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Great Lakes Regional Water Program
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February/March Newsletter
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Dear Friends and Colleagues,
Snow is falling outside my window and across the Midwest as I write. Quite a change from last year at this time, when temperatures were approaching 30 degrees above normal in Madison, Wisconsin. While climatologists are careful not to imply causal links between discrete weather events and climate change, last year's weather was a tipping point for many people that had previously been skeptics.
Not everyone is going to concern themselves with why the climate is changing. However, most (arguably all) of our lives will be impacted in some way, and we may want to understand what the changes will be and how we can adapt. Whether you're a farmer, a water resource manager, a property owner wondering what trees to plant, or the parent of a child with asthma, your choices can be informed by climate science and other areas of expertise that will help you manage risk. Here are two new and upcoming resources to help us adapt to a changing climate in the Upper Midwest.
For drinking water and wastewater utility owners and operators, USEPA has developed the Climate Resilience Evaluation & Awareness Tool (CREAT). CREAT "provides users with access to the most recent national assessment of climate change impacts for use in considering how these changes will impact utility operations and missions." The program is available for download free of charge.
For farmers, a USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture funded initiative led by Purdue University, will be producing decision-support tools to help farmers and their technical advisors to make planting, fertilizer, pesticide, equipment purchase, and other business decisions, based on the best available science. For more information, please visit the project website: Useful to Usable (U2U): Transforming Climate Variability and Change Information for Cereal Crop Producers.
Rebecca Power, Co-Director, Great Lakes Regional Water Program
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| 2013 Featured Initiatives |
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The Great Lakes Regional Water Program, through a grant from the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, has funded nine new multi-state initiatives this year. Here are two more examples of the amazing work our funded partners are doing to enhance water quality in our region.
Leadership for Midwestern Watersheds Website and Web Forum
A new Leadership for Midwestern Watersheds (LMW) website will be developed in partnership with representatives from University of Wisconsin, Ohio State University, Michigan State University, Sand County Foundation, The Nature Conservancy, American Farmland Trust and the Iowa Soybean Association. The LMW website will serve as a repository for project information from around the region and also act as a platform for online training and education relevant to watershed projects in the Mississippi River and Great Lakes basins.
Desired outcomes from this project include more frequent and useful communications among watershed project directors and key stakeholders in the Midwestern United States, increased planning and implementation of watershed-scale nutrient management projects, and increased impact on conservation policies affecting watershed projects.
Initiative to Integrate Extension into the Upper Mississippi River Basin Long-Term Agro-Ecosystem Research Program
Charged with integrating an Extension component into the Upper Mississippi River Basin (UMRB) Long Term Agroecosystem Research (LTAR) program, initiative leaders from University of Wisconsin, USDA Agriculture Research Service, Iowa State University, and University of Minnesota will draw on research from four sites within Wisconsin, Iowa and Minnesota to provide new insight in agricultural sustainability relating to climate change, nutrient management and watershed management.
The LTAR initiative goals include improving collaboration between the UMRB LTAR and extension specialists and developing meaningful, integrated economic, social and institutional instruments for the implementation of long-term improved land and water resource use at the catchment, regional and continental scale. Ultimately, the outcome of this initiative will be enhanced understanding of the underlying processes and challenges that affect an agro-ecosystem.
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Minnesota Watershed Research Symposium
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Presentation materials now available online
Materials from University of Minnesota's Watershed Research Symposium, held February 21, 2013 in St. Paul, are now available online. Presentations focus on successful water collaborations in the state and highlight future engagement opportunities. Representatives from University of Minnesota, Minnesota DNR, Mississippi Watershed Management Organization, Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, Minnesota Department of Health and other state conservation agencies participated in the event.
Symposium Materials
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Michigan Climate Survey
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Two-thirds of Americans now believe global warming is real
A recent survey from the University of Michigan's Ford School of Public Policy and Muhlenberg Institute of Public Opinion at Muhlenberg College in Allentown, PA, suggests that 67 percent of Americans now express the belief that the planet has warmed over the past four decades. The telephone survey of 998 Americans was conducted between Nov. 26 and Dec. 5, 2012 and had a margin of error of 3 percent either way.
Results show that the number of individuals who cited hurricanes as evidence of climate change increased sharply as a result of Hurricane Sandy when compared to prior survey data.
A full summary report can be downloaded here.
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| EPA Fracking Study Update | | |
Recent round tables encourage water cycle discussions
USEPA, in support of their study of the potential impacts of hydraulic fracturing on drinking water, recently released a summary of the five water cycle roundtable discussions they facilitated November 14-16, 2012. Each discussion focused on a stage of the water cycle and an associated research question. Stages and questions are listed below.
- Water acquisition: What are the possible impacts of large volume water withdrawals from ground and surface waters on drinking water resources?
