Vanishing Places

Christina Conklin and Marina Psaros’s 2021 book Atlas of Disappearing Places: Our Coasts and Oceans in the Climate Crisis provides alarming evidence of worldwide impacts from climate change and potential mitigating solutions to the crisis. Twenty locations are described considering impacts from pollution, storms, rising temperatures, and rising sea levels. I really like the artistic maps using an ink on dried seaweed technique depicting featured locations along with descriptions of the status of the problems and necessary actions that are urgently needed.

For example, one location is the San Francisco Bay Area with industrial toxic waste sites along the shoreline leaking chemicals. I previously lived in the Bay Area working as an environmental scientist consultant so I’m very familiar with the locations and issues impacting the region. I worked on environmental site assessments to identify contamination and remedial actions to clean up sights next to the Bay including landfills and power stations containing a variety of cancer-causing pollutants including arsenic, chromium, petrochemicals, and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). At the time we did not test for emerging contaminants including over 5000 types of perfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) known now as “forever” chemicals.

The authors provide a map showing locations of many of these toxic sites surrounding the Bay Area that are vulnerable to flooding and sea-levels rising.

A positive futuristic ‘road map’ of actions taken by the year 2050 to make a difference. Activists demand EPA overhaul the Toxic Substances Control Act requiring chemical companies prove product safety before being released into the environment and improve monitoring and enforcement.

Other locations described in the U.S. are Hawaii, Maine, Houston, New York, Puerto Rico, and Virginia. International locations include in the Arctic, Asia, Middle East, and Europe.

Manatee Float

Floating among huge manatee sea cows feels so exciting and magically surreal. We’re privileged to enter their environment and grateful for decades of legal protections from all the people contributing to their survival. Manatees are quite gentle, curious herbivores so they won’t bite us but being in the open water with a leaky snorkel mask I could only use one arm to move and “no kicking allowed” as I did not want to break the rules much less drown. We were told to float: no swimming, touching, kicking, hugging nor grabbing manatees in the open water. No aquarium glass to safely separate us with nothing to hang on to. The wetsuit provided warmth, after the initial spinal cold shock losing 40 degrees, with buoyancy to float but no psychological protection against the unlikely concern of getting squeezed between an aggregation of manatees or rabid tourists.

We learned the males are rather aggressive to females, or at least persistent, during mating season and groups of males are known to pursue one female. Several manatee moved slowly in the translucent fresh spring water mixing into turbid sea water. They form groups laying and sleeping on the shallow bottom of limestone covered with mud at a depth of about 10 to 20 feet, occasionally coming up to the surface for air. “Don’t block their rise to the surface,” we were also told.

Every winter, thousands of manatees migrate south from the Atlantic Ocean to the Gulf of Mexico along western Florida coastal waters. They aggregate where 72 deg. F (22 deg. C) spring water discharges at a constant temperature as well as in steam discharge canals at power plants. Approximately 70 springs in Florida’s west coast flow out of limestone rocks discharging 580 million gallons per day or 400,000 gallons per minute. At the town of Crystal River, 30 natural springs flow into Kings Bay creating headwaters for the seven-mile long Crystal River ultimately merging into the Gulf. Here’s an interesting publication by USGS indicating movement patterns of manatee within Kings Bay as water temperatures change. The highest density of manatee concentrate in the Three Sisters Springs area and next weekend the Manatee Festival is coming to this same area.

We visited the small town Crystal River just two days before Christmas and three months after Hurricane Milton’s (Category 3) storm surge, and Hurricane Helene (Category 4) two weeks before that, brought 5 to 10 feet of muddy water flooding the town so the area continues to recover. We saw rebuilt businesses, homes being renovated, and numerous road signs and sunken ships remaining. The storm damage also affects the manatee food supply. Strong winds, storm surges, and pounding waves can uproot seagrass or bury it in sediments. Manatees thrive on eating seagrass, known as Manatee grass, needing about 100 to 200 pounds per day!

The Paddletail Lodge Best Western Hotel close to the waterfront provided friendly overnight accommodations and meeting location for catching a sunset cruise, joined by a family from Australia, and an early morning float. Arriving at 7 am, the tour guide with Waterfront Adventures showed us this video produced by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on “Manatee Manners” showing beautiful images of the Crystal River National Wildlife Refuge with lots of rules to protect the manatees. A tour boat took three of us and another couple from India moving us within 15 minutes from shore to the refuge where large springs flow into the bay where we began our snorkel adventure.

