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We’ve all learned that the internet contains more information than we can possibly monitor. At River Life, we have undertaken to keep track of some of the richest sources of digital information concerning the future of rivers, whether that news comes to us via blogs we follow, Twitter feeds, or Google Alerts. Our River Portal, sorted into categories of Science, Planning, and Engagement, funnels the stream into manageable bits, and provides, in turn, your “window to the world” of river news. Come back often–we update regularly!
Articles, blogs, and other resources on hydrology, aquatic ecology, and related areas of knowledge.
http://bit.ly/KF3JwI Planned dams on the Mekong River threaten the world’s largest inland fishery. The basin is home to 65 million people, and approximately 2/3 rely on subsistence fishing for their diet. The proposed dams would provide hydropower, and estimates indicate that 1/4 of the migratory fish in the lower basin could be lost. How do you balance clean hydropower, a rich fishery, and fossil fuels? Smarter dams could significantly minimize impacts by keeping tributaries connected to the main river stem. #science
Posted: May 2, 2012, 3:07 pm
http://1.usa.gov/KoOO4F Mussels are critical in the healthy ecosystems of rivers and streams. They filter water very effectively, improving water quality, and unfortunately also act somewhat as the canary in the coal mine for many environmental pollutants. Read on for more information on how researchers study mussels, what they know, and how they know it. #science
Posted: May 1, 2012, 6:05 pm
http://bit.ly/If3maO ”State water authorities and private conservation groups say deals to ensure sufficient water in streams and rivers will mean the difference between life and death for fish, bugs, wild animals and riparian vegetation. But Colorado agricultural leaders this week warned that — with mountain snowpack 39 percent of average — spare water for environmental purposes will be hard to find.” @science
Posted: April 26, 2012, 4:46 pm
http://bit.ly/HS5Du9 Computer scientist at UMN IonE uses carp to “develop robotic systems that can operate on their own in large, complex and dynamic settings.” Of particular interest in the work is the realm of environmental monitoring, and the carp are particularly good at pursuit-evasion tests (fancy name for playing ‘tag’). The potential to improve the field of robotics is immense, but also there is potential to help understand more fully the habits of the non-native and invasive (in this area) carp. Win-win! #science
Posted: April 18, 2012, 2:50 pm
http://bit.ly/IFgROa This report illustrates that in the case of flooding on the Passaic River, in New Jersey, recent floods are likely due to recent heavy rains, not the recently completed dam. Some locals believe that the recently completed Passaic River Dam is what precipitated the floods, and others feel that climate and/or weather changes have an effect here too. Did the dam worsen an already burgeoning problem? Are other factors at play? Do even the healthiest of rivers in perfectly normal circumstances flood? The answer to all of these does seem to be “yes” #science
Posted: April 13, 2012, 7:39 pm
http://bit.ly/HCSKEB The Mississippi River delta is not only threatened by sediment starvation, sea level rise, and the Gulf of Mexico dead zone, but the portion of the Earth’s crust underneath the delta is sinking in a process known as subsidence. The rate is slower than scientists had previously thought, but is still a significant factor in the area. This reduced rate may mean that previous methods of coastal renewal might be more effective than previously thought, which we hope leads to good news for the region! #science
Posted: April 12, 2012, 3:52 pm
http://bit.ly/HLVR6w USACE is convening a series of public meetings to investigate how best to use the water and sediment carried by the Mississippi River to rebuild the wetlands and land in southern Louisiana. If successful, this could potentially solve, or at least remediate, multiple issues including loss of coastline, loss of topsoil/sediment, and the Gulf of Mexico ‘dead zone’. #science
Posted: April 11, 2012, 9:23 pm
http://bit.ly/I2BWWd To preserve river biodiversity, preserve the river’s natural form and pattern. From the article: “To alter natural waterways is to take a serious risk of endangering species living on the entire length of a river. In a joint project, scientists from EPFL, EAWAG and Princeton University have modeled the flow of organisms living along river networks… The researchers showed that the observed biodiversity at a given point in the river is highly dependent on all the smaller tributaries feeding into it, and not uniquely on the specific conditions at that particular location.” #science
Posted: April 7, 2012, 3:30 pm
For more posts, please visit the River Life Science Portal or subscribe to the RSS.
