An emergency water main repair Tuesday evening on the south side of West Wolfe Street just inside the Sullivan city limits disrupted several …
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Tuesday, October 30, 2018
Communities put on boil water advisory after pump station is damaged in Fayette County
West Virginia American Water has stationed potable water tankers Class VI/Adventures on the Gorge in Lansing and at the Victor Post Office on …
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Boil–water order issued in Jackson
A water main break Tuesday in Jackson’s Savannah Ridge subdivision led to a boil–water order for affected households, according to a city news …
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Water boil advisory for south end of town
From the Village of YS: Due to loss of pressure in the distribution lines, a water boil advisory has been issued for the following streets until further …
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Austin Water Utility lifts first ever citywide boil water notice after six days
After nearly a week of the Autin’s first ever citywide boil water notice, the City of Austin Water Utility has lifted the advisory as of Sunday, Oct. 28.
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Boil–water advisories: Oct. 31, 2018
The Raleigh County Public Service District has issued a boil–water advisory for some Arnett System water customers, specifically Sundial to and …
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Boil advisory issued for some Jeff Davis Parish residents
The Jeff Davis Water Commission #1 has issued a boil water advisory for … The advisory is issued as a precaution as crews make repairs to a water …
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Monday, October 29, 2018
After the boil water notice, the City Manager wants the utlity to put together an in-depth review of …
Austin’s water is safe to drink again after a week-long boil advisory following all the recent rain, and now City Manager, Spencer Cronk, wants the …
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Overheard at OMS 2018 Annual Meeting
… the meeting in “the largest city in America with a boil–water advisory,” referring to the flooding in Austin that rendered water non-potable for the week.
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Early voting turnout soars and 3 other things to know in Georgetown, Oct. 29-Nov. 3
A nearly weeklong boil water notice for Austin Water customers ended Sunday. People who live in the city, or those who work there or have plans to …
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‘The Blob’ Is Back: Here’s What It Could Mean for Lower 48
A mass of warm water in the northern Pacific Ocean known as “the blob” has returned, and it may have some profound implications for winter in the Lower 48 if it sticks around long enough.
Alaska’s fall to date has been strangely warm after an expansive dome of high pressure locked itself in place over the western part of the state. Because fall days are still long, extended warmth and sunny skies may have boosted ocean temperatures in the Northeast Pacific, causing them to rise significantly and forming the blob.
A similar patch of warm water formed several years ago in roughly the same location, together with a long-lasting zone of atmospheric high pressure called the Ridiculously Resilient Ridge.
There’s evidence that the Ridiculously Resilient Ridge caused that blob, compared to the reverse, wrote University of California climate scientist Daniel Swain.
“The blob has been a standout feature of North American climate this decade, but there is a chicken-or-egg aspect to it,” said Weather Underground meteorologist Bob Henson. “The blob warms the atmosphere above it, and the atmosphere can either nurture the blob with light winds or ravage it with strong winds that churn up cooler water.”
What scientists don’t know is just how long the blob plans on hanging around. If it manages to overstay its welcome long into winter, the Lower 48 could see some significant consequences.
“Earlier in the 2010s, the blob was part of a chain of events that extended from warmth in the western tropical Pacific all the way to cold and snow in the eastern U.S. The reemergence of the blob this fall gives us something to watch closely as a potential clue to how this winter may unfold,” Henson added.
In the past, the blob has been linked to development of extreme weather patterns across the Lower 48, including the intense California drought that peaked from 2013 to 2015. The blob has been associated with abnormally warm and dry conditions in the West and cold and stormy conditions in the East.
When the blob is in place, the jet stream, the divider of warm and cold air and a belt line for storms, is often arching north over the blob. This causes high pressure to build over the western part of the continent, allowing for mild weather and keeping storms away.
Cold air displaced by the blob and the atmospheric ridge typically moves into the East.
Despite a warmer-than-average finish to the month being forecast for Alaska by the National Weather Service’s Climate Prediction Center, the dome of high pressure fueling the blob is expected to shift and begin to deteriorate. This could allow in a stormier pattern, which may enable waters to blend where the blob sits, possibly weakening or destroying it.
The last time the blob appeared was in 2016, when multiple cold outbreaks were expected in its wake, but the blob was washed away.
Source: https://weather.com/news/climate/news/2018-10-24-the-blob-returns-pacific-ocean
High concentrations increase offshore in Pinellas, Manatee and Sarasota Counties
The newest Red Tide report from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission reveals an increase in concentration over the past week.
Patchy bloom conditions remain in Southwest Florida, Northwest Florida and along portions of Florida’s East Coast.
According to the FWC, the concentrations of Red Tide have generally increased from northern Lee County to central Pinellas County.
High concentrations have been reported in and/or offshore of Pinellas, Manatee, and northern Sarasota Counties. Medium concentrations were also detected in these same areas.
In Northwest Florida over the past week, Red Tide was observed in Escambia, Santa Rosa, Walton and Pasco Counties.
Along the East Coast, high concentrations were reported in Brevard, Indian River, and St. Lucie Counties.
Fish kills continue to happen in Pinellas Manatee, and Collier counties.
Respiratory irritation was reported over the past week in Pinellas, Manatee, and Sarasota counties.
Water outage reported on Harmon Field Road in Tryon
Tryon, NC (FOX Carolina) – Tryone Public Works is reporting a water outage on Harmon Field Road in … At this time, no boil water advisory is in effect.
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Red tide lingers on Pinellas beaches and in Tampa Bay
For a few days, beaches in Pinellas County were free of dead fish and that unmistakable irritation caused by toxins from red tide; but now it’s back.
Dead fish during red tide outbreak on Treasure Island Beach, Pinellas County. By Seán Kinane (12 October 2018).
High concentrations of the cells that cause red tide were found Wednesday on all Pinellas beaches from North Redington Beach south to Pass-A-Grille Beach and even inside Boca Ciega Bay. Some of those beaches were plagued by strong odors and strong irritations, though most were clear of dead fish.
Ed Sherwood, the executive director of the Tampa Bay Estuary Program, says the red tide is back mainly because of on-shore winds and that he hopes cooler temperatures in the coming weeks will allow other algae to out-compete Karenia brevis.
“Right after Hurricane Michael passed there was some decrease in the cell counts that were observed. But over this past week it seems like with some on-shore winds that the cell counts have started to increase, particularly along the Pinellas County beaches. And up into Boca Ciega Bay and Tampa Bay as well.”
And that’s part of where you, as the Tampa Bay Estuary Program, you might be doing your own monitoring or be out on the water. What are the people in your group telling you about the symptoms that they’re experiencing or the water discoloration and other types of indications of red tide?
