President's Message

A dear friend, a retired psychologist, often reminds me – the organism will do what is in its own best interest. He means this from a psychologist’s point of view in reference to what I sometimes see as peoples’ odd (at least to me) behavior and actions. Why, for example, can’t people see that their collective actions often are mutually harmful (the classic prisoners’ dilemma)? This was Jared Diamond’s point too when he wondered in his book Collapse - What was the Easter Islander thinking when he cut down the last tree? – as this was the symbolic event epitomizing the collapse of that civilization.

The answer of course relates to human nature.

To see beyond the basic human levels of action, we need organizations like NALMS that can point out how we can collectively protect and manage lakes. We can do this through training lake managers, educating policy-makers and the public, developing tools and techniques to make lake protection and improvement more effective, and being advocates for better, more protective laws and policies. NALMS members are dedicated to seeing and acting at a higher level.

NALMS is positioned to move to the next level of advocacy. Until recently, NALMS has embodied a rather small circle of dedicated citizens, scientists, and professionals. We have more recently recognized that our circle of influence ought to be expanded to better accomplish our mission. We have invested in developing and focusing our organizational capacity so that NALMS can have a larger impact in protecting and managing lakes.

Our job is growing. When NALMS was formed 28 years ago, the overriding issue was eutrophication. Indeed, most international, national, state, and local initiatives were focused on understanding and mitigating the impacts of excess phosphorus (sometimes nitrogen and carbon). Today however, we are confronted by more challenging problems – including climate change, toxic algae, aquatic invasive species, and water supply conflicts – all with social, political, economic, and ecologic aspects.

The rules of the game have changed and so must NALMS’ approach.

We are setting the stage to acquire and engage these higher levels of awareness and support for our cause of clean lakes. I have challenged the board to make donations to NALMS over-and-above the basic dues. Many have done this, and I am counting on the others to step up as well. What about our members? Many of you give to other causes already. What about NALMS? Your dues, which are very much appreciated, are just the entry-level of support. Gifts and donations over-and-above this basic level will support our mutual cause. Many of you are in this habit in other areas, so counting NALMS among your charitable giving efforts ought to be a no-brainer. For those whose job is lake management isn’t the NALMS cause the reason you are in this profession in the first place? For those who live on or simply enjoy visiting lakes, surely the mission of NALMS strikes a chord in your heart. Our members’ best interest and NALMS’ best interest are one and the same. It is all about making lakes better.

Please become part of the Great Lakes Givers Club.

Other Happenings - by Osgood

The NALMS office has undergone some recent changes that have been noticeable to the outside world. The web site has experienced problems, which have resulted in interruption in service and the inability to keep it up to date. Our database has had problems that have resulted in delays in getting renewal notices out (which in turn have resulted in denial of some members’ access to the web site). The phone and internet service system was down for several weeks last month due to poor service from the phone utility following the office move. Yikes!

The office staff and the Executive Committee have been very well aware that these interruptions have been more than simple inconveniences. We apologize for that.

As I write this, many of these problems have been sorted out and we are on our way to addressing them in a way where services will soon become reliable and dependable. I appreciate your patience during the next month or so while we get back up to speed.

Quote of the Month

“The most alarming of all of man’s assaults upon the environment is the contamination of the air, earth, rivers, and sea with dangerous and even lethal materials. This pollution is for the most part irrecoverable; the chain of evil it initiates not only in the world that must support life but in living tissues is for the most part irreversible.”

            --Rachel Carson, 1962. Silent Spring. Houghton Mifflin Co. Boston.

In the 46 years since the publication of Silent Spring, our lexicon and public relations of the environmental movement have become more sophisticated. This sophistication has come in the form of more of a marketing-oriented approach to environmental causes. Silent Spring led to a clear awakening and birth of the environmental movement. However, it also led to another kind of sophistication – one where we have a more sophisticated approach to looking at the complex milieu in which we interact and engage with the environment.

It is in some ways sad that Carson’s in-your-face approach is no longer in vogue. The passion that comes through Silent Spring is hardly even mimicked anymore. I miss that. Instead we get spun and rinsed versions of a mixture of sound-bites, philosophy, and grandstanding that result in polarization and the deferment of action.

