In an Increasingly Unpredictable World, We Must Secure Nature to Secure our Water

By Giulio Boccaletti, Managing Director of Global Water at the The Nature Conservancy

Reblogged from The Nature Conservancy’s Conservancy Talk blog, originally posted on February 21, 2014

A balmy Sochi. Photo: Flickr user waferboard under a Creative Commons license.

This has been an unpredictable winter for the northern hemisphere. The Winter Olympics is wrapping up in a balmy Sochi, Russia, where they have artificially produced snow in bulk and where, some say, it might well be impossible to host winter games within 50 years¹.

Meanwhile, California has seen record low snowpack – a critical source of fresh water for California farms and homes for the rest of the year.

On the other end of the spectrum, the “polar vortex” has put a hard freeze on large portions of the United States, stalling out regional economies, while leaving the more northern icepacks – those in Alaska and Greenland, for example – susceptible to unusually warm temperatures.

This winter’s extremes, the record summer heat and drought in different parts of the world in recent years, and the “100-year storms” happening seemingly every year of late, are sending a clear message: unpredictable is the new normal.

The implications of this reality cut across all aspects of our lives. And, it starts with our water future.

As I’ve previously described in these pages², water – the world’s silent currency – is a fundamental determinant of growth. As the foundation of our economies and societies, our global water system carries a roughly $500 billion annual price tag³ – a cost expected to double as billions more global consumers come on stage.

Historically, we have built this infrastructure – dams, levees, canals, and water treatment plants – based on the expectation that they will reliably serve our needs for decades, or even centuries. They have been built to withstand the most predictable events – based on long historical time series of hydrological and climate data – with the assumption that things will remain largely unchanged.

But, things are changing, and changing fast. As a result, we can’t just “engineer” a sustainable water future. As current infrastructure becomes increasingly inadequate in the face of a changing climate and a rapidly urbanizing world, we must make our future choices based on a broader portfolio of possible solutions.

 

Flooded banks of the Mississippi River. Photo: © David Y. Lee

In this reality, the role of nature in securing a sustainable water future becomes critically important.

Take flood protection on the mighty Mississippi River, for example. My colleague, Jeff Opperman, a senior freshwater scientist and the leader of our hydropower practice, wrote a great story about this a couple years ago in our Conservancy Talk blog.

In 1927, a 100-year flood struck the lower Mississippi. More than 100 levees failed or were overtopped, killing hundreds of people and displacing more than half a million from their homes. The disaster proved that we could not completely depend on our assumptions of how the most extreme weather events would behave, nor could we depend on the solution – a levees-only, “walled off” approach – that we thought would protect us from such events.

In direct response to this disaster, the Army Corps of Engineers began looking at the entire river basin for better flood protection options, rather than relying solely on the disjointed system of levees. This new approach included setting aside floodplain areas, which could reconnect to the river during major flood events – thereby giving the river more room to spread its floodwater and reducing pressure on levees.

Fast forward to another 100-year storm on the Mississippi in 2011. Despite the fact that this storm carried even more water than the 1927 storm, none of the levees failed, damage to property was relatively minimal, and there was no loss of life. By blending nature with built solutions, the Army Corps was able to expand the set of possibilities that the Mississippi River basin was prepared to absorb.

Nature is resilient, cost-effective and adaptable – whether its floodplains along the Mississippi or healthy watersheds that can help us more sustainably secure drinking water amidst increasing demands.

The challenge in achieving blended, more flexible water solutions is one of scale. Even if natural infrastructure accounted for roughly 10 percent of the anticipated future cost of our global water systems, we would still be looking at roughly $100 billion in investment in such solutions – an order of magnitude larger than the conservation community’s current collective scale.

Achieving scale, therefore, will require leadership from businesses, governments, and communities. We must pivot away from the traditional “white coats” management of water in the background of society to an active management of shared risks by all parts of society.

To motivate leadership and drive investments, we must continue to demonstrate the power of nature in helping us manage against these risks as resources become increasingly constrained.

As extreme droughts increase in frequency, farmers will need to grow more on less land, using less water. As 100-year storms become more frequent, governments and dam builders will need new tools and science to enable new water infrastructure projects that optimize the diverse functions of an entire river basin. And, as urban populations balloon, everyone will need to invest more in protecting the world’s natural sources of drinking water.

