Category Archives: Water quality

Healthy Waters Coalition – What’s on Our Minds, In Our Hearts

Posted on April 25, 2013 | Leave a comment

At my Healthy Waters Coalition meeting tonight, where we discussed the value of accurate, balanced information about oil spill prevention, I accidentally spilled pink lemonade across the agenda.  (From now on, the incident will be remembered as the “pink spill,” and it can be added to a long list of funny things I have done while leading coalition meetings.) I began to think about what’s really motivating our efforts to inform and educate Sebago Lakes Region citizens and local businesses about watershed issues.

We are a water-based economy here in this part of southern Maine. Boat rentals and recreation-based businesses, real estate and restaurants, florists and landscaping contractors, summer camps for children and accommodations (think: Inn by the Pond), not to mention waterfront property in towns–and property taxes paid to Towns–all bring in millions of dollars in annual revenue for the Sebago Lakes Region. The State of Maine tracks the annual revenue for freshwater fishing and accommodations for several Lakes Region towns. Wetlands are valued for their ecological services, too, and that translates to dollars. Real dollars. Wetlands attenuate flooding and aid in filtering waters to provide good water quality in our groundwater, which produces the drinking water for those who have private wells.  All of the headwater streams (94-100% of streams) in the region are located in Source Water Protection Areas (SPAs), meaning that they directly feed into a public drinking water system. In our region, that system is Sebago Lake, which is so clean, it’s exempt from the federal filtration requirement, an expensive option if ever it were to become necessary for the Portland Water District to put in place.

I want to reach out to other groups engaged in an open dialogue about the possible transportation of oil sands through New England and the importance of protecting our local watersheds, local economy–as the two are interconnected.  While the HWC already has members in 8 Lakes Region towns, representatives from local government boards and committees, watershed organizations, local businesses and other interests, such as Saint Joseph’s College, and we have partnered with some fantastic environmental and conservation-oriented nonprofit organizations already, I’d like to connect the Healthy Waters Coalition with a broader network.  I’m interested in connecting with folks at ConservAmerica, town and city revitalization committees, regional Chambers of Commerce, and the business community. We have so much invested in our waters. While pondering this, I scribbled some thoughts and turned it into this info-graphic (below). I like how it came out. Let me know what you think.

HWC_wordle3

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Posted in Beaches & Coasts, Birds and Wildlife, Conservation & Restoration, Eco Living, Ecology, Education & Training, Environmental Issues, Fishing & Recreation, Healthy Waters, Lakes, Maine, Nature, Oil Spills, Streams, Streams and Rivers, Water quality, Water Resources, Wetlands

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Convergence: Where Streams & Stories Connect

Posted on March 21, 2013 | Leave a comment

Eighteen years ago, my brother and I eloped with our mother to Kaua’i. I say “eloped” because the trip was a romantic surprise after my step-dad proposed over the phone. He was already there—on Kaua’i. It was February, 1995, my senior year of high school, and the end of February school vacation. I turned 18 during the 23 hour plane ride to the Big Island of Hawai’i. My parents—my mother and step-dad, married at the point of convergence, where two streams met before emptying into the Pacific. Waterfalls peeled like tropical fruit through the rainforest. Two fed these streams. Neither my brother nor I had ever experienced swimming in the Pacific Ocean, let alone kayaking through a jungle. One day we hiked to a massive 40-foot waterfall, which we learned had been featured in one of the King Kong movies. I slipped behind the falls into a cave, sprayed by its awesome force. Those streams created our new family.

Flash forward to 2013:  A small perennial stream meanders through my black ash seep, past a vernal pool and flows into the pond. It’s not dramatic. It’s barely audible. The nor’easter that took everyone on the East coast by surprise yesterday dropped over a foot of snow. It’s that light fluffy stuff perfect for a snowshoe hike. Everything’s quiet, cold and white. Yet the stream trickles, melting the snow on either side. It persists. This stream is one of many, many streams in Maine that flow either perennially, intermittently or ephemerally—that is, after storms. Streams criss-cross and converge, form major tributaries like Panther Run, feed creeks and rivers, such as the Crooked River, emptying into lakes, picturesque waters such as Panther Pond, and wetlands throughout the Sebago Lakes Region of southern Maine. Most of the residents in this region depend on the groundwater for their drinking water. Those residents in the Portland Water District get their drinking water from Sebago Lake. Either way, the streams that flow and converge throughout the state—even beyond this watershed—play an integral part of life as we know it.

