H2ONCoast

Though you will generally not see me mention my family much in H2ONC, I have to note that my wife hails from the Southeast of the U.S. (South Carolina, in fact). Her extended and immediate family are spread throughout the region. So I tend to pay careful attention to water-related issues from the area, after all, I too have a stake in it. Which brings me to an important point: water is a unifying necessity. The availability of it in one region does not mean it is always present for the rest of us. And the demands for water in drier parts will eventually have repercussions for those of us more blessed with favorable hydrology–just look at 20th century speculation about piping the Great Lakes or the Columbia to the desert Southwest.

The New York Times has published a lot on the growing implications of drought in the Atlanta area and the watershed that extends from the city’s primary reservoir into Alabama and the Florida panhandle. Check out the original article by clicking here. The short of the article is that poor (i.e. to little to late) water planning has combined with surging demand, fueled by surging growth of the Sunbelt city, and some extreme climate variability to build a dire situation for Atlanta. The city and State of Georgia are now requesting that the agency in charge of water rights allocations across state boundaries–the Army of Corps of Engineers–should allow the upper end of the basin (i.e. Atlanta) to release less water to the lower end (Alabama and Florida). The Feds have yet to make a decision. Water attorneys, environmental groups, businesses, government agencies, and others are lining up to stake a claim in the fight.

Lastly, it is sobering to note that if the forecasts of prominent climate modelers summarized Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change 2007 report are correct, then the Southeast will continue to dry out. If that is the case, expect to see much deeper conflicts and more serious economic repercussions. People have done some amazing engineering feats to bring water to them, or in the case of the 1930s Dust Bowl, gone to where there was water. This is a good time, therefore, for Oregonians to refrain from being smug while other regions of the country grow drier.

Wintertime climate here on the North Coast swings between wet and slightly less wet. Temperatures are relatively mild, with freezing weather less common than for our neighbors east of the Coast Range. If the oracles at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Climate Prediction Center are accurate, this winter could be considerably cooler and wetter than normal because of a climate phenomenon called La Niña.

By now most of folks have heard the terms El Niño and La Niña. These Spanish terms classify two ranges of climate conditions that relate to sea surface temperatures (SSTs) and the movement of winds (and therefore storms) across the Pacific Ocean. You can see an example of what NOAA experts look at in the SSTs in the graphic below. The colors in this graphic (courtesy of the NOAA Climate Prediction Center) represent differences between water temperature, not actual temperatures, and reflect the period from September 30-October 7, when compared with an average of temperatures taken from 1971-2000. Blue is cooler than normal while yellow, orange and red represent warmer temperatures. Notice that the cooler water extends far across the equatorial Pacific. If this strengthens throughout the fall, then the impact of La Niña on our weather will likely be stronger, as I will explain below.

While the planet is a seemingly big place, two great energy transferring mechanisms—water and air—bring distant portions of our world closer together through climate teleconnections—or connections that act over considerable distances. As temperatures in waters of the equatorial Pacific warm, the trade winds which blow storms across the ocean from western to eastern ends (where the coasts of Asia and North America sit respectively), tend to drive storms to the southeastern direction–and into Southern California and Mexico. This is a product of El Niño climate status. Locally, a persistent low pressure system called the Aleutian Low migrates to the south and west, driving storms away from our coast. We will thus tend to be warmer and drier during El Niño winters. That means stream flow will tend to be lower. This not a hard and fast rule, however! Some El Niño periods have produced record flooding (for example the winter of 1982-83). Most, however, tend to be drier than normal.

It’s opposite, or La Niña is caused when those same equatorial waters cool from normal (usually one to two degrees, which for the area involved is considerable). The result is that trade winds are driven in a north eastern direction. At the same time, the Aleutian Low tends to weaken and move farther to the north. The result–again a trend only–tends to be wetter and cooler than normal winters.

These two periods swing back and forth during a 2-5 year cycle in which one follows the other. Like a pendulum swinging, the energy of the Pacific Ocean and the atmosphere must balance out in the end. We can usually expect El Niño-driven conditions first followed by La Niña-produced conditions in our neck of the planet. To make matters more complicated, this see-saw is influenced by conditions in the overall Pacific and Atlantic oceans with regular climate shifts that may take decades to become apparent.

Back to the North Coast, besides a wetter than normal winter, what does this mean for you? If you are concerned with floods and storm surge, then be prepared for the La Niña years. If you are interested in fishing our streams and estuaries, higher than normal flows can be good for migrating salmon and steelhead–or at least better than years of low flow. Historically, however, salmon harvest off the Oregon coast declined dramatically during the El Niño events of 1958 and 1983. We do not fully understand how changes associated with the climate affect salmon. It is likely that changes in ocean conditions associated with El Niño and other events interact, and, in effect, serve to decrease a young salmon’s chance of survival.