While we may have been able to engineer the 2014 Olympics in a sub-tropical location that appears to be phasing out its ability to support winter sports, we won’t be able to engineer a sustainable water future in this less predictable world without looking to nature to help us.

References:

1. Scott, D., Stieger, R., Rutty, M. and P. Johnson (2014). ‘The future of the Winter Olympics in a warmer World’. University of Waterloo. Available online at: https://uwaterloo.ca/news/sites/ca.news/files/uploads/files/oly_winter_games_warmer_world_2014.pdf. 2. Boccaletti, G. (2013). ‘Nature’s silent currency’. Global Water Forum.  Available online at: http://www.globalwaterforum.org/2013/03/20/natures-silent-currency/. 3. White, S., Biernat, J., Duffy, K., Kavalar, M.H., Kort, W.E., Naumes, J.S., Slezak, M.R. and C.R. Stoffel (2010). ‘Water markets of the United States and the World: A strategic analysis for the Milwaukee Water Council, Milwaukee, Wisconsin’. Final Report. Available online at: http://www.kysq.org/docs/White_WaterMarkets.pdf.

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The Bioreserve, Westport River and Rattlesnake Brook

By Everett Castro of Green Futures

The original post can be found in the Westport River Watershed Alliance February 2014 River News issue.

Not all those that wander are lost ...so bear with me.

I often meander about, like our coastal rivers do, when I'm asked to write "a few words" about the remarkable Southeastern Massachusetts Bioreserve. Be warned, I might meander even further afield since I'm going to write a few words not only about our Bioreserve but also about the far reaches of the Westport River watershed, an impaired Rattlesnake Brook and the support and advocacy from your Westport River Watershed Alliance. Ready? Have your trusty compass or GPS with you? Okay, let's go.

If you're not familiar with the Southeastern Massachusetts Bioreserve ...you should be! Our Bioreserve consists of a large, contiguous forest with diverse habitats and natural communities with the largest portion, owned by all of us, managed by the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation and Massachusetts Department of Fish and Wildlife. Also included are the Watuppa Watershed lands of the Fall River Water Department as well as land owned and managed by The Trustees of Reservations.

The purpose of our Bioreserve is to protect, restore and enhance the biological diversity and ecological integrity of a large scale ecosystem representative of southeastern Massachusetts. Neat, that's right where we live!

The Bioreserve also permanently protects water supplies, such as North Watuppa Pond, Copicut Reservoir and wetlands that drain to coastal rivers. In addition, the Bioreserve protects early cultural resources and allows for interpretive educational programs on natural and human history. In this densely populated southeastern corner of the state, the Bioreserve also provides opportunities for passive outdoor recreation and enjoyment of our natural environment.

Within the Bioreserve is the second highest natural hill in Bristol County. Let's meander over there.  Copicut Hill is 354 feet high with a DCR forest fire lookout tower at its summit. For those who may now be wondering about the highest hill in Bristol County, it is Sunrise Hill, 389 feet, in North Attleborough ...but we won't acknowledge that slight height advantage over Copicut since Sunrise Hill is about as far away as a hill can get and still be in Bristol County.

Copicut Hill's topography and the descending height and subtle shape of its ridges creates a dividing line between what flows west and north to the Taunton River and south and east to the Westport River via the Copicut and Shingle Island Rivers and Bread and Cheese Brook. The East Branch is born in sphagnum bogs, cedar swamps and hillside springs deep in the woods.

Wandering back 22 years there wasn't a Southeastern Massachusetts Bioreserve ...just some city watershed land, some state land, and a large block of privately owned wooded property. Back then rapacious developers and scurrilous schemers coveted those open space parcels for dubious development projects large and small. Some of the proposed projects were truly scary, others laughable. Here's a partial list of some of the more memorable: giant coal gasification refinery with 24/7 coal deliveries via a new rail line across public land into the forest; industrial warehouse park; race horse breeding farm, low-level nuclear waste repository; "Chinese" theme park; mega landfill; adult entertainment zone.