We no longer think of this kind of pollution as evil, rather as an externality that ought to be somehow accounted for – the upshot is often extended debating and proselytizing. Many chemicals are now indeed useful and deemed safe for positive applications. What Carson achieved was to demand action on important environmental issues by being vocal and direct. I fear, if we are too careful in confronting real pollution issues, we may miss opportunities for and even obligations to incite positive action.

*** Urbas ED count: 153 days as of March 10. ***Within NALMS

Within NALMS - Word from the Executive Director - Susan Urbas

Last week I attended a presentation on the Great Lakes organized by the Milwaukee Chamber of Commerce. The event was scheduled to coincide with recent activity on the Great Lakes Compact by the Wisconsin legislature. A series of presentations by local and Canadian representatives was headlined by Peter Annin, author of the Great Lakes Water Wars, who offered up a cogent history of efforts to protect the Great Lakes and the nature of the threats which gave rise to them.

A panel discussion followed which served in part to illustrate that, on the eve of successful implementation of the Compact, sharp bickering continues over how the Compact should be structured. Amendments have now been offered which could cause states which have already signed the Compact to revisit the issue of the Compact in order to accept the amendments – a formidable prospect. But that's not the point.

It is this - and had there been an opportunity during the panel, I would have posed it:

How are those of us living in areas having relatively rich freshwater resources going to fend off diversions and other threats to the health of these resources, when faced with riveting human and economic suffering in areas which lack those resources?

At some point in the not too distant future, this query will change the freshwater supply debate completely. Political and legal arguments concerning the inherent right of a region or state to protect, control and manage the resources within its borders are not going to be able to stand up against the pressure that will be exerted by the suffering of the citizens and economies located elsewhere. This is the ultimate threat which makes all other threats to freshwater resources pale by comparison. It is also the policy issue that will dwarf all others in this century. We need only to look to the tactics being considered by Georgia to gain the right to divert the waters of the Tennessee River its way, or New Mexico Governor Richardson’s comment during his presidential campaign concerning others areas of the country (e.g., the state of Wisconsin) which are “awash in water,” to know that this train is coming down the track at a high rate of speed.

The panel was asked to comment on what might be the impact of the Compact on the Great Lakes Basin (a region composed of the U.S. states and Canadian provinces bordering the lakes). Two of the panelists waxed eloquent in their predictions that as water problems become more pronounced elsewhere, more commercial enterprises will be enticed to locate in the Great Lakes Basin and thus jobs will grow and the region will be prosper.

I wonder. What if we follow that line of thinking to its logical conclusion? In the short run, such positive economic incentives sound like a pretty nifty outcome for a Great Lakes Basin protected by the Great Lakes Compact. But how long will it be before the dream turns into a nightmare? As over time water shortages in other areas become more extreme and widespread, can we not foresee that the attractiveness of the Great Lakes Basin due to its abundant resources might lead to a demographic shift, a skewed distribution of the population and industry into the Great Lakes Basin? Won’t that demographic shift put the Great Lakes under pressure again and ultimately lead us back full circle to the threatened viability of the Great Lakes?

While the Great Lakes Compact is an important goal, the Compact itself should not distract us from asking the more fundamental water question.  What should we be doing now, prior to the onset of drastic and widespread water shortages, to prepare ourselves to both face up to and avoid the necessity for the stomach-wrenching choices that lay ahead?  I think that means being less focused on the art of protecting the water within our political borders – because as discussed above, the long-term consequences of that approach can be perverse.  The more humane and viable approach over the long run is going to be building broad support for effective lake and reservoir management as part ensuring the availability of freshwater resources distributed all around the county and across the continent.

It seems to me that NALMS, with its incredible reserve of expertise and outreach potential, can play a big as yet unrealized role in helping to steer debate over looming water issues in the most fruitful long-term direction. NALMS’ is a uniquely valuable voice that is missing from these kinds of discussions – and the debate is rendered much less rigorous and productive in its absence.

-------------------

On a little lighter note, I am happy to say that we have finally put the office move and its attendant communications crises behind us. Whew! Don’t want to have to go through that again anytime soon!