In thinking about the importance of headwater streams, it’s useful to see streams in a larger watershed context. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has launched a great online tool with a headwater stream index for the entire United States. Maps showing stream data are available for 48 states (Alaska and Hawai’i are not available at the time of this post). EPA has published the summaries of findings from a 2009 study on intermittent, ephemeral and headwater streams. There’s information about public drinking water systems in the U.S., too. Local drinking waterinformation is also available by state.

What I found interesting in looking at stream data for the State of Maine is that I live in an area where 94-100% of stream miles are contained in Source Protection Areas (SPAs). An SPA is an area “upstream from a drinking water source or intake that contributes surface water flow to the drinking water intake within a 24-hour period.” (EPA, Office of Water) That means that most of, if not all of, the intermittent, headwater and ephemeral streams in those areas support public drinking water systems.

It makes sense. I live in a town that’s home to the “landlocked salmon” in Sebago Lake. The lake is one of the few lakes in the country that receives a Filtration Avoidance Waiver from the EPA. This waiver saves the communities in the region $125 million in construction and operation costs—since there is no need for a water treatment facility. I recently learned that if the Portland Water District had to invest in such a water treatment system, it would cost over $100 million. Currently, the cost-savings come from the convergence of headwater, intermittent and ephemeral streams throughout the Sebago Lakes Region watershed.  We also know that area wetlands are equally valuable for their ecological services, including flood attenuation and protecting water quality in those very streams. It is my hope as a local conservation official, and through volunteering with small watershed groups, like the Healthy Waters Coalition in the Sebago Lakes Region, we can inform and educate municipal decision-makers on the value of protecting headwater streams.

Meanwhile, the Maine Association of Wetland Scientists is holding its annual meeting on March 25th. This year’s meeting focuses on rivers and streams.

For further reading, check out these related blogs:

Streams Take Me By Surprise, by Travis Loop, EPA blog

Rivanna streams not safe for swimming and boating? Find out more on Thurs, March 21
Rivanna River Basin Commission (Charlottesville, VA)

Managing Municipal Stormwater: Protecting Water Quality, Streams and Communities
Penn State Extension Blog

Rivers, Streams, Water Falls, Food and More, by Bill Trussell, Fishing Through Life

For further information about streams, click here.

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Posted in Conservation & Restoration, Fishing & Recreation, Healthy Waters, Lakes, Nature, Oil Spills, Streams and Rivers, Water policy, Water quality, Water Resources, Wetlands

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Watershed Modeling & Wetland Mapping

Posted on August 22, 2012 | Leave a comment

Strange WetlandsI recently attended a luncheon meeting on planning for the Sebago Lake watershed, facilitated by University of Maine. Two goals were to discuss types of watershed modeling and mapping that had been done in the past—in that watershed and elsewhere in Maine—and what was important to watershed managers in the future. The group consisted of wetland scientists, code enforcement officers, town planners, representatives from conservation commissions and waterways associations.

Many of us gave examples of modeling or mapping watersheds. For example, I talked about my experience mapping water features, such as streams and wetlands, and analyzing development patterns in the Northeast Creek watershed on Mount Desert Island, as part of a larger USGS-led aquifer study. At that time, I was working at a land trust and volunteering for the Bar Harbor Conservation Commission.  During the project, I learned about hydrology, groundwater recharge in a granite aquifer and the importance of understanding the limits of an aquifer when planning for development, ie. subdivisions. When a friend’s septic tank erupted, I saw (and smelled) the repercussions of exceeding those limits. It’s not polite dinner conversation.