Our experiences floating with the friendly manatee showed how interested they are in us and they seem to be able to sense when a person is staying calm and willing to get very close looking at us face to face. A male manatee, identified by the boat captain, followed our son back towards the boat making a natural connection.

We can support the region by visiting as tourists as well as contributing donations. Several non-profit organizations help to protect manatees including The Nature Conservancy, National Wildlife Federation and Save the Manatee Club which offers webcam videos.

I’d like to dedicate this blog to my friends King Stablein and David King, whom I thought about while visiting Kings Bay!

In Woodbury Pond

In Woodbury Pond

by Bill and A.J. Dam

In the Piedmont’s former pristine white pine forest transformed to become the newly constructed housing development of New Hill, North Carolina, an area of about five-square miles and 1,000 McMansions, only one old pond remains. Located in the Woodbury neighborhood across from where we live in Jordan Manors, the small pond is cramped and crowded behind the backyards of a dozen homes. Living in the Woodbury Pond are a few elusive large-mouth bass.

Attaching the seven foot fishing rod to the electric bike makes for quick transport to get the hook in the water. After dozens of trips and hundreds of attempts using different bait and fishing from different spots on the shore, no luck occurred in snagging the prized fish. Then on Friday the 13th of September, on his last attempt after trying for two hours and 30 minutes past sunset in the twilight, knowing the bass must be hiding beneath fallen branches and rigged with a swim bait artificial fish, a huge large-mouth bass jumped onto the lure as soon as it hit the water. The bass tried to swim away dragging the line that spun off the reel to get away but with great effort A.J. reeled in the fish feeling the rod bending close to the breaking point. The bass measured about two feet long and A.J. immediately made a video call to his parents to share the news.

Carefully removing the hook from the large mouth, hoping the bass can live longer, he carefully set the fish free into the old pond and slowly rode the e-bike home feeling elated to share his achievement of the one that didn’t get away.

Cotton Mill Site Renewal

Poppy and I visited the small town of Saxapahaw, North Carolina. We came for a quiet hike on a rainy Sunday morning at the Saxapahaw Island State Park. We walked a mile around the 30 acre park in between rain showers enjoying the spring day - lots of birds and squirrels visible all around. The Haw River flows into the Army Corps of Engineer’s dam reservoir at Jordan Lake. I learned about this beautiful place after attending an Earth Day celebration last year and meeting dedicated volunteers with the Haw River Assembly who’ve been helping to protect the river system for over 40 years! There are many upcoming activities to join the group and in visit this interesting town.

A cotton mill began construction in 1844 and operated for 150 years until 1994 after a tornado damaged the mill. The Jordan family revitalized the mill site and restored the factory into restaurants, stores and residential buildings.

With only about 2,000 current residents living in the town, we were surprised at how many people came out for Sunday brunch. We couldn’t get a table at the Eddy Pub; luckily, we sat at the beautiful copper-covered bar and noticed the huge valves refitted to serve kegs of beer. The barkeep said people come from all over the state to visit Saxapahaw on the weekends. We need to go back for a river tour and visit the history museum. A sign at the park says the town got its name from the Sissapahaw Indians and an explorer in 1701 described the area as the “flower of the Carolinas.” A grist mill to grind cereal was built in 1768 prior to the cotton mill about 75 years later.

This area appears to be rich in history, perhaps a model for sustainability, but I’d be interested to hear from local Native Americans and descendants of slaves, who had to dislocate and labor in the cotton fields, likely will have different viewpoints for us to consider. From an environmental perspective, the current status is a great improvement over the conditions of working in the cotton mill or water pollution impacts on the Haw River. We’ve largely moved those impacts to Asian countries.

Collaborative and Integrative Science by Dedicated Public Servants

A new publication by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) locates where groundwater pollution from a former uranium mill site impacts a stream’s ecosystem on the Wind River Indian Reservation. Eleven coauthors from USGS and two universities collaborated on the study with me when I worked with the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Legacy Management (DOE). My co-authored 2015 DOE investigation was limited to looking at soils and groundwater while USGS-university expertise examined the land, surface water and groundwater, sediments and aquatic biota.

