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Tuesday, March 4, 2014
Don't miss chance to comment on water plan during March series of meetings in several Arkansas cities
Monday, February 17, 2014
Joe Neal, one of the top broad-ranging biologists in Arkansas, remains unsatisfied with the latest study of the Lake Atalanta park for good reasons
Rogers’ Lake Atalanta Ecological Study Complete
Posted: February 17, 2014 at 5 a.m.
STAFF PHOTO FLIP PUTTHOFF Jeff Overturf checks his fishing rod Friday hoping to catch some trout at Lake Atalanta in Rogers. The Arkansas Game & Fish Commission stocks the lake with trout each winter.
ROGERS — A second ecological study of Lake Atalanta garnered mixed reviews from people who have expressed concern about a lake renovation project.
A study done in November by Theo Witsell, a botanist with the Arkansas Natural Heritage Commission, focused on on the plants contained in the park.
The second study was done by FTN, water resources/environmental consultants, and focused on the karst (cave) system, springs, plants and animals around Lake Atalanta. The study was done in December and January.
AT A GLANCE
Lake Atalanta Study
An FTN study found:
The impact of the project will be limited and minor.
Improvement to Prairie Creek, within the park north of Walnut Street, would benefit aquatic species, creating varied habitats, such as pool, riffles and runs.
Bike and hiking trails would have minor impact.
Trail density near the head of Frisco Springs could be an issue because of the steep slope.
Source: Staff Report
AT A GLANCE
Project Features
Rogers officials expect to spend $17 million on the Lake Atalanta project. Plans include:
Prairie Creek improvement
Boardwalk
Channel stabilization
Hiking, biking trails
Walnut Street improvement
Bike park
Amphitheater, observation tower and parking area
Dredging the lake
Source: Staff Report
WEB WATCH
To read the FTN study, go to www. nwaonline.com/documents.
Some residents said they were pleased with the Witsell study the city paid for, but believed a second should be done to address the impact the renovation would have on the lake and park area.
“Anytime soil is disrupted, it will have an impact on an area,” said Travis Scott, an engineer and project manager with FTN. “We determined the impact for the projects planned for the renovation of Lake Atalanta would have a minor impact on plants, animals and the underground karst system that feeds the recharge area of the springs in the park.”
Joe Neal, a retired biologist who lives in Fayetteville, read the report and doesn’t agree with Scott or the report.
“You have to remember, these people are paid by the city to compile the report, this is how they make money,” Neal said.
“The first thing city officials should think about is to do no harm. I don’t think they are doing that. An expert in karst areas and springs should be called in to conduct a proper study before the city does anything around the lake,” Neal said.
“There is no federal or state law that mandates the city must conduct an ecological assessment of Lake Atalanta before moving forward with construction,” Scott said. “City officials are going beyond due diligence.”
Neal said he “assumes” there are Ozark cavefish in the area.
“The FTN study eliminated almost all of this, which allows them to avoid dealing with Ozark cavefish, probably to the great relief of the Rogers officials,” Neal said.
The Ozark cavefish is a small freshwater fish listed on a federal threatened species list. Its existence has caused changes to major projects in Northwest Arkansas over the years.
Scott said FTN has done work in and around Lake Atalanta since 2012.
“We have not seen any evidence of cavefish. One of the top biologists in the state assisted in this study, as did a geologist and a karst expert. The findings were reviewed by senior staff members who have between 20 and 30 years of experience. I stand by the report,” Scott said.
Strad Will, a member of a committee helping formulate the renovation plan, said he thinks the report is fairly well balanced.
“I don’t think it’s biased in anyway,” Will said. “The city wants to keep the park as natural as possible.”
Dredging the lake, one of the major projects, is necessary, Will said.
“The city has to get a permit from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to dredge the lake. The city will have to jump through a number of hoops to get the permit. Everything regarding the dredging must be done to corps standards and environmental issues met,” Will said.
Steve Glass, city director of planning and transportation, said he isn’t surprised by anything in the report.
“The report gives us the ability to more forward. It should put many people’s minds at ease that due diligence has been done on the renovation project,” Glass said. “I know some people will still want more studies done, no matter what we say or do.”
More bird and animal studies will be done in the spring to ensure city officials are aware of the different habitats and how the habitats might be impacted during and after renovation, Glass said.
Scott said there’s residential development in the area that also impacts the springs and lake.
