER DIVERSION INJUNCTION SOUGHT
The Idaho Watersheds Project and Committee for Idaho’s High Desert are seeking a preliminary injunction to stop an Idaho rancher’s water diversion practices from “killing threatened bull trout” says the Idaho Statesman, AP 2/18. According to the groups, a water diversion ditch without fish screens has at times left the streambed of Mahogany Creek “completely dry” in violation of the ESA. Last fall, the groups notified “more than 50” irrigators that they would take legal action if they did not take measures to protect listed species in the streams.
CONFLICTS LIKELY OVER MONTANA, IDAHO RESERVOIR WATER
Water officials in Idaho and Montana have drafted a plan to release only minimum flows from reservoirs to protect waning water supplies, but the proposal already conflicts with federal plans to release Montana water to keep salmon redds covered in Washington. Kalispell Daily Inter Lake; Feb. 23.
IDAHO GOVERNOR CALLS FOR CONSERVATION
Idaho Gov. Dirk Kempthorne called for statewide conservation of energy and water, released plans to curb the state’s use of power and announced a new directive to speed permits for new generating plants. Spokesman-Review; Feb. 23 http://www.spokesmanreview.com/news-story.asp?date=022301&ID=s925078
CORPS DELAYS MO RIVER RESTORATION
A coalition of 24 national and local conservation groups have sent a letter to the Army Corps of Engineers criticizing their decision to delay for 2 years planned changes in dam operation that would help restore habitat vital to the survival and recovery of 3 listed species, the least tern, piping plover and pallid sturgeon says Environmental Defense 2/8. According to the groups the delay “brings three species closer to extinction” and could imperil other species. The letter can be found on the American Rivers website: http://www.americanrivers.org
NOW, MO RALLIES OPPOSITION TO RIVER RESTORATION
The state of Missouri is rallying opposition in neighboring Nebraska and Iowa as well the White House to a USFWS service plan to restore habitat vital to “rescue endangered species” says the St. Louis Post-Dispatch 2/26. So far, the efforts have been successful as the proposed “spring rise” to mimic natural flows in the Missouri have been postponed for 2 years and the 8 state Missouri River Basin Association has declined to endorse the plan despite the fact that “all the states along the river except Missouri support the flow changes” needed to protect the pallid sturgeon, piping plover and least tern.
IDAHO COMMITTEE MISSES ITS CHANCE TO PROTECT PRISTINE RIVERS
The House Resources and Conservation Committee refused to pass a modest proposal to prevent pollution on two of Idaho’s most cherished rivers, keeping the measure from debate in the full House. Idaho Falls Post-Register; Feb. 27
SNAKE RIVER DAMS IN VIOLATION
A federal court has ruled that the Army Corps of Engineer’s operation of four dams on the lower Snake River has violated the Clean Water Act by failing to protect water quality of threatened and endangered salmon and steelhead says the Oregonian 2/17.
The court found that the dams, which warm river temperatures and “cause dissolved gas levels to increase beyond standards set to protect salmon,” must begin complying with “environmental laws even when electricity is in short supply” and “regardless of cost.” The Corps now has 60 days to come up with an operation plan for the dams that “would cool river temperatures for the benefit of salmon.”
EXCERPTS ON HYDROPOWER
From Guest Column by Congressman Joe Barton Chairman, Energy & Air Quality Subcommittee, House Commerce Committee: “Hydroelectric power creates no emissions and produces no wastes. We hope to streamline the process for re-licensing dams, and encourage the expansion of capacity at new and existing dams. Out west, low rainfalls and snow packs have contributed to lower production at hydro plants. This exacerbated the problems in California, which must always import power from the hydro-rich states to its north. Just as California needs to build additional power plants, the hydro regions need to increase their ability to produce.
We have much work ahead of us this Congress in the Energy & Air Quality Subcommittee. I will work with my colleagues in the House and Senate, and with the Bush Administration, to formulate energy legislation that is cost-effective, high-production and environmentally-sound.
In a surprising move for a Democrat, Sen. Harry Reid (Nev.), the minority whip, has included hydroelectric generation sources in a bill meant to permanently extend federal tax credits for renewable sources of energy. The bill, S. 249, seeks to expand the production tax credit to include closed-loop biomass, geothermal and hydropower energy. The legislation extends production tax credits merely for incremental hydropower, an aide explained, as a means of increasing energy efficiency at current hydro facilities.
