River Portal

Dams and Fisheries

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

On Mussels and Water Quality

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

Leasing water for wildlife in Colorado

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

Robotics and Carp

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

Dam floods

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

Sinking Delta

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

Rebuilding wetlands with the Mississippi River?

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

Rivers and Biodiversity

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

Lots of tools on aquatic invasives, but what to do next?

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

Hydrologic cycle changing, and quickly

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

Agriculture and water connections explained. Again

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

Virtual water and water budgets: Can’t manage a river without ‘em

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

"War on invasives" to draw battle plan from "war on cancer"? Perhaps

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

Great visionary plan for Arch grounds in St. Louis, but who will pay?

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

A year after Bird’s Point, controversy continues

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

Los Angeles River: boating destination?

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