So, while we might not be stormier than normal, it would be a good idea to keep your hats on and your hatches battened down this winter!

I apologize to any of you who read H2ONC on a regular basis. It seems that I can post to the blog about once a week, but lately, I’ve been pushing that schedule out a bit. The reason is usually travel and this last week was no exception. In a departure from the norm, however, my travel is worthy of a post this week. I was in Cloquet, Minnesota at the Alliance of Natural Resources Outreach and Service Programs (ANROSP) meeting.

ANROSP promotes citizen stewardship of natural resources through science-based conservation, education, and service programs. This 501(c)3 supports and enhances member programs, and facilitates development of new programs. Many different types of programs fulfill the organization’s mission, including Master Naturalist, Certified Citizen Naturalist Volunteer, Master Watershed Steward, Coverts, Master Conservationist, Wildlife Stewards, and many more nationwide. I serve on the board of directors and was one of the early adherents of the organization. When my involvement began, it was as the statewide coordinator of the Arizona Master Watershed Steward Program.

This time, I am pleased to report that I was at the conference on behalf of a new program–Oregon Master Naturalist. The program is just in the formative stages, with a statewide steering committee meeting on a semi-regular basis to design, fund-raise for and eventually build the program. At this point, you are probably asking what are Master Naturalists? Master Naturalists are people from all walks of life with an interest in life-long learning, who train at least 40 hours in a variety of fields related to natural history and who then volunteer some of their time as “payback” to their communities. That volunteer service comes in the form of citizen science, environmental interpretation, or stewardship activities such as restoration plantings, fencing, beach cleanups, etc. The goal of Master Naturalist programs across the country is straightforward: to build a cadre of well-informed volunteers to serve as catalysts for local environmental improvement. Added up collectively, these volunteers can crank out an impressive amount of hours towards this goal. Programs exist in Missouri, Texas, Minnesota, Florida, Virginia, California, Delaware, to name a few. Other programs with similar goals exist in the rest of the 50 states. I am proud to say that Oregon will soon join them. I am also proud to say that OSU, with the special leadership of the College of Forestry and Sea Grant is the primary catalyst for the new program. If other state’s experiences are any guide, expect this one to be a popular program.

It is highly likely that by next fall or winter, the coast will be the site of the first pilot training in the Oregon Master Naturalist program. So if you are interested, keep your eyes open. I will use H2ONC as one way of letting folks know about this opportunity.

NOAA/Lower Columbia River Estuary Partnership Habitat Restoration Grants - NOAA funding is available through the Lower Columbia River Estuary Partnership to support estuary restoration activities. Projects must be located in the National Estuary Program boundaries of the Lower Columbia River Estuary Partnership or the Tillamook Estuaries Partnership. Preferred projects will be located within the historic floodplain of the mainstem and in the tidally-influenced portions of the tributaries. Funding requests may range from $25,000 to $150,000, with a 1:1 non-federal match (cash or in-kind) strongly encouraged. Estuary restoration activities that will be considered for funding include restoration of estuarine, tidal and diked slough habitats, dendritic drainage networks, and diked and tidal wetland habitats. Applications are due November 1, 2007.

Information can be found at:

http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/habitat/restoration/projects_programs/crp/partners/lcrep.html

For folks in the salmonid recovery efforts (i.e., those focused on salmon and trout), hatcheries are a very hot topic. A press release by Oregon State University explains the latest blow to the experiment that began over a century ago with the development of hatchery-based fish-rearing. The controversy thus far has centered around the counting of hatchery-reared fish along with returning wild stocks. As you will see below, the research by biologist Michael Blouin and others adds some real complexity to this controversy. Note you can go the source by clicking here.

CORVALLIS, Ore. – The rearing of steelhead trout in hatcheries causes a dramatic and unexpectedly fast drop in their ability to reproduce in the wild, a new Oregon State University study shows, and raises serious questions about the wisdom of historic hatchery practices.

The research, to be published Friday in the journal Science, demonstrates for the first time that the reproductive success of steelhead trout, an important salmonid species, can drop by close to 40 percent per captive-reared generation. The study reflects data from experiments in Oregon’s Hood River.

“For fish to so quickly lose their ability to reproduce is stunning, it’s just remarkable,” said Michael Blouin, an OSU associate professor of zoology. “We were not surprised at the type of effect but at the speed. We thought it would be more gradual. If it weren’t our own data I would have difficulty believing the results.”