The National Hydropower Association says more than 4,000 megawatts of incremental hydropower exists, much of it in Western states.”
NATIONAL ENERGY SECURITY ACT OF 2001
On Monday, February 26, Senate Energy Committee Chairman Frank Murkowski (R-AK) introduced a new energy package. The national energy bill, besides opening up the Alaska National Wildlife Refuge to oil drilling, incorporates language from a bill Sen. Larry Craig has been pushing for several years that would roll back environmental protections at hydropower dams regulated by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). This part of the bill would undermine the ability of federal resource agencies to require those projects to meet modern environmental standards.
BISHOPS CALL FOR BETTER COLUMBIA RIVER STEWARDSHIP
An “unprecedented report” by 12 Roman Catholic bishops from the Pacific Northwest calls on Catholics and “people of good will” to “effect a spiritual, social and ecological transformation” of the Columbia River basin says the Seattle Times 2/22. “Saving salmon” is among the 10 “considerations for action” in the pastoral letter which can be read on line at http://www.columbiariver.org
WASHINGTON ON THE VERGE OF DROUGHT EMERGENCY
Snowpack in Washington is half of normal and reservoirs are at near-record lows. Officials may declare a state of emergency that would free federal funds for mitigation projects. Spokesman-Review; Feb. 20
DROPPING RESERVOIRS THREATEN WASHINGTON’S TOURIST TRADE, TOO
The Inland Northwest’s reservoirs are lower now than in 1977, the driest winter on record, as water is released to boost electricity production.
The region’s tourist economy, as well as power generation and the health of fish populations, is on the line this summer. Spokesman-Review; Feb. 27
BPA WANTS TO CAN SALMON RECOVERY
A “top Bonneville Power Administration official is urging” the Northwest Power Planning Council, which is responsible for balancing power generation with wildlife protection in the region, to “scrap salmon recovery” says the Idaho Statesman 2/9. For now, the NPPC says it is not “prepared to sacrifice the salmon” and wants to get “more than the federal family involved.” Environmentalists point out that the BPA and other federal agencies are now considering dumping the “very measures” that were just offered as alternatives to breaching the lower Snake River dams in the federal recovery plan.
The BPA is now saying that “previously announced cutbacks of salmon-saving measures” are not enough and that “all plans to cut electricity production to help fish” should be suspended reports the Oregonian 3/8. The BPA’s “red alert” sent shock waves through the power council, one of whose appointees said the decision could decimate “an entire year-class of fish.” The BPA wants to stop withholding water for spring and summer releases and stop diverting water to spillways to aid migration.
CALIFORNIA WANTS REDUCED FLOWS FOR SALMON TOO
The California Water Resources Control Board has recommended reducing flows down the Yuba River to boost production at two hydropower plants says the SF Chronicle 3/8. Environmentalists say the move “could sacrifice the river’s premier salmon run,” regarded as “the largest run of wild chinook salmon in the state.” Environmentalists fear that “hard-won protections for fish and wildlife will suffer in all three West Coast states.”
LOW WATER, HIGH RATES WILL DRIVE UP PRICES FOR CALIFORNIA FARM PRODUCTS
Some California farmers, facing low irrigation supplies, say they’ll cut back on production rather than pay exorbitant rates for more electricity to run irrigation pumps, and that will likely mean higher prices for a variety of agricultural products. Boulder Daily Camera (AP); March 9
ONGOING DROUGHT HAS POWER OFFICIALS DREADING SUMMER
Every winter day that passes without significant snowfall increases the chance of outages next summer, BPA officials say, and chances are good that when utilities invoke steps to curb demand, industries will suffer. Spokesman-Review; Feb. 18
DRY WINTER PORTENDS A “BIG CRUNCH”
A continued lack of precipitation has water supplies in the Columbia River Basin at 59% of normal, the snowpack down 50%, reservoirs “down 70% from typical winter levels” and officials “preparing for a drought declaration, perhaps as soon as mid- March” says Reuters 2/21. With power demand in California and much of the West expected to peak this summer, the stage is being set for a “big crunch” between power generation and salmon recovery. Replenishing the region’s water supply at this point would require “rain and snow to fall at 1.5 times the normal rates through July.”
SKAGIT RIVER DAMS RUNNING DRY
Puget Sound Energy’s two Skagit River dams were expected to “run dry,” with water levels falling below the penstock by Sunday (2/25) says the Seattle Post-Intelligencer 2/23.
