By:  Janice Kaspersen 

What does the character of your neighborhood—particularly its pedestrian-friendliness—have to do with stormwater runoff?

This article, “Watersheds, Walkability, and Stormwater,” published last year in the magazine examines the relationship between development density and stormwater. Author John Jacob explores the sometimes-counterintuitive relationship between higher density and pollutants on a watershed scale, noting, “for a given population, the total pollutant load may be much less at higher density.”

He points out that additional benefits of higher urban densities include the greater walkability of neighborhoods and less dependency on cars, and while these are not necessarily direct benefits to stormwater management, there are some important pluses—in particular, fewer cars mean fewer parking lots.

This 2009 Stormwater article by Lisa Nisenson and Clark Anderson discusses using ordinance and code reviews to examine the effects of parking codes, among other things, on sustainability. Are the parking ratios realistic? Is using shared parking—rather than building additional lots—a possibility? According to a review in last weekend’s Wall Street Journal of a new book, “Rethinking a Lot: The Design and Culture of Parking” by Eran Ben-Joseph, cities typically have overestimated the number of parking spaces needed for a given amount of retail space. “These ratios created an enormous oversupply of parking, designed to accommodate only two or three days of maximum use per year, like Black Friday,” says reviewer Dan Neil. “In some U.S. cities, such as Little Rock, Ark., surface lots cover nearly a third of the land area.” He quotes Ben-Joseph’s estimate that parking lots in the United States cover 3,590 square miles, “a landmass larger than Puerto Rico.”

A website called Walk Score rates the walkability of addresses from 0 to 100 based on proximity to various amenities—shopping, schools, public transit, parks, coffee shops. The higher the number, the more walkable the neighborhood. Locations that are “car dependent” get lower scores. (You can plug your own address into the site and get an instant walk score, along with a map showing different features—restaurants, schools, stores—used in figuring out that number.) The site has been around for a few years, and the scores are used by urban planners, by realtors, and by retailers to estimate how much foot traffic a particular store can expect. It might be a useful tool for stormwater managers, too, when we look at the overall density of the watershed and the land uses within it in relation to water quality. 

SAFE DRINKING WATER WEEK IN MINNESOTA 

Governor Dayton has acknowledged that all Minnesotans rely on safe drinking water from public water systems in their homes, schools, and workplaces.  The importance of an adequate supply of safe drinking water for the health, quality of life, and economic viability of Minnesota is officially recognized by the governor’s proclaiming this to be Safe Drinking Water Week. 

 

By:  Janet Kaspersen 

Whether it arrived years ago and called itself low-impact development or appeared more recently under the name green infrastructure, chances are that, almost anywhere you are in the US, you’ve encountered it. Techniques ranging from bioswales and rain gardens to permeable pavements to green roofs are changing the way—at least in part—we manage stormwater runoff. More and more cities are adding green infrastructure to their arsenals as a way to supplement the traditional grey infrastructure of gutters and pipes and storm sewers—infiltrating, reusing, or otherwise diverting runoff to extend the capacity of the existing systems and delay or avoid upgrading and replacing them.

A newly released report (click “report” to view) helps quantify the money many of these cities are saving, and points out other benefits of GI as well. “Banking On Green: A Look At How Green Infrastructure Can Save Municipalities Money And Provide Economic Benefits Community-Wide” was released by American Rivers, the Water Environment Federation, the American Society of Landscape Architects, and ECONorthwest. Using many examples and data from EPA, FEMA, and the American Society of Landscape Architects, and others, the report shows that GI can help avoid energy expenditures and the costs of flood damage, and possibly reduce maintenance costs or at least spread them out so that fewer big expenditures are required at one time.

The April 2012 “Whole Living” magazine had an article “50 WAYS TO CONSERVE WATER”.     Here are a few ideas—

• Tweak your dishwasher settings.  Some machines have an eco-setting.

• Run fewer, fuller loads for both dishwasher and clothes washer.

• Buy concentrated cleaning products.  They contain less water and they require less packaging and less energy to produce and ship. 

• De-clog naturally.  Conventional drain cleaners contain toxic chemicals, such as sodium hydroxide.  Pour equal parts baking soda, white vinegar, and boiling water down the drain.  Let it sit for half an hour before rinsing.

• Boycott bottled water.  It’s not just about all that plastic that ends up in landfills.  Three liters of regular water go into making just one liter of bottled water, says the Natural Resources Defense Council’s McRandle.