“Yeah, the initial results from this week’s testing are just coming in. So, they’re showing pretty high levels of Karenia brevis, the red tide alga responsible for a lot of the fish kills that we’re observing along the Florida coasts over this past summer and into the fall. So, we’re monitoring this increase in cell concentrations that’s starting to invade into the Bay.”
Red tide information resources
“There’s a couple of resources, mainly through the Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission who report on the cell counts. But then there’s also another useful tool through the University of South Florida’s College of Marine Science, which kind of tracks the trajectory of these cells over time. And what it’s showing is with these on-shore winds they’re expecting these red tide cells to linger within the lower part of Tampa Bay and along the Pinellas County beaches.”
A cell of K. brevis, the species of microscopic algae that causes Florida red tide. – Credit: Mote Marine Laboratory, used by permission.
When you go to the beach you may not notice the tiny microscopic cells in the water. But you might see fish kills, you might notice irritation in your throat. What are some other things that people might be experiencing if they go to the beach this week?
“Yeah, definitely when the cell counts get that high there is some respiratory irritation for those sensitive to those conditions such as asthmatics or others that have pulmonary distress. So you definitely want to check a beach condition report before you go out to the beach to see what area might be having the most effects from those toxins getting into the air.”
Beach condition resources
“So, two great resources to look at are through Pinellas County if you go to VisitStPeteClearwater.com, they have a current beach condition report. So that’s a good resource if you’re going to a Pinellas County beach. Within Southwest Florida another great resource is through Mote Marine Laboratory. They also have a beach condition report that spans from Pasco all the way down to Naples. That website is VisitBeaches.org. And it will give you an indication of if folks are experiencing respiratory distress at any of these beaches along our coast.”
Cooler temperatures
And finally, I want to talk about temperature. The air temperature has dropped maybe 7 or 8 degrees (Fahrenheit) in the afternoons this week. And over the weekend or early next week it’s expected to drop a little bit more. Is the expected cooler temperatures – could that help out with the red tide?
“Yeah, I’m hopeful that this change in season will spur response from other algal species. So, particularly other competing algae like diatoms that might out-compete the red tide algal cells – the Karenia brevis – from acquiring nutrients and appropriate amount of sunlight to keep their cell counts in these high concentrations.
“So, I’m hopeful that that change in season will prompt that. But it remains to be seen. This is typically the time of year where we see blooms of red tide offshore. And then through the spring and summer months they can be carried closer to the coasts. And that’s what we saw with this bloom this year. So, I’m hopeful that this change in season will hopefully prompt an ecological response that will hopefully dissipate this red time bloom.”
Effect of nutrient runoff on red tide
Is there anything else that you’d like to add?
“This red tide bloom highlights that we need to continue to be vigilant in activities that will reduce nutrients flowing into our coastal waters. The main ingredients that prompt these red tide blooms are nutrients – nitrogen and phosphorous – coming from our watersheds and going into the coastal oceans. And then also sunlight. So if you remove those nutrients from the coast as best we can through increased management practices hopefully that will decrease the fuel that’s contributing to these blooms in the future. So I think we need to take a long view in terms of how we manage our watersheds in the future and definitely invest in more restoration activities that will decrease our nutrient pollution in the future.”
There’s also an online red tide forecast tool.
Cooler weather won’t help with red tide, but season change could
SUNSET BEACH, Fla. — It’s late October and the water is still that dark red tide color at some southern Pinellas County beaches.
Like many vacationers this year, Angie Smith and her family were concerned about the red tide.
“I can’t imagine that it would last that much longer just because it’s been going on for so long,” said daughter Ally Smith.
Luckily it wasn’t as bad as they thought and they’ve been able to enjoy their vacation at Treasure Island Beach.
But everyone can agree that this red tide has lasted a long time. Oceanographers from NOAA say that this algae bloom actually started last October in the Gulf before making its way to shore.
So what will make this toxic algae bloom disappear? NOAA says cold weather really has no impact, but season changes do.
“What we see for a bloom to dissipate usually happens on a seasonal level with season shifts of the currents and winds that will take the bloom off shore,” said Edward Davis, Oceanographer for NOAA.
Davis says there is no way to predict the red tide changes more than five days out, but it’s rare for a bloom to last through the winter.
“We’re just as hopeful as everyone on the coast right now that this winter will dissipate it,” said Davis.
Boil Advisory for Scott Avenue, Scott Court, Milton Avenue residences
A water boil advisory for the 700 block of Scott Court, 500 block of Scott Avenue and 730 Milton Avenue is effective until further notice, according to …
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Boil–water advisories: Oct. 29, 2018
The Walton Public Service District has issued a boil–water advisory for customers from Hurricane Missionary Baptist Church, Clio Road and Lewis …
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Boil advisory impacting New Harmony
It’s due to a water main break that was found on Saturday. Repairs have been made, but the boil advisory continues while the town awaits the test …
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Boil water notice lifted Sunday
Austin Water lifted the city’s boil water notice Sunday afternoon after one week. The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality tested the water and …
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Sunday, October 28, 2018
Wading the waters after the city-wide boil notice
The boiling advisory is over, but the threat of losing access to potable water is not. The city-wide boiling notice that was put into effect last Monday …
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9th person dies amid virus outbreak at New Jersey pediatric center
Austin lifts boil–water advisory: Officials in Austin have lifted a boil–water notice implemented after the city’s water supply was filled with silt, mud and …
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Austin lifts widespread boil water notice after 6 days
Austin Water has lifted the boil water notice that has been in place since Monday, Oct. 22, 2018. Customers no longer need to boil water used for …
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Austin Boil Water Notice Canceled, Some Restrictions Remain in Place
The boil water notice was first issued six days ago on Monday, October 22, 2018 at 3 a.m. City leaders said that the floodwaters in the Highland Lakes …
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Mandatory boil water notice lifted for City of Callaway
CALLAWAY, Fla. – The mandatory boil water notice has been lifted in the City of Callaway. You should run water for approximately five minutes at each …
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Saturday, October 27, 2018
The boil water advisory in Buckingham is over
A preventive boil water advisory has been lifted in the Buckingham sector of … The advisory had been declared earlier in the week while watermain …
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Friday, October 26, 2018
Boil advisory in Palmetto lifted
The advisory was issued on October 18 for Rideau Road, Bolden Road, Hwy. 359 and Hwy. 71 after a break in a main water line. Water samples were …
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Boil advisory issued after crew ruptures water main
On Friday the City of Bossier City issued a boil advisory after a water main was struck by a … During this time residents will have low water pressure.
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Old North Bossier Subdivision under boil advisory
The City of Bossier City has issued a boil advisory for a small area of Bossier Cityafter a water main was struck by a company working on a gas line.