My recent interview in the ProPublica news article discusses similar uranium mill sites where DOE is failing to contain groundwater contamination hoping that ‘dilution is the solution to pollution.’ However, the latest USGS report identifies continued impacts to the river environment at Riverton even though the mill stopped operating in 1963, surface contamination was removed by 1990, and remaining contaminant concentrations are now significantly lower! Current EPA regulations allow DOE site managers to wait and see for 100 years after the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission approval using the “natural flushing” compliance strategy.

Confrontation and not collaboration between agency representatives initially occurred after a rain on snow event in 2010 flooded rivers on both sides of the site which caused increases, and not decreases, in groundwater contamination. Tribal officials wrote letters to the Wyoming Governor, Secretary of Energy, and other elected officials tying to get DOE to explain the surprising results. The Wind River Environmental Quality Commission (WREQC) hired USGS to assess the effectiveness of the existing DOE monitoring network at the Riverton, Wyoming, Uranium Mill Tailings Remedial Action (UMTRA) site which produced this initial USGS publication. WREQC consisted of representatives from the Northern Arapaho and Eastern Shoshone tribes representing the community who understandably held deep grudges for multi-generational human rights abuses including the uranium mill contaminating their property. Many of the tribal members and families have suffered from cancer and other illnesses that they believe came from living next to the uranium mill site.

In 2012, I was working for a different USGS office than the authors working with WREQC. I knew the DOE manager on the Riverton project when we worked together on the defunct Yucca Mountain high-level waste repository project. She and her management asked me to review the groundwater monitoring strategy at several UMTRA sites. Soon after I started, DOE held a town-hall meeting in Riverton airing public concerns for contamination impacting the health of the community.

After six months of the USGS detail assignment, I transferred to the better-funded DOE and looked for ways to improve collaboration such as by attending tribal council meetings, involving the tribal hydrogeology consultant in field investigations and communicating with the larger community our proactive investigation by conducting interviews through the news media.

Earth scientists traditionally study college subjects including biology, chemistry, geology, hydrology, and physics taught as separate classes and discrete major disciplines. Due to nature’s complexity, professionals are collaborating and integrating scientific knowledge by merging disciplines and combining research such as geophysics, biogeochemistry, and hydrogeology. This USGS report applies numerous state-of-the-art tools that are improving our understanding of the environment.

It’s common practice driven by regulations to monitor groundwater pollution in wells and randomly grab river samples upstream and downstream of contaminated sites. However, the small volume of groundwater discharging somewhere adjacent to and beneath a river is quickly diluted in the stream so determining the impacts to biological organisms like algae and crayfish is not possible. To get a more accurate understanding of the groundwater-surface water interactions, the USGS scientists and professors used innovative approaches to locate groundwater discharge using several comparable approaches including fiber optic cables that measure warmer groundwater entering the cooler river. The authors also quantified contaminants sorbed onto river sediments and accumulating in biological samples.

Several of the authors previously retired, including the lead author Dave Naftz who dedicated his 36-year career to these types of investigations, yet continued to persevere through the arduous and lengthy peer-review publication process as a volunteer in the USGS emeritus program. Many thanks to all these dedicated public servants for advancing environmental science by producing outstanding reports!

Here are details of Scientific Investigations Report 2022–5089: 

Interaction of a Legacy Groundwater Contaminant Plume with the Little Wind River from 2015 Through 2017, Riverton Processing Site, Wyoming

Abstract

The Riverton Processing site was a uranium mill 4 kilometers southwest of Riverton, Wyoming, that prepared uranium ore for nuclear reactors and weapons from 1958 to 1963. The U.S. Department of Energy completed surface remediation of the uranium tailings in 1989; however, groundwater below and downgradient from the tailings site and nearby Little Wind River was not remediated. Beginning in 2010, a series of floods along the Little Wind River began to mobilize contaminants in the unsaturated zone, resulting in substantial increases of uranium and other contaminants of concern in monitoring wells completed inside the contaminant plume. In 2011, the U.S. Department of Energy started a series of university and Government agency retrospective and field investigations to understand the processes controlling contaminant increases in the groundwater plume. The goals of the field investigations described in this report were to (1) identify and quantify the contaminant flux and potential associated biological effects from groundwater associated with the legacy plume as it enters a perennial stream reach, and (2) assess chemical exposure and potential effects to biological receptors from the interaction of the contaminant plume and the river.

