Department of Water Resources
A daily compilation of significant news articles and comment
April 21, 2008
4. Water Quality
Water Pollution: Dawn of the Dead Zones -
CNN
Let drilling begin, groups urge
ENVIRONMENTAL ADVOCATES BACK COMPANY'S BID -
Associated Press
Trying to take bite out of summer's
Contra Costa Times
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Water Pollution: Dawn of the Dead Zones
CNN – 4/21/08
By Matt Ford, CNN
(CNN) -- It's thousands of square miles wide, virtually devoid of oxygen and it has been blamed for an increase in shark attacks: the Gulf of Mexico "Dead Zone" is getting bigger and forcing marine life -- including sharks - into shore.
The zone has been caused by a flood of nutrients, such as agricultural fertilizers, which boost algae production in the sea. These growths consume huge amounts of oxygen creating a "marine desert" almost devoid of life.
The "Dead Zone" varies in size each year, but in 1999 it was 7,728 square miles -- that's nearly the size of
The huge size of the "Dead Zone' is due to the increase in nutrient pollution flowing down rivers, including the Mississippi, which is estimated to have risen threefold in the last fifty years as chemicals become more and more common on farms.
Environmentalists fear that the drive to radically increase the amount of corn-based biofuels produced in the
But the problem is by no means limited to
Similar "Dead Zones" are being discovered across the world and a major United Nations report in 2003 found that the number had doubled each decade since the 1960's.
The UN report also warned that the number will continue to increase as intensive agriculture spreads around the world and that they are already having a significant impact on commercial fish stocks. All of this can come as quite a surprise.
Growing water demands, more pollutants
Think about pollution and you tend to imagine tall smoking chimneys or pipes pouring industrial effluent into our rivers and lakes. But the use of chemicals in agriculture is increasingly becoming a concern for environmentalists across the world.
Agriculture, including livestock and poultry farming, can be a source of a wide range of pollutants that find their way into our water supplies through run-off and leaching. This happens when rainfall exceeds the capacity of the ground and it flows into watercourses and groundwater supplies taking dissolved pollutants with it.
These can include sediment from eroded land, as well as phosphorus and nitrogen compounds from chemical fertilizers and animal waste, which can also harbor disease pathogens.
These pollutants can have a serious effect on water sources by depleting oxygen levels, stunting the growth of plants and even suffocating fish -- as in the
The concentration of pollutants can be particularly high in drought years, when heavy water demand can reduce the flow rate in rivers and cut their ability to dilute chemicals.
The effects of this can be acute in the developing world, where the pressure to feed a growing population combined with a low level of regulation can cause serious problems.
A huge increase in the amount of synthetic chemicals being used in the
Between 1961 and 2005 fertilizer use in the
"This model of agricultural growth is fatally flawed because of declining crop yields and massive environmental impacts," says Greenpeace campaigner Daniel Ocampo.
"Aside from causing land degradation and losses in soil fertility, agrochemicals cause water pollution that directly and indirectly affects human health."
According to Greenpeace, analysis of groundwater in the Benguet and Bulacan provinces in the
The Philippine National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) says that 37 per cent of water pollution in the country originates from agricultural practices.
As well as causing an increase in the algal blooms that can cause "Dead Zones," agricultural nitrates have been identified as a factor in the growth of toxic "red tide" algae and high levels in drinking water can also pose a health risk to humans, especially children.
Agriculture's impact on water pollution
Clearly there is a need to shift away from the current industrial agriculture system which promotes the reliance on agrochemicals while neglecting to consider their negative effects on human health, the environment, and the economy of local communities.
The problem is particularly serious in
Scientists studying information from monitoring stations have said that 44 per cent of Chinese rivers are polluted.
"Many lakes and water courses contain an excess of nutrients and need treatment before they are suitable as freshwater sources," the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development said in 2005.
According to Chinese state officials 10 per cent of farm land in the country is polluted posing a "severe threat" to food sources, with excessive agricultural chemical use being blamed, along with industrial effluent and solid waste.
But controlling water pollution from agricultural run-off presents many challenges: it occurs over a wide area, goes across borders and often the source is hard to identify.
It also varies over time and can increase or decrease depending on changes in land-use and ownership.
Lax local law enforcement, corruption and inefficiency can all compound the problem.
Legislators around the world are calling for a closer integration of environmental and agricultural policies, and more help for farmers in managing potentially hazardous substances.
But many environmentalists see a solution with increased incentives for organic farming, which uses fewer chemicals and, argue groups such as the UK Soil Association, with no appreciable decrease in yields. But while the solution remains a matter of debate, the scale of the problem continues to grow and grow.#
http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/asiapcf/04/20/eco.waterpollution/
Let drilling begin, groups urge
ENVIRONMENTAL ADVOCATES BACK COMPANY'S BID
Associated Press – 4/21/08
By Noaki Schwartz -AP
LOS ANGELES - It seemed as unlikely as mixing water and oil: environmentalists joining forces with a petroleum company.
So when three respected Santa Barbara environmental non-profits, including the aptly named Get Oil Out!, threw their support behind a proposal to expand offshore drilling in exchange for a raft of promises, other green groups were eager to see details of the plan.
But the fine print of the deal is confidential and the secrecy could imperil necessary public support as Plains Exploration & Production Co. seeks regulatory approval from several agencies.