Egregious erosion and brook filled with rocks and gravel

In desperation at the frequency of these proposals and the folly of destroying water supplies, wetlands and forest a few concerned folks from Fall River and Freetown joined together and formed Green Futures, www.greenfutures.org. One of our members dubbed the area the Copicut Greenbelt and we set forth searching for allies. Aware of an early WRWA poster that showed the Westport River watershed extending all the way to the "Copicut Greenbelt" we sought our first ally and immediately found one in WRWA's young and energetic executive director, Gay Gillespie.

Since the beginning of the struggle to drive away those temple destroyers and devotees of ravaging commercialism...notice that nod to John Muir? ...WRWA was there at the start. Over time other environmental groups, individuals, state environmental agencies and local legislators came on board and ...with many starts and stops ...helped turn the Copicut Greenbelt into the Southeastern Massachusetts Bioreserve. Okay, are you still wandering with me... or have you been distracted by something vastly less important? If still with me, it is now 2014 and we have a problem that diminishes, hampers, the full potential of the Bioreserve.

We have wandered north, over the Bioreserve watershed divide to Rattlesnake Brook. Rattlesnake Brook begins at swamps, bogs and springs on the northwest side of Copicut Hill and flows north dumping into the Assonet River at Payne's Cove, just west of Route 24 in Freetown. Two miles downstream, from the confluence of the now tidal Rattlesnake Brook and Assonet River, the Assonet meets the federally designated Wild and Scenic Taunton River.

Person standing where bluff has been worn away from illegal OHV activity

  

Rattlesnake Brook is a lovely brook, similar to West Branch, Westport River's Angeline Brook both in size and character. Historically Rattlesnake Brook hosted anadromous alewife, blueback herring, rainbow smelt and salter brook trout. Unlike Angeline Brook, Rattlesnake Brook has an old, remnant dam at tidewater that prevented fish, except for American eels, from freely moving up and down and in and out the brook. The dam is slated to be removed in the near future and this will hopefully help restore extirpated anadromous species and add to the biodiversity of the Bioreserve.

Unfortunately, the Rattlesnake Brook valley, just upstream of the old dam, has been the site of illegal off-highway vehicle (OHV) activity. This section of the Bioreserve is managed by the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR). They have failed to monitor OHV activity and there has been scant enforcement of OHV rules, regulations and laws. The damage is egregious.

Not a high profile DCR managed property ...think Horseneck Beach State Reservation, with thousands of patrons and the political interest that brings ...DCR is loath to secure that area of the Bioreserve and restore the brook and land. They need a little nudge.

Big erosion rut and trees that have fallen

Looking for support from those that early on understood the importance of the Bioreserve and its mission we brought this issue to WRWA. Just as in the beginning, support was received. We are also reaching out for support to other regional and statewide groups and organizations. We appreciate the continued support WRWA has provided the Bioreserve. After all, only a slight geological adjustment, back 10,000 or more years ago, might have put the Rattlesnake Brook watershed on the Westport River side of the watershed divide. Yes, we are all in this together.

Hopefully, someday, a protected greenway that we can wander through or meander about on will extend down from the Bioreserve following the Westport River from source to sea. Wouldn't that be wonderful!

Want to wander the Bioreserve?

There's a very comprehensive map of the Southeastern Massachusetts Bioreserve that is available and best of all, free! If you don't have one you can get one at:

·  The Town Farm, 830 Drift Road, Westport

·  Watuppa Reservation Headquarters, 2929 Blossom Road, Fall River

·  Fall River Water Department, 3^rd Floor, Government Center, Fall River

·  Freetown State Forest Headquarters, Slab Bridge Road, Freetown

To read more about Rattlesnake Brook, please visit the Green Futures newsletter archive on their website, and select the October 2013 and February 2014 newsletters.

"Going with the Flow": Improving Watershed Resiliency

From the U.S Fish and Wildlife Service, Northeast, originally posted on the USFWS Northeast blog on February 6, 2014.

The humble road culvert is the centerpiece of a region-wide effort to help fish and wildlife and protect communities in the Northeast.