Field investigations along the Little Wind River were completed by the U.S. Geological Survey during 2015–17 in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Legacy Management to characterize: (1) seepage areas and seepage rates; (2) pore-water and bed sediment chemistry and hyporheic exchange and reactive loss; and (3) exposure pathways and biological receptors. All data collected during the study are contained in two U.S. Geological Survey data releases, available at https://doi.org/10.5066/F7BR8QX4 and https://doi.org/10.5066/P9J9VJBR. A variety of tools and methods were used during the field characterizations. Streambed temperature mapping, electrical resistivity tomography, electromagnetic induction, fiber-optic distributed temperature sensing, tube seepage meters, vertical thermal sensor arrays, and an environmental tracer (radon) were used to identify areas of groundwater seepage and associated seepage rates along specific sections of the study reach of the river. Drive points, minipiezometers, diffusive equilibrium in thin-film/diffusive gradients in thin-film probes, bed-sediment samples, and equal discharge increment sampling methods were used to characterize pore-water chemistry, estimate hyporheic exchange and reactive loss of selected chemical constituents, and quantify contaminant loadings entering the study reach. Sampling and analysis of surface sediments, filamentous algae, periphytic algae, and macroinvertebrates were used to characterize biological exposure pathways, metal uptake, and receptors.

Areas of focused groundwater discharge identified by the fiber-optic distributed temperature sensing surveys corresponded closely with areas of elevated electrical conductivity identified by the electromagnetic induction survey results in the top 5 meters of sediment. During three monitoring periods in 2016, the mean vertical seepage rate measured with tube seepage meters was 0.45 meter per day, ranging from −0.02 to 1.55 meters per day. Five of the 11 locations where vertical thermal profile data were collected along the study reach during August 2017 indicated mean upwelling values ranging from 0.11 to 0.23 meter per day. Radon data collected from the Little Wind River during June, July, and August 2016 indicated a consistent inflow of groundwater to the central part of the study reach, in the area congruous with the center of the previously mapped groundwater plume discharge zone. During August 2017, the greatest attenuation of uranium from reactive loss in pore-water samples was observed at three locations along the study reach, at depths between 6 and 15 centimeters, and similar trends in molybdenum attenuation were also observed. Bed-sediment concentration profiles collected during 2017 also indicated attenuation of uranium and molybdenum from groundwater during hyporheic mixing of surface water with the legacy plume during groundwater upwelling into the river. Streamflow measurements combined with equal discharge increment water sampling along the study reach indicated an increase in dissolved uranium concentrations in the downstream direction during 2016 and 2017. Net uranium load entering the Little Wind River study reach was about 290 and 435 grams per day during 2016 and 2017, respectively. Biological samples indicated that low levels of uranium and molybdenum exposure were confined to the benthos in the Little Wind River within and immediately downstream from the perimeter of the groundwater plume. Concentrations of molybdenum and uranium in filamentous algae were consistently low at all sites in the study reach with no indication of increased exposure of dissolved bioavailable molybdenum or uranium at sites next to or downstream from the groundwater plume.

Comparison of the August 2017 results from electromagnetic induction, tube seepage meters, vertical thermal profiling, and pore-water chemistry surveys were in general agreement in identifying areas with upwelling groundwater conditions along the study reach. However, the electroconductivity values measured with electromagnetic induction in the top 100 centimeters of sediment did not agree with sodium concentrations measured in pore-water samples collected at similar streambed depths. Differences and similarities between multiple methods can result in additional insights into hydrologic and biogeochemical processes that may be occurring along a reach of a river system interacting with shallow groundwater inputs. It may be advantageous to apply a variety of geophysical, geochemical, hydrologic, and biological tools at other Uranium Mill Tailings Remedial Action (https://www.energy.gov/sites/prod/files/2014/10/f19/UMTRCA.pdf) sites during the investigation of legacy contaminant plume interactions with surface-water systems.