“The effluent from septic tanks used in some areas around Lake Atalanta leech into the soil and end up in the springs. Another subdivision near the lake would have a far greater impact on the lake than the projects planned for renovation,” Scott said.
More than 30 people who voiced opinions about the project on the city’s Facebook page were contacted Thursday asking for comment. None responded.
Wednesday, February 12, 2014
Make a gift to support public education on how to protect our watershed to honor your Valentine
| Although you might not connect Valentine's Day with watershed protection, there are few things more precious than clean water. Every day the Center works to help communities and local governments fight pollution and the impacts of development and apply best practices to keep their watersheds healthy and functioning. We offer our top ten list of things each person can do to practice watershed stewardship. In each case, the Center provides the science and practical solutions to help people accomplish those steps. |
Please consider making a donation to the Center for Watershed Protection this Valentine's Day to help restore and protect your favorite waterways. Even a small contribution provides vital unrestricted support. You can dedicate your contribution to someone you love.
P.S. Please take a couple minutes to tell us about your favorite watershed, where it is and why it matters to you. Whether it is in pristine or diminished condition, we would like to know and share with others. By making our watersheds come to life in words, perhaps we can inspire others to care about them like we do.
Given all the requests you receive, thank you for considering our's. Happy Valentine's Day, 
Hye Yeong Kwon
Executive Director
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* * * * *
Member of the Better Business Bureau's Wise Giving Alliance. The Center has met the 20 rigorous standards in organizational accountability for charities.
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Saturday, February 1, 2014
Watershed abuse finally hits front-page of Northwest Arkansas Times: Excellent article
Drainage Causes Concern In Fayetteville
Posted: February 1, 2014 at 5 a.m.
A 60 foot section of Scull Creek crosses the front of the vacant lot at 517 N Walnut St in Fayetteville. Because the section of creek is on the cites protected streams map it is preventing construction activities within 50 feet of the stream bank.
FAYETTEVILLE — City officials plan to start a million-dollar drainage project this year that’s been on the to-do list for at least a decade.
“If you want to look at and prioritize projects, this is the biggest one,” Chris Brown, city engineer, said Thursday. “It’s just something we haven’t been able to afford until now.”
The project, in the Washington-Willow neighborhood north of Lafayette Street and east of College Avenue, will divert stormwater from an undersized culvert that backs up in heavy rain.
Sections of the culvert are estimated to be at least 70 years old. In some places it’s a 4-foot-tall channel with stone walls on either side and nothing but soil underneath. In other places, it’s choked to a 30-inch-diameter pipe.
At A Glance
Streamside Protection
Fayetteville’s streamside protection ordinance, enacted in March 2011, prohibits a range of activities within 50 feet of waterways listed on the city’s protected streams map. Restricted activities include:
• Grading, dredging, dumping, filling or similar construction activities
• Landfills, junkyards, salvage yards
• Clearing of non-invasive woody vegetation
• Storage of hazardous material or chemicals unless in waterproof containers and in a structure
• Parking lots
• Buildings and accessory structures with a building footprint larger than 150 square feet
• Parking or storage of motor vehicles
• Septic systems and/or lateral lines
• In-ground pools
• Animal feedlots or kennels
• Housing, grazing or other maintenance of livestock
• Cultivation
• Land application of biosolids
The following activities are allowed in the streamside zone:
• Stream bank restoration or stabilization
• Water quality monitoring, education and scientific studies
• Revegetation and reforestation
• Dam maintenance
• Stream crossings, including driveways, roadways, trails or railroads
• Maintenance and upgrades of utility facilities
• Maintenance of drainage capacity in the channel, including tree and sediment removal
• New stormwater conveyances when the city engineer determines there's no practical and feasible alternative.
Source: City of Fayetteville
The drainage system runs under or near several houses on Maple Street and Walnut Avenue, making it difficult for city crews to remove brush and debris.
The culvert became especially clogged during April 2011 flooding. With nowhere else to go, water popped a manhole cover and poured into yards and multiple homeowners’ basements. What looked like a river rushed down Walnut Avenue.
Eden Reif, who lives at 607 N. Walnut Ave., remembered water up to the top step of her basement.
“To say that it was exciting would be an understatement,” Reif said Friday.
Reif, like other neighbors in the area, doesn’t know what to think about the upcoming project.
