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Contemplating Global Warming on the Chesapeake Bay

Posted on April 22, 2008 | Filed Under Global Warming, Healthy Waters, Mid-Atlantic

Betsy Otto, Senior Director of Healthy Waters Campaign
Water Efficiency & Policy

I spent this past weekend on Maryland’s Eastern Shore near the historic town of St. Michaels, in a lovely place called Tilghman Island. It’s an old-fashioned place, where older fellows hang out in rockers at the combination gas pump and general store. They greeted me genially, never batting an eye at my city slicker bike shorts and fluorescent shirt.

The history of this entire area of the Eastern Shore is inextricably linked to the bounty of the Chesapeake Bay. Sitting on Adirondack chairs overlooking the channel from the Tilghman Island marina, I saw osprey building nests, a loon diving over and over again for dinner, and so many species of ducks I lost count. There was also a steady stream of boats, kayakers paddling through the marsh grass, fancy new fishing boats, and hard-working watermen’s craft heading through the channel out to the bay.

Saturday night, I ate three of the best oysters on the half shell I’ve even had. They were cultured nearby in the Choptank River. Oyster harvests are a proud tradition and were a mainstay of the local economy, along with the Chesapeake’s famous blue crabs, for hundreds of years. But pollution and development pressures have hurt the natural oyster production and the blue crab harvest is in real trouble this year.

The struggles to Saving a National Treasure and make it cleaner are well-known. But you get a different picture of that when you actually visit a place whose people have directly depended on this ecosystem for many hundreds of years. I saw a whole lot of second home development around St. Michael’s and on Tilghman Island. While that brings in new property tax revenue and customers for shops and restaurants, it can also cause damage unless that new development is carefully managed.

American Rivers has talked with local leaders in the Chesapeake Bay watershed, and we’ve been working around the country, especially in the Great Lakes region, to help leaders understand the impacts of development and to take steps to reduce the harm from stormwater runoff (read about the Rain Barrel distribution event last month).

At the Maritime Museum in St. Michaels a plaque at the water’s edge noted that the Bay’s waters had risen one foot over the past 100 years due to a warming climate and natural land subsidence since the last ice age. This land is flat, dead flat. I started to think about what would happen to this place if sea levels continue to rise as scientists predict they will over the next century from global warming. What will happen to the marshes and countless small creeks and inlets on the Chesapeake that are the oyster and crab and rockfish nurseries, that feed and shelter the ducks and other birds, and what will happen to the way of life that depends on all that?

Help Save Endangered Rivers (and Win an iPod!)

Posted on April 21, 2008 | Filed Under Alerts, Endangered Rivers, Global Warming, Technology

Chas Offutt, Director of Internet Strategy
Technology & Rivers

Last Thursday, we released America’s Most Endangered Rivers™: 2008 Edition. The report is not a list of the nation’s “worst�? or most polluted rivers, but rather it highlights ten rivers confronted by decisions in the coming year that could determine their future.

Though the release of the report attracts a great deal of radio, print and online attention, the goal is far from simply garnering media attention. In fact, the media attention means very little if there are no results.

To produce results and protect these endangered rivers, we need you to take action today. Then, once you’ve taken action, we ask that you to take more action. And then, even if you’re all actioned out, we’d like to encourage you to take ONE more action - we’re greedy because our rivers depend on it.

And, to reward you for all of your many, many actions to protect endangered rivers in 2008, we’d like to give you an iPod. Well, actually, a chance to win one of three iPods (Touch, Nano and Shuffle).

All you have to do is send one of four endangered rivers eCards to your friends and family and ask them to act today to protect endangered rivers. That’s it, help spread the word and fight global warming by sending an eCard.

Contest details: Send an eCard to one person, earn one chance to win…but send an eCard to two people, earn two chances to win…send to as many people as you’d like! Only eCards sent prior to June 1, 2008 will be eligible for the iPod contest drawing. If you’re a winner, we’ll contact you by June 15th please no emails or calls to follow up.

Is Your River Endangered? The 2008 Report is Live!

Posted on April 16, 2008 | Filed Under Alerts, Endangered Rivers, Global Warming

Chas Offutt, Director of Internet Strategy
Technology & Rivers

It’s simply hard to deny that global warming is putting rivers across the nation at risk.