Suggested citation: 

Naftz, D.L., Fuller, C.C., Runkel, R.L., Solder, J., Gardner, W.P., Terry, N., Briggs, M.A., Short, T.M., Cain, D.J., Dam, W.L., Byrne, P.A., and Campbell, J.R., 2023, Interaction of a legacy groundwater contaminant plume with the Little Wind River from 2015 through 2017, Riverton Processing site, Wyoming: U.S. Geological Survey Scientific Investigations Report 2022–5089, 66 p., https://doi.org/10.3133/sir20225089.

News on U.S. Uranium Mills Impacting Groundwater

On June 5, 2019, I posted a blog titled Mitigating Nuclear Hazards - Part 3 Production describing some of my professional experiences working on clean up of uranium mill sites. I concluded the blog to say, “In summary, with adequate regulatory oversight and inspections, processes to produce uranium can be done safely and protect the environment.”

The oversight of constructing a new uranium processing site in the U.S. today would be vastly different than what occurred during the Cold War rush to produce atomic weapons. Many of the lingering problems existing at mill sites occurred during operations in the 1950’s and ‘60’s, before EPA was created, where radioactive and heavy metal waste mill tailings spread in air, on the land, in water, and was used for construction materials. Today many private companies are in the process of turning remediated sites over to state and federal governments for costly long-term monitoring and surveillance as described in the news below.

On August 15, 2022, a reporter contacted me to provide more information:

“Dear Mr. Dam, I hope this finds you well. I'm reaching out from nonprofit investigative newsroom ProPublica, where I'm an environment journalist. My team recently published a story about the decades-long cleanup saga at the former Homestake uranium mill in northwest New Mexico. We're busy reporting a follow-up story that will examine the state of reclamation at every former uranium mill in the country. Thanks very much for sending us your thoughts in response to that story (if you didn't find it on our website, you might've come across the project via our partners at PBS NewsHour, the LA Times or KOB4). I'm emailing you to follow up on your submission and would love to pick your brain about your experiences. Would you be available to schedule a time to chat about your work with the NRC, the USGS and DOE's Legacy Management office? If so, could you let me know some times that would be most convenient for you? Thanks in advance for your time, and I hope we can connect soon. You can reach me at mark.olalde@propublica.org” Mark Olalde

I spoke with Mark for about an hour describing some of my work experiences starting almost 39 years ago with the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) and how much we learned along the way. We spoke again earlier last week to discuss the article. I greatly appreciate his interest, knowledge and desire to accurately quote me and get the story right.

Yesterday, on December 3, 2022, Mark Olade sent an email with a link to the news article:

“Hi, Bill. Thanks again for taking the time to speak with me several times about this story and for reviewing our findings. Our piece published today, and you can find it here: https://www.propublica.org/article/uranium-mills-pollution-cleanup-us. Best, Mark”

The title of the article is “Cold War Legacy Lurking in U.S. Groundwater” and here are a few excerpts:

“Regulators haven’t made a full accounting of whether they properly addressed groundwater contamination. So, for the first time, ProPublica cataloged cleanup efforts at the country’s 48 uranium mills, seven related processing sites and numerous tailings piles.

At least 84% of the sites have polluted groundwater. And nearly 75% still have either no liner or only a partial liner between mill waste and the ground, leaving them susceptible to leaking pollution into groundwater.

The DOE estimates that some sites have individually polluted more than a billion gallons of water.

Bill Dam, who spent decades regulating and researching uranium mill cleanup with the NRC, at the DOE and in the private sector, said water pollution won’t be controlled until all the waste and contaminated material is moved. “The federal government’s taken a Band-Aid approach to groundwater contamination,” he said.

The pollution has disproportionately harmed Indian Country.

Between 1958 and 1962, a mill near Gunnison, Colorado, churned through 540,000 tons of ore. The process, one step in concentrating the ore into weapons-grade uranium, leaked uranium and manganese into groundwater, and in 1990, regulators found that residents had been drawing that contaminated water from 22 wells.

The DOE moved the waste and connected residents to clean water. But pollution lingered in the aquifer beneath the growing town where some residents still get their water from private wells. The DOE finally devised a plan in 2000, which the NRC later approved, settling on a strategy called “natural flushing,” essentially waiting for groundwater to dilute the contamination until it reached safe levels.