“We want to know what they’re planning before we just say, ‘Sure, go ahead,’” she said.
The city will have to acquire land from several property owners to make repairs, Brown said. Streets and sidewalks will be torn up, and longstanding trees may have to be uprooted.
According to preliminary designs, the new drainage system will direct water from a culvert on Olive Avenue, underneath Maple Street and Walnut Avenue and into Scull Creek on the south side of Rebecca Street — in Reif’s backyard.
Brown said a construction timeline isn’t set, but work should get under way sometime this year.
Residents are also concerned about a 60-foot section of Scull Creek on the west side of Walnut.
Engineering staff in January recommended removing the section of creek from the city’s protected streams map.
The map identifies streams with a watershed of at least 100 acres in Fayetteville. A range of activities, including grading, dredging and clearing of non-invasive woody vegetation, are prohibited within 50 feet of protected waterways, according to the streamside protection ordinance, which aldermen approved in March 2011.
Removing the section of creek from the protected streams map would allow Clay Morton to build a house close to the street on what for years has been a vacant lot at 517 N. Walnut Ave. Otherwise, the house would have to be set back at least 50 feet from the creek.
Morton said Thursday he’s wanted to build a house in the Washington-Willow neighborhood for years.
“My wife and I have always wanted to live down there,” he said.
Washington County property records show Morton purchased the 0.2-acre tract in November from Thomas and Mary Kennedy for $80,000. He then began clearing trees on what had been a heavily wooded property.
After a complaint from a neighbor who was aware of the streamside ordinance, city engineers sent Morton a letter warning him to stop clearing the land. Brown said the tree cutting continued, however, and another notice had to be issued Jan. 23. Morton was told he would need to reseed areas where the trees were removed. Brown said Morton won’t be allowed to build near the creek as long as it’s included on the protected streams map. Morton could be fined if he doesn’t mitigate damage that’s been done.
Chris Kaiser, who lives next door to Morton’s property, said Friday she’s opposed to any change to the protected streams map.
“I do not believe that sections of the map should be requested to be removed … just because a developer … might be inconvenienced by having to protect the streamside zone, especially when said developer has already denuded the lot he purchased in violation of the streamside ordinance,” Kaiser wrote.
Kaiser said the protected streams map shouldn’t be modified until city engineers have finalized the design for drainage repair and communicated their plan with neighbors.
Morton said he wasn’t aware of the restrictions on his land when he bought the property.
He said he’s designed two scenarios for the house he wants to build: one with the house close to the stream and aligned with his neighbor’s houses and one with the house farther back from the street.
Morton added the city’s drainage repair should ease flooding on Walnut.
“I feel confident from what I’ve seen of the plans that it’s going to resolve the issue,” he said.
City Council members are scheduled to consider removing the 60-foot section of Scull Creek from the protected streams map Feb. 18.
Web Watch
Flooding Video
Go to the online version of this report at nwaonline.com to see a video of April 2011 flooding on Walnut Avenue.
Thursday, January 23, 2014
Watershed warrior Carol Bitting response to Cargill official's comments on hog waste in Buffalo River watershed
Editor,
In response to Mike Martin, Cargill director of communications, [Jan. 8 Independent].
I have searched ADEQ’s website and other documents finding that in 1992 Randy Young, executive director of Arkansas Soil and Water Conservation Commission, initiated a study of confined animal operations in the Buffalo River Watershed. Confined animal operations were viewed as one of the greatest potential contributors of bacteria and nutrients in the watershed. The project concentrated on swine operations that the Arkansas Department of Pollution Control & Ecology considered as the more eminent threat to the water quality of the Buffalo River.
At the time of the project there were 11 permitted hog facilities. Nine of the farms were on the southern edge of the watershed high on the sandstone and shale formation of the Atoka and Bloyd Formation, around 2000 ft. elevation. Two were near but outside the watershed, also high in elevation. There were a total of 3,094 sows in 1994.
C & H Hog Farms is located in the recharge zone of the Springfield Aquifer and isolates 2,500 sows at an approximate elevation of 900 ft. There are three other permitted hog farms in or near the Buffalo River watershed for a combined number of sows at 3,525. The other three farms are located in the Atoka and Bloyd formations on the southern edge of the watershed, high in elevation.