Fish reared in a hatchery for two generations had around half the reproductive fitness of fish reared for a single generation. The effects appear to be genetic, scientists said, and probably result from evolutionary pressures that quickly select for characteristics that are favored in the safe, placid world of the hatchery, but not in the comparatively hostile natural environment.

“Among other things, this study proves with no doubt that wild fish and hatchery fish are not the same, despite their appearances,” said Michael Blouin, an OSU associate professor of zoology. “Some have suggested that hatchery and wild fish are equivalent, but these data really put the final nail in the coffin of that argument.”

Even a few generations of domestication may have significant negative effects, and repeated use of captive-reared parents to supplement wild populations “should be carefully reconsidered,” the scientists said in their report.

Traditionally, salmon and steelhead hatcheries obtained their brood stock and eggs from fish that were repeatedly bred in hatcheries – they tended to be more docile, adapted well to surface feeding, and they thrived and survived at an 85-95 percent level in the safe hatchery environment.

More recently, some “supplementation” hatchery operations have moved to the use of wild fish for their brood stock, on the theory that their offspring would retain more ability to survive and reproduce in the wild, and perhaps help rebuild threatened populations.

“What happens to wild populations when they interbreed with hatchery fish still remains an open question,” Blouin said. “But there is good reason to be worried.”

Earlier work by researchers from OSU and the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife had suggested that first-generation hatchery fish from wild brood stock probably were not a concern, and indeed could provide a short-term boost to a wild population. But the newest findings call even that conclusion into question, he said.

“The problem is in the second and subsequent generations,” Blouin said. “There is now no question that using fish of hatchery ancestry to produce more hatchery fish quickly results in stocks that perform poorly in nature.”

Evolution can rapidly select for fish of certain types, experts say, because of the huge numbers of eggs and smolts produced and the relatively few fish that survive to adulthood. About 10,000 eggs can eventually turn into fewer than 100 adults, Blouin said, and these are genetically selected for whatever characteristics favored their survival. Offspring that inherit traits favored in hatchery fish can be at a serious disadvantage in the wild where they face risks such as an uncertain food supply and many predators.

Because of the intense pressures of natural selection, Blouin said, salmon and steelhead populations would probably quickly revert to their natural state once hatchery fish were removed.

However, just removing hatchery fish may not ensure the survival of wild populations. Studies such as this consider only the genetic background of fish and the effects of hatchery selection on those genetics, and not other issues that may also affect salmon or steelhead fisheries, such as pollution, stream degradation or climate change.

Blouin cautioned that these data should not be used as an indictment of all hatchery programs.

“Hatcheries can have a place in fisheries management,” he said. “The key issue is how to minimize their impacts on wild populations.”

This research was conducted through use of 15 years of DNA tracking technology of fish breeding in Hood River, a mountain stream that flows northward off Mount Hood into the Columbia River. DNA analysis with scales was done with about 15,000 fish since 1991.

This research has been supported by the Bonneville Power Administration and the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife.

Low Impact Development (LID) is a term used to designate a suite of development practices that reduce stormwater runoff through conservation and use of existing natural site features integrated with distributed, small-scale stormwater technologies that mimic natural hydrologic processes. One example is found in my posting on the Hoquarton Bioswales below. Bioswales, like riparian areas and natural or constructed wetlands act as “green infrastructure” and help slow, capture, filter, and re-release stormwater that runs off of hard–or impervious surfaces. The greater the impervious surfaces, the greater the stormwater runoff. Stormwater acts as a ’superhighway’ for transporting pollutants into receiving waters. The more unmanaged stormwater runoff spills into our waterways, the more pollution we see building up in those waters. Hence, even 35 years after the passage of the Clean Water Act some U.S. waters continue to be polluted. The Clean Water Act in effect regulated and reduced the “point” sources of pollution in the United States (such as factories, sewage treatment plants, some farms, etc.), while stormwater-driven “non-point” pollution continues to be a big problem.

The concept of LID and the development of “green infrastructure” ideas (like bioswales) began as a response to worsening water quality in coastal areas such as the Chesapeake Bay area. I just returned from a workshop on the lovely shores of that bay and found it to be an overwhelmingly complex watershed (from a management point of view). According to the EPA, over 64,000 square miles of land drain to the Chesapeake Bay. Population in the watershed exceeds 16 million and is projected to surpass 19 million before 2030. Excessive loads of nutrients and sediment have been identified as primary causes of Bay degradation. From 1985 to 2005, EPA estimated loads from developed land sources increased up to 16 percent, while loads from wastewater disposal and agriculture decreased.