"That's not going to work - no," said Peter Douglas, executive director of the California Coastal Commission that regulates coastal development. "If we're being asked to conduct a regulatory review based on facts, information and assumptions that are not before us officially, we can't do that."
Get Oil Out!, the Environmental Defense Center and the Citizens Planning Association of Santa Barbara trumpeted the agreement April 10 that would require Plains to pay money, give away thousands of acres and shut down its operations countywide in 14 years.
In exchange, the groups agreed not to file a lawsuit to block the drilling and said they would lobby local, state and federal agencies to let the company tap into a potentially massive reserve worth billions of dollars in the Santa Barbara Channel.
Any finer points of the agreement remain a mystery. But proponents of the deal say the public agencies are getting a comprehensive summary of the agreement.
"Settlement agreements are normally confidential," said David Landecker, the executive director for the EDC, a non-profit environmental law firm. "They don't want people picking apart the language. The attorneys on both sides simply agreed that they would put out a summary."
In this case, the conservationists have promised to support Plain's bid to expand its drilling off Platform Irene in exchange for what it called a binding agreement that the company would shut down its local operation in 2022.
While Plains does not plan to empty the reserve, a competing company estimated it could be as large as 250 million barrels worth $25 billion in today's prices.
Oil officials also agreed to donate 3,900 acres of land to The Trust for
The groups are asking the regulatory agencies to incorporate key parts of the deal such as the 2022 end date into the approval process to strengthen its enforceability. The company, which has operations in
The Santa Barbara County Planning Board has been advised by staffers to conditionally approve an updated permit when it meets Monday. But the staff has advised the board not to make its decision based on the confidential deal because it's not part of the public record.
Linda Krop, the attorney for the environmentalists, said provisions of the deal have been made public and "there is nothing of substance" in the confidential agreement. Krop blasted some who questioned the deal without talking to her first.
"It's irresponsible," she said. "None of them have called me about it. I'm sure when I tell them, they're going to be thrilled."
Some, however, are uneasy about trusting an industry that fell through on promises made in the 1970s to remove drilling rigs and restore the sea floor to pre-lease conditions. Others remained troubled by what they felt was a lack of disclosure.
Assemblyman Pedro Nava, D-Santa Barbara, sat on the Coastal Commission for eight years and couldn't recall a time when they were asked "to make a decision that would be influenced in part by a separate agreement where we didn't get to examine the document."
"I think in fairness to the Environmental Defense Council, they are well-respected, but I would harken back to Ronald Reagan who told us to 'trust but verify,' " Nava said.
After a massive oil spill off Santa Barbara coated miles of California coast and washed ashore the corpses of dolphins and seals in 1969, concerned residents formed the EDC and Get Oil Out!, a fierce anti-drilling group whose name said it all. During those heady days, GOO!'s founder urged the public to cut down on driving, burn gas credit cards and boycott stations associated with offshore drilling.
The spill was credited with galvanizing the modern environmental movement. #
http://origin.mercurynews.com/localnewsheadlines/ci_8999772?nclick_check=1
Trying to take bite out of summer's
Contra Costa Times – 4/19/08
By Hilary Costa, staff writer
A sun-bleached basketball drifts in the dark-green water as Josefa Cabada kneels beside a swimming pool in the back yard of a foreclosed home in southeast
But this pool is no longer used by children.
Instead, Cabada, a technician with the Contra Costa Mosquito and Vector Control District, pours a bag of mosquitofish — tiny creatures that can each eat up to 500 mosquito larva a day — into the murky water.
Populating hundreds of abandoned pools, spas and ponds with the insect-eating fish are part of the comprehensive approach the agency has taken to eradicating mosquito colonies in what experts say could be a banner year for
"It's a different story this year," said Deborah Bass, Contra Costa Mosquito and Vector Control spokeswoman.
The
Now, city code enforcement officers and vector control agents are out in force trying to identify and treat problem properties — and educate the public on ways to mitigate the West Nile threat.
'Bubbling with activity'
While even an inch of standing water collected in a backed-up roof gutter can provide a prime breeding ground for mosquitoes, swimming pools and spas are the largest threat, Bass said.
"It's just an incredible sight when you go to a back yard pool and the water is literally bubbling with activity," Bass said, recalling one pool that technicians said had 1 million mosquito larva bobbing about. "They're busy, and you can see it."
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported 3,623
Vector Control provides free treatment for infestations in the form of chemical spraying, bringing in mosquitofish or draining water. The agency treated 1,300 pools in 2007 — a 210 percent increase compared with 2006, Bass said. About 75 percent of those pools are still under Vector Control's care, and the workload is expected to get heavier this year as more homes become foreclosed.
City needs to know
Technicians can only treat the problem properties they know about, so Vector Control and city code-enforcement officers are trying to underscore for real estate agents and residents the importance of reporting any hazards they notice.
"We get probably two or three a week that come in," said Ken Rader, a
Rader said that once he can verify an infestation, he notifies Vector Control and checks back on infestations at empty homes once a month. In neighboring Oakley, code-enforcement Officer Bob Downing said the city follows similar procedures.
"Our message really is that mosquito control is our business, but every homeowner needs to make it their business," Bass said.#
http://www.contracostatimes.com/news/ci_8987120
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