The Agricultural Statistics Board, NASS USDA, shows that in 1990, on average, a sow produced 13 pigs per breeding animal per year, in 2008 the average pigs per breeding animal increased to 18.7 per year. In 2013 a sow produced 9.90-10.20 pigs per litter in a large operation like C & H’s.
C & H Hog Farms has the largest concentration of sows in one location in the Buffalo River watershed, it is the only facility ever permitted in the Springfield Aquifer; it has larger amounts of waste per animal due to sow size and litter numbers per sow than 1990 according to statistics; it is spreading untreated manure on fields that have very shallow soils with porous rock outcrops in the middle of winter and the facility itself is within ½ mile of a school and town. The facility is .4 of a mile from Big Creek.
Once there were 11 family jobs now there are four family jobs.
I urge everyone to please speak out. The air we breathe and the water we drink are the basic elements in our everyday lives. We are the ones to do something to insure our future generations the same values we have known. We have the education and the research has been done, it is time to acknowledge that we make a difference.
Carol Bitting Marble Falls
In response to Mike Martin, Cargill director of communications, [Jan. 8 Independent].
I have searched ADEQ’s website and other documents finding that in 1992 Randy Young, executive director of Arkansas Soil and Water Conservation Commission, initiated a study of confined animal operations in the Buffalo River Watershed. Confined animal operations were viewed as one of the greatest potential contributors of bacteria and nutrients in the watershed. The project concentrated on swine operations that the Arkansas Department of Pollution Control & Ecology considered as the more eminent threat to the water quality of the Buffalo River.
At the time of the project there were 11 permitted hog facilities. Nine of the farms were on the southern edge of the watershed high on the sandstone and shale formation of the Atoka and Bloyd Formation, around 2000 ft. elevation. Two were near but outside the watershed, also high in elevation. There were a total of 3,094 sows in 1994.
C & H Hog Farms is located in the recharge zone of the Springfield Aquifer and isolates 2,500 sows at an approximate elevation of 900 ft. There are three other permitted hog farms in or near the Buffalo River watershed for a combined number of sows at 3,525. The other three farms are located in the Atoka and Bloyd formations on the southern edge of the watershed, high in elevation.
The Agricultural Statistics Board, NASS USDA, shows that in 1990, on average, a sow produced 13 pigs per breeding animal per year, in 2008 the average pigs per breeding animal increased to 18.7 per year. In 2013 a sow produced 9.90-10.20 pigs per litter in a large operation like C & H’s.
C & H Hog Farms has the largest concentration of sows in one location in the Buffalo River watershed, it is the only facility ever permitted in the Springfield Aquifer; it has larger amounts of waste per animal due to sow size and litter numbers per sow than 1990 according to statistics; it is spreading untreated manure on fields that have very shallow soils with porous rock outcrops in the middle of winter and the facility itself is within ½ mile of a school and town. The facility is .4 of a mile from Big Creek.
Once there were 11 family jobs now there are four family jobs.
I urge everyone to please speak out. The air we breathe and the water we drink are the basic elements in our everyday lives. We are the ones to do something to insure our future generations the same values we have known. We have the education and the research has been done, it is time to acknowledge that we make a difference.
Carol Bitting Marble Falls
Sunday, January 19, 2014
Planners and engineers mis-guided in decision to propose changing already weak stream-side protection ordinance in favor of violator of city's most progressive water-shed protection effort
City staff proposes making a violation of riparian-zone protection ordinance and of tree-protection ordinance and reduction of urban habitat on a natural rain garden. City council will make final decision soon.
39-minute video of presentation and discussion of staff-proposed reduction of stream-protection map governing portion of Scull Creek in Fayetteville's headwaters of Illinois River watershed.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a0xSmfBdl70&feature=share&list=UUwcZunxqSV3zcgvRJqBn-Qw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a0xSmfBdl70&feature=share&list=UUwcZunxqSV3zcgvRJqBn-Qw
Saturday, January 18, 2014
Illegally cleared infill lot stirs city staff members who are supposed to protect Fayetteville residents and their property from flooding and the watershed from pollution to suggest a revision of ordinance rather than recommend punitive action
Streamside-protection ordinance revision proposed by city staff but not approved by Fayetteville, Arkansas, planning commission. But issue to weaken the ordinance by reducing boundary to allow development of a single small wooded wetland lot that has been serving as a natural rain garden in the Illinois River watershed in central Fayetteville for decades will go to the City Council in early February.