In 2015, the agency acknowledged that the plan had failed. Sediments absorb and release uranium, so waiting for contamination to be diluted doesn’t solve the problem, said Dam, the former NRC and DOE regulator.”

So what did I mean by saying the government has taken a Band-Aid approach to groundwater contamination? The “cut” from these uranium processing sites is much deeper than just at the surface. Most of the funding for remediation went towards the surface clean-up like removing a cancerous mole. But beneath the surface, contaminated groundwater spreads contamination through soil and rocks. Groundwater is monitored at most sites to observe changing concentrations over decades but very little is known about the deeper minerals like iron hematite holding and releasing contaminants in the groundwater as biogeochemical conditions change. The government is choosing a temporary fix at many sites to wait and see if nature can remove the contamination or increase acceptable limits.

Ultimately, what is needed are improved scientific, collaborative site characterization assessments as we were rarely doing at DOE-LM such as on the Riverton, WY site where contamination spread onto tribal land. The collaboration enabled opposition groups to work together by developing partnerships with tribal consultants, federal and state scientists, and DOE National Laboratory experts.

So hopefully the work of ProPublica and other news organizations, as well as the Government Accountability Office (GAO) and advocacy groups (here’s my article to PEER), can focus on budget needs for science research that got cut over the past several years especially during the Trump Administration. I borrowed the cover cross-section from the U.S. Geological Survey Toxics Hydrology program, which in my opinion is one of the most important organizations to independently evaluate groundwater contamination yet is very poorly funded and barely survived the war on truth and science. Here’s an example of continued collaboration that continued after I left DOE to follow up on the Riverton, WY research among university, USGS scientists, and myself by investigating the Little Wind River, downgradient from the former uranium mill site, located on the Wind River Indian Reservation.

Thanks to the readers of this blog to continually strengthen collaboration and communications among scientists, media, policy makers and concerned citizens!

Water Mission

Pictured is a Water Mission refugee settlement project which may provide clean water for 50,000 people a day or more, generating up to 350 gallons of clean safe water per minute. The above photograph is at a refugee settlement in Tanzania where hundreds of thousands of Burundians have fled to Tanzania due to violent political unrest and economic decline. Water Mission started delivering safe water in Tanzania’s refugee settlements in 2015, expanding solutions in partnership with the Poul Due Jensen Foundation.

One result from my previous blog A Long Walk to Water was reconnecting with my friend and colleague Bill Moore who volunteers with the faith-based Water Mission. Bill and I previously worked on a consulting project together and he is a very enthusiastic, caring and knowledgeable hydrogeologist. He’s progressed in his 40+ year career to achieve Vice President of several large environmental corporations. It’s wonderful seeing him use his education and extensive experience to help people around the world obtain safe drinking water. Here’s what he wrote about this blog that he shared on LinkedIn:

“I appreciate so much the work and heart of Bill Dam. Actually, in part it was Bill that, through seeing his water-related work, encouraged me to consider a volunteer role to help address the global water crisis – thus my current connection with Water Mission. Check out Bill’s blog. I have read the book he writes about – it will move your heart. Thanks for all you do Bill! And thanks to Wake County North Carolina for making the book required reading.”

I wanted to learn more about Water Mission so Bill agreed to share his experience. Here is text written by Bill Moore:

“Everything Else Changes

During a short-term work assignment in Charleston, South Carolina, several years ago, I drove past a warehouse building each day that caught my attention. While attending a conference near the end of my assignment, I met a representative who invited me to visit and tour this organization known as “Water Mission.” It was during that visit that I learned about the work they had done over the past twenty years to make a difference in the global water crisis.

The story began in 1998 when the deadliest hurricane in Central American history, Hurricane Mitch, hit Honduras. Seeing news reports of the devastation, Dr. George and Molly Greene, owners of the largest privately held analytical laboratory in the US with a focus on water, reached out to their contact in the country, an Episcopal bishop, asking how they could help. The reply came back, “We need six drinking water units.” After not being able to locate any “off-the-shelf” solutions, Dr. Greene, a PhD chemical engineer, sat down and within few hours sketched out his own design. The systems were built, tested and ready for delivery. Within the week they traveled to Honduras to deliver and setup six water treatment systems. Shortly thereafter (September 2000) the couple decided to sell their company and focus the rest of their lives working to provide access to safe water to those in desperate situations.