We are beginning to catch up now and to put new pieces into place which will strengthen our ability to communicate with and serve our membership. In that regard, as Dick hinted in his President’s Message, we have embarked on the task of thoroughly revamping our website and related electronic information systems.

The membership has been just great in bearing with us as we struggled through a series of unanticipated problems over the past several months. That support has meant a lot to the staff, and we know it has not come without real inconvenience to members. We can hardly wait until we get to the place in the very near future where the fruits of this labor are readily apparent to the membership.

I, for one, hear the menacing footsteps of the long gray line with its ghostly chant, “This was tried before, and failed before, so how will this time be different? Tell us! How will this time be different?”

Well, stick around for another couple of months and we’ll show you. And then we’ll all celebrate over a collective frothy Guinness and one of Ken’s pretzels.

Which reminds me, what’s the day count now, Dick?

Susan Urbas
NALMS Executive Director

NALMS Committee Updates

Board Development Retreat in Chicago

Calling all past, present and future Directors, Presidents, Committee Chairs, and others among the NALMS membership ranks who are interested in being actively involved in and committed to working to shape the future of NALMS!

As many of you know, NALMS is looking to the future and working both to enhance the sustainability of our organization and to provide for the growth of NALMS in the years to come. In the fall of 2007, NALMS hired Susan Urbas to serve as our Executive Director. This is one strategic step in helping to shape NALMS for the future. Our next step is to commence making an orderly transition in our organizational structure to a governance Board.

As part of this transition, we need to: (a) develop a common understanding of the respective roles played in NALMS by the Executive Director, the Board of Directors, the Committees and Members in accomplishing the work of the organization; and b) outline systems and processes that will ensure an effective organizational transition.

To help us to better understand these elements of transition and the part which leaders at many different levels within NALMS can play in helping to accomplish this evolution, the Board Development Committee is inviting our past, current and future leaders to attend a professionally facilitated retreat held in conjunction with the Chicago Conference and NALMS’ Mid-Term Meeting.

The retreat is scheduled as an all day session, tentatively running from 8:00 a.m. through 5:00 p.m. on Saturday, May 3, 2008 at the Holiday Inn Mart Plaza in Chicago. In order to be able to plan space and materials needs for the retreat, we have made providing an RSVP the price of admission to it. (See below for details).

The goals of the retreat are:

• To create a process and atmosphere that encourages open and thoughtful participation of the full Board and other key participants;

• To provide information and raise questions about the possible Board roles in relationship to fund raising, planning, financial management, succession planning, etc. ;

• To capture the decisions of the retreat in a report so the decisions of the Board are recorded and available as a foundation for the next steps.

If you wish to participate in the retreat and commit to taking an active role in shaping NALMS for the future, please RSVP to Sharon Anderson, Chair of the NALMS Board Development Committee, via e-mail at steward@cayugalake.org by April 15, 2008 (a date we know you won’t forget). If you would like to discuss the retreat with Sharon, please call her on her mobile phone at 607-280-5580.

Advisory Committee on Water Information (ACWI) Celebrates First Decade

NALMS was recently re-appointed to serve on ACWI, which advises the Federal government on data needs and monitoring as relates to water resources. Steve Heiskary, a former NALMS President, is the NALMS representative. Background information on this committee may be found at:http://acwi.gov/aboutus.html. Notes from the February 20-21, 2008 Annual Meeting of ACWI provide useful insights.

Budget and related program updates

1. EPA – Continued commitment to National Water Quality Monitoring, including the National Lake Assessment. The upcoming Sixth National Water Quality Monitoring Conference in Atlantic City was noted; Jeff Schloss is the NALMS representative on NWQMC. More information can be found at: http://www.wef.org/ConferencesTraining/ConferencesEvents/NatlWaterQualityMonitoringConference/

 

2. NOAA - More effort is to be devoted to assessing impacts of climate change on water resources.
   
   
3. USGS – Expecting a decline in funding relative to FY08 budget, but anticipates re-establishment of up to 50 stream gages that had been discontinued. National Water Quality Assessment notes include: 1) TN & TP delivery to the Gulf; and 2) Decline in salinity in Colorado River; 3) Source water assessment will include many unregulated chemicals; 4) Domestic well report due July 2008 (nationwide coverage via NAWQA study areas); 5) Quality of Nations Streams 1992-2004 will compare physical, biological and chemical characteristics. NAWQA web site has more info at http://water.usgs.gov/nawqa/
   
   
4. TVA – Noted the impact of drought on their system, uncertainty for 2008. 
   
   
5. FEMA – Flood map modernization is underway, with emphasis on counties with the highest flood risk.

Other notes:

1. YSI Inc. announced a one-time capacity building grant of $60,000. Open to suggestions on where this should go, but there is particular interest in promotion of volunteer monitoring. Further details are expected on the YSI web site.
   