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Inspectors Eyeing Restaurants to Avoid Illness During Boil Notice
AUSTIN, Texas – Health officials are keeping an eye on Austin restaurants to ensure customers don’t get sick from contaminated water during the boil …
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Ilion going ahead with water line project
He also said the village has lifted the boil water advisory for South Ilion. The advisory went into effect in August due to a project to replace a water …
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Thursday, October 25, 2018
Health update: No restaurants cited yet for using contaminated water, consumption illnesses likely …
Since Monday, Austin has been under an unprecedented citywide boil water notice, the result of several weeks of rainfall, which set off destructive …
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Pembroke issues boil–water advisory
PEMBROKE — Residents who lost water because of a break Thursday afternoon in a main water line are under a precautionary 24-hour boil–water …
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Boil water advisory issued for parts of Estill County
ESTILL COUNTY, Ky. (WTVQ) – The Estill County Water District issued a boil water advisory for some neighborhoods in Estill County on Thursday.
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Orlando residents push for brick road instead of asphalt where water main broke
… a water main break Monday lefts parts of Summerlin Avenue underwater. The water main has been fixed and the boil water advisory for residents in …
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Austin water restrictions shut down carwashes
AUSTIN, Texas — According to www.communityimpact.com, on Monday, Oct. 22nd, the city of Austin announced a citywide boil advisory for cooking …
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Austin Water explains the now ‘official’ and ‘mandatory’ boil water notice
Austin Water is still hoping to wrap this boil water notice up by the weekend. … Not to confuse anyone, the boil water notice is still very much in effect.
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Boil–water advisories: Oct. 25, 2018
Logan County Public Service District has issued a boil–water advisory for water customers from Big Creek to 14 Mile Mountain and Ridgeview.
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Wednesday, October 24, 2018
Austin’s boil water alert prompts calls to Austin Public Health
AUSTIN — Day three of Austin’s boil water alert came as Austin Water saw an increase in the water’s cloudiness the day before. This triggered a …
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Central Texas’s torrent of floods overwhelms water-treatment systems
The warning intensified Tuesday, when the contamination triggered a … The distribution centers will be open until the boil–water advisory is lifted.
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A million Austinites cope with boil–water advisory that may extend into weekend
AUSTIN — More than a million Austin residents may be boiling their tap water into the weekend, as Travis County faces continued rain that could …
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Residents scramble to find bottled water amidst boil water advisory
Residents in West Lake Hills and Rollingwood were being asked to boil their water before using it while Austin Water’s treatment plant stabilizes.
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Weather remains ‘critical factor’ in boil water timeline as Austin’s water quality begins to improve
Austin Water Director Greg Meszaros said Wednesday that contamination levels had dropped since the city issued a mandatory water boil notice …
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Tuesday, October 23, 2018
Brentwood subdivision without water, sewer services for more than three days
Aqua Texas officials issued a boil water advisory Saturday after the water outage, and now that services are restored, residents need to boil their water …
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Austin Boil–Water Mandate Could Last Less Than A Week As City Faces Possible Shortage
The boil–water advisory coupled with its uncertain longevity triggered a frantic run on bottled water throughout the city on Monday. But as the Texas …
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Highly localized boil order in Ouachita Parish
OUACHITA PARISH, La, – (10/23/2018) The Cadeville Water System is issuing a boil advisory for customers on William Harris Road only. They say it’s …
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Austin’s shelters, nonprofits in need of water donations
Austin’s boil water advisory, which is expected to last another “handful of days,” has affected area shelters, which serve populations that are often …
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UT Austin Opens Water Distribution Stations
AUSTIN, Texas — As the City of Austin boil water notice continues, UT Austin is offering free bottled water as a supplement to individual supplies for …
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Monday, October 22, 2018
Rose Hill school will be in session Tuesday, boil water advisory still in effect
UPDATE: Rose Hill USD 394 will have school Tuesday, but a KDHE Boil Water Advisory remains in effect. The city’s Facebook page says all other …
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Austin Water Customers Urged to Reduce Consumption During Boil Water Advisory
AUSTIN, Texas – Austin Water continued to remind customers Monday … For more information about the boil water advisory, visit the City of Austin …
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What to do during a boil water notice
AUSTIN (KXAN) — Austin Water issued a boil water notice for all of its customers Monday morning, something the utility has never done in its history, …
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Part of Belton under boil water advisory for drinking, cooking
BELTON, Texas — The city of Belton announced Monday afternoon a boil water advisory for the area east of I-35, between Nolan Creek and the Leon …
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Boil water notice issued for western portions of Travis County
The West Travis County Public Utility Agency issued a boil water notice to all its customers Monday morning. Due to high water levels and associated …
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Developer Challenges Proposed Water Pollution Control Plan
A land development firm, which has a lawsuit pending against the Water & Sewer Authority (WSA), is challenging the WSA’s proposed revisions to its Water Pollution Control Plan, charging that the proposed changes involve “several illegalities.”
In an October 11 letter to the WSA, attorney Timothy Hollister of the Hartford law firm Shipman & Goodwin LLP, representing developer 79 Church Hill Road LLC, further alleges that some past aspects of the WSA’s administration of the central municipal public sanitary sewer system have been “illegal.” The WSA held a public hearing on October 11 on the proposed pollution control plan revisions.
In August, 79 Church Hill Road LLC, which proposes a controversial large rental apartment complex at that address, near Exit 10 of Interstate 84, filed a lawsuit against the WSA, through which the firm seeks court approval to either substantially or to greatly expand the land area at which the firm could construct the apartment complex with municipal sewer service.
Through the lawsuit, the Trumbull-based developer also is seeking to have the court nullify certain conditions that the WSA has placed on the firm obtaining municipal sewage treatment capacity for the proposed dwellings.
The project, known as Hunters Ridge, would include an “affordable housing” component, in which income-eligible tenants would be charged significantly lower rents than the tenants occupying market-rate units.
An initial version of the project proposed 224 dwellings, of which 45 units would be designated as “affordable” under the terms of the Planning & Zoning Commission’s (P&Z) Incentive Housing-10 (IH-10) zoning regulations. The most recent of several subsequent versions of the project proposed by the developer would hold 141 dwellings, of which 43 units would be designated as “affordable” under the terms of the state’s Affordable Housing Appeals Act.
Through the lawsuit, the developer also is seeking to nullify the WSA’s having strictly limited the size of the area where development could occur and also to nullify the WSA’s requirement that the developer gain approvals for the project from the P&Z and the from Inland Wetlands Commission (IWC) before the WSA would provide municipal sanitary sewer service for the project. The lawsuit is pending in Connecticut Superior Court in Danbury.
In court on October 9, the town filed 12 documents, totaling 327 pages, related to the lawsuit, plus two versions of mapping for the central sewer district service area: one from 2015 and the other from 2001.
