Fresh Water Studies Commons^™

Assessing Habitat Compensation In The Lower Fraser River And Estuary, Megan A. Lievesley, Dan Stewart, Brad Mason, Rob Knight

Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference

Over the last century, wetland ecosystems along the Lower Fraser River (LFR) have been heavily impacted by foreshore development and industry. Wetlands along the LFR provide important ecosystem services and habitat for wildlife such as rearing grounds for fish and staging grounds for migratory birds. For 30 years, habitat compensation has been the accepted method for offsetting habitat degradation; however, due to a lack of follow-up research and consistent baseline data it is yet to be determined if compensation projects truly replicate habitat lost. This project, funded by the National Wetland Conservation Fund, aims to (1) review, assess, and determine …

Greening Real Estate Professionals: A Model For Landowner Engagement Through Effective Education For Brokers & Appraisers, Erica S. Guttman, Robert C. Simmons

Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference

Real estate brokers, appraisers, and developers are an essential audience for bridging communication with new landowners throughout the Salish Sea watershed. The majority of these professionals share concerns about protecting water quality, ensuring the health of theSalishSeafor recreation and economic vitality, and preventing activities that lead to anthropogenic-caused landslides, flooding and other disasters.

Since 1998, WSU Extension has managed a real estate school focused on "green" topics to engage real estate professionals in these issues critical to their clients and our region's water resources. In recent years, our focus has centered on the topics of Green Stormwater Infrastructure and Understanding …

A Framework To Assess Vulnerability Of Biological Components To Ship-Source Oil Spills In The Marine Environment, Kate Thornborough, Candice St. Germain, Lucie Hannah, Miriam O

Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference

A structured approach to identify biological components most affected by a ship-source oil spill has been developed utilising a suite of criteria to assess vulnerability. Our approach divides criteria into three categories: exposure, sensitivity, and recovery, each encompassing a number of criteria which are envisaged to be consistent and broad enough to be usable in any region in Canada. In support of this, we are working with biologists from other Canadian regions who are currently developing ship-source oil spill response plans (i.e. Pacific, Quebec and Maritimes) to test the usability of this approach in multiple marine environments. For the Pacific …

Variable Marsh Resilience To Stress Offers Clues To Climate Change Adaptive Management, Roger Nathan Fuller, Katrina L. Poppe, John M. Rybczyk, Eric Grossman, Chad Stellern

Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference

In Puget Sound’s Stillaguamish estuary, tidal marshes exhibit evidence of multiple stressors that affect their vulnerability and provide insight into adaptive management opportunities to enhance their resilience. Despite high accretion rates, some marsh areas have receded by 10m/yr since 1964. Sources of stress include overgrazing by snow geese, high soil salinities, insect attacks, and changes in flow and inundation patterns. These interact with winter vegetation structure, sediment composition, and wave exposure to result in spatially variable marsh resilience. Some marshes are receding quickly, some slowly, and others are minimally affected. In the context of climate change, with potentially substantial near-term …

Mapping On The Edge: Shoreline Mapping For Regulation And Voluntary Stewardship, Kate E. Emmings

Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference

Nothing generates conversations between landowners and local government like a map! Shoreline mapping is a crucial decision making tool for local governments and regulators. It provides information about appropriate location of shoreline infrastructure, such as docks, and informs landowners about the location of important natural transition areas between the land and the sea. Maps can also provide information that limits the activities of private landowners and as such can cause community conflict if they are inaccurate or unclear. Because mapping can be used to inform regulation, local governments often have different needs than scientists and NGOs, but there is no …

Armoring On Puget Sound: Progress Towards A Better Baseline, Hugh Shipman, Jennifer Burke, Randy E. Carman, Kurt L. Fresh

Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference

The construction of seawalls and similar structures along Puget Sound’s shoreline impacts geomorphic processes and ecological functions. The extent of shoreline armor has been adopted by the Puget Sound Partnership as a vital sign indicator, is used by local, state, and federal groups as a measure of ecosystem function, and has been employed as a tool for prioritizing restoration actions.