Good thing we were only having lunch. When the subject turned to watershed modeling, a number of people, including myself, raised issues about data—because a model is only as good as the data put into it. Further, we discussed the merits of a model in the context of a constantly changing climate. Most noted the weather of 2012 and that a model based on water levels this year might be outdated by next year, and so forth. A recent report by Environment Maine on the link between extreme weather events and climate change can be found here.

When asked what important factors should be included in a watershed model, the “hot button” topics included climate change, invasive species, water quality, wetlands, conservation priorities and water quantity. For more information about University of Maine’s watershed modeling project, click here. ASWM has posted links to a number of wetland and watershed tools and resources under its Watershed heading on the main website. For example, there’s a wetlands and watershed protection tool kit, link to a “Wetlands-at-risk Protection” tool, as well as the Natural Floodplain Function Alliance.  Local governments and watershed managers may be interested in ASWM’s guide, Establishing Local Government Wetlands and Watershed Management Programs by Jon Kusler, Esq. Ph.D.  See the Healthy Waters Coalition’s links to resources about watersheds.

In addition, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Virginia Tech recently launched a new website, Wetlands One-Stop, with information about wetlands and wetland mapping. Virginia Tech’s Conservation Management Institute (CMI) designed “Wetlands One-Stop” to provide online access to geospatial data on wetlands and soils produced by federal and state agencies. For more information, click here. For additional information on wetland mapping, visit ASWM’s wetland mapping page.

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Posted in GIS, Healthy Waters, Water quality, Water Resources, Wetlands

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Pond Scum: The Good, the Bad, and the Sludgy

Posted on July 20, 2012 | Leave a comment

Globs of algae the size of human heads floated around like something out of a B-movie on MST3K. It was unnerving to bump into one of them. I can handle swimming with eels…but I find it creepy to swim with severed head-shaped algae clusters. When I arrived at my little local lakeside beach in southern Maine, I thought I was lucky because no one else was there in 90-degree heat. Then I realized the beach was vacant because of the algal bloom. An algal bloom is a concentration of cyanobacteria. Strange Wetlands covered types of algae blooms, including blue green algae, in an earlier post (2010).

In the Great Lakes region this summer, some communities are seeing algal blooms, including the Eastern parts of Lake Erie. Algal blooms turn the water a bright scummy green. Some of the vegetation washes ashore in clumps, deterring beach goers but not always causing beach closings.  However, NOAA has recently issued a prediction that western Lake Erie should see a lesser algal bloom this summer. This is good news.NOAA, partners predict mild harmful algal blooms for western Lake Erie this year. A presentation will be held on algal blooms and the “Lake Erie Dead Zone” by an aquatic biologist in Cleveland Heights on July 25th.  For more information about the Lake Erie Dead Zone, visit EPA’s webpage. But this year’s bloom on Lake Erie is likely to be only one tenth the size of the bloom that occurred last year.

Last year, Lake Erie’s harmful algal bloom was visible from space (2011). In fact last year’s algae blooms in the Great Lakes were touted as the ‘worst since the 1960s,’ something akin to the comics of “The Creature from the Black Lagoon.” The Natural Resources Defense Council presented analysis of Ohio beach closings and algal bloomsand on New York beaches for Lake Ontario and Lake Erie with monitoring data collected in 2011. Full report here.

What’s the issue this summer? Not all algae, or “pond scum,” is created equal. Some amount of algae is a normal part of the ecosystem but too much of the wrong types are harmful. A Great Lakes native algae called Spirogyra is thriving on the conditions caused by invasive zebra and quagga mussels. The result is a sludge-like mat of green algae that washes up on beaches along Lake Michigan and other lakes. Another green alga, Cladophora, increased because of the zebra mussels, and both types of algae wash ashore in thick mats, which rot, stink and harbor E. Coli, Salmonella and other pathogens. The stench from the beach muck is comparable to manure. See video, “All Washed Up: Lake Michigan’s Algae Challenge.” For a fact sheet on Harmful Algae Blooms & Muck: What’s the Difference (Michigan Sea Grant), click here. For more about the relationship between algae and zebra mussels, see Changes in the benthic algal community and nutrient limitation in Saginaw Bay, Lake Huron, during the invasion of the zebra mussel (report, 2002).