In his October 11 letter to the WSA, Mr Hollister challenges the WSA’s use of the term “sewer avoidance area” in its proposed Water Pollution Control Plan as all the land not located within a sewer service area as being “arbitrary, baseless, and illegal.” The lawyer claims that the WSA’s use of the term “sewer avoidance area” is “nonsensical, a meat-axe approach to a determination that can only be made parcel-by-parcel.
“Each owner of land within a sewer service area has a legal right to demand and receive its services,” Mr Hollister writes.
The attorney further claims that the state’s remaining share of the sewage treatment capacity at the Commerce Road sewage treatment plant will never be used by the state. “Given this fact, the WSA and the town have an obligation to request the state to cede that capacity back to the town,” according to Mr Hollister.
“The WSA and the town are freezing and hoarding (sewage treatment) capacity that should be available to owners of property in Newtown as well as creating a de facto moratorium on sewer capacity allocation, and (the WSA is) controlling land use,” the lawyer alleges.
WSA Response
In response to the lawyer’s letter, Fred Hurley, town public works director, said that the matter would be referred to Town Attorney David Grogins for legal review and recommendations to the WSA. Mr Grogins’ comments are expected to be discussed by WSA members at their November 8 meeting.
The WSA’s proposed revised Water Pollution Control Plan is more concise than the plan that it would replace, reducing the amount of sewage gallonage statistics included in the document. If the revised plan is approved by the WSA, there would be less need for the WSA to repeatedly update the document, according to Mr Hurley.
The current plan was approved by the WSA in January 2015. The original plan was approved in 1995, with revisions made in 1999 and 2009.
“It [the plan] was cumbersome in that it was too specific,” according to Mr Hurley.
According to the proposed revised plan, the document, through its related mapping, delineates the boundaries of areas to be served by town sewers as well as the areas where sewers are to be avoided. The plan also describes the policies and programs the town employs to control both surface water and groundwater pollution.
The boundaries of the central sewer system became a controversial issue earlier this year when 79 Church Hill Road LLC, sought WSA approval to construct the high-density rental apartment complex at that address.
The WSA’s review of its current sewer mapping had indicated that the sewer district did not extend as far northward in that area as the developer had thought, thus putting some strict limits on the geographical area that could be served by sanitary sewers. Unable to resolve the conflict, the developer then filed a lawsuit which challenges the WSA’s decision on the size of the area that can be served by sewers.
Notably, the central sanitary sewer system, which started operations in 1997, was constructed for environmental reasons. The system was built by the town to provide an environmentally sound way to dispose of wastewater. Many failing septic systems had been causing soil and groundwater pollution problems.
The town shares the use of the sewage treatment plant with the state. The town has the rights to use up to 332,000 gallons of the plant’s overall 932,000-gallon daily treatment capacity. In April, town officials said that the plant was treating on average roughly 500,000 gallons of wastewater daily.
The separate Hawleyville sanitary sewer system, which started operations in 2001 and was expanded in 2016, was constructed by the town to stimulate economic development. The town has the rights to use up to 150,000 gallons of the Danbury sewage plant’s daily treatment capacity for its Hawleyville sewers.
Source: https://www.newtownbee.com/developer-challenges-proposed-water-pollution-control-plan/10192018
How Drought and Other Extremes Impact Water Pollution
One in 10 Americans depends on the Colorado River for bathing and drinking. Last fall’s record-high temperatures reduced Colorado snowpack in winter 2018 to 66 percent of normal, sparking concern over water shortages downstream and leaving water managers fearful of a repeat.
Diminishing snowpack isn’t all that affects water reserves. At many sites across the West where the federal Natural Resources Conservation Service measures the amount of water contained within snow, this snow-water equivalent was less than half of median values from 1981 to 2010. At the same time, snow is melting near the Colorado River’s headwaters almost a month earlier than it did 25 years ago. This earlier melt alone has caused shifts in plant communities that function to absorb nutrients, process pollutants, and filter sediment as water moves downstream – increasing the odds that water quality, not just water supply, will be put at risk by a warming atmosphere.
Hydrological science expert and geochemist Bhavna Arora is part of a team at the Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) studying the changes to these plant communities in a research area along the East River catchment near the Upper Colorado River headwaters. The team’s studies, part of the Watershed Function Scientific Focus Area (SFA) program, are useful for predicting how disturbances to mountainous watersheds – like floods, drought, changing snowpack and earlier snowmelt – impact the downstream delivery of water, nutrients, carbon, and metals.
Q. Does anything concern you about what your team is observing at the East River watershed?
A. Snow is melting an average of 26 days earlier than it did 25 years ago – a phenomenon that’s forced a dramatic shift in plant communities in and around the Upper Colorado River. When snow melts far sooner than expected, nitrates produced naturally beneath snow can be released much earlier in the watershed. Regional plants that historically functioned synchronously within the ecosystem to absorb nutrients from water within snowmelt have been replaced or risk being replaced by more drought-resistant plants that may not be so adept at taking up nitrogen.
The Natural Resources Conservation Service, an agency of the USDA, monitors snowpack and related climatic data at more than 700 sites in 11 western states. This snow map shows how snow depth in January 2018 across the West compared to median snow depth values recorded during January from 1981 to 2010 at these sites. (Photo Courtesy of USDA NRCS)
At the East River, Colorado, catchment site that is the project test bed, a community of deep-rooted shrubs has replaced grasses and wildflowers, which rapidly take up nitrogen and other elements from water within snowmelt. It’s not yet clear if these new plants can quickly assume the roles of their predecessors and prevent nitrates or other elements from entering the river and traveling downstream.
In just under two short years since our team began studying there, we’ve witnessed earlier snowmelt accompanied by the diminished snowpack that has become so familiar across entire regions of the mountainous West. We wanted to quantify the influence of changes in snowmelt timing and snowpack depth on nitrogen fluxes and plant phenology at our study site.
We’re using remote sensing and wells that penetrate deep into the bedrock to continuously monitor vegetation, seasonal soil temperatures, water availability, and chemistry throughout the soil and subsurface at the East River site. Our observations and computer simulations show that an earlier and larger nitrate peak occurs with early snowmelt in comparison to a normal snowmelt scenario. We also found that differences in snowpack depths change the under-snow nutrient buffer and ammonia concentration. In both scenarios of early snowmelt and decreased snowpack, shrubs have replaced grasses and wildflowers as the dominant vegetation.
Although much more study needs to be done, this is an excellent example of the complexity of nature.
Q: Do these observations spell trouble for the water that ends up as irrigation water for crops or as drinking water for residents downstream?
A. Headwaters catchments like the East River represent a section of river that has not been impacted by land use changes such as agriculture. What’s troubling is not the concentrations we’re seeing at these pristine research sites but what that means for water as it moves downstream. The peaks in nitrates after a long, extended drought are particularly worrisome because the risks of excess nitrates to human health are well-known and worthy of our attention. Intense rainfall like we’ve experienced leads to excess nitrates being leached into the river, which could put downstream water supplies at risk.