As a result, we recognized the importance of accurately characterizing the extent, character, and distribution of shoreline armor. The objectives of our project were to review existing data sources, assess methodologies, identify gaps in data quality or coverage, and to …

Resources For Marine Shoreline Design, Theresa Mitchell

Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference

Shoreline armoring and reducing the use of hard, structural approaches to protecting property is a hot topic across marine communities of North America. As we learn more about the importance of the marine and terrestrial interface (the nearshore zone), we also understand more about how our past practices of hard armoring shorelines can be problematic to the nearshore zone and the ecosystem goods and services it provides. Shifting property owners away from using common hard approaches to erosion protection is difficult to achieve without easy access to information on effective environmentally-friendly alternatives.

The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife and …

From The Ivory Tower Through The Black Box: Engaging Effectively With Government To Turn Ideas Into Action, Gabriel Mastico

Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference

When researchers, communities, and/or environmental organizations propose new approaches to address ecological challenges, responsibility for implementing them often falls (in part) to practitioners working within government. Government employees face considerable challenges in synthesizing the available knowledge to support a recommendation for decision-makers to adopt a new approach. This presentation draws on an insider’s experience to help conservation researchers and practitioners understand the key challenges and opportunities that government employees face in navigating their organizations’ decision-making processes. It also suggests best practices to help proponents of new approaches frame conservation finance ideas in ways that resonate with local governments and their …

An Inventory Of Environmental Governance In The Salish Sea, Laurie D. Trautman

Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference

How is the natural environment of the Salish Sea governed? The fact that the Salish Sea is bifurcated by a national border has inhibited our ability to answer this question. Indeed, the Salish Sea involves not only two national governments, but also a multitude of both state and non-state actors, which exist across scales, and interact in different frameworks (i.e. First Nations/tribes often seek only to negotiate with federal, rather than state/provincial governments). Environmental governance in the Salish Sea also encompasses informal modes of interaction involving public and private interest groups, social movements and community stakeholders, in addition to traditional …

Synthesis Of Results From Twelve Puget Sound Regulatory Effectiveness And Incentive Investigations, Aimee Kinney, Tessa B. Francis, Jeff Rice

Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference

Between 2011 and 2014, the Puget Sound Marine and Nearshore Grant Program funded twelve projects relating to shoreline regulatory and incentive programs. Here we provide an overview of overarching themes that emerged from a review of the projects in aggregate. Despite the different approaches to problem identification, data collection, and analysis in these investigations, the conclusions reached and recommendations made are remarkably similar. Key findings and implications of our analysis relate to: (1) armoring compliance rates; (2) compliance monitoring methodologies; (3) local Shoreline Master Program (SMP) capacity limitations; (4) SMP implementation improvements; and (5) incentive programs to encourage the use …

Developing Locally-Driven (Shoreline) Monitoring Programs In The Salish Sea (And Beyond), David Sale

Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference

During the development of the Bainbridge Island Shoreline Monitoring Program (SMP), a volunteer group of scientists and engineers (Bainbridge Island Environmental Technical Advisory (ETAC)), provided the City of Bainbridge Island (COBI) City Council and staff with advice and recommendations on relevant shoreline science and the SMP. One of the recommendations was for COBI to adopt and initiate a locally–driven and -managed monitoring program to address both the effectiveness of the SMP over time, and uncertainties in knowledge of specific Bainbridge Island shoreline drivers and processes. The program would be designed to integrate past and current studies by COBI and other …

Reducing Uncertainties In Managing In British Columbia Waters: Applying An Adaptive Management Mindset On The South, Central And North Coasts, Erica Olson, Carol Murray, Natascia Tamburello

Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference

British Columbia’s vast coastline is characterized by ecologically rich, rugged, and remote regions where there are many uncertainties about the way that ecosystems function. This translates into a challenge for environmental managers, as it creates considerable uncertainty about which management actions will be most effective for achieving management goals and objectives. Adaptive management can offer a way forward by providing systematic, rigorous approach for designing and implementing management actions to maximize learning about critical uncertainties affecting decisions on environmental management policy and practice. It typically follows a six-step cycle focusing on the implementation and monitoring of management actions that are …