Another serious factor this summer is drought, which is occurring in a large part of the country. For instance in Wisconsin, the hot weather has caused harmful blue green algae blooms in Lake Winnebago and Tainter/Menomin lakes, where there is a history of blooms, but the harmful algae is also showing up in lakes where it previously did not occur. They are facing a similar problem to that in Lake Michigan with the zebra mussels and Cladophora, warned to be harmful to boaters and swimmers. The US Fish & Wildlife Service has found dead waterfowl, most likely killed by botulism, in Wisconsin lakes this year. For a past FWS report on waterfowl and botulism in the Wisconsin lakes, click here.

Algal blooms are probably not at the top of the list of issues concerning those keeping an eye on the Farm Bill developments—but this is one of the reasons why the Farm Bill’s Conservation Title is so crucial to the protection of wetlands and water resources—including the Great Lakes. See Farm Bill Conservation Programs Are ‘Essential for Great Lakes Restoration’

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Posted in Beaches & Coasts, Climate Change, Conservation & Restoration, Environmental Issues, Healthy Waters, Lakes, Maine, Science, Water quality, Water Resources, Wetlands

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Tar Sands, Pipeline Proposals & Wetlands

Posted on May 10, 2012 | Leave a comment

In preparing for a conservation commission meeting, I have been learning more about the tar sands crude oil pipelines and the potential impacts they have on water resources. Previously, I had heard about the tar sands and oil spill on the Kalamazoo River in Michigan in 2010 and the crude oil spill in Yellowstone in 2011 (MT), but I did not know much about tar sands extraction and transportation into North America. Lately there has been some press about a New England proposal for an Enbridge pipeline project. For example, I read a NWF blog post last month and came across a number of useful background documents on state, regional and national issues related to tar sands crude oil pipelines on the Natural Resources Council of Maine’s website. Also in April, the National Wildlife Federation published a report, “After the Marshall Spill: Oil Pipelines in the Great Lakes Region,” which assesses the regulatory issues involved in protecting wetlands and waters in the Great Lakes from similar disasters in the future.

Heating oil pipelineFrom local issues to national concerns:  The topic of tar sands crude oil pipeline proposals in my community of Maine is echoed throughout the New England region, and throughout the U.S. all the way to the Gulf of Mexico. In southern Maine, Sebago Lake, the source of drinking water for the city of Portland, Maine and surrounding towns, plays a prominent role in a number of environmental advocacy groups’ efforts to halt proposals for pumping tar sands through the state. The pipeline currently runs from South Portland, Maine through the Lakes Region towns, including Windham, where ASWM is headquartered, crossing Panther Run and the Crooked River, which feed Sebago Lake. This is just one small area of the longer pipeline, which would cross through many other watersheds throughout New England.

After I presented information at my local conservation commission meeting, I ran into a few neighbors and residents who commented on the issue of a tar sands pipeline proposal that could have an impact on Maine’s watersheds and natural resources.  One business owner said, “They’re still cleaning up the spill in Michigan! If that happened here, we’d be done.” Similar views have been expressed at town meetings, on PBS presentations(winter 2012) and at university informational sessions in southern Maine. The Natural Resources Council of Maine has an ongoing project informing citizens about the proposal and its potential impacts to Maine, as well as the Enbridge proposals for tar sands pipelines elsewhere in the country. For a fact sheet on Tar Sands, Keystone Pipeline Project in Maine (2012), click here.