- Chemical mixing: What are the possible impacts of hydraulic fracturing fluid surface spills on or near well pads on drinking water resources?
- Well injection: What are the possible impacts of the injection and fracturing process on drinking water resources?
- Flowback and produced water: What are the possible impacts of flowback and produced water (collectively referred to as "hydraulic fracturing wastewater") surface spills on or near well pads on drinking water resources?
- Wastewater treatment and waste disposal: What are the possible impacts of inadequate treatment of hydraulic fracturing wastewater on drinking water resources?
Full EPA Report
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Great Lakes Funded Short Course Announcement
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Sustainable Water Management in the Great Lakes Region distance short course scheduled for April 22-30
The course is a blend of scheduled presentations, small group discussions, and homework assignments. Participants will learn about the impacts of climate change on water resources in the Great Lakes region, sustainable approaches to water planning, and practical tools for engaging stakeholders. Opportunities for direct knowledge application include an assignment, an online discussion and instructor feedback.
The short course requires three hours of scheduled presentations and small group discussions using web conferencing. Registration is free of charge and ends April 17th. Class size is limited to 25 participants, so register soon!
See the Ohio Environmental Leaders Institute website for more information. Registration will be available shortly, so be sure to check back.
OELI Website
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2013 Manure Expo Announcement
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Event to be held August 21st at the Arkell Ag Research Station in Guelph, Ontario
The 2013 North American Manure Expo is headed north of the border. This year's focus is on precision manure application and will include live equipment demonstrations of the latest technology for implementing nutrient management plans and education sessions featuring a variety of speakers from the US and Canada. Additional information will be available soon on the event website. Save the date now!
Manure Expo Website
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| In the News #1 | |
Global warming is epic, long-term study says
by Ben Brumfield, cnn.com
(CNN) -- Global warming has propelled Earth's climate from one of its coldest decades since the last ice age to one of its hottest -- in just one century.
A heat spike like this has never happened before, at least not in the last 11,300 years, said climatologist Shaun Marcott, who worked on a new study on global temperatures going back that far.
"If any period in time had a sustained temperature change similar to what we have today, we would have certainly seen that in our record," he said. It is a good indicator of just how fast man-made climate change has progressed.
A century is a very short period of time for such a spike.
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| In the News #2 | | |
Minnesota draining its supplies of water
by Josephine Marcotty, Star Tribune
It didn't take Daniel Damm long to figure out why the water from his faucets suddenly turned black. His well was running dry because the turkey farm up the road near Willmar had sucked down the local aquifer.
In Hibbing, where one of three city wells has dried up, local officials have quietly asked the state to help resolve a water dispute with a taconite company that is one of the town's biggest employers.
And along the shores of White Bear Lake, homeowners found themselves mowing beyond the end of their docks last summer because one of the Twin Cities' premier lakes is shrinking. They filed suit, charging the state government with failing to manage its most precious resource - water.
Minnesotans have always prided themselves on their more than 10,000 lakes, great rivers and the deep underground reservoirs that supply three-fourths of the state's residents with naturally clean drinking water.
But many regions in the state have reached the point where people are using water - and then sending it downstream - faster than the rain and snow can replenish it.
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| In the News #3 | | |
What are the barriers to protecting Michigan's inland lakes?
Report identifies lack of local leadership as one barrier to lake management.
by Jane Herbert, Michigan State University Extension
Given the number and quality of inland lakes in Michigan and the limited resources of state agencies, it's important that local communities become involved in the management of their lakes. Unfortunately, few lake communities are organized to protect their lake from sediment and nutrient pollution and the problems these pollutants create. These inland lake stressors include overgrowths of aquatic plants, algae blooms, decreasing water depths, loss of habitat and reduced water clarity, among others.
What barriers limit community involvement in lake and watershed management? Two written surveys were mailed to lake communities and yielded the following insights:
- Most communities lack organization, resources and networks.
- Even organized communities have limited resources despite their lake's economic value.
- Many communities need help to understand lake data and management planning.
- Some lake communities are confused about when management is needed.
- Lack of local leadership.
Click here for full article.
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| Future Newsletters | | |
Tell Us About Your Projects
Your contributions have placed the Great Lakes Region at the forefront of national and international water research, outreach and conservation. We would love to know about any new projects, grants or multi-state efforts you are leading or participating in. If you have ideas for e-newsletter content, please share with the GLRWP marketing specialist, John Kriva. You can contact him at john.kriva@uwex.edu.
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About Us
The Great Lakes Regional Water Program (GLRWP) is a partnership among the Land Grant universities in Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, and Wisconsin, and the NIFA National Water Program. The overarching goal of the GLRWP is to maintain and protect natural environmental systems for agriculture, human health, recreation, and economic benefit through regional leadership and coordination of research, education, and extension/outreach efforts within Great Lakes and North Central Region states.
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