From water mismanagement in the southeast and southwest, to ill-advised projects in the gulf coast and the nation’s heartland, across the country our nation’s rivers and fresh water resources face growing threats.

The release of America’s Most Endangered Rivers™: 2008 Edition shows how a collection of backwards looking decision makers all across the country are using 19th century thinking, in a misguided attempt to solve the 21st century problems.

The report, released today, calls on individuals like you to take immediate action. Being named an endangered river is not an end for the river, but rather a beginning.

Since 1986, America’s Most Endangered Rivers™ has put a spotlight on rivers across the country facing critical and near-term threats. In fact, the 10 rivers selected each year are at a crossroads, and the choices made by local and national decision makers during the upcoming year will determine the rivers’ future. That’s why we need you to take action today.

Use the +/- function to zoom in and click on a river in your backyard to take action. No river in your backyard? No problem, take action today to support global warming legislation.

Global Warming in the Great Lakes

Posted on April 14, 2008 | Filed Under Clean Water, Global Warming, Great Lakes, Healthy Waters

Katherine Baer, Director
Healthy Waters Campaign

I know that global warming is big and bad and will reshape our world - but for me, it really becomes tangible when I can understand how it will affect specific places. As Gary wrote last week, the Great Lakes are one of those places where we work and that inspire a great sense of place. Now, there’s some additional specific information about how global warming will affect the Lakes - and it doesn’t look good.

A conference at Michigan State University last week focused on the effects of global warming in the Great Lakes Region. Basically, as summed up in the Detroit Free Press, the effects include:

Lower lake levels;
Less ice cover;
More algae (that can be toxic and deplete oxygen levels);
More waterborne disease from storm-induced sewer overflows.

The Environmental Protection Agency has already issued a draft report predicting more sewer overflows in the Great Lakes region due to global warming, but MSU Professor and American Rivers Scientific and Technical Advisory Committee Member Joan Rose tied it together, explaining that strong storms increase the risk for spreading disease:

Increasing storms, combined with higher temperatures that make it easier for pathogens to survive, could bring more disease outbreaks in the future… Governments need to invest in better sewage treatment and plan for the future by monitoring what happens to public health now.

It’s clear from this conference that having enough clean and water is going to be the challenge for us going forward - in the Great Lakes and elsewhere. As I’ve written before - and in line with Dr Rose’s recommendations - investing in effective water infrastructure and galvanizing support for such investment through sewage right to know are two solutions key to making this happen.

New report on Washington’s water future

Posted on April 3, 2008 | Filed Under Clean Water, Global Warming, Northwest, Water Conservation, Water Supply, Water for Life

Amy Kober
Northwest Outreach & Communications Director

From my office I can see the peaks of the North Cascades, which in some places are covered with 40 percent above average snowpack. This is good news for the salmon, farmers, fishermen, and boaters who depend on water in our rivers through the summer.

But scientists tell us that with global warming and population growth, drought and water shortages will become more and more common in the coming years, even in the traditionally wet parts of our region.

That’s why we need to change how we think about and manage water. Our new report, Before the well runs dry: water solutions for Washington (PDF), covers the challenges – as well as commonsense solutions.

Solutions proposed in the report include:

Requiring the collection and reporting of basic information essential to smart water management
Securing adequate flow protections to support healthy rivers and streams
Closing loopholes that allow unsustainable water use and infringement of water rights
Requiring and promoting efficient water use
Promoting natural stormwater management
Requiring development to be consistent with a sustainable water supply
Preventing illegal water use

The report was created in partnership with Washington Environmental Council and Washington Rivers Conservancy.

Download the full PDF report or view the interactive report online.

Sunset magazine feature on western rivers

Posted on February 25, 2008 | Filed Under California, Dam Removal, Global Warming, Northwest, River Heritage, River Renewal, Southwest, Water Conservation, Water Supply

Amy Kober
Northwest Outreach & Communications Director

The March 2008 issue of Sunset Magazine includes a story on the West’s rivers, featuring yours truly, and water experts from around the region.