Boreal Forest Before and AfterWhat are tar sands and where do they come from? Tar sands are a mixture of clay, sand, water and bitumen, a heavy black viscous oil.  The process extracts the bitumen from the other materials and requires other treatment before it can be refined.  It is so thick it requires dilution with additional hydrocarbons before it can be transported through pipelines when it can be later turned into conventional heating oil. This process of transporting it in pipelines has many potentially hazardous impacts to water and other natural resources in the event of a spill.  Once the tar sands crude oil is transported, the process of turning it into conventional oil is not cost-effective or ecologically sensible.  The process releases more than double the harmful greenhouse gasses than conventional heating oil does during production. (See Scientific American.) Currently, the bulk of the tar sands originate in Alberta, Canada—where large pools called tar pits have replaced wetlands. These tar pits are big enough to be seen from space. The most threatened habitat are Canada’s boreal forests, which is 1.3 billion acres of wetlands—among the largest in-tact wetland ecosystems on Earth. Unfortunately, most of the wastewater involved with the tar sands production ends up in streams and rivers throughout the boreal forest, contaminating the wetlands and threatening bird and wildlife habitat. For Alberta’s Government webpage on oil sands, click here.

Alberta Oil Sands MapAccording to mining company reports, 64% of the mining landscape is made up of peatlands. (See related study, “Oil sands mining and reclamation cause massive loss of peatland and stored carbon.”)  There’s some effort underway to restore the wetlands that have been affected by tar sands in Alberta. Oil Sands Wetlands Reclamation: Syncrude, Suncor Plan To Reconstruct Fens It’s unconventional wetland restoration on a large scale. Essentially they’re hoping to recreate a 50-hectare watershed, not just a wetland, for one project. That’s about 125 acres of wetlands and waters. The University of Waterloo’s department of geography and environmental management is involved with the watershed restoration planning. It’s been called a Tar Sands Wetlands Reclamation. However, some Canadian wetland scientists are doubtful that this will work to restore the wetlands.  They say, “Instead of bogs and fens, the industry will build hills topped by plantation forests and fill large man-made lakes with toxic waste bordered by shrubs and salty marshes.” (Rooney, et.al., 2011)

“It’s a completely different landscape,” says study co-author Suzanne Bayley, one of Canada’s top wetland ecologists and a University of Alberta professor. See Scientists Doubt Fix to Wetlands Damaged by Oil Sands Furthermore, fewer wetlands means drier conditions and more fire hazards. See a related presentation on The State of Oil Sands Wetlands Reclamation and Slow Down Oil Sands to Save Wetlands, Scientist Says –with details from a related study of Canadian wetlands. For an Alberta wetlands fact sheet by Water Matters, click here.

So what about tar sands pipelines in the U.S.? In addition to the discussions ongoing in New England, there’s a lot of information available on the potential impacts and environmental risks of tar sands pipeline projects nationally. See Tar Sands Pipelines Safety Risks

By Natural Resources Defense Council, National Wildlife Federation, et.al. – February 2011

Tar Sands Invasion: How Dirty and Expensive Oil from Canada Threatens America’s New Energy Economy By NRDC, Earth Works, Sierra Club, et. al. – May 2010.

Further reading:

Study Disputes Oil Sands ‘Restoration’ Pledge (NY Times Green Blog, March 2012)
Tran-Canada’s New Permit Still Threatens Nebraska’s Water and U.S. Energy Security 
New Keystone XL Tar Sands Pipeline Permit Rejected by Nebraska Residents 
In through the backdoor: Is Enbridge Inc. trying to bring tar sands to Central Canada and New England?
Sulfide Mining Regulation in the Great Lakes Region (includes links to series of reports on impacts to water resources in several states –WI, MI, MN, plus Ontario)
Cattle Ranchers, Environmentalists and the Keystone XL Pipeline
Video: Robert Redford and Waterkeeper Alliance on XL Keystone Pipeline Protest (2011)
May 2012 Update: The Great Lakes, New Dumping Ground for Tar Sands Oil
http://ecowatch.org/2012/the-great-lakes-new-dumping-ground-for-tar-sands-oil/

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Posted in Conservation & Restoration, Healthy Waters, Lakes, Marine & Estuarine Life, Oil Spills, Science, Water policy, Water quality, Water Resources, Wetlands

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Water Lilies & Floating Ferns: Dip into the Deep Past of Ancient Aquatic Plants

Posted on August 19, 2011 | Leave a comment

“The rapid development, as far as we can judge,
of all the higher plants within recent geological time
is an abominable mystery.” ~Darwin

Last night I enjoyed Woody Allen’s film, “Midnight in Paris,” a surrealistic journey into the past. Cinematic stills of Paris open a dreamy storyline, in which the protagonist, a writer searching for his voice among his literary and artistic idols, finds inspiration strolling through the city at midnight. In one scene, he stands before Monet’s famous paintings of water lilies. Gazing at those water lilies transports him back in time.