• Keep a pitcher of cold water in the refrigerator so you don’t have to let the tap run to get cool water.

• Save pasta water.  Place your colander over a bowl in the sink when draining to save the starchy water.  You can use it in the sauce or as a base for soup.

 

Berkeley Earth Surface Temperature study looked at temperatures of the earth over the past two hundred years.  This video was shown to a Congressional briefing in Washington D.C. 

http://scienceblogs.com/classm/2011/11/two_centuries_of_warming_in_tw.php

It’s not an unfamiliar statistic: according to the World Water Council, one of out of every six people on the planet (1.1 billion) lack access to clean drinking water, and 2 out of every six (2.6 billion) lack access to adequate sanitation. By some estimates, the world’s population is expected to increase by 50% over the next 50 years—and all those extra souls will need water. Unfortunately, as a whole, we are not keeping up with demand, now or in the future. According to the 2012 UN-Water Global Analysis and Assessment of Sanitation and Drinking Water report (released in April of this year), 70% of the world’s countries are falling behind the resource management trends required to sustain their clean water supplies.To a large extent, water resource management is a regional concern. We are tasked with monitoring, protecting, and transporting our local water resources, be it reservoirs, aquifers, rivers, lakes, or any other combination of sources (including desalination, reuse, and rainwater catchment). The water we use to make our morning coffee, keep our lawn green, wash our cars, or bathe our children may come from the water tank down the street or from snowpack on mountains located miles away, but inevitably water use and conservation are managed locally. Nevertheless, due to the very nature of the water cycle and the cross-border influence of water supply and demand, the truth is that water resource management is a global issue. With that in mind, it’s worthwhile to cast our eyes beyond the horizon and check in on water matters throughout the world.

In the Middle East, of course, water shortages are nothing new. Many of the region’s countries have extensive water resource management plans in place—most of which include state-of-the-art treatment and reuse along with cutting-edge desalination and wide-ranging conservation plans. Ongoing investment in infrastructure is also par for the course, with Saudi Arabia’s state-owned water utility—National Water Co.—recently pledging $66.4 billion on plant construction and repairs.  

We’ve covered China’s water resource management efforts for several years now, and growing industrialization and an expanding middle class are only increasing pressure on the country’s water supplies. For example, while China’s population is nearly five times that of the US, its water resources are much smaller than our own.  With an awareness that they may not be able to buy their way out of water shortages in the same way that they can pay to overcome fuel shortages or supplement raw materials important to expanded industrialization, in 2011 the country debuted its 12^th “Five-Year Plan.” The plan, which signified a shifting of the country’s focus its to water, delineates several areas of attack to protect against even greater water scarcity.  Part of the plan includes spending $536 billion on water purification, treatment, irrigation, and flood controls. New regulations will also limit annual consumption to 635 billion cubic meters by 2015.

Bangladesh sits down river from China and India, and thus is beholden to the water resources management of its upstream neighbors. In Bangladesh, average daily consumption hovers around 2.2 billion liters a day, yet the country can only produce 1.9 to 2 billion liters. This gap between supply in demand is impacting every aspect of life in Bangladesh, from regular water use, to sanitation, and even energy generation. While part of the problem is inconsistent supply due to drought/flood weather patterns, Bangladesh also suffers from inadequate resource management planning and an overdependence on groundwater supplies.

And over in Europe, weather patterns are also impacting water supplies. Terms like “water deficiency”, precipitation scarcity”, and “below average snow yield” are cropping up in forecasts across the continent. During March, for example, Germany and the Czech Republic “didn’t see a single day of rain above 5 mm”.  As is always the case, this water scarcity is impacting agriculture and resulting in widespread ramifications: in Germany, for example, water shortages have led to lower than average barley yields, impacting biomass supplies for the entire European Union.

Finally, one year after the Arab Spring, water scarcity is threatening not just public supplies and agricultural yields, it’s threatening governments as well. In Jordan, an overflowing tide of refugees from surrounding countries embroiled in civil unrest and outright war is straining already fragile water supplies. And Jordan is not alone in its struggle to balance political policy with dwindling natural resources. John Kufuor, former president of Ghana and current head of Sanitation and Water for All, believes that increased water scarcity will lead to political instability not only in the Middle East and North Africa, but sub-Saharan Africa as well. 

“People migrate to find water anywhere if there’s a scarcity situation,” said Kufuor in an interview with Bloomberg News.   

“People have fought wars to access water,” he said—a familiar warning that should not lose power from repetition.  

