Chloride in Our Water continued from pg. 1 WHAT CAN I...
Transcript of Chloride in Our Water continued from pg. 1 WHAT CAN I...
January 2013
Sandra Postel Addresses the Impact of Climate Change On Our Waters
Sandra Postel, an author and advocate for sustainable water use and the
inclusion of ecosystem needs in allocation of scarce water supplies, will be
the 10th speaker in a lecture series sponsored by the Freshwater Society and
the University of Minnesota College of Biological Sciences. The lecture will
be at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 12, 2013, in the theater of the Student Center on
the University's St. Paul campus.
The Freshwater Society interviewed Postel about her work, her goals for
the lecture and her hopes for the future. The following is a transcript of the
interview, edited for clarity and brevity:
Chloride in Our Water The February 7 Road Salt Symposium marks the 12th year the
Freshwater Society has brought together scientists and transportation
professionals to address chloride pollution in our waters.
This year, MPCA Commissioner John Linc Stine will deliver the
keynote address, The Future of MN Waters. Other speakers will
present current research on chloride pollution, toxicity of deicers and
offer solutions to protect our waters and halt chloride’s impacts. The
symposium will present information about the current state of chlorides
Sandra Postel
UPCOMING EVENTSThursday, February 712:00 - 1:00 pm12th Annual Road Salt Symposium
Tuessday, February 127:00 - 9:00 pmSandra Postel Lecture
Thursday, April 11
Ice Out/Loon In Fundraiser
Coming in May...The Connection Between Groundwater and Lakes, Streams and Wetlands
In this issueFrom the Desk of Joan Nephew . . . . . . . . . . .2
Ice OUT/Loon IN. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2
Weatherguide Calendars . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3
What Can I Do? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4
Weather Facts and Photo from MN Weatherguide Environment CalendarMonthly Normals: Temp. Max: 23.7 F Min: 7.5 F Precip. .9 in. Snowfall 12.1 in.
Male Northern Cardinal by Michael R. Cervantes
FACETS of Freshwater
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Chloride in Our Water continued from pg. 1
4 | FACETS OF FRESHWATER www.freshwater.org
Tips for conserving and protecting water in the winter
WHAT CAN I DO?
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in MN waters and provide innovative tools and
new methods to help repair our waters and
sustain our resources – while maintaining
safe roads! If your transportation department
is looking for solutions, your waterways are
threatened by chlorides, you want to educate
your citizens, or you are looking to do your part
to protect our waters – you won’t want to miss
this symposium! Stopping chloride pollution is
everyone’s responsibility.
AGENDA HIGHLIGHTS:
• Keynote from John Linc Stine, MPCA
Commissioner
• New Research on Toxicity of Deicing
Chemicals
• Snow Fence Calculator
• MI Bounce and Scatter Study
• Results of New Study: Effectiveness of Deicers
and Anti-icers
• Winter Operations Assessment Tool
• MPCA’s Water Protection Goals
• 2013 Environmental Leadership Awards!
Attendees will earn Road Scholar Credits
REGISTRATION:
Register now on-line and pay by credit card or
request to be invoiced or call Jeanne at 952-314-
8133 or e-mail: [email protected]
Please register by February 1, 2013. Cost for the
day is $125 ($85 for seniors and students) which
includes a continental breakfast and buffet lunch.
Entrance into the Arboretum is complimentary.
A refund of the registration fee (minus $25)
will be given for cancellations received up to 5
business days prior to the event. For cancellations
received beyond 5 business days, but 24 hours
prior to the event, 50% will be refunded. No
refunds are issued if the registration was not
cancelled.
DIRECTIONS:
U of MN Landscape Arboretum
675 Arboretum Way, Chaska, MN 55318
952-443-1400
Located 9 miles west of I-494 on State Hwy. 5; 4
miles west of Chanhassen on Hwy. 5; and ¼ mile
west of the intersection of State Hwy. 41 on Hwy
5. Convenient lodging is available at Country Inn
and Suites, Chanhassen, MN 55317.
• Winter is the perfect time to research and map out the best way to be water wise with your
landscaping. Consider adding a rain barrel this year.
• If you’re remodeling or replacing appliances or electronics, look for products with the Energy
Star label when you shop. Many electronics even use energy when they’re “off” to power
continuous displays or remote controls. Replacing old items with energy efficient models will
not only help prevent greenhouse gas emissions, but save money on your energy bills.
• Start 2013 with a leak inspection of all your water using appliances and fixtures. Turn off all of
your appliances and then check your meter to see whether you have a leak.
Snow and Ice:
• Shovel. The more snow and ice you remove manually, the less salt you will have to use and the
more effective it can be. Whether you use a shovel, snow blower, snow plow, or ice scraper,
get out there as early as you can and keep up with the storm. You may even decide that salt
isn’t needed.
• 15°F is too cold for salt. Most salts stop working at this temperature. Use sand instead for
traction, but remember that sand does not melt ice.