Water lilies are decedents of the most archaic of the flowering aquatic plant world. Fossils of earlier versions of these aquatic plants are evidence of their great age. By the mid-Cretaceous period, angiosperms dominated the planet. Water lilies were among the earliest fossil flowers found.  Basal angiosperms including water lilies such as Nymphaea, Brasenia, Nuphar remind us of a deep evolutionary past of the flowering aquatic plants. In 1904, Ohio State University botanist J.H. Schaffner asserted that water lilies are the very “stock” from which all flowering plants stem. This belief wasn’t readily embraced by other scientists of his time but his observations about Nymphaea were later confirmed.

Those who study aquatic plants even today will admit they are difficult subjects with converging and evolving morphology. “Precise clues to Darwin’s ‘abominable mystery,’ the origin of flowering plants, have eluded systematists for more than a century,” according to authors of a study on the “Molecular evolutionary history of ancient aquatic angiosperms.” (Les, Garvin, et.al. 1991) There are lots of unanswered mysteries surrounding water lilies in particular, for instance, whether they are monocots or dicots. There are differing viewpoints among scientists. Water lilies are simply an unusual group of plants. The origin of angiosperms (flowering plants) is at the heart of Darwin’s “abominable mystery.” Darwin, along with many scientists after him, have sought to answer questions about the rise of flower-frequenting insects and the origins of certain plants on isolated islands.

Water quality monitors can look for certain aquatic plants as ecological indicators. A quick Google search for “water quality” will reveal that water lilies are often used as symbols for ‘good water quality’ if only because they are hardy aquatic plants and thrive in freshwater lands, ponds and wetlands. However, they are native to the eastern U.S. and were introduced to the western states in the early 1800s. In some areas, water lilies have been regarded as an invasive (or) non-native species. For example, here is a King County, WA fact sheet on non-native water lilies and management of them as an invasive species: http://your.kingcounty.gov/dnrp/library/water-and-land/weeds/Brochures/Fragrant-Water-Lily-Fact-Sheet.pdf and Non-native freshwater plants on the Washington State Dept of Ecology website (a fact sheet on Nymphaea odorata including habits, pollination strategy, uses by Native Americans, status as introduced plant.)

Ferns are also considered “dinosaurs” of the plant world. Aquatic floating ferns, such asAzolla, a tiny water fern, also called mosquito fern; Marsilea, also called water clover;and Salvinia, a water fern native to tropical America, are unusual since most types of ferns are terrestrial, not aquatic. Floating ferns are heterosporous, which makes them the most advanced type of fern. Just think—there are around 9000 species of living ferns and fewer than 1% produce spores (similar to seeds). This is true of the water ferns with the genus of Azolla, Marsilea and Salvinia.

Mosquito ferns can be aggressive invasives—quickly covering the surface of a quiet pond, providing habitat for macroinvertebrates, a food source for reptiles and amphibians. But if the little fern, which can be green or reddish in color, covers the surface of the whole pond, it can deplete the oxygen and lead to fish kills. Surprisingly, because of its aggressiveness, mats of azolla can reduce the occurrence of harmful algae blooms and limit the growth of exotic aquatic plants, such as water hyacinth. For more about azolla water ferns, go to: http://waynesword.palomar.edu/plnov98.htm

About ten species exist within the Salvinia genus. Related to the azolla water fern,Salvinia floating ferns have unique abaxial leaves (facing away from the plant) and creeping stems, but no true roots. Giant Salvinia is native to South America and an introduced, invasive species here in the U.S., including Louisiana lakes and Florida.http://plants.ifas.ufl.edu/node/395

