Despite the acknowledgment of the importance of wetlands to nature, the USA loses 60,000 acres of wetlands a year. Read on for more specifics on the state of wetlands today in the USA.
Tag Archives: wetlands
Watertown Daily Times | Canadian senator prods IJC to approve Bv7 water plan
Blurb on legislation to balance shoreline resident interests with tourist operators and shipping: Canadian Sen. Robert W. Runciman is urging the International Joint Commission to “quit stalling” and adopt the proposed Plan Bv7 water management plan. In a news release, Mr. Runciman said the current approach cuts short the boating season by almost a third and threatens wetlands in the Thousand Islands. The senator said Plan Bv7 is the best approach he’s seen to balance the interests of shoreline residents along Lake Ontario, tourist operators on the upper St. Lawrence River, Seaway shipping companies, the Montreal harbor and the environmental movement. http://www.watertowndailytimes.com/article/20130306/NEWS03/703069888
Old Science may be solution to Falling water Levels in Georgian Bay
MP Bruce Stanton encourages his constituents of Simcoe North to Petition the IJC for solutions to Low water levels of Georgian Bay. The IJC is the ‘center for action’ on the solution for this issue. Mary Muter of the Sierra Club of Ontario remarked at the Oakwood Community Centre that ‘the IJC has had $17 million and seven years to come up with a solution’. IJC recommendation to do nothing is not popular among these folks. The US Army Corps of Engineers solution for low water levels for Georgian Bay was conceived 50 years ago. According to Muter, water flows would be slowed by installing underwater sills and repairing erosion damage. As reported by Sarvus, the project costs today would range from $100 to $200 million over 10 years with start up of $3 to $5 million.
Excerpt from Midland Free Press report by Gisele Winton Sarvus on public meeting and solutions to low water levels:
Muter and Scott Warnock [Tay Township Mayor] expressed their dismay with the IJC at last summer’s meeting in Midland that was attended by about 600 people with their ears open for solutions. “They provided no viable options for water level restoration. “It means do nothing and get used to it, folks,” said Muter. An excerpt from local paper A member of the audience asked if the water levels will continue to decline if nothing is done. Muter said that’s exactly what will happen because there are no water regulation systems on Georgian Bay and Lake Huron as there is on Lake Ontario, which has remained relatively stable. Lakes Simcoe and Couchiching drain into Georgian Bay and the five Great Lakes drain, eventually, into the Atlantic Ocean. All five Great Lakes are at lower levels than normal, but lakes Huron and Michigan have lost more water than the others. Human manipulation of the St. Clair River that drains Lake Huron into Lake Erie is one of the areas that is a major cause of the lowering of Lake Huron water, said Muter, and it’s the area where remedial work should start. “The reality is that it is possible to restore water levels,” she said. The St. Clair River has become a drain from Lake Huron because of a century of human intervention that includes mining, repeated dredging, removal of wetlands and creating a steel wall on the U.S. side that causes water to flow faster and causes more erosion that results in an even deeper channel.
http://www.midlandfreepress.com/2013/03/05/action-to-restore-georgian-bay-water-levels-needed-now
This is really something to be excited about! Act now!
Potential for wells to run dry but Water permit violations not priority for DNR – SFGate
WORTHINGTON, Minn. (AP) — Hundreds of water permit holders in Minnesota are violating the law by using billions of gallons more water than they’re allowed, Department of Natural Resources records show. The violators include individuals, businesses and even state government agencies, Minnesota Public Radio reported Wednesday (http://bit.ly/XhFUiX ). All have state permits that let them take specific amounts of water each year from underground wells, rivers, lakes and wetlands. But many aren’t obeying the terms of their permits, and they face few consequences for using too much water. “There’s no doubt that a lot of them are appropriating more water than they’re currently authorized,” said Dale Homuth, manager of the DNR’s conservation assistance and regulations section. http://www.sfgate.com/news/science/article/Water-permit-violations-not-priority-for-DNR-4312531.php?cmpid=twitter
Lake Levels 