Climate Change Impact

I found the article Low Flows, Hot Trout through the Big Sky Institute, which focuses on the Clark Fork Basin in Montana and how climate change affects the area: through increasing temperatures, earlier snowmelt, increased chance for wildfires, and impact on wildlife. The in-depth scientific analysis of climate change and what it means for the Clark Fork area can be applied to other areas facing similar problems, such as Yellowstone, Idaho, or even Bozeman. When I went to the USGS office in Boise, ID, for database training in groundwater programs, I was introduced to biological studies going on there in terms of trout and other fish, and their findings directly relate to this study.

Geomorphology

Geomorphology is the scientific study of landforms and the processes that shape them. Geomorphologists seek to understand why landscapes look the way they do, to understand landform history and dynamics, and to predict future changes through a combination of field observation, physical experiment, and numerical modeling.

Landforms evolve in response to a combination of natural and anthropogenic (man-made) processes. The landscape is built up through tectonic uplift and volcanism. Denudation (the removal of material) occurs by erosion, weathering, and mass wasting, which produces sediment that is transported and deposited elsewhere. Landscapes are also lowered by subsidence, either due to tectonics or physical changes in underlying sedimentary deposits. Practical applications of geomorphology include measuring the effects of climate change, hazard assessments (landslide prediction and mitigation), river control and restoration, coastal protection, and assessing the presence of water on Mars.

Modern geomorphology focuses on the quantitative analysis of interconnected processes, such as the contribution of solar energy, the rates of steps of the hydrologic cycle, plate movement rates from geophysics to compute the age and expected fate of landforms and the weathering and erosion of the land. Primary surface processes responsible for most topographic features include wind, waves, weathering, mass wasting, ground water, surface water, glaciers, tectonism, and volcanism.

Source

Whirling Disease

Although Whirling Disease has a silly name, it has a deep negative impact on trout and salmon in Montana waters. The non-native species of parasite that causes the fish to "whirl" is introduced into the host fish by a native worm which attaches itself to the fish naturally. The parasite multiplies rapidly in the spinal cartilage of the salmon or trout and subsequently puts pressure on its organ of equilibrium. This pressure produces erratic swimming in fish, prohibiting them from successfully feeding or avoiding predators.

It is believed that Whirling Disease came from European brown trout, which are resistant to the parasite. The parasite can be spread after a fish dies from the disease, when the parasite can then make its way into another fish's spinal cartilage, making this a difficult disease to control. Thus it is important not to transfer fish from one body of water to another, to reduce the spread of the parasite spores.

Whirling Disease has had a devastating effect on Montana fisheries and recreational fishing. Efforts are being made to prevent the spread of the disease, but recreational fishers and outdoor lovers all need to contribute by not transporting fish or fish waste to other bodies of water, and other methods of prevention. I think this link link provides good basic information on stopping the spread of the disease.

Converting a Water Treatment Plant

This article, from US Water News, outlines the conversion of the Portland, OR, chlorine gas feed system to liquid sodium hypochlorite in order to "eliminate hazards associated with gas systems and to enhance chlorine residual throughout the distribution system."

The developers of the project brought in a Westfall mixer in order to make the transition while keeping the lines working. The article goes into depth about the details, but the result was a far more stable residual chlorine level even during the spring period, which usually created the worst oscillations in pH and chlorine residual.

CBM Discharge and Storm Flows

I found the report on Water Resource Monitoring of Streams in the Coal Bed Methane Production Area of the Powder River Basin, Wyoming to be interesting since it analyzes coal bed methane (CBM) discharge during storm flows, and particularly during a period (2001-2006) of drought in the watershed areas investigated.

CBM is not a topic on which I have a broad knowledge, but it is important in the Wyoming and Montana areas as a source of energy. The environmental effects of CBM wells is of particular interest to an environmentally conscious population. I participated in storm sampling with the USGS during some particularly intense (for San Diego) storms and found it to be an interesting (and wet) study, but I wasn't able to delve into the subject since my main responsibility was ground-water sampling.

It's a fairly lengthy study, but the end result concludes that, in general, there is little effect from CBM discharges on storm flow chemistry, which agrees with much of the available information that states that CBM-discharged water has little effect on the environment into which it is discharged.

Water Rights and Budget Cuts

I found this article on the US Water News wesbite, regarding Idaho's Comprehensive Aquifer Management Plan (CAMP), a plan which will cost $100 million in its first 10 years. The plan to manage the Eastern Snake Plain Aquifer in Idaho faces serious problems with current budget cuts due to a poor economy.

Boise, Idaho

The Eastern Snake Plain Aquifer provides drinking water for about one third of Idaho’s population in the eastern part of the state. Most of the water is used for agriculture, irrigating about 60% of Idaho's total irrigated acres. About half of the irrigation water is
ground-water, and the other half is surface water.

Drought and extensive ground-water pumping over the past half century have depleted this aquifer and resulting in lawsuits over water rights between surface and ground-water users. The plan intends to recharge the aquifer and to change how the water is used to resolve these disputes and preserve a vital aquifer for the eastern part of the state.

The real trouble faced by this plan is whether or not it will be passed. Extreme budget cuts threaten to prevent this measure from being passed, as it calls for $3 million per year to come from the state. The plan has been approved by the Water Resource Board, and now it must be passed by the Legislature.

The plan is a culmination of the cooperation among water users, agency staff, and consultants to create a feasible water management solution for the aquifer in both the long-term and the short-term.