H2ONCoast

Japanese Knotweed (Polygonum cuspidatum) and its close cousin, Himalayan Knotweed (P. polystachyum) are all abloom this time year, leading the curious to ask, “what is that flossy flower along the streams of the North Coast?” Some call it lovely, as did the gardeners and nursery owners who imported it at the turn of the 20th [...]

While this blog focuses on the specifics of the North Coast and its local water resources, every once in a while I find it good to put things into global perspective. A resource of this very nature just crossed my desk and merits some attention here.
While most of us turn on our taps [...]

A few weeks ago, I discussed how the North Coast’s watersheds produce abundant water resources that don’t always come at the right times and in the right places, leading to unexpected droughts which, in turn, drive the need for water conservation. In this post, I will discuss the quality of that precious water as it [...]

The North Coast of Oregon is blessed with some beautiful rivers, lakes, wetlands and estuaries. And like anything beautiful, these places are coveted by many–including invasive plants and animals which have been introduced to our area in the century and a half since the first European settlers made their way through the Coast Range passes [...]

Recently, I discovered a new (old) resource for managers and others interested in PNW estuaries published by OSU Sea Grant. The report of the Pacific Northwest Coastal Ecosystems Regional Study (PNCERS) titled Estuary Management in the Pacific Northwest was published by OSU Sea Grant in 2003. The publication received little attention and unfortunately [...]

The Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) just released an important–if not alarming–report on water quality at beaches August 7th. The report claims that the water at American beaches was unsafe for swimming a record number of days last year, according to the 17th annual beach water quality report. Using data collected from the U.S. [...]

The answer to that semi-rhetorical question is: YES! While much of the nation is in severe water crisis at this point (USA Today June 7, 2007), much of the coastal Pacific Northwest seems immune to the vagaries of drought. We should not let our good hydrologic fortune lull us into a [...]

As I said in the “About” section, you should expect to find news from areas outside of the North Coast. Well, here is your first dose of it: as reported August 1, in the New Orleans Times-Picayune, Southern Louisianna’s levee systems is again the fair game for a game of political football. The [...]