• Slow down. Drive for the conditions and make sure to give plow drivers plenty of space to do
their work.
• Be patient. Just because you don’t see salt on the road doesn’t mean it hasn’t been applied.
These products take time to work.
• More salt does not mean more melting. Use less than 4 pounds of salt per 1,000 square feet
(an average parking space is about 150 square feet). One pound of salt is approximately a
heaping 12-ounce coffee mug. Consider purchasing a hand-held spreader to help you apply a
consistent amount.
• Sweep up extra. If salt or sand is visible on dry pavement it is no longer doing any work and
will be washed away. Use this salt or sand somewhere else or throw it away.
• ImprovedWinterMaintenance:GoodChoicesforCleanWater provides more tips to
homeowners about more environmentally friendly snow and ice removal. Provided by MPCA
John Linc Stine
Climate Change - What will the future hold?Modern scientists are looking back at the writings of Henry David
Thoreau, Aldo Leopold and other naturalists to measure nature's response
to climate change. The National Climate Assessment Report predicts
higher temperatures and increased frequency of heavy rainfalls that will
affect Minnesota’s water quality, agriculture, health, northern forests,
and infrastructure. 2012 was the hottest year on record in the U.S. and
may be the harbinger of years ahead. Looking for clues in the historical
writing of Thoreau and Leopold, scientists gleaned information on the
adaptation of spring flowers to warmer temperatures – the High Bush
Blueberry now flowers 5-6 weeks earlier than in Thoreau's time. The National Climate Assessment report
recently released, predicts the average temperature in Minnesota will increase five degrees by mid-century
and the increase in frequent heavy rainfalls will cause erosion and declining water quality. Come hear
best-selling author and National Geographic Freshwater Fellow Sandra Postel address the water impacts
of Climate Change at the University of Minnesota, Feb 12. Her talk Will we Have Enough Water? Adapting
to a Warming, Water-Stressed World is sponsored by the Freshwater Society, UMN College of Biological
Sciences and the Mosaic Company Foundation.
Joan Nephew
The Freshwater Society is a non-profit organization dedicated to educating and inspiring people to value, conserve and protect water resources.
Board of Directors Tom Skramstad, Chair
Stuart E. Grubb, Vice Chair
Barbara Luikens, MD, Secretary
Rick Bateson, Treasurer
Todd Bolin
Blyth Berg Brookman
Richard S. Caldecott, PhD, Emeritus Director
Robert Elde, PhD, Emeritus Director
Richard G. Gray, Sr., D.Sc.
JoEllen L. Hurr, Emeritus Director
David Knoblauch
Jim Manolis, PhD
Lili Tod McMillan
Darby Nelson, PhD
Corrine Ricard
Lisa Whalen
Staff Gene Merriam, President
Joan Nephew, Executive Director
Scott Branch, Operations Assistant
Deirdre Coleman, Administrative Assistant
Peggy Knapp, Director of Programs
Diane Lynch, Development Director/Sr. Mgr.
Chris Prok, Operations Manager
Jeanne Prok, Program Manager
Patrick Sweeney, Comm./Research Director
Facets of Freshwater is published by the Freshwater Society.
For permission to reprint, contact us at: 2500 Shadywood Road, Excelsior, MN 55331, 952-471-9773 or at [email protected].
Visit the Freshwater Society web site at www.freshwater.org.
Ice OUT/Loon INAs the official caller of the “ice out” on Lake
Minnetonka since 1968, the Freshwater Society
heralds the spring return of Minnesota’s iconic state bird
with the ice out and celebrates both spring time rituals.
This year's third annual Ice OUT/Loon IN FUN-raiser will be held on Thursday, April 11 from
6:00-9:00 p.m. at the Lakeside Lafayette Club in Minnetonka Beach and it is expected to attract
over 200 guests who will connect with their friends and colleagues over festive drinks and mouth-
watering appetizers, purchase raffle tickets for exciting prizes, compete for the best Loon Call and
bid on over 150 intriguing and entertaining Silent Auction items.
This year will feature a Live Auction, a presentation about Freshwater Society’s water protection
programs, and the first annual Environmental Community Award will be presented in recognition of
community leadership in water protection. Tickets are $50 for one or $85 for two tickets. Purchase
of a table will be available.
Paul Huttner, MPR meteorologist and author of MPR’s Updraft Blog will be the emcee.
On Lake Minnetonka, the ice is designated as “out” when it is possible to travel by small boat
from any one shore to another shore through any passage on the lake. Last year, the official Ice Out
was called by the Freshwater Society on March 21 at 9:12 a.m.
Stay tuned for registration information on our website. Until then, to inquire about being a
sponsor of the event or donating a silent auction item, please call Diane Lynch, Director of
Development, at 952-314-8134 or [email protected].
Sandra Postel Interview continued from pg. 1
What’s your story? Where did you grow up? What was your education?
How did you get interested in water?
