Water Is Worth It: EPA on Social Media Outlets

EPA’s Water Is Worth It  is now on Facebook and Twitter.

• Facebook page 
• Twitter

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Source: Water Headlines

Six months later, a reporter returns to the flood-ravaged Catskills

In a radio broadcast aired today, Dave Lucas, WAMC's Hudson Valley bureau chief, checked in with some of the people he spoke to shortly after Irene's floods raged across upstate New York.

Lucas found that life isn't quite back to normal yet for flooded-out Goshen farmer John Glebocki, who is still in financial limbo as he waits for crop insurance and grants to come through. Or for Michael Koegel, proprietor of the Mama's Boy coffeeshop in Phoenicia, where one of the main bridges into town is still out of commission.

Complete story and broadcast link at http://www.watershedpost.com/2012/six-months-later-reporter-returns-flood-ravaged-catskills
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Source: WatershedPost.com via @AndyArthur

Manure rule raises water quality concerns

North Country Public Radio • (12/27/11)

A recent victory for New York's farm leaders has raised concerns about water quality. Dairy and livestock farms produce a lot of manure. Many farmers spread it on to their fields in liquid form.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture had proposed a nationwide ban against spreading manure onto frozen ground. It's now decided against the ban. The Farm Bureau praises the change of mind, but others are concerned about increases in nutrient run-off from fields during spring thaws.

Matt Nelligan is spokesman for the New York farm bureau. He says more than half the comments to the USDA on this issue came from New York farmers. "The reality of farming in New York State is that you’ve got to be able to spread manure in the winter, and you’ve got a fairly substantial winter period here, and there’s no way to avoid doing so without damaging your crop and making your fields less fruitful. So, it’s a particular issue that is important in New York State and in northeast farming in general," Nelligan said.

But some experts says farmers can transition to a system that doesn’t spread manure on frozen ground, and that would be better for the environment. Elizabeth Newbold grew up on a small dairy in Central New York. Now she works for the Finger Lakes Land Trust, and Cornell Cooperative Extension. She says when manure is applied to frozen ground, it sits on top and freeze. "When the first thaw comes in the spring everything thaws and instead of soaking into the ground, because the ground it still frozen, it tends to run with the snow, wherever the snow will take it," she said.

Newbold says nutrients from farm manure runoff into rivers and streams. She says places such as Lake Champlain have seen the results – high levels of nitrogen and phosphorous in the water, which causes algae growth. The algae uses the oxygen needed by plants and fish and degrades the water quality.

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Source: NCPR News

Article on-line at NCPR Website

New Data Added to EPA’s Nitrogen and Phosphorus Pollution Data Access Tool

EPA has added updated U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) SPAtially Referenced Regressions On Watershed attributes (SPARROW) data to the Nitrogen and Phosphorus Pollution Data Access Tool, a tool intended to help states develop effective nitrogen and phosphorus source reduction strategies.

SPARROW is a GIS-based watershed model that integrates statistical and mechanistic modeling approaches to simulate long-term mean annual stream nutrient loads as a function of a wide range of known sources and factors affecting nutrient fate and transport.

USGS recently completed syntheses of the results from 12 independently-calibrated regional-scale SPARROW models that describe water quality conditions throughout major river basins of the conterminous U.S. based on nitrogen and phosphorus sources from 2002.

Two data layers of EPA’s data access tool – one for nitrogen and one for phosphorus – now provide an approximate yet regionally consistent synthesis of the locations of the largest contributing sources.

The SPARROW geospatial layers can be used to prioritize watersheds for targeting nutrient reduction activities (such as stream monitoring) to the areas that account for a substantial portion of nutrient loads, and to develop state nitrogen and phosphorus pollution reduction strategies.

This information is relevant to the protection of downstream coastal waters, such as the Gulf of Mexico, and to local receiving streams and reservoirs.

The nitrogen and phosphorus pollution data access tool, with updated SPARROW layers, is available at: www.epa.gov/nutrientpollution/npdat

Data Access Tool - - Launch the geospatial viewer and download data.

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Fact Sheet (PDF) (2 pp, 405K)

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Tutorial (PDF) (17 pp, 726K) - - First time users are encouraged to review this brief tutorial to become familiar with the functions of the Data Access Tool.
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Source: Anne Weinberg
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Communications Coordinator Assessment and Watershed Protection Division
1301 Constitution Ave. NW
Room 7417K
Washington, DC 20004

Phone: 202-566-1217

Fax:      202-566-1333

Email:    weinberg.anne@epa.gov

Vermont Aquatic Nuisance Species Grant-in-Aid Grant Application Information

The 2012 Aquatic Nuisance Control Program Grant-in-Aid Guide and Application for municipalities to apply for funds to support aquatic nuisance control management activities in Vermont water bodies in 2012 is now available on line at: http://www.vtwaterquality.org/lakes/htm/lp_grantinaid.htm  or by calling Ann Bove at (802) 338-4822

For a project to be considered for funds in 2012, a completed Application Form and Worksheet should be submitted in electronic format (Portable Document Format preferred), clearly marked, and emailed to Ann Bove (ann.bove@state.vt.us) by 4 p.m. Monday, March 12, 2012
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Ann E. Bove
Aquatic Invasive Species Management
VTANR, DEC, Water Quality Division
103 South Main Street, Bldg 10-North
Waterbury, VT 05671-0408
(802) 338-4822 phone
ann.bove@state.vt.us
http://www.vtwaterquality.org

The National Lakes Assessment: Round Two

EPA, in collaboration with States, Tribes, Federal, and other partners, will conduct the second National Lakes Assessment (NLA) in 2012. This survey is one in a series of National Aquatic Resources Surveys (NARS) carried out by EPA and state partners to improve understanding of the quality of the Nation‘s waters. The results of the NLA 2012, including analyses of changes from 2007, will be published in December 2014, with repeat surveys every five years. Preparations and final planning is currently underway for the NLA 2012 survey.