   
2. 2. Subcommittee on Groundwater is one of the newest subcommittees and provided a report indicating very good progress. Details of their activities may be found at: http://acwi.gov/sogw/index.html
   
   
3. Water for America Initiative – This includes a National Water Census and is heavily focused on water supply (surface and groundwater). There was note of a Great Lakes Basin pilot study that acknowledges historical changes in precipitation and streamflow for the basin. ACWI held a discussion on National Water Census including information needs. See ACWI web site for details on this initiative. http://www.doi.gov/initiatives/water.html and  http://water.usgs.gov/wsi/ 
   
   
4. Subcommittee on Hydrology - Working on revision of Bulletin 17B “Flood Frequency Analysis.” Details on their progress may be found at http://acwi.gov/hydrology/index.html
   
   
5. 5. National Water Quality Monitoring Network for Coastal Waters and their Tributaries. Draft reports are out for three pilots systems: Lake Michigan, Delaware Bay and San Francisco Bay. Moving into implementation phase over the next few years. Details and example reports may be found at http://acwi.gov/monitoring/network/pilots
   
6. Report on cooperative effort among EPA/STORET and USGS/NWIS to provide improved access to water data.
   
   
7. Secure Water Act –The act has a strong emphasis on water-related science and could provide substantial funding to ramp up stream gauging and increase data-gathering for water programs. Decline in funding for water programs over recent years was noted. This Act will also have linkages to the Climate Change Program and provides a means to secure funding for this work as well. The Act will likely move out of committee in April or May. For further info: http://www.opencongress.org/bill/110-s2156/show and http://www.watershed.org/wmc/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=160.

Further details on any of these issues can be found on the ACWI web site. If you would like clarification on any of these notes feel free to contact Steve Heiskary (steven.heiskary@state.mn.us )

Upcoming Conferences & Events

2008 NALMS Southeast Regional Conference and FLMS Conference

The Florida Lake Management Society will host the 2008 NALMS Southeast Regional Conference in combination with the 19th Annual FLMS Conference and Meeting (FLMS 2008) at the beautiful Sandestin Golf and Beach Resort in Sandestin, Florida (www.sandestin.com) from June 2-5, 2008. The 2008 Conference will include a full day of workshops on Monday, June 2, covering a wide variety of lake management topics. Conference sessions begin on Tuesday, June 3 and run through the morning of Thursday, June 5. We have an exciting and informative agenda, with technical sessions held on a wide variety of topics related to water resources and lake management issues. The Conference will offer CEUs for the NALMS CLM/CLP certifications. An attendance of 200+ participants and 25+ exhibitors is expected. For more information, go to www.flms.net.

The deadline for call for papers for this conference is March 7th but the conference committee will continue to accept abstracts as long as feasible or until the program is full. For the Call for Papers or for more information, contact Mike Coveney at mcoveney@sjrwmd.com.

Save the Date – January 13-14, 2009: Lake Mead Science Symposium

This symposium will be on January 13-14, 2009 at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. The purpose of this symposium is to explore the ecological health of Lakes Mead and Mohave.

Lake Mead, the largest reservoir by volume in the United States, provides diverse recreational opportunities for local residents and tourists from all over the world; habitat for numerous wildlife species including several threatened and endangered species; and drinking water for millions of people in Southern Nevada, Southern California, and portions of Arizona as well as water for agricultural use. Of great concern are the challenges and issues such as drought and the introduction of invasive species currently facing Lake Mead and Lake Mohave, which is also part of Lake Mead National Recreation Area.

