• Waterborne Disease Outbreaks On the Rise
  
• Warmer Weather Threatens Western Water Supplies
  
• California Partners Aim to Restore Wetlands
  
• Hatchery Salmon May Endanger Wild Cousins
  
• Lawsuit Challenges Grazing in Nevada Desert
  
• Massachusetts Team Explores Acid Mine Runoff
  
• Grants Will Help Assemble the Tree of Life
  
• Exotic Earthworms Devouring Forest Floor
  

Waterborne Disease Outbreaks On the Rise

The number of both drinking water and recreational water outbreaks reported in 1999 and 2000 increased from the number reported in 1997 and 1998, reported Sherline Lee of the CDC at a press briefing Thursday. The CDC and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) summarize and report on waterborne disease outbreaks every two years.

According to the newest data, Lee said, drinking water outbreaks increased from 17 outbreaks in 1997 and 1998, to 39 in 1999 and 2000.

"The observed increase in drinking water illness outbreaks largely reflects problems associated with drinking water from small private wells that are independently owned and operated," Lee said. "Outbreaks in regulated drinking water systems have not increased, indicating that efforts by the drinking water industry, public health officials, and regulatory agencies have been successful in preventing illness."

Lee emphasized that "many of these drinking water outbreaks are also preventable," and could be avoided if the owners of private wells "make sure the well is properly constructed, maintained or tested."

Michael Beach of the CDC reported on disease outbreaks in recreational waters including lakes, marine beaches, swimming pools and water parks. He said the latest summary documents 59 new outbreaks associated with recreational water use that affected more than 2000 people, including 21 outbreaks in 2000 alone - the highest number since reporting began in 1978.

"This trend is really heavily influenced by outbreaks in disinfected venues, you know, such as swimming pools, with the parasite, Cryptosporidium parvum now accounting for almost 70 percent of the outbreaks," Beach said. Cryptosporidium, a parasite that causes diarrhea, is resistant to the chlorine that most pool owners use to keep their water safe.

In freshwater lakes, streams and swimming pools, the E.coli bacteria accounts for almost 30 percent of reported outbreaks, Beach said.

"We're not looking to reduce the popularity of swimming. This is a national pastime," Beach noted. "We really want to transition the public from the status quo swimming practices they have now to responsible swimming practices" that include frequent bathroom breaks far from recreational waters.

Warmer Weather Threatens Western Water Supplies

In the most rigorous study to date of potential greenhouse impacts, a group of leading global warming and climate change researchers detail how major water problems could evolve over the next 50 years throughout the West as a result of climate change already underway. The report was written by more than two dozen scientists and engineers from around the country.

The new simulations, released Thursday, suggest the effects of rising temperatures will exacerbate problems that are already beginning to emerge. In the West, the effects of global warming can already be seen in earlier melting of mountain snow packs and spring flooding dates.

Scientific studies show that these, and other expected climate changes, could have a devastating impact on water resources in some parts of the West over the next half century.

"Population and economic growth already are placing severe pressure on water resources in the West. Climate change is one more very important factor that has to be taken into account when thinking about the future," said Bill Pennell, director of the atmospheric science and global change division at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL).

Among the conclusions of the PNNL research team:

In the Columbia River System of Washington State, residents and industries may be faced with the choice of water for summer and fall hydroelectric power or spring and summer releases for salmon runs, but not both. Accelerated Climate Prediction Initiative research, or ACPI, shows that with climate change, the river cannot be managed to accommodate both. In fact, the window for successful salmon reproduction in the Pacific Northwest may become so compressed by climate change that some species could cease to exist regardless of any current or future water policies.

The Colorado River Reservoir System will not be able to meet all of the demands placed on it - including water supply for Southern California and the inland Southwest - because reservoir levels will be reduced by more than one-third and releases by as much as 17 percent. The greatest effects will be on lower Colorado River Basin states. All users of Colorado River hydroelectric power will be affected by lower reservoir levels and flows, which will result in reductions in hydropower generation by as much as 40 percent.

In the Central Valley of California, it will be impossible to meet current water system performance levels so that impacts will be felt in reduced reliability of water supply deliveries, hydropower production and instream flows. With less fresh water available, the Sacramento Delta could experience an increase in salinity, causing major ecosystem disruptions.

"It also is important to point out that these predictions are based on one of the most conservative climate models," said Dennis Lettenmaier, professor of civil engineering at the University of Washington. "Other models show a much larger warming effect."