Water clover looks like four-leaf clover only it’s a floating fern in the Marsilea genus. It spreads by a thin hair-like underwater rhizome structure. Of all the floating ferns,Marsilea is the most species-rich with between 45-65 species.http://www.plantoftheweek.org/week347.shtml There are a number of great books available on aquatic plants, including Fern Ecology Ed. Klaus Mehltreter, et.al. (2010) and A Manual of Aquatic Plants by Norman Fassett (2006). For these and other wetland ecology books, visit the Wetland Bookshelf:http://www.aswm.org/wetlands/wetland-bookshelf/1333-wetland-science-ecology-books

But what inquiring minds want to know…is the four-leafed water clover lucky? It’s become a popular plant to grow in garden pools (because it is so easy to manage) and even brought inside as a houseplant! At least one blogger calls it the “lucky charm” of the pond: http://www.dragonflyaquatics.com/blog/
2009/03/water-clover/

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Posted in Nature, Plants, Water quality, Wetlands

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Dragonflies – Baby Got Brackish

Posted on June 3, 2011 | Leave a comment

In many parts of the country, we’re starting to see mosquitoes, especially after heavy rains. Mosquitoes love brackish pools, but so do gators and crocodiles, which mate this time of year…and dragonflies. Over Memorial Day weekend, I delighted in watching an army of dragonflies zip around me at killer speeds. They eat mosquitoes. So it begs the question, do more mosquitoes mean more dragonflies? If so, that would be good news for people heading outside to enjoy the warm weather. So far I’ve only had to wear my DDT-free bug spray once on a walk along the pond.

A recent New York Times article provided news about endangered species (A Coast-to-Coast Guide to Endangered Species) including the bog turtle, ringed boghaunter and the orange-striped dragonfly, which were described as some of the rarest wetland-dwelling species in the U.S. For an amazing montage of rare photos taken at the Texan Cibilo Nature Center of the orange-striped dragonfly in courtship, see: http://www.martinreid.com/
Odonata%20website/odonate37b.html

Dragonflies are generally known as freshwater insects. But recent research has demonstrated that dragonflies are no strangers to brackish environments. What is brackish water? Brackish pools, sometimes called brackish marshes, are saltier (more saline) than freshwater but not as salty as seawater. Typically brackish water occurs where the sea meets freshwater—estuaries, mangroves and saltmarshes. Many species of fish depend on these waters for their migration from the sea to rivers and streams, such as eels and salmon. In addition there are also brackish lakes, e.g. Lake Monroe in Florida and Lake Charles in Louisiana. For a photo of a dragonfly’s exoskeleton at Lake Charles, seehttp://www.flickr.com/photos/atweed/4651677110/

A relatively recent issue of Canadian Field Naturalistfeatured an article by Paul Catling on “Dragonflies Emerging from Brackish Pools of Saltmarshes in Quebec” (CAN), citing his research that showed dragonflies used salt marshes much more often than had been previously understood. For an example of a brackish pool in a saltmarsh, see http://www.sciencephoto.com/media/
175707/view The importance of brackish pools as habitat for young dragonflies, called nymphs, has long been observed by naturalists, as noted by Raymond Osburn (The American Naturalist,1906 http://www.jstor.org/pss/2455367) Catling’s research has shown, a century later, that dragonflies do in fact utilize saltmarshes, which contain an abundance of estuarine and marine life.  Either dragonflies have evolved to move into saltmarshes or earlier observations by naturalists have left that distinction out of literature.

One contemporary naturalist photographed a Tawny Pennant (Brachymesia herbida) in a saltmarsh in the Bosa Chica tract of a National Wildlife Refuge in Brownsville, TXhttp://www.duke.edu/~jsr6/Brachyherb.jpg Here’s a dragonfly in a saltmarsh of Daufin Island, AL http://www.flickr.com/photos/littoraria/3639808921/ But a simple Google Images search will reveal that it is rare to find photos of adult dragonflies in saltmarshes. This may be due in part to the challenges of wildlife photography, especially with respect to capturing a fast-moving target, such as a dragonfly, on film. The best advice from our own Compleat Wetlander’s nature photographer, Jeanne Christie: “Wait for the wildlife to come toyou.”