With “thousands of primarily chinook salmon fry” depending on a continued flow of the Skagit River, which is already “flowing at half its normal level,” PSE is negotiating with Seattle City Light to release water from “larger dams further up the Skagit River in the North Cascades.” Levels in reservoirs on the Baker River, a “major tributary” of Washington’s Skagit River, have fallen so low that water can no longer flow through the turbines, leaving “nests of federally protected chinook salmon … high and dry” says the Seattle Times 2/27.
A lot of chinook in the “shallows” are still alive but nests and fish “in the gravel on the banks” are “going to dry out.” Normally, the Baker provides about 25% of the Skagits flow, but other tributaries were so low that it had been providing up to 40% — until it too ran out of water.
OREGON’S “FAITH-BASED” SALMON PROTECTION PLAN
According to an Op/Ed by WaterWatch of Oregon, http://www.waterwatch.org, the state is doing little to prepare for a “potentially severe drought” this summer which “may push many salmon runs to the brink of extinction” says the Oregonian, Oregon Live 2/14. Rather than take measures to insure the minimum flows necessary to protect the fish, the “state is pursuing what might be called a faith-based plan: Pray for rain.”
GOVERNOR SAYS “PUT UP OR SHUT UP”
Oregon Governor Kitzhaber is coming to Washington, D.C. to ask the Bush administration for “additional money to restore salmon in the Columbia and Snake rivers” says the Columbian 2/21. According to the Governor salmon recovery “won’t be easy or cheap.” The governor estimates that if the federal recovery plan, that stops short of breaching the lower Snake River dams, is to have a chance for success it will require $700 million in this year’s budget and $12 to $13 billion over the next decade.
COHO RECOMMENDED FOR STATE LIST
The California Dept. of Fish and Game has recommended that coho salmon on the state’s north coast “be considered for the state’s endangered species list” says the Contra Costa Times, AP 2/3. In a “dramatic and significant decline,” coho runs that numbered 500,000 in the 1940s and 1950s have plummeted to 5,000.
So far, the species has not rebounded under federal listing, and conservationists hope that a state listing will correct a “lack of state enforcement” that has contributed to the primary causes of endangerment, the “overall fragmentation of and environmental damage to its breeding grounds in cold gravel-bottomed streams.”
LAWSUIT SEEKS TO BYPASS MORATORIUM
Trout Unlimited has “warned” the federal government that it will go to court if necessary “to get California’s state fish on the endangered species list” says the SF Chronicle, AP 2/8. TU fears the California golden trout, which now inhabits only two Sierra Nevada watersheds, will go extinct “due to hybridization” with other species of trout and believes that legal action could be the only way of “bypassing the USFWS’s moratorium on adding new species.”
DAM BREACHING SPARKS SALMON REVIVAL
Two years after the 1999 “dismantling” of the Edwards Dam on Maine’s Kennebec River, Atlantic salmon have built at least 5 “redds,” or shallow water egg nests, in “yet another sign of fisheries restoration” says the Kennebec Journal, Blethen Maine Newspapers, Inc. 2/20. Removal of the dam has allowed migratory fish such as salmon and alewives to once again establish annual runs on the river for the first time since the dam was built in 1837.
FDA APPROVAL FOR GM SALMON SOUGHT
A/F Protein Inc. has applied to the US Food and Drug Administration to market genetically modified salmon which grow “four to six times faster than regular, wild salmon” says Greenwire 2/13. The NMFS and USFWS will be consulted on a proposal to “use net pens in ocean waters.” Although the White House says the ability of the aquaculture industry to ensure sterile salmon is “high, but less than 100%” environmentalists remain concerned that “transgenic salmon will escape and mix with wild populations, altering the natural gene pool.”
MAINE CATASTROPHIC SALMON ESCAPE
Environmentalists, furious that federal officials were just informed of last December’s escape of over 100,000 fish-farm salmon from pens in Maine’s Machias Bay, are calling for an aquaculture moratorium and “overhaul of the entire regulation system” says the Boston Globe 2/23. The escape, which is “the largest known” in the eastern U.S., could be a “potential ecological disaster” should the farmed salmon breed with any of the remaining wild Atlantic salmon that were recently listed in the “three closest rivers,” to the escape the Dennys, Machias and East Machias.
CANADA FAILS WILD SALMON
A report from Canada’s auditor-general contends that the federal government “is failing to protect wild B.C. salmon stocks from farmed salmon” says the Vancouver Sun 2/7. The audit “challenges the federal fisheries department’s assumption that salmon farming poses a low risk” and finds that monitoring of wild salmon stocks and habitat near farms is “inadequate,” regulation is inconsistent and enforcement of the Fisheries Act is lax with “not one salmon operator” prosecuted under the Act.