Practices in engineering, policy, advocacy, and politics. The ‘how you make it happen’ of river work.
http://bit.ly/JWSkqe The federal government’s Great Lakes and Mississippi River Interbasin Study (GLMRIS) team has just released a report on the tools available to try to keep Asian carp and other aquatic invasive species from crossing from one watershed into another.
Might as well download the pdf and get familiar with the report. This is one issue that is not going to be solved quickly! #planning
Posted: May 6, 2012, 2:32 pm
http://bit.ly/KemSQY This piece from Climate Central reports on findings in Science that global hydrologic cycle alterations as a result of climate changes may be happening faster than ever.
Let’s back up a minute. Anecdotal reports and scientific measurements have reported that since 1950 both droughts and torrential rain events have gotten more frequent and have had sharper intensity. A warming climate, it stands to reason, holds more water and releases that water in bigger storms. The Science article, which examines data from ocean salinity, reveals that this whole process may be happening faster than we had anticipated.
For us on the Mississippi the lesson is simple: we are likely to have less of a “breathing spell” between the 2011 catastrophic floods and the next “Big One” that is coming down the pike. We’d better get ready, and in a hurry! #planning
Posted: May 5, 2012, 2:24 pm
http://bit.ly/HzGzaH It bears repeating: agriculture is one of the primary drivers of water quality, at least here in the midcontinental part of the United States. To learn more, go to this page from the Environmental Working Group, and download the “Troubled Waters” pdf. #planning
Posted: May 4, 2012, 2:31 pm
http://bit.ly/IBOX56 Water Online reminds us that the water we see, and the water that we knowingly conserve through such means as shorter showers, less car-washing, and so forth, is just the tip of the water iceberg. Agriculture and energy, two of the main drivers of our style of life in the industrialized world, account for the vast majority of worldwide water use. If we don’t address those problems with large scale policies and solutions, we’re all in trouble.
And what does this supposition mean to us, in Minnesota at the head of three continental watersheds including the Mississippi River basin, the third largest watershed in the world? A start would be for all of us to know our local, immediate, watershed and water budget. Then we might try to understand our water use as embodied in things such as the car we drive, the food we eat and the clothes we wear. We might find that we’re not as rich as our “Land of 10,000 Lakes” slogan implies! #planning
Posted: May 3, 2012, 2:14 pm
http://on.doi.gov/IklLUP American Scientist reports that government researchers may adopt a philosophy from medical science’s approach to cancer eradication in fighting the plethora of invasive plant and animal species across the country. Cancer fighters understand that there is no “magic bullet” that will “cure cancer,” but rather than a range of different strategies have to be developed for each of the many types of cancers and, ultimately, for each person who is diagnosed with the disease. Such an approach applied to ecosystems might lead to one type of effort to combat bighead carp in the Illinois River, another strategy to attack silver carp in the same river, and still another approach to ward off silver carp in the Upper Mississippi. Worth trying. #planning
Posted: May 2, 2012, 1:41 pm
http://bit.ly/J5bkBt Local leaders have commissioned visionary plans for the Gateway Arch grounds in St. Louis, plans that would revitalize both St. Louis’ downtown area but also parts of East St. Louis. As usual, though, the question is how to pay for the improvements. A local sales tax increase that could pay for improvements on federal land (the Arch is a National Park) my be unprecedented and is certainly controversial. #planning
Posted: May 1, 2012, 2:31 pm
http://bit.ly/Ku3IvB A year ago this Wednesday, May 2, 2011, the Corps of Engineers blasted a hole in the Bird’s Point Levee in Missouri, choosing to flood hundreds of thousands of acres of farmland in order to relieve flood waters pressing on the city of Cairo IL. The move, which signaled that 2011 was a major flood year on the Mississippi, was controversial at the time. It remains so today, as this article shows. As complex and important as the Mississippi River is, it seems there are always political implications and tough engineering decisions. But do things always have to be this way? Is our management (or attempted management) of the Mississippi just a reflection of our times? #planning
Posted: April 30, 2012, 3:35 pm
http://bit.ly/Iva4ap Nice little 2 and a half minute video on the people, history, and scenery of the Los Angeles River. American Rivers and many many other groups working to restore this corridor in the city. #planning
Posted: April 26, 2012, 2:31 pm
For more posts, please visit the River Life Planning Portal or subscribe to the RSS.