Bonus activity for kids: How to draw a dragonfly. http://www.how-to-draw-cartoons-online.com/dragonfly-drawings.html

Updated April 2013: Dragonflies Drive Dedicated Fans to Refuges
http://www.fws.gov/news/blog/index.cfm/2013/4/2/Dragonflies-Drive-Dedicated-Fans-to-Refuges

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Posted in Birds and Wildlife, Conservation & Restoration, Environmental Issues, Science, Vernal pools, Water quality, Wetlands

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Down in a Hole

Posted on July 1, 2010 | Leave a comment

Walking along the road, I came upon a storm drain with the words: “DON’T DUMP FLOWS TO STREAM” with the silhouette of a rubber ducky over the phrase, “PROTECT YOUR WATER.” The signage was provided by Think Blue Maine, which is one of many networks throughout the country that has paired business savvy with ecological sense. http://www.thinkbluemaine.org/business/A number of automotive businesses in central Maine have come together to promote awareness about what goes down the storm drain—from transmission fluid to household pollutants. Auto services make a good role model for other industries because they handle motor oil and other auto fluids on a daily basis, which, if handled poorly, can contribute to stormwater pollution.

Storm drains are supposed to distribute surface run-off to streams, wetlands and other waters and in doing so, prevent flooding across roads.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surface_runoff Not all storm drains flow directly into streams; some drains go to sewer treatment plants. The problem occurs when people think that anything washed (or poured) down a storm drain will be treated at such a facility, whereas in reality, some cities re-direct the run-off to streams and rivers. Think of that the next time you go swimming in a local pond, river, lake or at the beach. Local waters receive the run-off from the storm drains, which often have more than stormwater passing through them.

Pollutants such as metals, toxic chemicals, viruses, oil and grease, solvents and nutrients, even human waste get spilled or dumped down the drains and then flow through the pipes out into rivers, streams and larger waters, like the Chesapeake Bay. The town of Ashland, Virginia created a campaign with a brochure about stormwater and how to prevent pollution from disappearing down the drain.http://www.town.ashland.va.us/vertical/Sites/%7B7CD2B061-2700-4C92-86AD-6137417373F1%7D/uploads/%7B501D4B01-CA55-4E4B-B5DB-E49C61C700F0%7D.PDF

The city of Boise, Idaho has a similar approach to making citizens aware of where the storm drains lead. A character named Eddy the Trout teaches the public about the importance of being responsible for clean waters locally. Watch Eddy the Trout’s TV commercial http://www.partnersforcleanwater.org/ that educates people about stormwater pollution. The city of Kearney, Nebraska has a handout with good illustrations of ways that people can reduce stormwater pollution in their local waterways:http://www.cityofkearney.org/documents/Public%20Works%20Dept/Stormwater%20Management/Storm%20Water%20Clean%20Water%20Protection%20Program.PDF

In some cities, engineers and industry professionals have developed catch basins and drain filters to prevent litter from going down the storm drains. Berms and barriers designed to slow the flow during storms and drain guards installed to prevent pieces of litter won’t prevent all of the pollution, but it’s a start. And it gets people thinking about other ways to prevent stormwater pollution. There are a number of products available to businesses that want to prevent pollutants from spilling down the drain.  Drain inserts look like a trash bag on the inside of the storm drain; inlet filters look like stuffed neck pillows that fit inside the drain and absorb the contaminants. Geotextile barriers slow down the rapidly moving run-off and allow the sediments to settle before spilling down the drain. The Soil & Water Conservation Districts of Southwest Ohio have analyzed storm drain inlet protection methods in a report with a rule of thumb, “if it doesn’t pond water, it doesn’t work.”http://www.hcswcd.org/services/ulm/docs/storm_drain_inlet_protection.pdf

For other stormwater pollution outreach materials, go to:http://cfpub.epa.gov/npdes/stormwatermonth.cfm

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