FISH-FARMS CONTRIBUTE TO WORLD FISHERIES COLLAPSE
A report by the University of British Columbia Fisheries Center has found that the non-Asian global aquaculture industry is “contributing to the collapse of world fisheries” says ENN 2/23. The study concludes that apart from Asia, the fast-growing aquaculture industry relies heavily on “farming of carnivorous species” like salmon, which require “up to two pounds of wild fish per each pound of salmon produced.”
A SEAFOOD PARADOX: WILL FISH FARMING SAVE OR DEPLETE OUR OCEAN FISHERIES?
The world is dependent on fish farms. In fact, one out of every four fish consumed worldwide was raised on a farm. But the irony is that fish farming, or aquaculture, while helping to feed a growing human population often comes at a surprising cost to wild fish populations. Rosamond Naylor, an economist at the Stanford Institute for International Studies says the problem is that farmed salmon, shrimp and other carnivorous species often take more out of the oceans than they keep in. That’s because certain farmed fish are given processed feed made from wild catches of herring, mackerel, sardine and other ocean varieties. Naylor estimates that nearly two pounds of wild fish are required for every pound of farmed fish raised on processed meal. Fish farming influences wild populations – displacing natural breeding habitats, spreading disease and polluting the oceans in many ways that haven’t been measured. Commercial fish farms are expandi
Shellfish farming, in fact, purifies the water by filtering out algae and waste. “People should be aware that they are not doing the environment a favor at all by eating farmed salmon,” she says. So, fish-buyer, tread lightly. Eat more shellfish! Related Web Sites: http://www.fao.org/fi/default.asp and http://cesp.stanford.edu/
WILD TROUT OUTGROW DESIGNER TROUT
Genetically engineered trout didn’t get as big as their wild brethren raised in the same conditions, according to research to be published in the journal Nature, the first to compare gene-altering results in farmed fish. National Post; Feb. 15
FISH CONSERVATION FALLING SHORT
A newly released report from the NMFS on the status of the nation’s fish stocks drew sharp criticism from environmental groups who contend that it provides “clear evidence” that regulation of commercial fisheries is “falling short” of sustainability says Reuters 2/16. The number of “overfished” species, 92, was “up substantially from 64 the year before” and the status of over 600 of the 905 fish species in U.S. waters remains “unknown.” Conservationists say “the report indicates that things are getting worse not better.”
SANCTUARIES “LAST, BEST HOPE” FOR MARINE SPECIES
Some 150 of the “world’s top marine scientists” have endorsed a report that finds a “world-wide network” of no-take sanctuaries “may be the last, best hope” for the world’s declining stocks of fish and other marine species says the NY Times, AP 2/19. Present regulation has proven “inadequate” as overfishing continues to push some “species of fish toward extinction” and marine parks where “all sea animals and plants would be protected” could be their only “salvation.”
WATER DEVELOPMENT THREATENS IBERIAN LYNX
Spain has approved a $21 billion plan to divert water from the Ebro River to “arid south-eastern regions” that jeopardizes what is perhaps the most endangered wildcat in the world, the Iberian lynx says Reuters 2/12. Ecologists say the project violates European Union rules and “would ruin the habitat of the Iberian lynx, a species on the edge of extinction.”
WATERSHED GUIDE
A useful report entitled “Toward understanding New Watershed Initiatives”, co-authored by Steve Boren and Kenneth Genskow, of the University of Wisconsin in Madison, has just been published and is available for downloading through “Library” at http://www.tu.org.
The report focuses on the “new watershed approach”. It details how the “new approach” evolved and what makes it different from other watershed approach initiatives in the past. The report also includes a section on how to evaluate new watershed initiatives as well as descriptions of the key factors in achieving success. This report is a great tool for groups that are starting new projects or are interested in evaluating current projects.