More to come: Watch for the Call for Abstracts! Learn more at: www.lakemeadsymposium.org.

6th National Water Quality Monitoring Conference

The 6th National Water Quality Monitoring Conference is being held this year in Atlantic City, NJ May 18-22, 2008. Register by April 3 and save! This conference is sponsored by the National Water Quality Monitoring Council.

Session topics include the following: adding to our water quality and watershed monitoring toolkits; analysis and interpretation of water quality data; beach monitoring; data management and exchanges; measuring the effects of urbanization; monitoring and assessment of lakes to address management needs; QA/QC considerations; and microbial source tracking.

A number of volunteer monitoring program coordinators will be moderating sessions, presenting papers and leading workshops, and giving oral presentations. Events for volunteer monitors (social and otherwise!) are on the agenda, along with some fascinating field trips and many interesting workshops. There will also be a large EPA-sponsored exhibit booth dedicated to volunteer monitoring programs -- bring your displays and materials to share with others!

The conference hotel is the Sheraton Atlantic City Convention Center hotel, a non-gaming facility off the boardwalk within walking distance of many attractions and restaurants.

To register, go to http://www.wef.org/ConferencesTraining/ConferencesEvents/NatlWaterQualityMonitoringConference/. Click on Technical Program and Event Information to see the agenda at a glance.

2008 NALMS Southeast Regional Conference and FLMS Conference

Tackling Floatable Trash and Debris in the Passaic River, Hackensack River and Newark Bay: Current Efforts and New Approaches Friday April 4th 2008, University Hall, Room 1060, Montclair State University, Montclair, NJ

The purpose of this workshop is to learn about the sources and effects of floatable pollution, what it is currently being done to control floatables (and how effective these efforts are), and what more needs to be and can/should be done to reduce floatables. Many urban lakes face problems of this sort, and the approaches to be discussed could be highly relevant.

To find out more about this one-day workshop, go to www.csam.montclair.edu/pri/floatables.

Seminar: High Resolution Environmental Monitoring in Aquatic Environments

This seminar will be at the Thompson Conference Center, University of Texas at Austin April 16, 2008.

YSI Incorporated is hosting this one-day educational seminar. This technical seminar will focus on justification for high-resolution environmental monitoring, systems and sensors being used, and emerging technologies that will further improve environmental monitoring.

Information will be delivered through a series of short interactive presentations from researchers, resource managers, and industry. Dr. Nancy Rabalais of LUMCON will kick-off the program with a keynote presentation about her research of aquatic "dead zones" in the Mississippi Delta region.

This seminar is open to the public and has a nominal fee for attendance.

If you are interested in attending the seminar, access the registration form, agenda, and full details at, https://www.ysi.com/EventDocumentServer/EventDocumentServer?eventID=EMS_LTM_SEMINAR.

Lake News & Information

New Partnership to Develop a “Practical Vision” for the Yahara Lakes

An exciting emerging partnership to protect and improve the Yahara River chain of lakes in and around Wisconsin’s capital city was strongly influenced by the North American Lake Management Society's 25th Annual International Symposium, held during November 2005 in Madison.

At the symposium a special daylong event entitled "Madison's Lakes and Nearby Waters" allowed conference goers and local residents to hear presentations by local experts addressing the latest research and developments about Dane County lakes, streams, wetlands, and groundwater. The presentations also emphasized important future challenges that will require an integrated approach with strong citizen support and involvement to effectively manage, protect and improve those local waters. (Note: Summaries of “Madison Lakes” session presentations can be found in the Winter 2005 issue of LakeLine.)

Of particular interest was local historian David Mollenhoff’s opening plenary: “Lakes of Silver and Green: The Intense City-shaping Relationship between People and Water in Madison, Wisconsin.” He concluded with a history-inspired challenge for the future: to develop a “practical vision” for protecting and improving the Yahara lakes. That challenge resonated with many people, especially as Mollenhoff’s article appeared in local print media, and he repeated his presentation at a May 2007 conference sponsored by the Yahara Lakes Association (YLA), a 600-member riparian owners’ group. Besides pleas from YLA leaders emphasizing the economic and social value of the lakes, local water experts Dick Lathrop and Ken Potter gave presentations showcasing challenges that must be met: manure runoff in late winter, invasive species, increased storm runoff coupled with declines in groundwater, and near-shore water management problems. The entire half-day conference was taped and accessible through a city cable network.