Without investigating many more sites over multiple years, it’s far too soon to say how increased nitrate concentration in headwater catchments could impact runoff as it moves downstream. But it’s reasonable to believe that it could. Take agricultural regions, for example. Historically we’ve added nitrogen to farmland soils as fertilizer. As a result, there’s been a build-up of groundwater nitrates and nitrous oxide emissions to the air across major agricultural regions. So, while excess nitrates in the water near our remote research site might not pose a significant threat to human health, we can’t be sure that the same is true downstream in waters in and around lands that are intensively used.
Q. We started out discussing the record drought and heat in Colorado and across the Western U.S. If summer temperatures and lack of precipitation are any indication, it seems unlikely that we can expect fall and winter to be more in keeping with the historic norm. Are these erratic patterns of concern?
A. Snowmelt timing is critical to plant growth and growing season duration, setting the starting point for when plants emerge from their winter dormancy and begin to grow. The exact timing of snowmelt is also critical to our work as it represents one of the most important and dynamic times of the year – a period when there’s a lot to study and understand.
Geochemical modelers like me benefit from having access to quality data about snow patterns, temperature, humidity, and other factors likely to cause changes within mountainous watersheds. For decades, hydrologists could time their field observations according to the relatively predictable timing of snowmelt and depth of snowpack based on historic patterns. Relative consistency in precipitation and temperature also allows us to predict future watershed response to these factors based on previous trends, in addition to current observations.
Huge fluctuations in snow accumulation and melt have required us to develop a network of sensors that autonomously measure soil temperature and soil water and continuously capture video of the surface of the snow. In this way we can “observe” the start of snowmelt through changes in water and temperature and predict the likely date range of snow-free conditions a week or two in advance. Then we mobilize our teams and equipment and get out there!
With shifts in plant communities due to early snowmelt, we don’t yet know how well those new plant communities will work together to absorb nitrogen and other nutrients. Since those new plant communities may take years to become established, we need to use computer models to predict what might happen. With the shift in snowmelt timing from historic trends – and in flux even from year to year, it becomes even more difficult to predict what changes in temperature and precipitation patterns will mean for the water supply in two years, much less 10 or 50 years.
Our best hope is to build the best computer models possible that can numerically explore all of these factors (snowmelt timing, drought, monsoons, plant species, etc.) combined, and test those models with data from the field. In this way we hope to predict the future quantity and quality of our water as it flows downstream and impacts users and ecosystems far removed from its origin in the Upper Colorado River.
# # #
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory addresses the world’s most urgent scientific challenges by advancing sustainable energy, protecting human health, creating new materials, and revealing the origin and fate of the universe. Founded in 1931, Berkeley Lab’s scientific expertise has been recognized with 13 Nobel Prizes. The University of California manages Berkeley Lab for the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Science. For more, visit www.lbl.gov.
DOE’s Office of Science is the single largest supporter of basic research in the physical sciences in the United States, and is working to address some of the most pressing challenges of our time. For more information, please visit science.energy.gov.
Source: https://newscenter.lbl.gov/2018/10/10/how-drought-and-other-extremes-impact-water-pollution/
Oregon Cherry Growers fined $9,372 for water pollution violations
State environmental regulators have fined Oregon Cherry Growers $9,372 for failing to monitor wastewater discharges at its Salem facility during the 2017-18 monitoring year.
It’s the second year in a row the company has failed to do so, the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality said in its penalty order.
Oregon Cherry Growers operates a 135,000-square-foot processing plant factory at 1502 Woodrow St. NE. It produces about 24 million pounds of maraschino cherries each year.
The company has a permit to discharge wastewater to the Willamette River. It is required to test its wastewater for iron, lead and mercury, and for biochemical oxygen demand, a measure of organic pollution.
The company did not perform any monitoring, despite an Aug. 31, 2017 warning from DEQ, the order states.
Oregon Cherry Growers was also cited in 2015, for failing to test its wastewater during the 2014-15 monitoring year.
The company did not respond to a request for an interview.
Oregon Cherry Growers has operated in Salem since 1932. Last year, it was sold to California-based Pacific Coast Producers, a private-label packer of canned fruits and tomatoes.
When yesterday’s agriculture feeds today’s water pollution
A study led by researchers at Université de Montréal quantifies for the first time the maximum amount of nutrients – specifically, phosphorus – that can accumulate in a watershed before additional pollution is discharged into downriver ecosystems.
That average threshold amount is 2.1 tonnes per square kilometre of land, the researchers estimate in their study published today in Nature Geoscience. “Beyond this, further phosphorus inputs to watersheds cause a significant acceleration of (phosphorus) loss in runoff.”
This amount is shockingly low, the researchers say; given current nutrient application rates in most agricultural watersheds around the world, tipping points in some cases could be reached in less than a decade.
The study was led by Jean-Olivier Goyette, a doctoral student in biology at UdeM, and supervised by UdeM aquatic ecosystem ecologist Roxane Maranger in collaboration with sustainability scientist Elena Bennett at McGill University.
Phosphorus, an element in fertilizer, is essential to the growth of plant food. But the mineral is also harmful when overused. When it gets into surface water, it can lead to excessive plant growth in lakes and rivers and proliferation of toxic algae, harmful to human and animal health.
23 watersheds studied
Focusing on 23 watersheds feeding the St. Lawrence River in Quebec, the researchers reconstructed historic land-use practices in order to calculate how much phosphorus has accumulated on the land over the past century.
The two main sources of phosphorus to watersheds, the land adjacent to tributaries, come from agriculture (fertilizers and animal manure) and from the human population (through food needs and sewage).
Using Quebec government data, the researchers matched the estimated accumulation with phosphorus concentrations measured in the water for the last 26 years. Since the watersheds they studied had different histories – some had been used intensively for agriculture for decades whereas others were forested and pristine – this method allowed the researchers to establish a gradient of different phosphorus accumulations among sites. In so doing, they were able to see at what point the watershed “tipped” or reached a threshold and began to leak considerably more phosphorus into the water.
“Think of the land as a sponge,” Maranger said. “After a while, sponges that absorb too much water will leak. In the case of phosphorus, the landscape absorbs it year after year after year, and after a while, its retention capacity is reduced. At that point historical phosphorus inputs contribute more to what reaches our water.”
Until now, no-one had been able to put a number to the amount of accumulated phosphorus at the watershed scale that’s needed to reach a tipping point in terms of accelerating the amount of the mineral flowing into the aquatic ecosystem.
‘Really important contribution’
“This is a very important finding,” Bennett said. “It takes our farm-scale knowledge of fertilizers and pollution and scales it up to understand how whole watersheds respond within a historical context.”