For the NLA 2012, approximately 900 lake sites were randomly selected using a survey design that ensures the assessment will provide representative information on the condition of lakes at national and regional scales. Approximately one half of these sites were sampled in 2007 and the others are newly selected lakes. Some States are investing additional resources to supplement the survey design to provide State-scale reporting. As with the NLA 2007 and other NARS surveys, the NLA 2012 will use a reference based approach to assess lake quality, comparing survey data to assessments of high quality lakes within similar ecoregions. The selection of NLA 2012 indicators and field methods started with an evaluation of those used in NLA 2007. Several additions and changes were recommended by the Steering Committee including the addition of a pesticide screen.

For more information, go to: http://water.epa.gov/type/lakes/lakessurvey_index.cfm, or contact: Amina Pollard, pollard.amina@epa.gov.
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Source: NALMS Notes

New Pesticide Chemical Search makes it Easier to Find Regulatory Information on Pesticides

EPA has released Pesticide Chemical Search, a new Web-based application that will allow users to easily access chemical-specific information from the Office of Pesticide Programs' website and several other important sources. Pesticide Chemical Search is designed to consolidate information related to pesticide chemicals (active ingredients), making it easier to find related regulatory and scientific information: www.epa.gov/pesticides/chemicalsearch.

The new application collects existing web pages on specific chemicals on EPA's Office of Pesticide Programs' website and allows users access to this information through a single portal. Users will also be able to quickly find the current status of a chemical and where it is in the review process. Another key feature is the ability to determine if there are any dockets open for public comment for a given chemical.

Other key features of Pesticide Chemical search include: 20,000+ regulatory documents such as fact sheets and REDs, links to over 800 dockets in Regulations.Gov, links to important information, including pesticide tolerances in the eCFR, web services that provide a wide variety and depth of information about a particular chemical, and 100,000+ chemical synonyms to power the search engine.

Pesticide Chemical Search will be expanded to include pesticide product labels and other relevant information in the near future.

Scenes from an Adirondack Fall

Here is a slideshow of Adirondack Autumn photographs I've been taking from around the area, including a number of lake shots. Click on any image to jump to the full-size slideshow on the Storie website

EPA Announces Winners of Apps for the Environment Challenge

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has announced the winners of its Apps for the Environment challenge, which encouraged new and innovative uses of EPA’s data to create apps that address environmental and public health issues. Developers from across the country created apps with information about everything from energy efficient light bulbs to local air quality. A few even developed games to help people learn environmental facts.

“Innovators from across the country have used information to help people protect our health and the environment,” said Malcolm Jackson, EPA’s Chief Information Officer. “The winners of the Apps for the Environment challenge demonstrate that it’s possible to transform data from EPA and elsewhere into applications that people can use.”

The five winners are:

• Winner, Best Overall App: Light Bulb Finder by Adam Borut and Andrea Nylund of EcoHatchery, Milwaukee, Wis.
• Runner Up, Best Overall App: Hootroot by Matthew Kling of Brighter Planet, Shelburne, VT
• Winner, Best Student App: EarthFriend by Ali Hasan and Will Fry of Differential Apps and Fry Development Company, Mount Pleasant High School in Mount Pleasant, N.C. and J.H. Rose High School in Greenville, N.C.
• Runner Up, Best Student App: Environmental Justice Participatory Mapping by Robert Sabie, Jr. of Western Washington University, Bellingham, Wash.
• Popular Choice Award: CG Search by Suresh Ganesan of Cognizant Technology Solutions, South Plainfield, N.J.

Winners will demonstrate their submissions at the Apps for the Environment forum today in Arlington, Va. The forum will include panels on business, technology, and government initiatives, breakout sessions by EPA’s program offices, upcoming developer challenges and future directions about environmental applications.

All contestants will retain intellectual property rights over their submissions, though winners agree that their submissions will be available on the EPA website for free use and download by the public for a period of one year following the announcement of the winners.

More information about the winners and other submissions: http://appsfortheenvironment.challenge.gov/submissions

More information about EPA’s Apps for the Environment forum: http://www.epa.gov/appsfortheenvironment/forum.html

View from space: Toxic algae bloom in Lake Erie

Landsat-5 satellite images acquired in early October, 2011 revealed the worst algae bloom North America’s Lake Erie has experienced in decades. The bloom is primarily microcystis aeruginosa, an algae that is toxic to mammals, according to the Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory. The reasons for this year’s giant bloom are complex, say scientists, but might be related to a rainy spring and invasive mussels.

See pictures and more of the story at:

http://earthsky.org/water/view-from-space-toxic-algae-bloom-in-lake-erie
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Source: EarthSky.org Water Blog