Clean Water Blog

Ag News WireBy Gary Wyatt, University of Minnesota Extension 

ST. PAUL, Minn. (12/19/2011) —Windbreaks and living snow fences benefit open and rural landscapes by protecting homes, farmsteads, communities and roadways from blowing and drifting snow. Winter is a great time to monitor drifting snow to identify locations for living snow fences,  develop a planting design and prepare to order plants for spring

Planting designs should be developed from January to March so plants can be ordered for spring. An Extension fact sheet, “Selecting Trees and Shrubs in Windbreaks” reviews many plants to consider and is available at www.extension.umn.edu/go/1088 (PDF). For more Extension Agroforestry resources, visit www.extension.umn.edu/agroforestry.

The Water Replenishment District of Southern California (WRD) just released a new program to educate children about groundwater and water conservation. The program is themed around a group of cartoon characters called “The Slurps.”

To view the first Episode: Mega Rainbow on YouTube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4KODS3kiGbM

or on our website: http://www.wrd.org/safe

Stormwater is the #1 cause of water pollution in the United States according to the Environmental Protection Agency. Stormwater runoff occurs when rain falls on impervious surfaces such as pavement, sidewalks, roof, etc. where it cannot be absorbed into the ground, so it runs off the surface. This runoff picks up many pollutants (such as sediment, nutrients and bacteria) on these surfaces before flowing into storm drains in urban communities.  These storm drains send the polluted runoff straight to a streams, lakes or wetlands UNLESS there is a stormwater best management practice (BMP) in place to capture and treat the runoff.   Examples of BMPs include raingardens and filtration basins, which capture stormwater runoff in a shallow depression where fast-draining soils allow quick infiltration and removal of pollutants as water passes through. Plants in the BMP absorb nutrients (phosphorus) that cause algae blooms.

Two of the pollutants raingardens and other stormwater practices are designed to remove from runoff are phosphorus and sediment. Too much phosphorus in lakes and rivers cause algae blooms and too much sediment hurts fish and other aquatic species populations and the overall health of the lake or river. 

The Forests to Faucets project will also help identify watersheds where a payment for watershed services project may be an option for financing conservation on forest lands. The cost of treating drinking water increases 20 percent for every loss of 10 percent of forest land in a watershed.

“Spending money on forest management upstream in a watershed saves money on water treatment downstream,” said U.S. Forest Service Chief Tom Tidwell. “The Forests to Faucets project provides powerful information that can help identify forest areas that play a key role in providing clean drinking water.”

The project found that Appalachian forests critically impact drinking water in East Coast cities including New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington. Forests in the Sierras in California and the Front Range in Colorado are also home to crucial watersheds that provide clean drinking water for millions of Americans.

Watersheds on national forests and grasslands are the source of 20 percent of the nation’s water supply, a value estimated to exceed $27 billion per year. Another 60 percent of the nation’s water flows from private lands.

“We expect Forests to Faucets will support rural economies by steering funding to upstream landowners, encouraging healthy forests and healthy water,” said Tidwell.

Before you grab your live bait to go fishing, you may want to think twice about what you are bringing into the natural environment.  Earthworms, especially night crawlers, are making our forests more susceptible to invasive species that destroy the natural ecosystem.

Only one variety of earthworm found in the Carolina’s is native to the United States.  Europeans introduced the rest, and in northern Minnesota, worms strip the forest floor bare.  They eat through the leaf litter and leave exposed, black mineral soil behind.  They also drive out native beetles that aerate the soil. 

Now you may ask so what?  Earthworms have been apart of our environment as long as people can remember.  The challenge is that their territory is growing, leaving our northern forests susceptible to dramatic changes.  Most of the invasive plants are pretty much dependent on the worms because worms create the right germination environment.  They co-evolved with the worms on their home continent, so it is only natural that they thrive on ours. 

To protect our treasured lands, be sure to pack out any live bait you bring in.  Never dump your leftover worms on the land or release your live minnows in a lake or river.  It may seem like an appropriate act, but it may forever change the places the love to enjoy.