UF toxicology lab to assess effects of pollutants on sharks

Filed under Research, Health, Environment, Veterinary on Thursday, September 27, 2007.

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Sending commonly prescribed medications down the drain may be taking a bite out of the environment — at least when it comes to shark habitat, University of Florida veterinary scientists say. In fact, the combination of flushing unused medications and the natural excretion of drug residue from antidepressants, cholesterol-regulating drugs and contraceptives into wastewater systems could be having repercussions on aquatic animal life in general.

Researchers at UF’s College of Veterinary Medicine’s Analytical Toxicology Core Laboratory, in collaboration with Mote Marine Laboratory in Sarasota, are studying the bull shark’s exposure to pharmaceutical drug residue found in the waters of the Caloosahatchee River near Fort Myers. Bull sharks leave the ocean to spend time in brackish rivers and estuaries, and the river serves as a nursery for their young.

“Because bull sharks have the unique ability to survive in both saltwater and freshwater environments, they are in close, frequent contact with people — and, as a result, are frequently exposed to wastewater pollutants found in freshwater basins,” said Jim Gelsleichter, senior scientist at Mote Marine Laboratory.

Scientists are trying to determine whether exposure to prescription residue contaminants from water treatment plants and other sources affects the sharks’ ability to grow and reproduce.

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Climate Fact: Discharges and Dead Zones (Wichita, Kansas)

Since 1910, overall precipitation in the lower 48 states has increased by ten percent, and the region with the largest increase in rainfall is the Mississippi River Basin, which includes the Arkansas River. Because of fertilizer use on farms, lawns, and gardens in the Basin, wet years mean that more nitrogen (an ingredient in fertilizer) is carried with rainwater into the Mississippi River, which ultimately leads to the Gulf of Mexico. Excess nitrogen in the Gulf can cause algae populations to boom, and when algae decompose, the process can consume much of the water’s oxygen supply, forming “hypoxic” or “dead” zones in the water. The largest and most severe coastal dead zone in the Western Atlantic Ocean is a 20,000 square kilometer area in the Northern Gulf, offshore from the Mississippi River Delta. The Gulf’s dead zone is less severe during drought years in the Midwest, whereas it is usually at its largest extent during flood years such as 1993. The growth of the dead zone from the mid 1980’s to the late 1990’s resulted in a decline of brown shrimp populations, impacting fisheries.

(Sources: Karlsen, AW et al. “Historic Trends in Chesapeake Bay Dissolved Oxygen Based on Benthic Foraminifera from Sediment Cores.” Estuaries: Volume 23, No. 4, pp. 488-508, August 2000 and National Weather Service: Climate Prediction Center. U.S. Temperature and Precipitation Trends: Annual. Accessed Online 3 July 2007 http://www.cpc.noaa.gov/anltrend.gif)

Senator Reid Requests Salmon Passage at Hells Canyon Dams
Nevada Conservationists and Businesses Hail Senator's Leadership on Key Salmon Recovery Issue

By: Save Our Wild Salmon Coalition Published: Sep 18, 2007 at 08:29

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Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV), has asked the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to require fish passage at the Hells Canyon Complex on the Snake River as a condition of renewing the dams' federal operating license. The Idaho Power Company is currently seeking to renew its license for the three dams along the Idaho-Oregon border, which today block salmon from returning to the upper reaches of the Snake River Basin and effectively wiped out the historic salmon runs that once graced northeast Nevada rivers. The Senate Majority Leader's request, made via a letter to FERC, was echoed by federal, state and tribal fisheries biologists.

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PPL Pays Fine to Settle Water Claim

PPL Pays Fine to Settle Water Claim at Nuclear Power Plant

September 14, 2007: 05:33 PM EST

NEW YORK (Associated Press) - PPL Corp. has agreed to pay $500,000 to settle a claim that its Susquehanna nuclear power plant near Berwick used more water than authorized by a regional regulator, officials said Friday.

The power plant received upgrades to its flow meters in 2001 and 2002 to meet federal regulations, but the upgrades also caused the power plant to increase its water intake, said Susan Obleski, a spokeswoman for the Susquehanna River Basin Commission.

PPL spokesman George Lewis said the company still disputes that the plant ever used more water than its permit allowed, but agreed to pay the $500,000 to get commission approval of its application to increase its water use.

The application and settlement were approved by the commission at its Wednesday meeting, Obleski said.