Unfortunately, it looks like even the innovative push to implement LID hasn’t been enough for the beleaguered Chesapeake. In a report to Congress, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Office of Inspector General (OIG) says new development around the Chesapeake Bay is increasing the runoff of excess nutrients and sediment at rates faster than restoration efforts are reducing them. As a result, the EPA and its Chesapeake Bay watershed partners will not meet nutrient and sediment load reduction goals for developed lands by 2010 as established in the Chesapeake 2000 Agreement, according to the OIG. This review, released Monday, is one of several conducted by the OIG in response to a congressional request. In the report, the OIG recommends that the EPA “prepare and implement a strategy that demonstrates leadership” in reversing the trend of increasing nutrient and sediment loads from developed and developing lands and should establish a stormwater permitting approach that achieves greater nutrient and sediment reductions. The EPA concurred with the recommendations in this report.

The 35-page report describing the scope of the mighty Chesapeake Bay’s problems can be found at: http://www.epa.gov/oig/reports/2007/20070910-2007-P-00031.pdf.

This doesn’t mean that the quest for LID and its hoped for reduction in stormwater-transported pollution is over–but perhaps at the scale of the Chesapeake, the technologies just aren’t enough to keep up with the accumulated impacts of 16 million people and their land uses. Here on the North Coast of Oregon–and even inland along the Lower Columbia and Willamette rivers, we have a chance to do things right–perhaps by implementing LID into almost everything we develop before we get to the point of no return. Let’s not give up the quest for clean water yet.

Hoquarton Slough is a lovely but much neglected piece of the Tillamook Bay Estuary. It runs into the heart of downtown Tillamook and until the 1931 construction of Highway 101, it was the major entryway to the city. Killamook Indians gave the area its name (meaning landing) and from 1951-1911 the city grew along it. Sawmills, docks and merchants lined the south side of the slough. Rafts of logs were sent both up and down the slough to the mills, while commercial ships and even pleasure boats plied its waters in the busy days of late 19th century capitalism.

The primary consequence of that busy trade however, was a heavily polluted and altered waterway that by the early 20th century was becoming a backwater to the busy streets of downtown Tillamook and traffic roaring through on Highway 101. When the final lumber mills and docks decayed or were burned in the 1960s, the area became a true brownfield. Only concrete footings and buried trash remain to remind visitors of this busy past. During much of the 20th century, Hoquarton was a weed covered area, filled with the last remaining waste from its heydays as a commercial hub.

Early in this century, a dedicated group of citizens approached the City of Tillamook with the intention of reviving the slough’s image and creating a public space for reconnecting local residents with their landscape and history. Their tenacious efforts have born fruit in the form of the Hoquarton Interpretive Trail system and Hoquarton Park.

Over the last few weeks I have had the pleasure of working with a diverse group of citizens and institutions to design and install two bioswales along the park’s parking lot and entryway on North Main (Hwy 101). These swales were constructed to take runoff from the parking lot and allow natural hydrological processes to reduce the water’s velocity and pollution load before dumping back into the slough. The project was made possible by a grant from Oregon Sea Grant, in-kind contributions from the City of Tillamook, generous volunteer help of Tillamook County Master Gardeners, the Hoquarton Interpretive Trail Committee and others.

Below are some photos from the installations that took place September 6th and 7th.

Above, volunteers Claudine Rehn, Cindy Sommers and Claire Thomas load soil and grade the swales on Thursday, September 6th.

As you can see in the above three photos, planting progressed quickly as volunteers placed the mostly native mix of plants into position, watered and then applied a 2″ thick mulch. The mulch will provide a surface for microbial action to break down hydrocarbons from the parking lot. Heavy metals can also be bound by this layer. These swales will serve as a demonstration of alternatives to more traditional, engineered stormwater management, which generally dumps large volumes of fast-moving and dirty water into local waterbodies with consequences for water quality and stream conditions.

Above are the completed bioswales on September 7th. While the plants looks sparse at this point, next year we expect a full swale and thriving ecosystem which will slow down and filter rainwater runoff before it enters Hoquarton Slough and Tillamook Bay.

Big bioswale thanks go out to Tillamook County Master Gardeners Linda Stephenson, Evelyn Von Felt, Carla Albright, Nancy Reardon, David Sip, and Vivi Tallman (along with her grandson Manche). Equal appreciation is due to Claire Thomas, Laureen Lamb, Cindy Sommers, Claudine Rehn, Ivan Boge, Cara and Lindsay Mico, and April Peterson, for helping with the construction. Claire was particularly helpful with the use of his truck and time. Carla even brought some slough sedge from her own garden to contribute.