The critical role of culverts — essentially big pipes or concrete boxes carrying streams beneath roads—was demonstrated dramatically in a series of powerful storms hitting the Northeast in recent years. In 2011, intense and sustained rain from Hurricane Irene and Tropical Storm Lee washed out roads throughout mountains of New York and New England as culverts running under those roads were not designed to handle such enormous volumes of water.  Flooding from Hurricane Sandy, which lashed the Northeast coast and adjacent inland areas in October 2012, caused additional damage.

Fish-friendly culverts also can help reduce the likelihood
of damage to road stream crossings from future floods.

The widespread effects of these storms – which scientists say will become a more frequent calling card of climate change – underscore the need for science that can help local, state, and federal partners throughout the region prioritize and increase the resiliency of roads to floods.

To meet this need, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is working through the North Atlantic Landscape Conservation Cooperative to coordinate and support a collaborative, region-wide effort to restore fish passage while reducing the likelihood of damage to  road stream crossings from future floods. The project is supported by $1.27 million in Hurricane Sandy mitigation funds from the Department of the Interior.

Improving the resiliency of roads has multiple benefits beyond protecting human health, safety, and property. Upgrading, repairing or replacing culverts can also increase connectivity and movement of fish and wildlife. This addresses a critical problem because aquatic systems in the Northeast are extremely fragmented by undersized or damaged road culverts that restrict passage for fish, other aquatic organisms and wildlife. Beyond their in-stream benefits, fish-friendly culverts also help sustain nearby wetlands and floodplains while they nourish coastal beaches with sediment. It’s a bang-for-the-buck conservation investment that can pay big dividends for wildlife and people.

The culvert project underscores a key role of the North Atlantic LCC in bringing the Northeast conservation community together to address priority science needs and inform conservation decisions in the face of change and uncertainty. The project will compile information on locations and condition assessments of road stream crossings based on existing data and models; support additional surveys of road stream crossings; predict future storm discharge levels; and assess risk and prioritize crossing improvements.  The resulting regionally-consistent data on stream crossing locations and future flood conditions will help towns, states and communities manage future intense storms and improve conditions for aquatic organisms.  The USFWS Fisheries Program will help facilitate the effort with the LCC guided by partners and users from the conservation, transportation, and state and municipal planning sectors.

The project will take place over three years in coastal watersheds in New Jersey, Delaware, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Maryland and Virginia. Partners include USFWS, the Nature Conservancy, Trout Unlimited and the U.S. Forest Service. In addition to the DOI funding, North Atlantic LCC partners are contributing $150,000 in matching funds to expand the project to include additional Northeast states.

Click here to view additional details on the project and participating partners.

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Mattapan Square trail house expected to be completed by spring

 by Patrick Rosso, Boston.com Staff . Originally posted at Boston.com on January 9, 2014 

The conversion of a former mattress store in Mattapan Square into a Department of Conservation and Recreation trail house is progressing and should be completed by the spring.

The property, adjacent to the Mattapan Square MBTA station on the Mattapan/Milton line of RT. 28, will be the neighborhood’s gateway to the planned and partially completed Neponset River Greenway, which stretches along the Neponset River from Dorchester to Hyde Park.

The project will create an “interim plaza” at the site, which will eventually be converted into a space that could potentially house an information kiosk, public meeting space, or commercial element.

On Wednesday, Cathy Garnett, a project manager for DCR, explained to the Neponset River Greenway Council that the project is moving forward, but still needs some finishing touches.

The mural that will wrap around the building still needs to be installed, along with a cap for the building’s chimney, new benches, and new trees.

“Right now the exterior of the building is stabilized and the plaza is done,” said Garnett. “The next step will be to have those conversations about what it can be used for.”

Although the project will revamp the building’s exterior, little has been done to the interior of the building.

“The interior has the potential to be used for anything, but it’s gutted right now,” added Garnett.

Garnett said she expects a public meeting will be held sometime after the project has been completed to gather input from residents about what they would like to see at the space.

DCR bought the property for an estimated $400,000 in November of 2010.

(Image courtesy DCR)

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Email Patrick D. Rosso, patrick.d.rosso@gmail.com. Follow him @PDRosso, or friend him on Facebook.

Thank you to the Neponset River Watershed Association for sharing it on their NepRWA blog.

You can find the original post here.