It started back in the fall with a western water roundtable at Sunset’s office in California. They recorded the lively conversation and the magazine includes exerpts. To listen to the roundtable conversation in its entirety, click here.

The magazine also features three essays from writers Tobias Wolff (on the Skagit), Susan Orlean (on the Willamette) and Pam Houston (on the Colorado).

Kudos to Sunset for taking on such a big topic and handling it so well. I like how they include both information and inspiration, balancing the roundtable conversation with the three essays.

I hope the article helps readers appreciate our rivers a little more, and spurs some of them to take action.

Learn more: Read our Principles for Evaluating New Water Supply Projects (PDF)

National conservation leaders speak out on Columbia-Snake salmon

Posted on February 21, 2008 | Filed Under Dam Removal, Endangered Rivers, Global Warming, Northwest, River Renewal

Amy Kober
Northwest Outreach & Communications Director

The leaders of nine national conservation organizations sent a letter (PDF) to President Bush today, calling for a stronger salmon plan in the Columbia-Snake basin.

Here are some key excerpts:

The draft plan’s failure is particularly glaring when it comes to Snake River salmon populations and is best illustrated by the plight of Snake River sockeye. Only four of these fish, which spawn in the Rocky Mountains 900 miles upstream from the Pacific Ocean and nearly 7,000 feet above sea level, returned last year.

The draft also fails to adequately analyze, let alone address, the likely effects of global warming on ocean and river conditions, and hence salmon. Information on the likely effects of global warming on ocean conditions and river runoff and temperature is readily available but the draft plan fails – inexplicably – to analyze or address this information.

With proper planning, lower Snake River dam removal can be a “win-win�? for salmon, local communities, and the climate. The dams can be removed in an economically and environmentally responsible manner. Their energy can be replaced by cost-effective energy efficiency and renewable energy with no carbon emissions. The navigation afforded by these dams can be replaced with upgraded rail and Columbia River barge facilities, and the irrigation provided from one of the reservoirs can continue by extending intake pipes to the free-flowing river.

American Rivers, Clean Water Action, Defenders of Wildlife, Earthjustice, Greenpeace USA, National Wildlife Federation, Natural Resources Defense Council, Sierra Club, and Trout Unlimited signed the letter.

‘Cultural evolution’ breakthrough in canoe study

Posted on February 20, 2008 | Filed Under Blue Trails, Global Warming, River Heritage

Jamie Mierau, Director
River Heritage, Blue Trails

Telegraph.co.uk - February 18: A study of ancient canoes backs the idea that human culture is as much subject to the forces of evolution as human genes, so that harmful and unsustainable cultures may face extinction.

A team at Stanford University, California, has shown that the forces of evolution are at work and argue that today’s culture needs to adopt a lifestyle and technologies that are sustainable in the long term, or face extinction. As one of them puts it: “Our civilization may find itself weeded out by natural selection, just like a bad canoe design.”

Lessons from flooding in the Pacific Northwest

Posted on December 6, 2007 | Filed Under Flood Protection, Global Warming, Northwest

Amy Kober
Northwest Outreach & Communications Director

The pictures in the press over the past several days — people stranded on rooftops, I-5 under water, basements full of mud — have been astonishing, sad, awful. My heart goes out to all of the people who lost loved ones and property to the floods.

It is great to see the huge outpouring of support to help flood victims. Here’s a run-down of how you can help.

We shouldn’t lose the opportunity to see these floods as a wake-up call: we need to rethink our flood protection strategies. For the sake of public safety, the economy, clean water, salmon recovery, our environment and well-being.

Throughout much of American history, rivers have been treated as problems that must be “solved�? through large scale engineering projects. As a result, rivers have been clogged with dams, straightened and channelized, cut off from their floodplains and even buried underground.

Unfortunately, these approaches have often exacerbated the very problems they were meant to solve. Despite spending more than $25 billion on federal levees and dams, national flood losses continue to rise.

Engineered solutions are costly and can create a false sense of security, encouraging unwise floodplain development and increasing flood damage costs, while also destroying some of the natural features that prevent downstream flooding, as well as river access and fish and wildlife habitat.

Levees should be the last line of defense, not the first. The Association of State Floodplain Managers states that levees “should be used only as a method of last resort for providing a limited means of flood risk protection for existing development.”