Assessment Of Nutrient, Metal, And Organic Contaminant Concentrations In Eelgrass (Zostera Marina L.) In Puget Sound, Wa (Usa), Jeff Gaeckle

Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference

Eelgrass (Zostera marina L.), the dominant seagrass in the Pacific Northwest region, is an ecologically important component of the marine nearshore throughout greater Puget Sound, WA. Eelgrass and other seagrasses are known to provide extensive ecosystem services worldwide, but are under threat from a suite of anthropogenic stressors, notably nutrient and sediment loading associated with coastal development and population growth. Loading sources span from atmospheric deposition to thousands of outfalls that range from small manmade or natural drainages to the largest permitted facilities in the country. Research has demonstrated seagrasses uptake nutrients, metals and organic contaminants with varied physiological …

Can Intimate Ecological Knowledge Evoke Spirituality?, Robin B. Clark

Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference

The Salish Sea Ecoregion lies within the Marine West Coast Forest Ecoregion (CEC) or the Pacific temperate rain forest (WWF) and others. The marine and upland forested ecosystems are some of the richest and most diverse on the planet. As a registered professional forester and ecologist, I use the biogeoclimatic ecosystem classifications of zones, subzones, site series and edaphic grids in my everyday work in the management of forested ecosystems. I see the forest is a mosaic of interconnectedness that displays with a variety of trees and plants the above and below ground moisture and nutrient regimes. My spirituality arises …

A Long-Term Phytoplankton Monitoring Program For Central Puget Sound Using Particle Imaging, Gabriela Hannach, Lyndsey M. Swanson

Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference

Puget Sound is a large and highly productive estuarine system that is vulnerable to climate change and anthropogenic impacts from a growing population. King County operates an exceptionally comprehensive, long-running monitoring program designed to assess water quality in the Puget Sound Central Basin. Data are collected year-round for a suite of physical, chemical, and biological parameters. Phyoplankton monitoring using traditional methods was added to the program in 2008 to address a significant biological data gap at the lower trophic level. Since acquisition of a FlowCAM particle imaging system in 2014 the program is generating a more extensive and robust dataset …

Environmentally Sound Energy For The Future, Genevra E L Harker-Klimes

Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference

One of the growing industries in coastal and ocean waters is marine renewable energy. To date, there have been very few deployments in US waters, but the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory’s Marine Sciences Laboratory is conducting research into the environmental impacts of such developments in order to enable the industry to grow. At one time, there were nine tidal projects being investigated within Puget Sound, and none of these has been taken forward. There were several reasons why these projects did not progress but one of the key factors was the cost of the environmental studies. Consequently, there is a …

Holding The Line, To Let Shorelines Move Naturally, Kyle Loring

Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference

This poster will identify mechanisms for limiting the impacts of residential development on the natural functions of marine shorelines.

First, it will share the results from two recent legal cases that successfully prevented the unnecessary bulkheading of a documented surf smelt spawning beach on San Juan Island. Friends of the San Juans appealed two local permit approvals to the Shoreline Hearings Board. The local permits authorized two-tiered armoring that extended nearly 20 total feet in height and would have removed most of the vegetation that shaded the beaches and supplied insects for juvenile Chinook salmon in an area identified as …

Skagit Climate Science Consortium: Using Local Polling To Provide Relevant Science, Carol B. Macilroy, Larry Wasserman

Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference

The Skagit Climate Science Consortium (SC²) and the Yale Project on Climate Change Communication partnered to conduct a public opinion poll in the spring of 2015 regarding Skagit County resident’s attitudes and perceptions regarding global warming. The effort, part of Yale’s renown 6 America’s Project, also is providing SC² critical information to help understand local concerns and beliefs about climate change in order to better provide relevant and timely climate science to a broader Skagit community. This presentation will provide an overview of SC²’s theory of change regarding the role of climate science in supporting …

Virtual Simulations Of Potential Vessel Discharges In Puget Sound And The Puget Sound No Discharge Zone, Teizeen Mohamedali, Mindy Roberts, Amy Jankowiak

Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference

The Washington State Department of Ecology (Ecology) evaluated the potential transport, dispersion and dilution of potential vessel sewer discharges within the draft proposed Puget Sound No Discharge Zone (NDZ). These model simulations included potential vessel sewer discharges at six locations in Puget Sound along major shipping routes. Results are presented as virtual animations of surface concentrations, allowing us to visualize the transport, circulation, and dilution of these discharges over the course of several days.

