Ecological Importance of Southeastern Rivers

10 03 2010

Interpretive signs for an upcoming project near the Harpeth River in Williamson County will highlight the ecological significance of the waters of the southeastern United States. If you didn’t know, the rivers and streams of middle Tennessee are part of the most unique and diverse freshwater ecosystem in the entire world. This has to do with a couple things, namely the temperate climate combined with the fact that much of the area was unglaciated, or it as been more geologically stable than other parts of the U.S.

Just to give you an idea the area is home to more than 250 species of crayfish (70% of all the species in the entire U.S.), more than 300 species of mussels (over 1/3 of these live in Tennessee), and more than half the freshwater fish species in the U.S. Because of this great diversity, Tennessee has more freshwater fish that are at-risk than any other state. These species are at-risk largely due to pressures from development practices, which allow sediments and pollutants to wash into our rivers and streams. This and other topics concerning protection of critical watersheds can be found in, Rivers of Life or States of the Union: Ranking America’s Biodiversity, just some of the publications found on the NatureServe’s website.

Graphic from 'Rivers of Life', published by NatureServe

As mentioned in an earlier post, the implementation of ‘green street’ practices on Deaderick Street in downtown Nashville will divert approximately 1.2 million gallons of stormwater a year from the Cumberland River. This is water that would have otherwise run unabated into the river carrying all of the pollutants and sediments from the street. Understanding the significance of the region’s biodiversity is a good reminder of what we are trying to protect when implementing green infrastructure planning and strategies –and why this is especially important here in the Southeast and Middle Tennessee.

-Sara Putney


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Categories : Green Street, Parks & Open Space, Plans and studies, Uncategorized, water issues

Clarifying EPA’s Jurisdiction Under The Clean Water Act

3 03 2010

Supreme Court Building
Credit: istockphoto.com/diademimages

On Monday the New York Times ran an interesting article as a part of their Toxic Waters series. The article titled “Rulings Restrict Clean Water Act, Foiling E.P.A.” reported on the difficulties regulators are having implementing the intent of the 1972 Clean Water Act. The difficulties stem from the Supreme Court’s decision in 2008 questioning the definition of  “navigable waters” in Rapanos v United States and Carabell v United States Corp of Engineers. The court was split (4-1-4) on whether the wetlands in question were under the jurisdiction of the Clean Water Act since they were not directly adjacent to a navigable waterway.

The Clean Water Restoration Act (text here) introduced into Congress last year by Senator Russ Fiengold, D-Wisconsin and Rep. Jim Oberstar, D-Minnesota seeks to clarify this definition. Clarifying the definitions of the EPA’s jurisdiction would facilitate the implementation of the Clean Water Act and allow regulators to make decisions. The bill has passed the Senate Environmental and Public Works Committee, but has been placed on hold by Senator Mike Crapo, R-Idaho.

I am curious about the timing of the NYT article and wonder if there will be any action on the Clean Water Restoration Act in the near future. Obviously, the decision could have a profound impact on the EPA’s jurisdiction.

For more information I came across this analysis of Rapanos v United States and Carabell v United States Corp of Engineers from the Harvard Environmental Law Review. You can also find the EPA’s current clarifications on “Waters of the United States” on their website here.

-Brian Phelps


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Invasive Species in the News

15 01 2010

When we plan and design for projects, within our trade, we try to use native species whenever possible. This is especially important when designing green infrastructure projects that tie so closely to our natural resources, in particular our waterways. Oftentimes people wonder why this is so important and how can it really affect them anyway? Whether it’s plant materials or animals, all invasive species are eventually extremely damaging to our native ecosystems. And also extremely costly; “The UN Convention on Biological Diversity says the spread of invasives costs 1.4 trillion dollars a year globally in damages and control measures. The U.S. alone loses 138 billion dollars a year in the fight.”

Image from ‘The Dirt’ website.