Experts predict the frequency and intensity of rain storms and flooding will increase with global warming, leading to even more dire consequences from the failed policies of engineered rivers.

We can’t rely on the engineered fixes of the past. While levees will still play a role in flood management, we need to focus on common-sense, cost-effective natural flood protection solutions like restoring wetlands, keeping people out of harm’s way in the first place, and allowing rivers to follow natural, meandering channels.

Natural river and wetland systems act as natural sponges and basins and absorb flood waters. They also act as barriers between storm surges and buildings and people, filter polluted water, and provide critical fish and wildlife habitat. Even having 4-5% wetland coverage in a watershed can reduce peak floods by 50%.

The following three tips not only provide flood protection, they also deliver many other benefits — clean water, recreation, wildlife, quality of life — that we need and enjoy.

TIPS FOR SAFEGUARDING COMMUNITIES:

1. Protect wetlands, forests and streamside vegetation — Wetlands and natural vegetation help absorb floodwaters and can serve as barriers between floodwaters and homes. Wetlands also help filter pollution and give us clean water.

2. Manage stormwater naturally — Run-off from roads should be allowed to seep back into the ground, so it doesn’t overwhelm drains and sewers (Crosscut has a great article about stormwater and Puget Sound). Not only does this help reduce local flooding, it also re-charges underground aquifers.

3. Stop building in floodplains — Keep new development out of floodplains and, where possible, move existing homes out of harm’s way. Parks and natural areas enhance community access to river recreation and provide habitat for birds, fish and wildlife.

(In densely populated urban areas, these natural flood protection strategies can be successfully used in combination with traditional measures)

By working with nature and not against it we can help strengthen the resilience of communities in the face of global warming, and make sure we have clean, healthy rivers.

Additional resources:

Unnatural disasters, natural solutions: lessons from the flooding of New Orleans (PDF)

In Harm’s Way: a report on floods and floodplains (PDF)

Atlanta Journal Constitution Op-ed by American Rivers President

Posted on November 9, 2007 | Filed Under Global Warming, Southeast, Water Conservation, Water Supply, Water for Life

Rebecca Wodder
President

Today, the Atlanta Journal Constitution published my op-ed titled, Follow bigger cities: Waste not, want not (read or click on the gcast player to listen to the audio). The drought in the Southeast has caught the attention of many communities across the country, and for good reasons, as it shows that no region of our country is immune to severe water shortages.

Last week, I blogged on this issue and called for A New Era of Water Conservation. In my post, I suggested five things you can do to save water, save money, and ensure that we have sustainable water supplies and healthy rivers in our future:

Hold your elected officials accountable: Has your city taken steps to encourage water conservation? If not, urge your elected officials to take action. Cities should provide incentives for low-impact development and water-saving plumbing fixtures; improve pricing systems for water; implement appropriate guidelines for water use; and, develop sustainable long-term water plans.

Be water-wise around the house: Simple things, like running the dishwasher only when it’s full, washing only full loads of clothes, and taking shorter showers can save hundreds of gallons over the course of a week. And don’t forget to fix those leaky faucets — this can save you up to 100 gallons a day!

Install water-saving plumbing fixtures: The Environmental Protection Agency has launched its WaterSense program and some cities – like Seattle, San Francisco, Austin, New York, and many others – are providing rebates for installing high-efficiency toilets, low-flow faucets and shower heads.

Make your brown lawn a source of pride: How about we start a new trend –making a brown lawn a source of pride? A badge of honor that says, “Protecting my community’s drinking water supply and the health of our rivers is more important than a little patch of grass.�? We must come to grips with the fact that watering the lawn wastes a lot of water. As Sally Bethea with the Upper Chattahoochee Riverkeeper in Atlanta, has pointed out, outdoor watering may account for at least 20 percent of the Atlanta region’s total water usage.

Use attractive, drought-friendly landscaping: If a brown lawn isn’t your thing, consider getting rid of your lawn altogether and creating a drought-friendly landscape. There are many beautiful plants that don’t require a lot of water. When you do need to water, turn to rain barrels – these simple containers collect the water from your gutters and downspouts.

Learn how you can support our work today.

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