The Freshwater Society blog publishes a digest of important regional, national and international articles and research on water and the environment. Scan the articles here, then follow the links to read the articles in their entirety where they originally were published.
Have your say on water and environmental issues
What do clean water, the economy, energy and the health of our environment all have in common? These topics will be discussed by Minnesotans this month and next at six Citizen Forums around the state.
The forums, free and open to the public, will give Minnesotans an opportunity to voice their opinions and concerns. State leaders will consider the citizen input next March at a Minnesota Environmental Congress summit, where they will begin to plan a blueprint for Minnesota’s environmental and economic future.
For more information visit the Minnesota Environmental Congress website. The Minnesota Environmental Congress and the Citizens Forums leading up to it are the result of an executive order issued by Gov. Mark Dayton last year.
To assess Minnesota’s progress toward clean air, water and energy, the Environmental Quality Board is convening the Citizen Forums around the state to engage citizens in constructive dialogue, identify environmental challenges and define a vision for Minnesota’s environmental future.
Here are the locations, dates and times for the six regional Citizens Forums:
• Rochester: Nov. 27, 9:30 a.m. – noon at Wood Lake Meeting Center.
• Bloomington: Nov. 27, 6:30 – 9 p.m. at Normandale Community College.
• Duluth: Nov. 28, 5:30 – 8 p.m. at Lake Superior College.
• Worthington: Dec. 10, 3:30 – 6 p.m. at Worthington High School.
• St. Cloud: Dec. 12, 5:30 – 8 p.m. at Stearns County Service Center.
• Moorhead: Dec. 14, 3 – 5:30 p.m. at Minnesota State University.
For more information about the Citizens Forums and to indicate your intention to attend, visit the Minnesota Environmental Congress website. If you have questions, call Anna Sherman at 651-201-6607 or email anna.sherman@state.mn.us.
—Minnesota Pollution Control Agency News Release
KARE11 series reports on threats to water
View a series of stories – “Project H2O” – that KARE 11-TV broadcast on Nov. 1:
- Threats to Our Lakes and Rivers.
- Meteorologist Belinda Jensen dives into Lake Minnetonka to report on zebra mussels there.
- The Minnesota DNR is restoring sturgeon to the St. Louis River.
A geological primer on what’s going on beneath us
Have you ever wondered what’s in the soil and rocks deep beneath your feet? Have you worried that something being put on the land or done to the land will pollute the groundwater beneath it?
The Minnesota Geological Survey has just published a guide to Minnesota geology and groundwater that will answer some of your questions.
The publication, written with a goal of avoiding technical jargon, is intended to explain to local officials, land use managers and planners how the Geological Survey’s county geologic atlases are produced and how they can be used for planning that protects groundwater. More broadly, the publication — titled Geologic Atlas User’s Guide: Using Geologic Maps and Databases for Resource Management and Planning — is a primer on what’s going on in the basement of this house in which we all live.
Report examines nitrogen BMP decision
Read a new report on how and why farmers in two Minnesota watersheds make decisions about the nitrogen fertilizer they apply to their crops.
The report, funded by the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, was written by University of Minnesota forest resources professor Mae Davenport and a graduate student, Bjorn Olson.
It was based on in-depth interviews with 30 farmers in the Rush River watershed in Le Sueur and Nicollet counties and the Elm Creek watershed in Martin and Jackson counties. The report is titled “Nitrogen Use and Determinants of Best Management Practices: A Study of Rush River and Elm Creek Agricultural Producers.”
Northshore Mining fined for pollution
The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency has fined Northshore Mining Co. in Silver Bay $242,973 for spraying 39,200 gallons of hazardous waste onto its property and improperly sending an equal amount to a nearby water treatment plant. It is the fourth time since September 2010 that the taconite company has been fined for violating Minnesota pollution laws.
The agency found that Northshore Mining sprayed a “corrosive hazardous waste leachate” over its coal-ash landfill to control dust. An additional 38,900 gallons of the leachate were delivered to an authorized wastewater treatment plant in Duluth over the course of two days in 2011, but the quantity exceeded permitted levels. The company failed to immediately report the violations and failed to properly monitor high pH levels in the leachate, the agency said.
–The Star Tribune
Algae no energy panacea, report says
Biofuels made from algae, promoted by President Barack Obama as a possible way to help wean Americans off foreign oil, cannot be made now on a large scale without using unsustainable amounts of energy, water and fertilizer, the U.S. National Research Council reported.
“Faced with today’s technology, to scale up any more is going to put really big demands on … not only energy input, but water, land and the nutrients you need, like carbon dioxide, nitrate and phosphate,” said Jennie Hunter-Cevera, a microbial physiologist who headed the committee that wrote the report.
Hunter-Cevera stressed that this is not a definitive rejection of algal biofuels, but a recognition that they may not be ready to supply even 5 percent, or approximately 10.3 billion gallons (39 billion liters), of U.S. transportation fuel needs. “Algal biofuels is still a teenager that needs to be developed and nurtured,” she said.
–Reuters
Biofuel plant called invasive threat
A plant being eyed as a renewable fuel source has a dark side, choking native plants, clogging rivers and streams and draining wetlands, U.S. scientists say.
Giant reed, also known as arundo donax, is a fast-growing hardy grass species found throughout Texas and the southern United States the U.S. government is considering as a renewable fuel source. Its often unruly behavior has some scientists and environmentalists arguing the ecological and economic risks are greater than the possible benefit.
They say they want the Environmental Protection Agency to reconsider a nearly finalized rule that would encourage farmers to grow giant reed and other invasive grasses for biofuels production.
–UPI
Water takes 12.6% of U.S. energy
A new report by a team of University of Texas at Austin researchers shows that the energy needed to capture, move, treat and prepare water in 2010 required 12.6 percent of nation’s total annual energy consumption, which is equivalent to the annual energy consumption of roughly 40 million Americans.
“Evaluating the Energy Consumed for Water Use in the United States” is the first report of its kind to quantify baseline water-related energy consumption across the U.S. water system. The report, published in the September issue of the peer-reviewed scientific journal Environmental Research Letters, gives industry leaders, investors, analysts, policymakers and planners the information they need to make informed decisions, and could help the nation achieve its water and energy security goals, a news release stated.
“Energy and water security are achievable, and with careful planning, we can greatly reduce the amount of water used to produce energy, and the amount of energy used to provide and use water,” said Michael E. Webber, associate professor of mechanical engineering at the University of Texas at Austin, who directed the research project. “In particular, our report shows that because there is so much energy embedded in water, saving water might be a cost-effective way to save energy.”
–Wichita Falls TimesRecordNews