I grew up on Long Island in New York. I was a beach kid, growing up near
the ocean. In school, I studied geology and political science and resource
management and ecology. I got very interested in ecosystems, wetlands and
freshwater, particularly in graduate school. Then, my first job out of graduate
school was with a natural resources consulting firm, and I was pretty much put
on the freshwater detail. Three years after that, a major opportunity opened up
to take on the global water portfolio at the World Watch Institute in Washington,
where I spent the next 11 years and really developed my understanding,
developed a research capacity, in fresh water.
You’ve written or co-written three books on water. Give us just a one- or
two-sentence summary of each of those books, please.
The first book, Last Oasis: Facing Water Scarcity, was one of the early books to
sound a warning about the global implications of water scarcity. I had a lot of pride in
that book because I think that it put water scarcity a little bit on the map in a global
sense. That book is now translated into maybe eight or nine different languages and
it’s been made into a PBS documentary, so it has reached the public.
The next book, Pillar of Sand: Can the Irrigation Miracle Last?, is a look at the
history and sustainability of irrigated agriculture, pointing out that, historically,
irrigation civilizations have failed. It was asking the question: Will ours be any
different? It pointed to groundwater over-pumping, salinization of soils, extinction
of rivers – those kinds of threats – as well as pointing toward solutions.
The third water book was, Rivers for Life: Managing Water for People and Nature,
which was a bit more technical, but still highly readable. It focused on river
management, how we can operate our dams and manage rivers with ecosystem
health in mind. It examined how we can put ecosystem health into the equation
of how we manage rivers and pointed out successes where that has been done
and the kind of policies we need.
You founded the Global Water Policy Project. What is that and what does
it do?
I founded the Global Water Policy Project in 1994 when I left the World Watch
Institute. The Global Water Policy Project promotes the preservation and sustainable
use of the Earth’s fresh water. That’s done through research, writings, outreach
and public speaking. The idea is to foster ideas, innovation, inspiration for
redirecting how we use and manage fresh water toward conservation and
preservation of ecosystem health.
Tell us about your involvement with the National Geographic Society.
National Geographic appointed me to be their Freshwater Fellow in 2010. I
head up their Freshwater Initiative. The goals of the Initiative are to educate and
engage the public on issues related to fresh water, helping people understand
water scarcity, helping people understand their own water footprint and what
they can do in their own lives and through their own actions to be part of the
solution, understanding how they can conserve water.
On the ground, we’re working to restore flows to critical ecosystems in the
Colorado River Basin. It’s quite an innovative effort to get real gallons of water
back to ecosystems throughout the basin. That campaign will be launched in a
more formal way in early 2013. But we’ve already done one project, and a very
successful one.
The title of your lecture here is, “Will We have Enough Water: Adapting to
a Warming, Water-Stressed World.” In a few words, what’s going to be your
core message for the audience here?
The core message of my talk will be that we’ve entered a new phase in our
relationship with water that leads to water scarcity. In part, it is due to population
growth and rising consumption, and now, increasingly, due to climate change.
We’re going to need a different set of actions, policies, tools, from
individuals, to communities, to state governments, to national governments
and internationally, to address these challenges in a meaningful way. That will
be the basic core of my talk: What the issues are, what the challenges are, and
how we can begin to address them. We are facing 8 billion people by 2025, 9
billion by 2050. How are we going to meet the water, food, and energy needs
of a population that large if we don’t have healthy ecosystems to support our
economies and the rest of life on the planet?
In 2010, you wrote an article for the Post-Carbon Institute and you
offered a percentage for the increase in water productivity the world needs
to achieve by 2025 to be sustainable. What was that percentage, and what
do you mean by “water productivity”?
Water productivity is the value or benefit we’re getting from every gallon of
water we extract from the natural environment. If we’re going to have any
chance of meeting the needs for water, energy, food, for 9 billion people, we’re
going to have to dramatically increase water productivity.
My sense is that we’re going to need at least a doubling of water productivity
by 2025, and that beyond that, tripling, quadrupling. Those are obviously very
rough numbers – who knows what we’re going to need – but we’re going to
need a really dramatic increase in the value per unit of water we extract from
the natural world.
We’re running out of water in so many places. Groundwater is over-tapped,
rivers are running dry. So the supplies are just not there for tapping in the way
we have in the past. We need to make sure each gallon is giving us more
nutritional productivity and more economic productivity. Unleashing technology,
policy and innovation is necessary to help us do that.
2 | FACETS OF FRESHWATER www.freshwater.org FACETS OF FRESHWATER | 3
From the desk of Joan Nephew Freshwater Society Executive Director
Hurry! Purchase your Weatherguide Calendar before we run out.
Ice OUTApril 11, 2013
Loon I N
To read more of the interview go to www.freshwater.org
To order: Call 952-471-9773, go online to www.freshwater.org or order from the FREE Minnesota Weatherguide mobile app!
All calendar proceeds help us continue our programs as we WORK FOR WATER!