EPA RELEASES DRINKING WATER INFRASTRUCTURE NEEDS SURVEY: REPORT TO CONGRESS
EPA’s latest drinking water infrastructure needs survey estimates that public water systems will need to invest $150.9 billion over a 20-year period to ensure that residents across the country continue to receive safe drinking water. The investments in infrastructure identified in the survey are needed to support projects that protect public health, in compliance with the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA). Large and medium-sized drinking water systems will need to make the largest investments in infrastructure; however, small systems face higher infrastructure costs on a per-household basis. The results of the new survey support the findings of the 1995 survey, by documenting the ongoing need to install, upgrade, and replace the infrastructure on which the public relies for safe drinking water. EPA will use these results to allocate money to states and tribes for infrastructure improvements through EPA’s Drinking Water State Revolving
ICEBERG BREAKS IN TWO
Several months ago, I reported on a huge iceberg that broke off of the iceshelf of Antarctica. Recently that iceberg broke in two, leaving the biggest piece still 30 miles wide, 90 miles long and over 1,000 feet thick.
Scientists are concerned because it is blocking the migratory path of pelicans. It is slowly moving toward shipping lanes and may disrupt maritime traffic.
EVENTS
NATIONAL RALLY, 2001, sponsored by River Network, May 11-15, Monterey Bay, CA – River Network is bringing grassroots activists together to share skills and access resources to build the watershed movement.
Workshop descriptions are available at http://www.rivernetwork.org.
For more information, contact Robin Chanay at 202 364-2550 or riverrally@rivernetwork.org.
ASSESSING RIPARIAN CONDITION WORKSHOPS
Training Session locations and dates for 2001: Ft. Collins, Colorado: April 24-25, 2001 Durango, Colorado: June 19-20, 2001 Minturn (near Vail), Colorado: July 17-18, 2001 South Park (Fairplay/Jefferson), Colorado: July 24-25, 2001
The Colorado Riparian Training Cadre, an interagency, interdisciplinary team, is inviting private landowners, state/federal/county employees, or other interested individuals in Colorado to attend a 2-day training session on how to assess riparian/wetland condition. A primary objective of this training is to develop a common vocabulary and understanding of riparian areas among people who work on the land.
The session includes one day in a classroom setting and one day visiting streams in the field. There is no tuition, but space is limited. The class size will be kept low (maximum of 25) to facilitate meaningful interaction.
After attending this workshop, you will have a better understanding of the values associated with riparian/wetland areas.
Participants will learn methods for assessing the condition of riparian/wetland sites on their land, and where to go for assistance in improving or restoring sites, if necessary. The assessment method is straightforward and involves completing a checklist with 17 yes/no questions. Landowners will be able to conduct preliminary assessments on their own land after completing the workshop.
If you would like to register to attend or find out more about these workshops, please contact: Jay Thompson (303)-239-3724
NATIONAL RIVER CLEANUP WEEK, sponsored by America Outdoors, the Bureau of Land Management, the USDA Forest Service and American Rivers, May 12 – 19 – Each year, National River Cleanup Week encourages cleanups of local waterways and promotes the importance of keeping rivers and streams clean. More than 54,000 volunteers took part in the last cleanup, June 3-10, 2000. Civic clubs, businesses, paddlesports enthusiasts, fishing groups, outfitters and conservation groups join together across the country to organize and execute cleanups of their selected streams. This stimulates cleanups of blighted areas and helps communities focus attention on neglected waterways. National River Cleanup Week assists local groups with information on how to conduct a successful river cleanup, how to promote their event, and provides safety tips. Groups that register their cleanups may receive free National River Cleanup trash bags for cleanups occurring during the week of May 12-19, 2001. Trash bags are subject to availability.
Groups that register also receive a packet of educational materials prior to the cleanup week.
For more information please contact Vickie Chiocca at the National River Cleanup Week/America Outdoors office at 865-558-3595 or rivercleanup@aol.com
2001 COLORADO WATER WORKSHOP: July 25-27, 2001 – The theme of this year’s workshop is Who’s in Charge? What forces, trends, and policy shifts are controlling water use? The proposed agenda includes: General changes in federal agencies, policies; Federal Control of Colorado’s Water; State legislature and Executive branch discussions; The judicial role; What is happening at the local level that affects Colorado’s water future?; Ballot Initiatives; and Economic Forces Controlling the Future. For more information contact Lucy High at duke@montrose.net.
MANAGING RIVER FLOWS FOR BIODIVERSITY: A Conference on Science, Policy and Conservation Action – July 30 – Aug. 2, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO. Attendees will have an opportunity to examine the real and perceived conflicts between meeting ecosystem needs and human demands for water; discuss the state of science with respect to flow requirements for biodiversity conservation; hear case studies where practitioners are working to meet human demands for water while also providing for ecological needs; and attend an educational field trip to nearby Rocky Mountain rivers.
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