"However, even this conservative model indicates substantial changes," Lettenmaier cautioned. "For example, by mid-century the yearly average snow pack in the Washington and Oregon Cascades may be reduced on the order of 50 percent and because most of our water storage is in this snow pack, such a reduction will result in big changes in flows and water temperatures in Cascade rivers and streams."

California Partners Aim to Restore Wetlands

The CWRP is a private-public initiative that brings together businesses, government agencies, conservation organizations, community groups and academia to help protect, enhance and restore wetlands, coasts and waterways. Dow is the first to join the initiative in California.

"Today, I'm proud to represent the partners of Coastal America in joining with the Dow Chemical Company and the National Association of Manufacturers to celebrate the expansion of this unique partnership into the state of California," said EPA Administrator Christie Whitman. "There is an old saying that, if you want to make a difference, start by looking in your own backyard. That's exactly what Dow has done."

EPA Administrator Christie Whitman, with UC Berkeley instructor Dr. Stephen Andrews, talks with students at Dow's 470 acre wetlands preserve in Antioch. (Photo courtesy EPA)

"In the business world, we often hear that protecting our natural resources costs too much. And we also hear that when weighed against considerations of increased profits and improved company performance, the price of environmental protection is too high," said Arnold Allemang, Dow executive vice president, in his remarks at the event.

"Dow disagrees. We consider it our responsibility, as part of our commitment to sustainability, to support projects like CWRP. We are pleased to be CWRP's first corporate partner in California," Allemang added.

The United States has lost more than half its wetlands since 1780. Besides providing homes for many rare and endangered plants and animals, wetlands help purify water and prevent floods during heavy rains.

Wayne Nastri, the EPA's regional administrator for the Pacific Southwest, praised Dow, and other corporations who are already striving to protect and restore wetlands.

"This is an important first step by Dow and it underscores the company's commitment toward corporate environmental stewardship," Nastri said. "In thanking Dow, I also urge them to continue their environmental efforts and I encourage other corporations to follow in their footsteps."

For more information, visit: http://www.coastalamerica.gov

Hatchery Salmon May Endanger Wild Cousins

Twenty-six populations of wild salmon in the Pacific Northwest are now listed as threatened or endangered, and many conservationists fear that hatcheries are a part of the problem.

West Coast hatcheries have produced salmon for more than a century and today release more than a billion each year. Most of the salmon in the Columbia River Basin are hatchery reared, including more than 70 percent of both steelhead and spring run chinook adults.

Despite these enormous hatchery releases, wild steelhead populations have dropped by 75 percent in the last 30 years and wild spring run chinook have dropped more than 95 percent in the last 40 years. While some people think hatcheries are contributing to these declines, little is known about how hatchery reared fish affect wild populations.

In a study in the December issue of the journal "Conservation Biology," researchers Phillip Levin and John Williams of the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) used existing population estimates to see if there is a link between hatchery steelhead and the survival of wild salmon, including steelhead and chinook, in the Snake River, which is the Columbia's largest tributary.

The researchers measured survival by comparing how many juveniles migrated toward the sea (smolts) with how many adults returned over the course of 20 years (1977-1997). The number of hatchery steelhead released ranged from about 4 to 10 million per year.

The results suggest that hatchery steelhead do not affect wild steelhead, but that they may threaten wild chinook.

"We observed a strong negative association between releases of hatchery steelhead and smolt to adult survival of wild chinook salmon," write Levin and Williams. When hatchery releases doubled, the smolt to adult survival of wild chinook dropped about 90 percent.

Hatchery steelhead smolts are about 10 times bigger than wild chinook smolts, and the researchers think that this could increase the chinook's stress when the two types of salmon are packed together in barges; the barge trip from the Snake River's Lower Granite Dam to the Columbia River estuary takes several days.

Moreover, hatchery steelhead are aggressive fish that could easily outcompete the more timid wild chinook for food. When they reach the estuary, hatchery steelhead often have full stomachs, but the chinook do not.

As salmon continue to decline in the Pacific Northwest, some hatcheries are shifting their goals from producing bulk quantities for commercial fisheries and sport fishermen to replenishing wild populations.

"Conventional steelhead hatcheries clearly do not lower extinction risks or promote biodiversity," said Levin and Williams. "But the question of whether hatcheries can be altered to aid rather than hinder recovery remains unanswered."

