Algae prompt Des Moines to switch drinking-water rivers By JASON PULLIAM, jpulliam@dmreg.com September 23, 2009, Des Moines RegisterRecord levels of potentially toxic algae in the Raccoon River have once again forced the Des Moines Water Works to draw from the Des Moines River to keep drinking water free of poor tastes, bad smells and health [...]
Delta Farm Conservation EffortsSeptember 10, 2009, Associated PressCLARKSDALE, Miss. (AP) — Soybean farmer Mason Dunn uses an irrigation system that recycles leftover water in an effort to conserve what is a precious commodity in the Delta region. Dunn also uses numerous other methods to conserve water and limit the impact on the environment on his [...]
Clean on paper: EPAs duel over nitrogen By PAUL DAILING pdailing@scn1.comSeptember 15, 2009 , The Fox Valley Villages SunA grasshopper rests a moment on some algae on the Fox River in Montgomery recently. Nitrogen can help algae overrun bodies of water, killing fish and upsetting ecosystems in the process. Yet, the state EPA removed nitrogen [...]
Gulf of Mexico 'dead zone' to grow dramatically due to federal biofuel mandate By Bryan Nelson, MotherNatureNetwork.comWed, Sep 16 2009 at 10:47 PM ESTDEAD ZONE: Nutrient-rich sendiment flowing out of the Mississippi River and into the Gulf of Mexico can be seen from space. (Photo: AP News/NASA) Every year copious amounts of fertilizer and nutrient-rich [...]
Crabbers forge unique partnership with scientists09/18/2009Several Oregon crabbers have forged a unique, mutually beneficial partnership with researchers at Oregon State University. The crabbers install temperature and disssolved oxygen recorders right from their crab pots, providing the researchers with a low-cost way to collect data. The crabbers, in turn, will contribute to a scientific understanding of what [...]
NewsGulf of Mexico hypoxia By Dennis Keeney, Earth WatchFriday, September 18, 2009 9:20 AM CDT, Ames TribuneNearly 10 millennia ago the great glaciers retreated from mid-America, and plant and animal successions adjusted to the warmer wetter periods. Water from rain and snowmelt sought its way to the oceans carving drainage basins from the glacial and [...]
EPA shouldnt rely on states to reduce nutrient pollution, new report states By Kim McGuire08.27.2009 4:38 pm, St. Louis Post-DispatchA new report from EPA’s Office of Inspector General says the federal agency needs to get serious about reducing nutrients that wash off farm fields and lawns. For too long, the federal agency has been relying [...]
Toxic beach issue gains prominence with death of horse in France By Elaine Ganley, The Associated PressSaturday August 29, 2009, 3:00 AM, David Vincent/The Associated Press Agricultural fertilizer feeds the blight of decaying algae on the beach of Hillion, near Saint-Michel-en-Greve, Brittany, France. It should have been a perfect day for Vincent Petit, finishing [...]
Summer oxygen levels better than average, less than predicted By Karl Blankenship 3 September 2009, Bay JournalSummer oxygen levels in the Bay were better than last year, though not quite as good as scientists had expected, according to monitoring data. Through early August, the size of the oxygen-starved "dead zone" at the bottom of the [...]
EPA should set nutrient limits to block dead zones, agency's inspector general says By Mark Schleifstein, The Times-Picayune Thursday August 27, 2009, 12:22 PMThe Environmental Protection Agency should move immediately to adopt enforceable limits on the release of nutrient pollutants -- such as fertilizer and sewage -- into rivers and streams to halt the creation [...]