We’ve got it now, some rain, some warm weather, lots of pretty flowers, it’s time to start enjoying spring. It says something about the nature of spring in Minnesota that up until now, I have been worrying about a retreat back to winter, but that’s just me I guess. The last week in April, surely I can count on it now?

With all this green in evidence some folks’ thoughts naturally turn to their lawn. So, what should you do to stay on top of those lawn chores this season?  I am not a grass guru so I pricked up my ears last week when I heard Janelle Daberkow, UMN Extension Educator for Stearns County, on the radio speaking on exactly this topic.

It’s too early

First thing I heard was “It’s too early to fertilize!” What?!?  Some of my neighbors live by the motto “It’s impossible to fertilize too early or too often.”

No. Janelle said that research shows that it is best to wait until the grass has grown enough to have been mown twice, before you fertilize it. That way the crowns have developed to good size and the plants are growing well enough to be able to use the supplements you provide.

And remember, you are not actually ‘feeding’ the grass.  Plants make their own food through photosynthesis—remember that grade school science class? You are providing them what they can use to carry on that function at the highest level. So relax, you can wait a bit.

It’s time for…

What you can do is provide protection against weed domination by applying a pre-emergent weed killer. Take that, crab grass! Soil temps are generally in the mid-fifties now; weed seeds sprout when the soil reaches 59 or beyond.

What’s the problem

Janelle also reports a number of queries about moss in the lawn and thatch problems. (See the archives for GROWING SMARTS, MAY  5 and 18, 2011, for photos of thatch and other issues). The almost daily abundant rains of last June meant frequent mowing on sodden soil.  That made for soil compaction, thus the moss, and the continued cold prevented the grass from breaking down in the usual manner, thus the thatch, and perhaps lawn disease.  The solution for your lawn could be to aerate or de-thatch with special lawn machines, available for rent. And if you are someone who has a high maintenance lawn, both should be done on a 2-3 year rotation.

You can ask Janelle directly at the local Extension phone number, see below, or call in to the radio show that I found so useful. Every other Wednesday, all summer long, Janelle visits Jay Caldwell on WJON, 1240, at 9:00 AM. Her next visit is May 2, 9:00 AM, WJON. Interesting, informative. I’ll be listening too.

Yard and Garden E-newsletter: http://blog.lib.umn.edu/efans/ygnews

UMN Extension website: www.extension.umn.edu

Call the Stearns County Extension office with your horticultural questions: 320-255-6169

 

Nitrate pollution is getting a lot of attention in California. Even as other states—notably Florida—enact TMDLs for nutrients, California’s Central Coast Regional Water Quality Board recently adopted new rules for agriculture, requiring ag operations to reduce nitrate and pesticide pollution.

Just before the new rules were announced, the University of California–Davis released a study showing that in some areas of the state, 96% of the nitrate contamination in groundwater is a result of fertilizer and animal waste. Five counties were included in the study, comprising about 40% of the state’s irrigated agricultural land and half its dairy herds. The agricultural industry had previously argued that it’s impossible to identify the source of the nitrate because it can come from many different sources, such as septic systems, water treatment plants, and landscape fertilizers.

As this article reports, drinking water with high levels of nitrate—as may be the case especially for residents relying on private wells—has been associated with a number of disorders, including thyroid cancer, birth defects, and “blue baby syndrome,” which reduces the blood’s capacity to carry oxygen, as well as to less serious health problems.

This information may sound scary and it should be, but it is important to note that nitrate contamination is a preventable problem.  Here in Minnesota managing nitrogren application on farm fields is a high priority and is monitored very closely by a number of state agencies. 

Private property owners also need be do their part by managing nitrogen sources on their lawns, maintaining their septic systems and managing pet waste.  These may seem like small contributions, but cumulatively they add up to be big problems. 

 

Electronic Waste Recycling Day

It’s that time of year again that the Tri-County Solid Waste Management teams up with United Cerebral Palsy (UCP)  of Central Minnesota. UCP invites you to help keep the environment healthy by supporting their e-recycling day, April 24th. The event will be held at Crossroads Center in St. Cloud - the 3rd Street N entrance. The event will run from 8:30-5:30pm.

They will have a easy to manuever drive through disposable option for your old unwanted laptops, desktop computers, monitors, TV’s, DVD players, fax machines, printers, cell phones and other electronic devices.

They will accept cash, credit cards and checks. The cost is .40 per pound with (laptops and cell phones being free of charge).

Please pass this information onto family and friends who may have unwanted e-waste and need a disposal option.