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PTRF riverkeeper stresses importance of water issues

By Justin Boulmay
Rocky Mount Telegram

Tuesday, August 28, 2007

The drought has provided communities that use the Tar River an opportunity to deal with water issues for the future, a riverkeeper said on Monday.

Heather Jacobs, riverkeeper for the Pamlico-Tar River Foundation, addressed the Rocky Mount Rotary Club on Monday at the Holiday Inn-Gateway. As a riverkeeper, she monitors rivers and looks for signs of pollution, communicates concerns and helps to organize types of action, whether it be for new rules or to enforce the regulations in place.

Conservation efforts at any time, not just during a drought, need to be made a priority, as well as growth control and water quantity, Jacobs said. She also said it is important for communities to keep using the resources within their own river basin.

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Beetles, climate change reducing water quality, supply

By Mike Lawrence (Contact)

Steamboat Springs — This spring, in the Yampa/White river basin, snowpack peaked on March 13 at a level that was 72 percent of average for that date.

According to statistics compiled throughout decades by the federal Natural Resources Conservation Service, the snowpack’s peak — when snow contains its highest amount of water — came 31 days before the average peak date of April 13.

Gary Severson, executive director of the Northwest Colorado Council of Governments, said bark beetles, which infest weak trees and essentially strangle them by cutting off nutrient channels, could impact about 1 million acres in 15 Western Slope counties — killing up to 90 percent of the lodgepole pine trees in that area.

“We are the epicenter of the mountain pine beetle epidemic that’s going on,” Severson said. “Most of these forests are the headwaters for our rivers and streams … we’re in the process of seeing an entire lodgepole pine forest die, right before our very eyes.”

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Resolution passed to safeguard Flathead
By MICHAEL JAMISON of the Missoulian

KALISPELL - The entire Flathead River Basin, from British Columbia down through Montana, would be protected in perpetuity under a resolution passed this week by the Lake County Democrats.

The resolution, which has no legal authority, is an indication of the group's increasing concern about ongoing energy exploration north of the border. Those worries were echoed recently by Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., who called on energy executives to reconsider their plans in the Flathead.

Underscoring both the letter and the resolution were a pair of briefing papers issued this week by the Flathead Basin Commission, calling into question one company's commitment to environmental safety.

In their resolution, the Lake County Democrats express “grave concerns that the proposed massive development

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Having a say on water management issues

News | 16 August, 2007

FARMERS, the industry and conservation groups are invited to have a say about the best ways to tackle significant water management issues, such as diffuse pollution and river flows and abstraction, in an effort to further protect and improve rivers, lakes and groundwater.

‘River Basin Planning: Summary of significant water management issues’ is the second step in the process of developing new and better ways in which the Environment Agency and others will work towards achieving ecological standards defined in the European Water Framework Directive by 2015.

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Carp Control

8/15/2007

A state Game and Fish Department official says a permanent solution to keeping carp out of Devils Lake is closer to reality. Officials are considering building up one or two earthen berms to keep unwanted carp from migrating from the Pembina River Basin into the Devils Lake Basin. But some landowners in the area worry it might flood too much private land. Game and Fish fisheries chief Greg Power says discussions with local officials have been "really positive" over the last month or so. He doesn`t have an estimate on when a permanent solution might be agreed to. But Power says it looks more promising than it did earlier this summer.

U.S., Mexico to discuss Colorado River

ASSOCIATED PRESS

1:56 p.m. August 13, 2007

DENVER – The United States and Mexico have agreed to discuss a range of issues surrounding the Colorado River, a key water source for both nations, the U.S. Interior Department said Monday.

U.S. Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne released a joint U.S.-Mexico statement saying the discussions would include the effects of climate change and drought; urban, agricultural and environmental water needs in both nations; wildlife habitat in the Colorado River Delta; and such programs as sea water desalination to augment supplies.

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Phragmites Labeled as Noxious in Republican Basin Compiled By Staff August 13, 2007

Many people would call the spread of phragmites along Nebraska lake shores, rivers and streams, particularly in the Republican and Platte Basins, as noxious. It is among several invasive, non-native species narrowing river channels, using large volumes of water and harming recreation and wildlife habitat. Now, it's officially noxious. Last week, Greg Ibach, director of the Nebraska Department of Agriculture, designated phragmites as a noxious weed in the Republican River Basin. The designation boundaries cover four natural resources districts - Upper Republican, Middle Republican, Lower Republican and Tri-Basin NRDs. Full Story