In the fall of 2007, three independent initiatives emerged, each aimed in part at responding to Mollenhoff’s challenge of visioning and planning for the Yahara lakes:

1. Yahara CLEAN, a Memorandum of Understanding between Dane County, the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection, and the City of Madison with the purpose of assessing existing nutrient and sediment loading to the Yahara Lakes and determining actions required to decrease the loading and address bacterial outbreaks at beaches to improve water quality. Dane County has provided funding to support this work.
   
2. A City of Madison budget amendment providing “funding to initiate a planning process to pull together stakeholders and community members to establish clear and achievable goals and an implementation plan for cleaning the lakes.”
   
3. The Yahara Lakes Legacy Project in which Gathering Waters Conservancy and Clean Wisconsin, two nonprofit organizations with funding from the Madison Community Foundation, will develop a report documenting historical lake rehabilitation efforts and “develop a common vision for restoring and maintaining a healthy, sustainable [Yahara lakes] watershed.”

Beginning in December 2007, the Dane County Lakes and Watershed Commission invited key people involved in the three initiatives to discuss how these efforts might be effectively coordinated. The group is now moving toward developing a formal partnership agreement.

So far the emerging “Yahara Lakes Legacy Partnership” has agreed that its lakes and watershed planning needs to be “practical,” including specific implementation objectives and timelines that produce achievable results. The partners have also agreed that planning needs to be “visionary” in the sense that it inspires the community to develop goals that may sometimes be viewed as unachievable due to constraints of resources and political will.  Over the next two years, the partners intend to develop a “visionary plan” that provides:

• Community ownership in a common vision for the lakes, resulting from a well thought-out process of public participation.
  
• A single over-arching plan for the Yahara chain of lakes that includes specific measurable goals and timelines.
  
• A detailed outline of implementation steps (or “road map”) that spells out how and when each action will be taken, who is responsible, how it can be funded, and what results can be expected.
  
• Collaboration among all the political jurisdictions involved.
  
• Coordination with local watershed groups, neighborhood organizations, etc., in order to take advantage of their ongoing initiatives and their grassroots energy and creativity.

One of the challenges that the group faces is to acknowledge, appreciate, and build on existing knowledge and the significant lake improvement initiatives that have already occurred.  Lake scientists and managers already know a lot about the Yahara system, especially with Lake Mendota having served as a limnology lab for University of Wisconsin researchers since the late 1800s.  Aside from earlier efforts to divert all treated wastewater effluent from the lakes, millions of dollars have been spent to reduce nutrient and sediment runoff and address other pollutants from urban and rural sources in the watershed since the 1970’s.  This includes the state-funded “Lake Mendota Priority Watershed Project” whose 11-year implementation phase for installing best management practices is ending in 2008.

With this new lakes partnership, area residents, businesses, and other new partners will now become more engaged to assist lake managers in regrouping and reassessing, and identifying what focused efforts remain that could really make a difference in improving the health and user enjoyment of the Yahara lakes.  The partnership’s hope is that a community supported “practical vision” will inspire broader community involvement and funding for implementation to reach the vision, and a long-term partnership organization to guide and track progress in reaching that vision for the future of the Yahara lakes.

For links to partner organizations, and to read more as this initiative proceeds, visit www.danewaters.com/YaharaLakesLegacyPartnership).

TMDL Clearinghouse Available

Virginia Tech's Center for Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) and Watershed Studies has developed an on-line database to house selected TMDL-related information and documents in one central location. The searchable clearinghouse contains three types of resources: TMDL guidance documents, reviews and summaries of TMDL-related technical and trade literature, and state-by-state summaries of TMDL programs across the nation. State summaries are updated regularly for all 50 states and include the approach and methodology used to develop TMDLs in that state. In total, about 500 documents are available within the database, which was funded, in part, by an EPA grant. The TMDL Knowledgebase Clearinghouse can be accessed via the Center's Web site at: www.tmdl.bse.vt.edu/site/knowledgebase/. 