Agriculture on a mass scale began in Quebec only in the 1950s, but some of the province’s more historical agricultural watersheds had already passed the tipping point by the 1920s, the study found.
Even if phosphorus inputs ceased immediately, eliminating the accumulated phosphorus in saturated Quebec watersheds would take between 100 and 2,000 years, the researchers estimate.
In some countries, including China, Canada, and the US, phosphorus is so heavily used now that the saturation point is reached in as little as five years.
“Nutrient management strategies developed using novel creative approaches … are urgently required for the long-term sustainability of water resources,” the researchers urge in their study.
Recycle and reuse
“One possible mitigating measure would be to do what is already being done in some European countries: instead of adding more and more to help plants grow, phosphorus already stored in soils can be accessed using new practices and approaches,” Goyette said.
“Furthermore, phosphorus can be recycled and reused as fertilizer rather than accessing more of the raw mined material.”
The dilemma is this: humans need to eat but need to have clean water, yet growing food requires phosphorus that pollutes the water when too much leaves the watershed and pollutes adjacent aquatic ecosystems.
“Are some of our more extreme (agricultural) watersheds impossible to repair?” Maranger asked. “I can’t answer that. It’s a societal issue and there are solutions. We should never despair, but it’s a wicked problem.”
Source: https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2018-10/uom-wya100518.php
Water Biggest Environmental Concerns
Unfortunately, as time goes on, we’re seeing more and more environmental concerns cropping up. With that comes more causes to identify and more potential solutions. In this post, the second part of our 6-part series, we’re going to be taking a look at water pollution, and the drastic impact it is having on our environment.
Why is water an environmental concern?
Water pollution is an increasingly dangerous problem, affecting people across the world. Some people believe that water pollution is an unavoidable result of human activity. That, if we want to have cars, ships, factories and oil, we must predict and accept pollution to some extent.
However, this is far from the truth. The economic cost of water pollution far outweighs the benefits of skimping on quality of oil tankers, petrol cars and large factories. It isn’t just the financial cost of water pollution that is causing a global problem, either.
Toxic and chemical waste that is getting into our waterways can cause illness in humans and poison the marine life living nearby. As mentioned in our last post, the destruction of certain ecosystems is having a devastating effect on our biodiversity.
What causes water pollution?
Before we can start to make changes, we need to understand what causes the pollution in the first place. Water can be polluted from a range of different sources and activities, from plastic pollution to the residual sludge and wastewater from industrial mills:
- Industrial waste – Pollutants such as lead, mercury, sulphur and nitrates are produced by industrial companies and drained in fresh water, ending up in the sea.
- Sewage – Sewage and waste water are chemically treated before being released into the sea, carrying harmful bacteria and damaging chemicals that can cause severe health problems for humans and sea life.
- Oil leakage – Oil tankers that haven’t been adequately protected can be involved in an accident and spill large quantities of oil into the sea, which causes huge damage when entering the sea as it doesn’t dissolve.
- Plastic waste – The vast amount of plastic used by the human population is not biodegradable and will inevitably end up in our oceans, where it will harm and kill a great deal of our sea life.
Making a change
There’s no quick fix for water pollution. It’s taken years for the waters to become heavily polluted and will take years to undo the pollution. But there are a few things we can do to improve the problem.
First of all, we need to educate people on the causes and effects of water pollution. Increasing public awareness can only help to reduce the amount of pollution. One of the main issues with water pollution is the grey areas in the laws across the world. With tougher environmental laws across national and international borders, we can make it much tougher for people to pollute.
By working together to keep the environment clean, we can make a healthier, better world for the plants, animals and people that depend on it. To find out more about the biggest environmental concerns in 2019, be sure to check out our next post, on deforestation.
Corrupt leaders & water pollution: Study shows what Americans are really afraid of
It’s the spookiest time of the year, but a new study shows Americans aren’t fearful of ghosts and goblins. In fact, the grim prospect of corrupt leaders, polluted water, and no money is what’s really scaring the nation.
An annual survey of 1,190 adults has been run by Chapman University in California since 2014, but this year is the first time the majority of participants said they are afraid of all 10 scenarios in the top 10 list.
Government corruption ranks first among America’s biggest concerns, while in second and third places is the pollution of oceans, rivers, lakes, and drinking water. In at third, fourth, and fifth are not having enough money for the future, and loved ones becoming seriously ill or dying.
“It is worth noting that the fears regarding corruption and the environment have increased significantly following the election of President Trump in 2016 and all top 10 fears continue to reflect topics often discussed in the media,” said Christopher Bader, professor of sociology.
Air pollution, extinction of plant and animal species, global warming and climate change, and high medical bills all round out the top 10 fears plaguing Americans.
While future financial stability will always be a fear for people, the researchers say the upturn in the economy means it features less often and gives Americans room to worry about other things, like the environment.
Meanwhile, the survey found that US citizens are less fearful of Muslim and illegal immigrants in American society in comparison to previous surveys.
“Two years ago, one out of three Americans thought immigration from Muslim countries should be banned, now that’s one out of five. The majority of American are not afraid of illegal immigration. Two out of three Americans do not want a border wall,” said Ed Day, Ph.D., professor and chair of the Department of Sociology.
Interestingly the survey, which was carried out over the summer of 2018, showed a stark divide between Republicans and Democrats and what they are afraid of: “What frightens Republicans the most doesn’t even register for Democrats, and vice versa. We see that bifurcation increasing, and that frightens me,” Bader said.
Source: https://www.rt.com/usa/441924-americans-fear-corruption-pollution/
Sunday, October 21, 2018
ADVISORY – Boil Water In Sauquoit
UTICA, NY – A Boil Water Advisory has been issued in the Sauquoit area. The entire Sauquoit Water District is effected. This advisory is in effect until …
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Boil water advisory lifted for New Orleans neighborhoods east of Franklin Avenue
The boil water advisory for the Lower 9th Ward and all areas east of Franklin Avenue in New Orleans was lifted midday Sunday (Oct. 21). New Orleans …
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Boil water advisory lifted for Lower Ninth Ward/ New Orleans East
A boil water advisory for the Lower Ninth Ward and New Orleans East has been lifted after water samples came back clean. The Sewerage & Water …
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Southeast Water in Vermilion Parish under boil order
Southeast Water in Vermilion Parish is under a boil advisory until further notice. A valve blew out, causing a drop in pressure. The valve has been …
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Boil Advisory issued for some North McLean Co. Water customers
MCLEAN CO., KY (WFIE) – A boil advisory has been issued for some North … Water District customers. … Officials say it’s because of a water leak.