Ecology and Pacific Northwest National Laboratory jointly developed a three-dimensional hydrodynamic FVCOM (Finite Volume Coastal Ocean Model) computer model of the Salish Sea. This model is …

Volunteer-Assisted Monitoring Of A Significant Private Bulkhead Removal, Jeffrey Adams, Brenda Padgham, Jason David Toft, Kyra O'Neil, Kate Litle

Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference

Monitoring efforts to restore physical and biological functions along developed shorelines can take many forms and be influenced by monitoring goals, the scope and scale of the project, and available resources. The Powel project in Port Madison on Bainbridge Island, Washington, had regional significance because of its scale (removing 1544 lineal feet of armor), the diversity of types of armor and shoreline, and its private ownership, but it lacked the funding to support a broad, long-term monitoring program. Not willing to let the opportunity pass without some effort to gather as much appropriate information as possible about the impact and …

Droughtscape- Winter 2016, Kelly Smith

Droughtscape, Quarterly Newsletter of NDMC, 2007-

CONTENTS

Director’s column.........................1

California drought FAQ................2

Oct.-Dec. 2015 drought ............... 4

Oct.-Dec. 2015 impacts...............6

2015 drought impacts in review.............7

NDMC hiring geospatial analyst ............. 8

CA drought exposes social vulnerability.................................. 9

UA helps AZ ranchers, Forest Service work together................12

NDMC & partners help S. Plains ranchers manage drought ......... 15

Chickasaw ranching workshop............16

Patterns Of Abundance And Community Dynamics In Atlantic Coastal Sharks, Cassidy Peterson

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

No abstract provided.

The Spatial Sensitivity Analysis Of Evapotranspiration Using Penman-Monteith Method At Grid Scale, Sivarajah Mylevaganam, Chittaranjan Ray

Nebraska Water Center: Faculty Publications

The need to allocate the existing water in a sustainable manner, even with the projected population growth, has made to assess the consumptive use or evapotranspiration (ET), which determines the irrigation demand. As underscored in the literature, Penman-Monteith method which is a combination of aerodynamic and energy balance method is widely used and accepted as the method of estimation of ET. However, the application of Penman-Monteith relies on many climate parameters such as relative humidity, solar radiation, temperature, and wind speed. Therefore, there exists a need to determine the parameters that are most sensitive and correlated with dependent variable ( …

A Spatial Evapotranspiration Tool At Grid Scale, Sivarajah Mylevaganam, Chittaranjan Ray

Nebraska Water Center: Faculty Publications

The drastic decline in groundwater table and many other detrimental effects in meeting irrigation demand, and the projected population growth have force to evaluate consumptive use or evapotranspiration (ET), the rate of liquid water transformation to vapor from open water, bare soil, and vegetation, which determines the irrigation demand. As underscored in the literature, Penman- Monteith method which is based on aerodynamic and energy balance method is widely used and accepted as the method of estimation of ET. However, the estimation of ET is oftentimes carried out using meteorological data from climate stations. Therefore, such estimation of ET may vary …