Stories, public art, design, and other expressions of the meaning and meanings of rivers.
http://bit.ly/ImQ8I7 At its best, the UNESCO World Heritage convention provides groundbreaking analysis and policy direction toward addressing preservation of the world’s most special places. See this link to UNESCO documents on indigenous heritage for a continuation of this tradition. #engagement
Posted: May 4, 2012, 4:18 pm
http://nyti.ms/JLO7XX The movie Chinatown was inspired by a real and historic water war in the early 20th century. Water is making headlines again, from the floods in the midcontinent in 2011 to drought in the American West and the growing realization that water is threatened in previously-waterlogged places. What will be the “Chinatown” for this historical era? The musical equivalent of the blues that arose from the 1927 Mississippi River flood (“When the Levee Breaks” anyone?)? #engagement
Posted: May 3, 2012, 4:31 pm
http://bit.ly/I53x5S Hennepin Avenue in Minneapolis has long been seen as a “gateway” between the Mississippi to the city and points beyond. With more than 50 cultural organizations in the mile or so between the Walker Art Center and the river, the time is ripe for the tradition to continue, albeit in a 21st century form. Look for great things from Plan-It Hennepin #engagement
Posted: May 2, 2012, 4:17 pm
http://on.doi.gov/Kg6YpP There’s a lot said in many areas these days about public engagement. But do we always mean “inclusive” engagement, as in engagement that actively reaches to communities across the various demographic divides that we’ve built? The Park Service commitment to a tribal national park may show the way. #engagement
Posted: May 1, 2012, 4:24 pm
http://bit.ly/IoROyn Memphis is one of the classic Mississippi River cities. But from the sounds of this article, Memphis’ riverfront establishments and events have been hit hard in recent years. What’s a city to do when it’s invested in bringing people to the riverfront and then hits a stormy patch? Keep the course! #engagement
Posted: April 30, 2012, 9:20 pm
http://bit.ly/JawuyY So claims Stephen Leahy, who writes at http://stephenleahy.net/. Fabulous article, and it’s not making silly claims like that we should just “imagine the future we want to have.” Instead, he’s pointing to the failure of the “if we just explained things better, people would understand and would do better.” You’re going to have to read the piece to see what else he has to say, though—I’m not giving away the ending!
Posted: April 27, 2012, 4:31 pm
http://bit.ly/HOgOlK Michael E. Campana (Aquadoc) writes a highly informative blog “Waterwired” http://aquadoc.typepad.com/waterwired/ The post for April 16 covered a recent undergraduate thesis on the role of ideology in the historical development of water problems in the American West. Fascinating, trenchant reading. It sometimes IS all about culture! #engagement
Posted: April 26, 2012, 4:31 pm
http://closethetap.com/ Great idea in digital communications! For every Tweet with #closethetap included, a faucet is incrementally closed “By making small adjustments to your everyday life, you can reduce water wastage and help us to create awareness around the litres of water we literally pour down the drain each day.”. Just over 4000 more needed! Here’s our contribution -> #closethetap Maybe one less caffeine-rush today? Every mug of coffee uses up to 140 liters of water to produce! #engagement
Posted: April 26, 2012, 3:44 pm
For more posts, please visit the River Life Engagement Portal or subscribe to the RSS.