View photos of the area of concern in second half of video linked below. VIEW VIDEO HERE
View photos of the area of concern in second half of video linked below. VIEW VIDEO HERE
Wednesday, January 15, 2014
Watershed warrior speaks up for neighborhood threatened with old-school piping plan that will increase flooding of some homes in Fayetteville
Watershed warrior gets a bit of support from neighborhood residents threatened by planning staff's effort to minimize stream side-protection ordinance.
Full meeting video of 13 Jan. 2014 meeting of Fayetteville AR planning commission.
Full meeting video of 13 Jan. 2014 meeting of Fayetteville AR planning commission.
Wednesday, December 18, 2013
ADEQ continues study and public comment on 'General storm water permit'
Stormwater permit under review again
State revises guidelines every five years
Posted: December 17, 2013 at 5 a.m.
The Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality is reviewing one of the most commonly held permits in the state, the general permit for stormwater runoff.
The general permit, held by almost 2,000 permanent facilities and thousands more entities engaged in temporary construction projects, governs how permit holders must deal with the runoff that results when rainfall hits impermeable surfaces such as asphalt.
The stormwater generalpermit outlines how holders must manage stormwater discharge with respect to state waterways and sewer systems in an effort to minimize the pollution by bacteria and other materials - often sediment dislodged during construction activities - of waters that are often current or potential drinking-water supplies.
Ryan Benefield, deputy director for the Environmental Quality Department, said the stormwater permit is one of the department’s most widely held permits throughout the state, and even minorchanges to its language during the renewal process can have major effects on permit holders.
“It’s a very significant effort we take on every five years,” Benefield said.
The current version of the general permit expires June 30. It spans more than 40 pages and has specific stormwater control requirements for more than 30 sectors of industry including timber and leather tanning. The permit is part of a larger family of regulations known as the National Pollutant DischargeElimination System, mandated by the federal Clean Water Act.
According to documents from the Environmental Quality Department, the current renewal process began with a stakeholders workshop in May. After the workshop, a draft of the updated permit was submitted to the Environmental Protection Agency, which monitors state environmental regulatory agencies to ensure compliance with federal guidelines.
After the EPA approved the draft in early November, the Environmental Quality Department opened a public comment period that ended Friday, concluding in a public hearing for the permit at the department’s North Little Rock headquarters.
Representatives of about a dozen entities filed comments with the department, mostly over small details.
Stephen Cain, an environmental compliance manager with the Arkansas Electric Cooperative Corporation in Little Rock, said the current renewal of the state’s stormwater general permit is his fourth experience with the process since beginning work at the cooperative about 15 years ago.
In a four-page letter dated Dec. 9, Cain outlined five concerns with the new permit, including the department’s decision to move limits for liquid waste known as “effluent” out of a separate document called a stormwater pollution prevention plan and into the state permit. Cain said this would add another regulatory layer, unnecessarily restricting businesses’ ability to cope with problems as they arise.
“The things that are required are all things I’d call ‘good business practices’ anyway, but when [the Environmental Quality Department] moves them into a permit, they’re making them a criteria that you must live by,” Cain said.
Benefield said moving theeffluent limitations to the permit, rather than requiring permit holders to address them in their stormwater protection plans, was in keeping with the EPA’s national permit.
Charles Nestrud, a lawyer with Chisenhall, Nestrud and Julian in Little Rock who said he has worked in environmental law for about 35 years, submitted comments to the department on behalf of his client Riceland Foods Inc.
Nestrud, along with other commenters including Cain, complained that some of the permit’s wording was ambiguous, especially as it related to effluent limitations.
“You just want to be clear on the front end,” Nestrud said. “I think that was the gist on the part of my client. If you don’t know you’re out of compliance until an inspector shows up and tells you, that is not a good situation.”
Cain also worried that anything not “nailed down” in the language of the permit would leave his industry at the mercy of individual inspectors.
“Two inspectors may look at the same thing completely differently, because it’s subjective,” Cain said. “To me, it opens the door to subjective inspections.”
Stormwater runoff in Northwest Arkansas is of particular importance to the Beaver Water District, one of four water districts to draw drinking water from Beaver Lake. The lake is the primary source of drinking water for about 420,000 residents, and draws its water through a 1,200-square-mile watershed that spans Benton, Carroll, Washington and Madison counties.