2016 Annual Report Building Drought Resilence, Kelly Smith

National Drought Mitigation Center: Publications

CONTENTS

04 From the Director

05 U.S. Drought Monitor puts national conversation on same page

06 Bringing the USDM to the U.S. Virgin Islands

07 Centers lead drought project in the Middle East and North Africa region

10 Drought impact archive updates make finding local data easier

11 National Drought Mitigation Center, tribes partner to assess climate vulnerability

12 Drought guidebook comprehensive catalog of indicators

13 Caribbean nations advance drought preparedness

14 By the numbers: A look at the NDMC in 2016

16 Where we worked in 2016

18 By the numbers: The NDMC’s 20-year footprint

19 DrIVER keeps eye …

A Multiscale Analysis Of The Factors Controlling Nutrient Dynamics And Cyanobacteria Blooms In Lake Champlain, Peter D. F. Isles

Graduate College Dissertations and Theses

Cyanobacteria blooms have increased in Lake Champlain due to excessive nutrient loading, resulting in negative impacts on the local economy and environmental health. While climate warming is expected to promote increasingly severe cyanobacteria blooms globally, predicting the impacts of complex climate changes on individual lakes is complicated by the many physical, chemical, and biological processes which mediate nutrient dynamics and cyanobacteria growth across time and space. Furthermore, processes influencing bloom development operate on a variety of temporal scales (hourly, daily, seasonal, decadal, episodic), making it difficult to identify important factors controlling bloom development using traditional methods or coarse temporal resolution …

Studies On Hydroxyl Radical Formation And Correlated Photoflocculation Process Using Degraded Wood Leachate As A Cdom Source, Luni Sun, Kenneth Mopper

Chemistry & Biochemistry Faculty Publications

In this study, we examined hydroxyl radical (•OH) formation with respect to photoreactivity of colored dissolved organic matter (CDOM), the Fenton reaction, and photoflocculation using leachate from decaying wood. The relationship between •OH photoproduction rate and leachate optical properties (UV-visible absorption and fluorescence excitation-emission matrices (EEMS)) was studied during irradiation using a UV solar simulator. The results showed that the •OH photochemical formation rate is strongly related to humic-like fluorescence as characterized by parallel factor analysis (PARAFAC), and that these fluorescence components are more photolabile than most of the other CDOM components. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) indicated the photodegradation …

Measurement Of Antioxidant Activity Toward Superoxide In Natural Waters, D. Whitney King, Emma Berger, Zachary Helm, Eleanor Irish, Kenneth Mopper

Chemistry & Biochemistry Faculty Publications

Antioxidants are a class of molecules that provide a protective function against reactive oxygen species (ROS) in biological systems by out competing physiologically important molecules for ROS oxidation. In natural waters, the reactivity of antioxidants gives an estimate of oxidative stress, and may determine the reactivity and distribution of reactive oxidants. We present an analytical method to measure antioxidant activity in natural waters through the competition between ascorbic acid, an antioxidant, and MCLA, a chemiluminescent probe for superoxide. A numerical kinetic model of the analytical method has been developed to optimize analytical performance. Measurements of antioxidant concentrations in pure and …

A Step In The Right Direction: Streambank Restoration Efforts At The Botanical Garden Of The Ozarks, Dylan S. Milholen, Madison Brown, Steven Thao, Lisa S. Wood

Discovery, The Student Journal of Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences

The Botanical Garden of the Ozarks (BGO) is a unique destination in Northwest Arkansas that draws more than 80,000 visitors a year. While the BGO manages low-input practices, run-off from pesticide application and synthetic fertilizers containing phosphorus and nitrogen are of concern to water quality, habitat, and overall ecological interactions of the BGO streambanks and adjacent Hilton Creek, which flows directly into Lake Fayetteville. One way to reduce pollution to waterbodies is through the use of riparian buffers. This project sought to establish a riparian buffer immediately adjacent to a portion of Hilton Creek in an effort to improve ecological …

River Report. State Of The Lower St. Johns River Basin, Florida: Water Quality, Fisheries, Aquatic Life, Contaminants, 2016, Environmental Protection Board, City Of Jacksonville, University Of North Florida, Jacksonville University, Gerry Pinto, Nisse Goldberg, Radha Pyati, Peter Bacopoulos, Anthony Ouellette, Gretchen Bielmyer-Fraser, An-Phong Le, Ray Oldakowski

State of the River Report

No abstract provided.