Lawsuit Challenges Grazing in Nevada Desert

The groups say overgrazing is destroying the only remaining critical habitat for the desert dace, a rare fish species listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act.

"In embracing a more intensive grazing regime in desert dace critical habitat, the BLM has turned its back on sound science," said Todd Tucci, staff attorney for the Land and Water Fund of the Rockies, which represents the conservation groups. "Incredibly, the BLM is refusing to protect the last three miles of occupied habitat of desert dace. This plan pushes the species closer to the edge of extinction in express violation of the Endangered Species Act."

The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Reno, cites the BLM for failing to stop the ecological damage caused by livestock grazing - damage that the suit says the BLM has noted in its own analyses - on the Soldier Meadows and Paiute Meadows grazing allotments in northwestern Nevada. These allotments encompass portions of five wilderness areas of the Black Rock Desert and large parts of the Black Rock National Conservation Area.

"BLM itself has documented the adverse impacts of grazing within these allotments but continues to cower to the whims of politically connected ranching corporations," said Tucci.

The Hot Springs Pasture of the Soldier Meadows allotment contains the only known habitat for desert dace. Several streams in the Soldier Meadows and Paiute Meadows allotments also provide occupied habitat for Lahontan cutthroat trout. Populations of both species have declined in recent years.

"It is long past due for the BLM to stand up for the ecological health of our public lands," said Katie Fite, conservation director of the Committee for the High Desert. "In many areas throughout these allotments, cows have beaten the public lands to dirt. Obviously, neither Lahontan cutthroat trout nor desert dace can survive in these conditions."

In its Final Allotment Evaluation for Soldier Meadows and Paiute Meadows, the BLM concluded that livestock grazing violates management objectives for both allotments. In such cases, the Federal Lands Policy and Management Act requires the BLM to revise its grazing management program "no later than the start of the next grazing year."

But the BLM's current preferred grazing alternative calls for increasing grazing levels on Soldier Meadows Allotment by as much as 58 percent over the next few years. The preferred alternative also extends the grazing season to 11 months from 8.5 months.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service recently issued a Biological Opinion which concludes that increased grazing "will ... likely result in more extensive habitat damage and adversely affect desert dace and adversely modify designated critical habitat."

"Now is the time to act," said Tucci. "Otherwise it will be too late."

Massachusetts Team Explores Acid Mine Runoff

The team includes experts from the fields of microbiology, geology, engineering and science education, all working to determine the extent and rate of bioremediation: the process by which bacteria and other natural elements of the ecosystem work to clean toxins from the environment.

The researchers say their findings may lead to quicker natural cleanups, not just at this mine, but at others throughout the country and the world.

Acidic water runs off from the old Davis Mine site in Rowe, Massachusetts. (Photo courtesy UMass)

The drainage waters are more acidic than vinegar, and carry large loads of metals, including copper, zinc, and iron, Nüsslein said.

"In other areas of the country, similar acid mine drainage from former coal or gold mines can mobilize additional undesirable contaminants," he added.

The researchers stress that there is no threat to the local environment or the area's water supply, because the iron sulfide in the Davis Mine contains few hazardous impurities. This makes the site an ideal subject for examining the natural processes that are contained in the drainage.

The interdisciplinary project has received a $1.59-million grant from the "Biocomplexity in the Environment" program of the National Science Foundation. This competitive program funded just 10 projects across the nation this year.

Over the next five years, the group will combine field work, computer modeling and laboratory research to study bioremediation at the Davis Mine. The group hopes to demonstrate the global importance of using bacteria to clean up the environment.

Nüsslein, a microbiologist, will try to determine which particular microorganisms are oxidizing the acids and heavy metals, providing a natural source of bioremediation.

"Obviously these microorganisms are very successful at remediating the site. We want to know which microorganisms are there, which ones are thriving, or just making do, and what their actual function is," he said.

Richard Yuretich, a UMass geologist who has brought classes to the site for more than 20 years, will study what role geology is playing in the natural clean up.

"The acid and the heavy metals react with bedrock and other glacial deposits and are neutralized," Yuretich explained. "It's similar to a person with an upset stomach taking an antacid; the acid level drops."

Engineers will study the way the groundwater and surface water are flowing. Twelve high school and middle school teachers, who are pursuing master's degrees in science education, will work at the site as researchers, using what they learn in their classroom teaching.

"Participation in active research projects is often cited as the best way to learn science and the ways in which scientists think," Feldman said.