New Paper out about Lake Mead’s Future Water Supply?

Analysis of current and scheduled use and human-induced climate change sparks urgent warning from researchers at Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UC San Diego.

There is a 50 percent chance Lake Mead, a key source of water for millions of people in the southwestern United States, will be dry by 2021 if climate changes as expected and future water usage is not curtailed.

Without Lake Mead and upstream Lake Powell, the Colorado River system has no buffer to sustain the population of the Southwest through an unusually dry year, or worse, a sustained drought. In such an event, water deliveries would become highly unstable and variable, said research marine physicist Tim Barnett and climate scientist David Pierce.

Barnett and Pierce concluded that human demand, natural forces like evaporation and human-induced climate change are creating a net deficit of nearly 1 million acre-feet of water per year from the Colorado River system that includes Lake Mead and Lake Powell. This amount of water can supply roughly 8 million people. Their analysis of Federal Bureau of Reclamation records of past water demand and calculations of scheduled water allocations and climate conditions indicate that the system could run dry even if mitigation measures now being proposed are implemented.

The paper, "When will Lake Mead go dry?," has been accepted for publication in the peer-reviewed journal Water Resources Research, published by the American Geophysical Union, and is accessible via the AGU's website (http://www.agu.org/journals/pip/wr/2007WR006704-pip.pdf).

Barnett and Pierce note that a number of other studies in recent years have estimated that climate change will lead to reductions in runoff to the Colorado River system. Those analyses consistently forecast reductions of between 10 and 30 percent over the next 30 to 50 years, which could affect the water supply of between 12 and 36 million people.

The researchers estimated that there is a 10 percent chance that Lake Mead could be dry by 2014. They further predict that there is a 50 percent chance that reservoir levels will drop too low to allow hydroelectric power generation by 2017.

Barnett said that the researchers chose to go with conservative estimates of the situation in their analysis, though the water shortage is likely to be more dire in reality. The team based its findings on the premise that climate change effects only started in 2007, though most researchers consider human-caused changes in climate to have likely started decades earlier. They also based their river flow on averages over the past 100 years, even though it has dropped in recent decades. Over the past 500 years, the average annual flow is even less.

The research was supported under a joint program between UC San Diego and the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and by the California Energy Commission.

White House Releases Budget, Cuts for EPA and USGS

This week the White House released its budget requests for fiscal year 2009, and although it is the first U.S. budget over $3 trillion, the EPA budget was cut by $330 million to a total of $7.14 billion compared to the FY08 budget. The President’s FY09 budget would reduce spending for the Clean Water State Revolving Fund but provide slightly more funds than last year for the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund. The proposed budget also decreases funding for categorical state water program grants, such as Non-Point Source Program Grants and Water Pollution Control Grants, by a total of $22.2 million. The following table provides additional budget highlights for EPA’s programs:

The President’s 2009 EPA spending plan proposes the largest enforcement budget ever, but most programs would experience cuts. The President has proposed a budget of $968.5 million for the USGS, a decrease of $38 million from the 2008 level. The President’s 2009 budget requests $54.1 million for the National Water Quality Assessment program, which represents a $10.9 million reduction. The proposed reduction would eliminate new work in all or parts of 29 states and result in significant staff cuts in a dozen states. However, a proposed budget increase of $8.2 million for the USGS program known as Water for America will allow USGS to conduct the first nationwide assessment of water availability and water use.

Now is a good time to contact your representatives to Congress, as it prepares to review this budget. Congress can, and frequently has, restored cut funds to what it views as key programs.

House Subcommittee Approves $6 Million for Green Infrastructure Research

On Feb. 7, the House Science subcommittee on Technology and Innovation approved a bill that would provide $6 million in grants to develop materials and methods for reducing runoff from roads and parking lots. Sponsored by Rep. David Wu (D-OR), the Green Transportation Infrastructure Research and Technology Transfer Act (H.R. 5161) was cleared by the subcommittee and moves forward for a vote by the full committee. The bill defines green transportation infrastructure as methods and materials that preserve and restore natural processes, using natural design techniques. The bill directs the transportation secretary to provide grants to conduct research and development of green infrastructure technologies and practices, set up technology transfer programs, assess the impact of regulations on adopting green practices at the local level, and educate the public about these efforts.