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Boil water advisory issued for areas east of Franklin Avenue
The Sewerage & Water Board of New Orleans issued a precautionary boil water advisory for areas east of Franklin Avenue from Lake Pontchartrain to …
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Saturday, October 20, 2018
UPDATE: Boil water advisory lifted for Wheeling Water customers
According to the City of Wheeling Water Department, an advisory was issued for Wheeling Water customers to boil their bathing and drinking water …
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Boil water advisory issued for all of New Orleans east of Franklin Avenue
Residents in all of New Orleans east of Franklin Avenue were advised Saturday to boil tap water before drinking it. (Photo by Eliot Kamenitz, The …
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Boil water advisory issued for areas east of Franklin Ave.
NEW ORLEANS (WVUE) – The Sewerage and Water Board has issued a precautionary boil water advisory for all areas east of Franklin Avenue from …
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Boil water advisory issued for large part of New Orleans
NEW ORLEANS — A boil water advisory has been issued for all New Orleans residents East of Franklin Avenue. According to a statement from the …
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Boil water advisory for US 70 East residents
Therefore, the Division of Environmental Health advises that when the water service is restore to customers boil the water used for human …
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Friday, October 19, 2018
Hotel room nights down for two years/CVB determined to reverse the trend
And two water main breaks near Owensboro Municipal Utilities’ water plant cut off all water in the city for one day and put a boil water advisory in effect …
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Oil leak forces water pump offline, prompting Lower 9th Ward boil advisory: S&WB
This photo shows a portion of the Sewerage & Water Board’s water and power plant located on South Claiborne Avenue near the Jefferson Parish line …
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Water main break causes boil advisory in west Shreveport
A boil advisory has been issued in areas west of Interstate 220, north of Interstate 20, and south of Jefferson Paige Road due to a water main blowout …
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Boil Water Advisory Issued for Parts of Sacramento
SACRAMENTO, Ky. (10/19/18) — Sacramento Waterworks has issued a boil water advisory for water customers north of Kentucky 254 from Adams …
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Waleska under boil advisory due to water main break
Any customers affected by yesterday’s water main break in on Land Road in the city of Waleska are being advised to boil their water until further notice …
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Oakland City boil advisory lifted
A boil advisory that was issued earlier this week in Oakland City has been lifted. The boil advisory was issued on Tuesday after a water main break.
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Boil water advisory issued for Lower 9th Ward: Sewerage & Water Board
The Lower 9th Ward in New Orleans is under a boil advisory after a water pump taken out of service Friday morning (Oct. 19) sent pressure tumbling …
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Boil water advisory issued for New Orleans’ Lower 9th Ward Friday morning
Residents in the Lower 9th Ward have been asked to boil water if they intend to use it after a pump was taken offline at a Sewerage and Water Board …
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Thursday, October 18, 2018
Grundy County Public Water Supply District issues boil order
Grundy County Public Water Supply District Number 1 has issued a precautionary boil advisory due to a broken water line and repairs. The advisory …
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Boil Water Advisory LIFTED for Graham, Adjacent Areas
(10/18/18) — The boil water for the Graham area has been lifted. … (10/17/18) — A boil water advisory has been issued for the Graham area.
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City of Leesburg retracts Boil Water Advisory
LEESBURG — A Boil Water Advisory issued last week by the City of Leesburg was inadvertently sent out Thursday and posted on a local media web …
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Large-scale boil water advisory in Hull begins Saturday
Residents of Gatineau’s Hull area are reminded that a preventive boil water advisory period begins Saturday, as a new phase begins in large-scale …
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Authorities advise Pelican Rapids residents to boil tap water
Authorities advise Pelican Rapids residents to boil tap water … The boil water advisory was put in place after repairs were made to a water main that …
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Wednesday, October 17, 2018
Aransas Pass water boil continues, waiting on word from TCEQ
Corpus Christi (KIII News) — A water boil advisory for the City of Aransas Pass continued into its sixth day Wednesday despite officials’ hopes to call it …
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By West Kentucky Star Staff
The city issued the boil order about 4 pm Wednesday. They say that during water plant maintenance and filter cleaning, well water was transferred to …
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GLWA hopes new water main technology will detect potential problems before they arise
GLWA hopes new water main technology will detect potential problems … leaving 10 communities under a boil water advisory for more than a week.
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Water boil advisory lifted
A water boil advisory issued for several Findlay streets, including the 700 and 800 blocks of Winfield Ave., the 900 block of Parkside Place, and the …
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Boil water advisory issued to Intercession City customers has been lifted
The precautionary boil water advisory issued on Monday, October 15, to customers located in Intercession City has been rescinded (lifted). Customers …
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Hurricane Michael threatening to stir up red tide on Tampa Bay area beaches
PINELLAS COUNTY, Fla. (WFLA) – Dark clouds hung over Clearwater Beach Monday as Hurricane Michael headed towards the Florida panhandle.
Some beach goers were worried about the storm.
“I don’t know if I should evacuate or not,” said one Clearwater resident.
The bigger concern is how Hurricane Michael will impact red tide.
“Some beaches they said, it was already starting to smell.”
For weeks, Tampa Bay area coastal beaches have had tons of dead sea life and rotting fish.
The conditions were improving.
“So it looks pretty good right now and if that is sustained, things will get much better. But we also know that once the hurricane passes, we will be having on shore winds, so we’ll have to wait and see how that effects the coastal environment,” said Dr. Richard Pierce, with Mote Marine Laboratory.
He said it will depend on the storm’s hurricane force winds.
“We don’t really know exactly what’s going to happen. There have been instances where a hurricane have come through, disperse the red tide so it couldn’t come back. There have been times when it stirred things up, maybe brought more nutrients to the area and so the red tide came back worse than it was,” said Dr. Pierce.
Scientists are monitoring red tide conditions as the storm approaches.
More dead fish reported along Pinellas County beaches
PINELLAS COUNTY, Fla. — More dead fish washed up onto Pinellas County beaches on Friday, county officials said they were hit hard.
“The entire coastline in Pinellas County from Clearwater south has been impacted,” Sean Tipton, the Field Operations Coordinator for the Department of Public Works, said.
Crews estimate they have removed about 100 tons of dead fish from Pinellas County beaches Friday. You could see crews wearing masks as they cleaned up the beaches, they plan to work up until about 7 p.m.
“If the beach is not the thing to do that day, there is other stuff inland that your family can enjoy,” Tipton said.
While the beaches in Pinellas County had improved, once the wind shifted it started pushing it back onshore this week. Tipton said these west winds are projected to last until Tuesday.
“I would expect as long as we have a bloom just off our shore, we’re going to see fish coming in,” Tipton said.
Twice a day the county releases a report with the beach conditions. The report states which beaches are seeing the most impacts because of the red tide, including reports of respiratory issues.
Source: https://www.abcactionnews.com/news/more-dead-fish-reported-along-pinellas-county-beaches
Back to the Beach: While Hurricane Michael didn’t do much to dissipate red tide in the Gulf, Manasota Key enjoys a reprieve
ENGLEWOOD — The beach is back — at least for now.