Stormwater runoff, which district chief operating officer Alan Fortenberry said is already considered the lake’s main source of pollution, is likely to become even more of a problem as modern development continues to expand into rural areas of the watershed.
According to the Beaver Lake Watershed Protection Strategy, presented in a symposium earlier this year by the Beaver Lake Watershed Alliance, municipal areas inNorthwest Arkansas - primarily Rogers, Springdale and Fayetteville - are anticipated to double by 2050, vastly increasing the amount of asphalt and other impermeable materials in the watershed.
Fortenberry said one premise of the general permit is that it makes exclusions for construction zones and other activity in areas where runoff would likely impact bodies of water termed “extraordinary resource waters,” “ecologically sensitive waterbodies,” and “natural and scenic waterways,” requiring entities to acquire individual stormwater runoff permits.
Comments submitted to the Environmental Quality Department from the district’s staff attorney, Colene Gaston, pushed for the Environmental Quality Department to extend that philosophy to permits granted for activity where runoff would likely affect sources of drinking water - such as Beaver Lake - that don’t necessarily receive any of the special designations mentioned above.
Fortenberry said he would like to see such activity near drinking-water sources require individual permits and the elevated level of regulatory scrutiny that goes along with them, although he understood it was unrealistic to expect the Environmental Quality Department to require individual stormwater runoff permits for everyone doing business within the watershed.
“Philosophically, you have to think about how far to take that,” Fortenberry said. “If we had our way, we wouldn’t want to see anyone contaminate the entire watershed, but we realize that’s a stretch. So with this regulation, we’re looking at people polluting streams that feed into the White River and Beaver Lake.”
“There’s always balance,” Nestrud said. “If things are necessary to protect the environment, they get adopted. And then there’s what goes too far, and interferes with industry’s ability to operate. Every time there’s a proposal, you’ve got to strike that balance.”
Northwest Arkansas, Pages 9 on 12/17/2013
Thursday, December 5, 2013
Newsletter of Beaver Watershed Alliance
Beaver Watershed Alliance newsletterfile://localhost/Volumes/FREEAGENT/BeaverWatShedAllianceReport%20copy.rtfd/
Thursday, November 21, 2013
Nov. 19, 2013, meeting of the Fayetteville AR city council draws comment only from a single watershed warrior, who addresses six or so issues
fayetteville AR city council meeting of Nov. 19, 2013.
Tuesday, November 5, 2013
EPA water headlines
Please click on various live links on the file to read more detail.
Water: Water Headlines
Water Headlines
Water Headlines is a weekly publication that announces publications, policies, and activities of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Office of Water.
Water Headlines for the Week of August 6, 2013
1) EPA Hosting Webcast Series to Raise Awareness about Harmful Algal Blooms
2) EPA Advisor Honored by Association of Clean Water Administrators
3) EPA Providing Funding to Assist Small Water and Wastewater Systems
4) Success Spotlight: Wilmington, Delaware's Renewable Energy Biosolids Facility
5) EPA Features Locally Led Efforts in Urban Water Restoration via Video Series
6) National Estuary Program Success Stories: Maryland Coastal Bays Program Develops a Poultry Digester, Providing a Beneficial Use of Manure
2) EPA Advisor Honored by Association of Clean Water Administrators
3) EPA Providing Funding to Assist Small Water and Wastewater Systems
4) Success Spotlight: Wilmington, Delaware's Renewable Energy Biosolids Facility
5) EPA Features Locally Led Efforts in Urban Water Restoration via Video Series
6) National Estuary Program Success Stories: Maryland Coastal Bays Program Develops a Poultry Digester, Providing a Beneficial Use of Manure
1) EPA Hosting Webcast Series to Raise Awareness about Harmful Algal Blooms On August 20, 2013, EPA's Watershed Academy will host a webcast on the identification and monitoring of harmful algal blooms. Don Anderson from Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and Steve Morton from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration will continue the series with a discussion of innovative methods for identifying these algae and their blooms, and how both government and research institutions and even the public can help to monitor their outbreak and spread. This webcast series is a part of a broader outreach effort this summer that aims to focus public attention on harmful algal blooms, which are associated with nutrient pollution, and can sicken people and pets, devastate aquatic ecosystems, and be a detriment to the economy. To register, visit www.epa.gov/watershedwebcasts. You can also help document and raise awareness about algal blooms by photographing them and posting your photos to our State of the Environment photo project atblog.epa.gov/epplocations/2013/08/green-water-or-clean-water/.