Grants Will Help Assemble the Tree of Life

One of the most profound ideas to emerge in modern science is Charles Darwin's concept that all of life, from the smallest microorganism to the largest vertebrate, is connected through genetic relatedness in a vast genealogy. This "Tree of Life" summarizes all that scientists know about biological diversity and underpins much of modern biology, yet many of its branches remain poorly known and unresolved.

The NSF grants, aimed at "Assembling the Tree of Life," will help more than 25 institutions fill in some of the gaps. Their studies range from investigations of entire pieces of DNA to assemble the bacterial branches; to the study of the origins of land plants from algae; to understanding the most diverse group of terrestrial predators, the spiders; to the diversity of fungi and parasitic roundworms; to the relationships of birds and dinosaurs.

"Despite the enormity of the task, now is the time to reconstruct the tree of life," said Quentin Wheeler, director of NSF's division of environmental biology, which funded the awards. "The conceptual, computational and technological tools are available to rapidly resolve most, if not all, major branches of the tree of life. At the same time, progress in many research areas from genomics to evolution and development is currently encumbered by the lack of a rigorous historical framework to guide research."

Scientists estimate that the 1.75 million known species are just 10 percent of the total species on earth, and that many of those species will disappear in the decades ahead. Learning about these species and their evolutionary history is epic in its scope, spanning all the life forms of an entire planet over its several billion year history, Wheeler said.

The tree provides a picture of historical relationships that explains all similarities and differences among plants, animals and microorganisms. Because it explains biological diversity, the Tree of Life has proven useful in many fields, such as choosing experimental systems for biological research, determining which genes are common to many kinds of organisms and which are unique, tracking the origin and spread of emerging diseases and their vectors, bio-prospecting for pharmaceutical and agrochemical products, developing data bases for genetic information, and evaluating risk factors for species conservation and ecosystem restoration.

The Assembling the Tree of Life grants provide support for large multi-investigator, multi-institutional, international teams of scientists who can combine expertise and data sources, from paleontology to morphology, developmental biology, and molecular biology, said Wheeler.

The awards will also involve developing software for improved visualization and analysis of very large data sets, and outreach and education programs in comparative phylogenetic biology and paleontology, emphasizing new training activities, informal science education, and Internet resources and dissemination.

For a list of the Assembling the Tree of Life grants, visit: http://www.nsf.gov/bio/pubs/awards/atol_02.htm

Exotic Earthworms Devouring Forest Floor

This is "the first research to show that exotic earthworms are harmful to rare native vegetation in northern forests," said Michael Gundale of Michigan Technological University in Houghton, who presents this work in the December issue of the journal "Conservation Biology."

About 10,000 years ago, glaciers pushed the range of North American earthworms southward, and today the only earthworms found in most of Minnesota are non-native species introduced from Europe. Some of these earthworms eat the top part of the soil - a layer of decomposing litter called the forest floor - and this could endanger the goblin fern, a rare species that grows mostly underground.

Found only in the upper Great Lakes region, goblin ferns live between the forest floor and the underlying mineral soil. Because these tiny ferns only send up leaves during the summer, and often do not emerge at all, they are thought to get some of their energy from fungi in the forest floor instead of through photosynthesis.

To see if non-native earthworms are wiping out goblin ferns by eating the forest floor, Gundale studied 28 sites where populations of the fern had been documented in northern Minnesota's Chippewa National Forest. He surveyed each site for both goblin ferns and earthworms, and took soil cores to measure the depth of the forest floor.

Gundale found that the fern had disappeared at a third of the sites studied - nine out of 28 - and that these local fern extinctions were linked to two factors: the presence of a non-native earthworm and a thinner forest floor. The forest floor at sites where earthworms were found was half as thick as that at worm free sites.

To confirm that this non-native earthworm can make the forest floor thinner, Gundale added large quantities of the worm to soil cores in the laboratory. He found that after 60 days, the forest floor was only half as thick as it had been.

Gundale speculates that non-native earthworms may reach northern forests as eggs, which are resilient and so could be spread via tires. He observed that earthworm invasions were more severe closer to roads, which supports his theory.

Based in part on Gundale's work, the U.S. Forest Service is trying to protect the goblin fern by restricting logging and road building where it still grows.

More information on Gundale's research, "Invasion of North Temperate Forest Soils by Exotic Earthworms," is available at: http://www.ecostudies.org/research/reports/grofrep2.html