EPA Launches New Web Multimedia Portal

On February 25, EPA announced that it has launched a new web multimedia portal: http://www.epa.gov/multimedia/. The multimedia portal is EPA’s one-stop location for environmental video, audio/podcasts, and photography. The portal also includes interactive features such as “Ask EPA” and the Deputy Administrator's blog, “Flow of the River”. Another feature called "EPA in Action" goes behind-the-scenes; following the diverse jobs performed by the EPA workforce and examines some of the most pressing environmental issues facing our nation today. Viewing video is integrated into the site using flash player, while photos of events and EPA work will be posted in a series of on-line galleries. This new multimedia portal could be an important resource for the public, journalists, academia, local governments and the environmental community. The portal seeks to increase awareness of important news items with a media-rich focus, rather than through traditional electronic print.

Water Wars: Coming to a City near You?

In an article in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution on February 6, 2008, Dan Chapman notes that Georgia's drought could spark a border water war as key state legislators demanded Tuesday that Tennessee share its same-name river with parched Atlanta. In a bold move, Sen. David Shafer and Rep. Harry Geisinger of Georgia plan to introduce legislation today that would, in effect, move Georgia's northwest boundary a mile north so a section of the river flows indisputably into Georgia. They claim that Tennessee's Nickajack Reservoir should rightly be situated partly in Georgia. Chapman believes that the legislative bombshell could make the ongoing water war among Georgia, Alabama and Florida look like a pillow fight. The 652-mile-long Tennessee River is the nation's fifth-largest river and snakes from Knoxville, through Chattanooga, into Northern Alabama and Mississippi, before returning to western Tennessee and joining the Ohio River in Kentucky. The federally established Tennessee Valley Authority manages the river.

Incredulous as this may seem, it illustrates the level of desperation drought can create. If you have followed the ongoing saga of the Apalachicola River and its main tributaries and reservoirs, you know how contentious water issues have become in the Southeastern USA. If you live in the arid west, you are probably saying “Welcome to my world!” But perhaps not all is a serious as it seems. According to a web posting, the city of Chattanooga, facing a possible Georgia land grab as part of an effort to get access to the Tennessee River, is sending a truck load of bottled water to Atlanta. The mayor has officially proclaimed Feb. 27, 2008, as “Give our Georgia Friends a Drink Day.” The truck load of bottled water along with the proclamation will be delivered to the Georgia Legislature by an aide in a coonskin cap.

Key clauses from the proclamation include:

WHEREAS, it has come to pass that the heavens are shut up and a drought of Biblical proportions has been visited upon the Southern United States, and…

WHEREAS, the lack of water has led some misguided souls to seek more potent refreshment or for other reasons has resulted in irrational and outrageous actions seeking to move a long established and peaceful boundary, and…

WHEREAS, it is deemed better to light a candle than curse the darkness, and better to offer a cool, wet kiss of friendship rather than face a hot and angry legislator gone mad from thirst, and…

Whereas, it is feared that if today they come for our river, tomorrow they might come for our Jack Daniels or George Dickel,

NOW THEREFORE, In the interest of brotherly love, peace, friendship, mutual prosperity, citywide self promotion, political grandstanding and all that…

I, Ron Littlefield, Mayor of the City of Chattanooga, Tennessee, do hereby Proclaim that Wednesday, February 27, 2008 shall be known as “Give Our Georgia Friends a Drink Day”.

Website of the Month

 http://www.h2oconserve.org

Use this on-line water calculator to calculate your water footprint.  Your tree-hugging, 3-minute showering, e-newsletter editor barely made it under the national average.  I scored 1,087 gallons of use per day, and I haven’t brushed since 1998!  Good site for kids to learn about conservation.  Maybe Atlanta should check out this site.

Open Invitation to Add to the Next E-newsletter

If you are having a conference, have a lake-related question, need advice, looking for similar lake problems/solutions, have an interesting story to share, or just want to be heard throughout NALMS, please send your material to Steve Lundt.

All e-newsletter material is due to Steve Lundt by the first Friday of each month to be considered for inclusion in that month’s e-newsletter.