2) EPA Advisor Honored by Association of Clean Water AdministratorsEPA Office of Water Senior Policy Advisor Ellen Gilinsky has been chosen as the Association of Clean Water Administrators' "Environmental Partnership Award" recipient for 2012 for her work to seek out state involvement and input in water regulatory and policy decision making and implementation. This award is presented to individuals who have, throughout their careers, demonstrated a true and consistent willingness to work cooperatively with states and other organizations to effect environmental improvement. For more information on ACWA's annual awards, go tohttp://www.acwa-us.org/#!awards.
3) EPA Providing Funding to Assist Small Water and Wastewater SystemsEPA will award up to $12.7 million for projects to provide training and technical assistance to small public water systems, small publicly-owned wastewater systems, and communities served by onsite or decentralized wastewater systems, and private well owners. More than 97 percent of the nation's 157,000 public water systems serve fewer than 100,000 people and more than 80 percent of these systems serve fewer than 500 people. Many small systems face unique challenges in providing reliable drinking water and wastewater services that meet federal and state regulations. These challenges can include a lack of financial resources, aging infrastructure, management limitations and high staff turnover. The funding will help provide water system staff with training and tools to enhance system operations and management practices, achieve and maintain compliance with the Safe Drinking Water Act and support EPA's continuing efforts to protect public health and promote sustainability in small communities.For more information:http://water.epa.gov/grants_funding/sdwa/smallsystemsrfa.cfm
4) Success Spotlight: Wilmington, Delaware's Renewable Energy Biosolids Facility EPA's Clean Water State Revolving Fund (CWSRF) programs provide funding for water quality protection projects for wastewater treatment, nonpoint source pollution control, and watershed and estuary management. This week's success spotlight shines on the City of Wilmington, Delaware. Using a $36 million CWSRF loan, the city's Hay Road Wastewater Treatment Plant began construction of a renewable energy biosolids facility in June 2012. The new facility will incorporate a number of sustainable energy technologies, including: (1) using methane captured from the plant digesters and an adjacent landfill to power the plant, and (2) employing thermal drying technology, which uses excess heat from electricity generation to reduce the volume of biosolids produced by the plant. When complete, the facility, which is the city's largest energy user, could be powered 100% by the renewable energy being generated. More information: http://www.wilmingtonde.gov/news/news.php?newsID=429.
5) EPA Features Locally Led Efforts in Urban Water Restoration via Video SeriesEPA has released Urban Waters Voices, a series of 12 video interviews featuring locally led efforts to restore urban waters in communities across the United States. These videos feature local efforts and strategies to improve urban water quality while advancing local community priorities. This week's video features Mary Rickel Pelletier, Director of Park Watershed, Inc., describing some of the challenges faced by watershed communities in Hartford, Connecticut (e.g. lack of access and lack of awareness of the "buried" river) and how the organization is using art and science to address these challenges. Park Watershed, Inc., a nonprofit organization (formerly Park River Watershed Revitalization Initiative), sees its goal as working through community engagement, scientific research, and ecological revitalization to cultivate clean water and healthy urban environments within the municipalities of the Park River regional watershed. Watch the video.
6) National Estuary Program Success Stories: Maryland Coastal Bays Program Develops a Poultry Digester, Providing a Beneficial Use of Manure
The Maryland Coastal Bays Program has worked with designers of proprietary equipment to provide a beneficial use of poultry manure, including providing advice on local conditions, sitting and permitting. The Program helped advocate for a state law to incentivize the process in 2013 and is continuing to educate the public on this beneficial use of poultry waste. To learn more about the program, go to www.mdcoastalbays.org.
The Maryland Coastal Bays Program has worked with designers of proprietary equipment to provide a beneficial use of poultry manure, including providing advice on local conditions, sitting and permitting. The Program helped advocate for a state law to incentivize the process in 2013 and is continuing to educate the public on this beneficial use of poultry waste. To learn more about the program, go to www.mdcoastalbays.org.
1999 streamside-protection issue stirred me to submit column to my boss, Jim Morriss, at The Morning News
Please click on image to ENLARGE for easy reading.
Riparian-zone of Tanglewood Branch in Fayetteville AR damaged by trail-bridge work
Trail bridge going across Tanglewood Branch of the Town Branch at S. School Avenue between 8th and 9th street right of ways.
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