“It’s lovely,” Port Charlotte resident Rachel Goff said of Englewood Beach. She and her son, Eli, celebrated his first birthday at the public beach Monday morning.
Joined by Amanda Wargo and her 16-month-old daughter, Willow, Goff said the beach was free of any dead fish, any other signs or discomfort from the toxic red tide algae that’s been plaguing Englewood since the beginning of June. They also went swimming.
They weren’t alone.
“It’s wonderful,” said Pat Bodey, a winter resident who described Englewood Beach as “the only place to be.”
In the last eight days, water samples collected by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission showed no signs of the red tide algae from Marco Island in Collier County north to Bradenton. It’s been a welcome respite for beachgoers and people whose livings depend on those who enjoy the beach.
But the bad news is, the current red tide bloom is not gone from Florida’s Gulf Coast, and Hurricane Michael didn’t do anything to drive it away, according to scientists.
While winds from hurricanes may help break up algae blooms, they also bring heavy rains, which cause runoff from the land. The runoff carries nutrients into the Gulf, which can feed the red tide.
Since Michael came through the Gulf Oct. 10, red tide has been reported in Pinellas County and northward along Florida’s west coast.
“The factors that contributed to red tide outweighed the ones that would reduce it,” Robert Weisberg, a scientist with the University of South Florida, told The Associated Press on Monday.
The red tide algae is natural to the Gulf. However, when cell concentrations increase to 100,000 or more per liter of water, fish kills can result and humans may suffer respiratory irritations. A million or more cells can stain water a reddish brown.
The current bloom formed in the Gulf in November 2017. It hit Englewood and Boca Grande hard during the first week of June 2018, and stuck around, causing several weeks of fish kills and repulsive odors.
After subsiding around the July 4 holiday weekend, it returned, killing more fish and marine animals like dolphins, manatees and endangered sea turtles. It expanded up the west coast of Florida in August and September, and by October was even reported on the East Coast, hitting beaches from Miami to West Palm.
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration researchers have called this red tide “unusually persistent.”
“Hurricanes in the past have not caused the blooms to dissipate, though the number of cases where blooms and hurricanes occurred at the same time is small so we will be watching to see what effects Hurricane Michael has on the current bloom,” NOAA spokesperson Jerry Slaff said in an email Monday.
But the algae counts are ticking down in the waters off Englewood, Boca Grande and Venice in recent days, according to the FWC, and that has brought people back to the beaches.
Still, red tide isn’t the only organism affecting the health of Gulf waters.
Bacteria warnings
Manasota and Nokomis public beaches remained under a “No Swim” advisory from the Florida Department of Health since Oct. 10, due to higher-than-recommended levels of the enterococcus bacteria.
Health officials suspected the winds and rains from Hurricane Michael may have helped stir up accumulated pollutants in sediments and the enterococcus bacteria from birds, other wildlife and pet feces and humans, into local waters. After tests last week, officials issued the advisory for most of the beaches in Sarasota County. By Saturday, officials lifted the advisory for all public beaches except Manasota Beach and Nokomis Beach.
Sarasota Health officials retested the waters at the beaches Monday and the results should be available today.
Health officials in Charlotte County last tested the waters at Englewood Beach on Oct. 1, and the water conditions were good. Officials were also retesting the waters Monday.
Clean water, better business
Red tide forced Mark Timchula to close his umbrella and chair rental business on Englewood Beach for months. Known as the “Beach Guy,” he has gone to the beach almost every day, and has posted “beach condition” videos on his Facebook page. He hasn’t opened his business since July 7.
Timchula could smile Friday — the first day he could reopen — and encouraged his customers to come back to the beach. He wasn’t quite ready to encourage them to go swimming, due to the cloudy color of the water.
Not claiming to be a meteorologist nor a marine scientist, Timchula did suggest a weather vane is needed to know which way red tide blooms blow. Offshore winds out of the east blow the red tide blooms farther away from shorelines.
Locals returning to the beach this week have been a good sign, said Toby Delbridge whose family has owned and managed for the Barefoot Trader for decades across from Englewood Beach on Manasota Key. Restaurants at the beach enjoyed good crowds over the weekend, according to reports.
While he knows red tide is not new to the area, Delbridge said, “This summer really tested us.”
Air sampling for red tide toxins
This a real serious issue when you consider that drinking water supplies are within a mile of the beaches.
Mote Marine Laboratory scientists and the Florida Department of Health are now taking air samples 8-10 miles from Sarasota County beaches to measure how far inland Florida red tide toxins travel.
The study will be expanded to surrounding counties, including possibly Manatee County, depending on where red tide is prevalent, Mote Ecotoxicology Program Manager and Senior Scientist Dr. Richard Pierce said.
Previous studies show that the neurotoxin from Florida red tide, called brevetoxin, can travel inland as far as 2.6 miles from the coast. But people have reported experiencing respiratory irritation even further from shore during the current bloom, which the new study will test.
“In this new effort, we will place air sampling instruments in a transect that reaches further inland than previous studies have covered, to see what concentrations of brevetoxins, if any, are traveling the distances at which these effects are being reported,” Pierce said.
Mote scientists are using 12 air samplers, deployed 6-12 hours at a time, that pull air through filters to collect aerosolized toxins for later analysis at the Sarasota lab.
Pierce said a written report will be presented to local health officials when the study is completed to provide improved public information to those sensitive to the toxins, particularly people with chronic respiratory conditions such as asthma.
Other red tide research
- Researchers at Mote and the University of South Florida College of Marine Science also are using underwater gliders to collect data that can help scientists locate red tide blooms.
- USF researcher Dr. John Paul has developed a red tide Tricorder that tests water samples for the algae. The hand-held device, named for a fictional Star Trek scientific instrument, tests for red tide in the field, saving the time needed to return to the lab and expediting local government decisions on closing beaches and shellfish harvesting beds.
- Mote also is experimenting with clay and ozone to remove Karenia brevis algae from water.
Source: https://www.amisun.com/2018/10/16/air-sampling-for-red-tide-toxins/
Tuesday, October 16, 2018
CPW lifts boil advisory for Willard Road
Greenwood Commissioners of Public Works has lifted a boil water advisory for properties along Willard Road, including Ferncliff Subdivision.
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Boil advisory issued for Oakland City customers
A boil advisory has been issued for several customers in Oakland City, … The Oakland City Water Department says the water main break happened …
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Boil advisory in place for some West Carrollton residents after water main break
WEST CARROLLTON, Ohio (WDTN) – A handful of residents in West Carrollton are under a 24-hour boil advisory due to a water main break.
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Boil advisory issued for parts of West Carrollton
A water main break has resulted in the City of West Carrollton issuing a boil advisory for some of its residents. The affected area includes Crusader …
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