In ASLA’s blog ‘The Dirt’, a recent posts highlights the efforts for the State of Michigan to protect Lake Michigan and the entire Great Lakes Region from the Asian Carp. Like all invasive species these fish take over an ecosystem by consuming resources that would otherwise be used by the native species. Michigan is suing the State of Illinois in order that they shut down the waterways leading into Lake Michigan. According to the New York Times article Minnesota, Ohio, Wisconsin, and Indiana are all in support. This came to light due to recent evidence of the carp within 6 miles of Lake Michigan in the Chicago area waterway system that links the Mississippi River to the Great Lakes. And while the City of Chicago realizes that the carp overtaking Lake Michigan would be devastating they are wrestling with their own economic concerns over what closing the waterways would really mean. There is more detailed information in ‘The Dirt’ post and the New York Times Article.

Another item in the light recently is the efforts of the Chicago Botanic Garden and the Morton Arboretum to gather native seeds from around the Midwest. “Scientists from the botanic garden are sending teams out across the Midwest and West to the Rocky Mountains and Great Basin to collect seeds from different populations of 1,500 prairie species by 2010, and from 3,000 species by 2020. The goal is to preserve the species and, depending on changes in climate, perhaps even help species that generally grow near one another to migrate to a new range.” The idea is to catalogue, store and preserve native plants in the event that climate change or invasive species may require the migration of native plant materials to other areas. There is still much debate about the project and more detailed information can be found in the New York Times article.

These are just two examples in a long list of invasive species problems that continue to threaten the ecosystems of the US. Not only do invasives disrupt plants, animals and other natural resources, but as noted above they also can have huge negative economic impacts. This coming on the tails of National Invasive Species Awareness Week, (January 10-14th), to learn more visit the National Invasive Species Information Center’s website.

– Sara Putney


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Categories : Plans and studies, Sustainable Site Strategies, Uncategorized, water issues

Liquid Assets: A Review

7 12 2009

Trailer for Liquid Assets (Click Here if you don’t see it above)

Last week I ordered a copy of Liquid Assets from the WPSU media store and had a chance to watch it over the weekend. The documentary debuted Fall 2008 on public television stations across the country. It provides an informative overview of the issues facing our Nation’s water infrastructure and the need to address it. Through a series of interviews and helpful computer animations, the video examines the infrastructure for our drinking water, wastewater, and stormwater, primarily concentrating on the public health and economic development issues. The documentary is a sobering look at the great need to maintain or replace our aging water systems. It was able to capture the magnitude of the problems while offering hope by showing how cities are addressing the problem. Boston, Philadelphia, Milwaukee, Washington D.C., New York City, Pittsburgh, Herminie,PA, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, and Atlanta are profiled.

The audience for the documentary is not design and engineering professionals who are steeped in these issues and have a firm grasp on them. The video is intended for a general audience that may not have a thorough understanding of water issues. My seven year old daughter sat with me to watch it and surprisingly she lasted over an hour before getting bored. She seemed to take a lot of way from the portions she did watch. Some of the basics the video teaches people is what watersheds are, how we get our water, and what a combined sewer overflow is. As an entertaining tool for bringing the general public up to speed with the issues, the documentary is excellent. A complementary community outreach toolkit is provided on-line. This toolkit provides information on how to conduct public workshops in your city and facilitate discussions about water issues. In addition, the documentary is broken into chapters that address specific topics, allowing for groups to tailor it to specific needs within their community. However, I would highly recommended watching the entire 86 minutes. In context of the whole, the chapters are much stronger.

My only major disappointment was that green infrastructure was not addressed to any great depth. The Pittsburgh segment touched on it. The work of the Nine Mile Run Watershed Association was highlighted and concentrated on the Nine Mile Run Restoration. During this segment, there was some mention about street planting and rain barrels. Liquid Assets does however illustrate the issues green infrastructure can address within these troubled systems. This includes combined sewer overflows, protection of water sources, and non-point source water pollution.

Overall the video is a high quality documentary that can spur great discussions about the past, present, and future of our water system.

-Brian Phelps


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