Tillamook Estuaries Partnership, and the Hoquarton Interpretive Trail Committee contributed some mighty important logistical support to this effort as well. Special thanks to Laurie Lamb and Claudine Rehn for showing up at 9:00 each morning to haul tools to the site.

Mark Gervasi, Arley Sullivan, and Tim Lyda of the City of Tillamook deserve major kudos for encouraging this project to go forward, and then digging the swales out, as well as providing some fill and a water tank. Special thanks too for Jackie Russell’s support at the OSU Extension office in Tillamook.

Lastly, Hope Stanton of Wild Native Nursery and Joan Sager of Rainforest Nursery did some very hard work securing plants for this project. Don Averill Landscaping Materials also gave us a generous deal on mulch, topsoil and compost.

Stay tuned to this site for more projects in Bay City and Manzanita.

For me, Tidepool has become a very useful source of daily news on the Pacific Northwest (or as the editors call it: “Cascadia”).  While the blog side is fairly edgy, the news includes straight ahead, mainstream sources from across the region–but focused on themes of economy, community, environment, commentary, world and science.  Tidepool can be found at: http://tidepool.org/.  Much of the water-related news can be found under the environment subheading.

Tidepool is a product of the Sightline Institute, based in Seattle, WA.  Sightline is a non-profit focused on the somewhat nebulous concept of “sustainability.” While I would much rather to insert the word “resiliency” into that sentence, I found some of the information these folks offered to be compelling and hopefully useful for North Coast residents.

While you’re at it, the Tidepool website houses a wonderful project of local high school student photographers in Clatsop and Pacific counties called “A Day in the Life of the Columbia Pacific.”  Published by the Daily Astorian in 2003, the project is a peek into the perceptions and lives of (mostly young) people in this fascinating region.

Quoting entirely from Sea Grant Communications Director Joe Cone’s email in my in-box this morning:

Oregon Sea Grant director Dr. Robert E. Malouf has announced he will retire Feb. 1 after 16 years leading the marine research, outreach, and education program based at Oregon State University (OSU).

Read the rest of this entry »

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 century, but many know it today as the potential “kudzu” of the Pacific Northwest. The plant grows rapidly into huge, monocultural thickets along streams–as you can see by this colony along the North Fork of the Wilson River that I photographed just a couple of weeks ago.

Knotweed is a pernicious plant–propagating itself easily from even the tiniest fraction of a stem or root. Brousing animals and annual floods can easily move the plant throughout watersheds. Like the mythical Medusa, the plant responds to cutting by growing yet more stems. While the plant is edible (and eaten in it’s native Asia), it is of dubious wildlife value. According to experiments completed by University of California at Davis, the Lumi Tribe, and The Nature Conservancy in Oregon, small, isolated patches of knotweed can be controlled by FREQUENT cuttings, at least in April and again in August, but kept up for at least two years. No one, however, is sure if this really works and how long the plant may survive below ground. We do know that the plants can spread roots up to 25 feet in all directions of a patch. Note that composting is NOT recommended as the plants will simply sprout in the pile.

Knotweed has posed a singularly difficult problem for watershed councils and land managers interested in preserving water quality and maintaining high quality salmonid habitat. This comes from the fact that applications of herbicides must be sufficiently strong to control the plant, but at the same time, follow EPA guidelines and keep water free of the potentially toxic chemicals.

Thus far, two herbicides are recommended for treatment of riparian knotweed: glyphosphate and imazapyr. Different formulations of glyphosphate can be found under the trade names “Aquamaster,” “Rodeo,” “Gly Star,” and “Round-up” among others. Imazapyr appears under the trade name “Arsenal.” Whichever is used, be sure to follow the directions on the packaging and do not use these chemicals near water unless indicated that they are safe for aquatic life. Of these, “Aquamaster” and “Habitat” contain this indication. Now is the time to spray Knotweed plants as they are flowering and sending energy into their root systems for the winter. For details on some still experimental techniques consult The Nature Conservancy’s on-line publication “Controlling Knotweed in the Pacific Northwest.” Note that this does not constitute an official OSU endorsement of the techniques outlined therein. At the same time, I would love to hear from you if you try something and think it works (or not).

University researchers, The Nature Conservancy, the USDA, and numerous land managers are working out treatment methods as fast a possible. Stay tuned for more information here as a team of North Coast researchers and land managers work together to find some locally appropriate solutions.

In the meantime, don’t smile when you see those lovely flossy blooms along a stream near you…