|
Water Conference, continued from page 1
<br />This past October, we sponsored the annual Minnesota Water
<br />Resources Conference with a near record attendance of 670 water
<br />scientists, professionals, managers, and engineers (see front. page
<br />story). We were pleased to have Professor Jerry Schnoor from the
<br />Department of Civil Engineering at the University of Iowa, Congress-
<br />woman Betty McCollum, USGS water chemist Paul Capel, and
<br />USFWS wetland specialist. Rex Johnson deliver plenary presenta-
<br />tions. The conference filled two days with four concurrent sessions.
<br />This successful format is in its fourth year, and due to the growth in
<br />attendance, we now hold it at RiverCentre, downtown Saint Paul.
<br />Looking ahead, we are about to ring in the new year of 2010. The
<br />first decade of the 21st century is drawing to a close. Time has flown
<br />by - "Y2K" seems so very long ago. Looking back, there have been
<br />huge changes at the WRC. Two co-directors retired, with two new
<br />co-directors in place. Some staff have retired, and new staff have
<br />joined us. Despite the economic woes of the past year and a half,
<br />we have fared well and continue to have the resources to do our
<br />research, support our graduate program, and engage communities
<br />and stakeholders. We are fortunate that water resources will always
<br />be a priority for Minnesotans.
<br />So what lies ahead in the next decade? Clearly, reduced financial
<br />resources will continue to challenge us. The University, like its
<br />counterparts across the country, is making touch decisions about
<br />how to position itself in this new landscape. The WRC will continue
<br />to pursue strategic partnerships with stakeholders, foundations, state
<br />and federal agencies to conduct our work. We will focus on the most
<br />important issues that confront our state and region, such as improv-
<br />ing farming practices to better protect water quality, determining the
<br />sources of water contaminants of emerging concern, and working
<br />with the state to develop along-term strategy for managing water
<br />resources in a sustainable manner.
<br />Planning for a sustainable future is one of our largest efforts at the
<br />WRC. The Minnesota Water Sustainability Framework will provide
<br />guidance to the state Legislature on how to best manage the state's
<br />water resources to support ecological and human needs now and
<br />for future generations. This means developing a framework that
<br />addresses the comprehensive management of ground water and
<br />surface water, drinking water and ecological services, infrastruc-
<br />ture needs, and adaptation to climate change. Changes to current
<br />institutional arrangements to create a more integrated management
<br />structure will be explored. We hope that this second decade of the
<br />century will result in clear planning and action for sustainable water
<br />management, and an ethic of water stewardship embraced by all.
<br />Joy for the Holiday Season, and peace and success for the New
<br />Year,
<br />i
<br />Deb Swackhamer WRC co-director
<br />,. _ _ _ __ '
<br />as: population growth, land use, urban and suburban spra~~-1, and
<br />increasing consumption per capita, which is a more potent factor
<br />than population growth. All of these factors affect the climate, and
<br />climatic trends in Minnesota include: increasing average winter
<br />temperatures, as evidenced by aseven-degree wintertime increase
<br />over the last 30 years; lower daytime maximum temperatures with
<br />fewer da}~s above the 90 degree mark in the summertime; a longer
<br />growing season; more ice-free days; fewer very cold winter days;
<br />and more hwnidity.
<br />Schnoor said that we need to mitigate and adapt our land-and water-
<br />use practices to combat the greenhouse effect, ~a°hich contributes to
<br />climate change. One of the ways he suggests is to control urban and
<br />suburban sprawl, thus reducing impervious cover, which changes
<br />where water flows on the landscape. )ust a five-or ten-percent
<br />change in impervious coverage can have a significant environmental
<br />impact.
<br />Minnesota Fourth District Congresswoman Betty McCollum spoke
<br />at the first day's luncheon about building partnerships For clean
<br />water. Ms. McCollum recalled her childhood in South St. Paul, and
<br />the smell of the Mississippi River as animal waste and other pollut-
<br />ants were daily dumped into the ~~~ater. That waste disposal meth-
<br />odology changed with the passage of the Clean Water Actin 1972,
<br />which required permits for polluting, and reduced the nwnber of
<br />direct pollutants finding their way into the nation's waters. After
<br />years of progress, Federal funding For clean water programs vvas cut
<br />during the past decade, making enforcement of the Clean Water Act
<br />more difficult.
<br />The congresswoman called for re-establishing clean water as a na-
<br />tional priority, increasing funding; research, and enforcement. Wa-
<br />ter policy needs to be part of an inter-connected system, integrating
<br />air quality, land management and climate change. New priorities
<br />in Washington bode ~~-ell for water quality, with President Obama
<br />requesting a 2.9-billion-dollar increase in funding for the EPA, and
<br />EPA head Lisa Jackson's announcement of a nevv~ Clean Water Action
<br />Enforcement plan and a national study on the impacts of atra~ine.
<br />Although there is clear leadership on water policy from Washington,
<br />Ms. McCollum stated that real change needs to occur at the state
<br />and local levels. "The protection and restoration of ow- rivers, lakes,
<br />streams, and aquifers will he the result of work done one water body
<br />at a time, county by county, in every state in America."
<br />Paul Capel, from the United States Geological Survey and the UM
<br />Department of Civil Engineering, opened the conference's Tuesday
<br />session with his presentation "Land Use and Water Quality: Lessons
<br />from the First Two Ijecades of the USGS National Water Qual-
<br />ity Assessment (NAWQA) Studies." Capel explained the origin of
<br />NAWQA, which was created to provide information on the quality
<br />and quantity of water resources to ensure an adequate supply of
<br />water for human consumption, indusU-y, agriculture, recreation and
<br />the ecosystem. NAWQA uses a consistent field-based, observation-
<br />based design and focuses on multiple environmental compartments,
<br />such as streams and shallow ground water. Capel highlighted stream
<br />and groundwater studies that showed pesticides in 97 percent of
<br />both urban and agricultural streams and in 6] percent of shallow
<br />ground water in agricultural areas, and in 55 percent of shal-
<br />low ground water in urban areas. Atrazine and deethylatrazine
<br />Water Conference, continued on page 4
<br />a ~~
<br />
|