For over two decades, Water Mission has not only mobilized safe water relief during natural disasters around the globe, but they have also helped deliver clean water solutions to communities where 2.2 billion people live without access to safe drinking water. The statistics are staggering; 30% of the world’s population lacks safe water and one person dies every 37 seconds from a water-related illness. This includes 297,000 children annually under five with half of the hospital beds in developing countries filled with people suffering waterborne illnesses. Over their history, Water Mission has brought clean water solutions to 7,000,000 people in 57 countries with the completion of about 2,800 projects. Over recent months, in addition to their work in the nine countries where they have in-country teams, Water Mission has responded to help the overflow of refugees from the war in Ukraine, from the catastrophic flooding in Pakistan, and Hurricane Fiona which hit Puerto Rico in September.

Their past work in Haiti, subsequent to Hurricane Matthew (2016), was recently tested. Would the systems they had set up survive when the next earthquake hit the nation? Knowing that Haiti sits in a seismically active area, the organization’s engineering team took that into account and designed treatment systems and structures to withstand future seismic events. Of the 40 projects they built, 38 of them remained functional following the August 2021 quake - a remarkable design success underscoring their emphasis on technical excellence and providing long-term sustainable solutions. In the open fields of the Nyarugusu Refugee Camp in western Tanzania, Water Mission erected a 100,000-watt solar panel array to power the treatment and pumping of water for more than 250,000 displaced people. Similar projects have been constructed in two other large refugee camps. With so many of their projects off-the-grid, their designs require self-contained solar and sustainable energy sources. Having become one of the industry’s recognized experts with solar energy in rural and “end-of- road settings”, they were recently invited to partner with UNICEF to author the “Solar Powered Water Systems Design and Installation Guide”. This first-of-its-kind resource provides detailed instruction for fulfilling the internationally recognized technical standards for implementing solar powered water systems in rural settings. To complement this point, a 2017 audit of groups working in Ugandan refugee camps specifically highlighted Water Mission’s success. “Water Mission stands out as the nongovernmental organization with enough in-house expertise to independently design, operate, and maintain solar water schemes,” reads the International Organization for Migration’s associated report.

While attending Water Mission’s 2022 Strategic Partners Summit, three things stood out to me. First, there is an emphasis on collaboration regardless of who gets the credit to find better solutions to address global safe water needs. Next, several Fortune 500 companies which are actively involved in partnering with Water Mission. And finally, there is vision and creativity to think outside the box in the pursuit of emerging solutions that will result in major steps forward to ultimately solve the global water crisis.

These global accolades and corporate confirmations are powerful and well-deserved, but for me the words of Scott Linebrink, a former professional baseball pitcher now on staff with Water Mission, say it all. In talking to host Mohammed Abdalla on his Thinking Green Podcast series, Scott recently stated, “You can change the trajectory of an entire community that has never had safe water. They have spent generations living with bad water. The minute that you put in a system, that is not going to be the case anymore – it is the greatest before and after project that I’ve ever seen because everything else changes after the water system comes in.” This is why I and so many others choose to come along side of Water Mission to bring answers to one of the world’s most intimidating challenges.” References: Charleston - the City Magazine (December 2021); Water Mission website

Check out the many ways to support and Get Involved in the Water Mission!

A Long Walk to Water

According to the World Health Organization WHO, 1 in 3 people globally lack access to safe drinking water! That huge number, over 2.5 billion people, are struggling to survive - truly a Humanitarian and Ecological Crisis! So many people tragically face daily barriers of consuming clean water that it’s hard to comprehend the magnitude of the problem. One way for an affluent westerner who grew up with clean running water at home such as myself is to read personal accounts by people with direct experience of the crisis and how they are working to fix the problem.

A Long Walk to Water by Linda Sue Park is based on a true story, actually based on the real events of two people in different places at different times - one in 1985 and one in 2008 - that come together at the end. I agree with the quote on the cover by Publishers Weekly that the book is “Tragic and harrowing.”

This book is assigned reading for seventh grade English students at Wake County Public Schools. For much of the book I felt shocked, horrified, saddened, and even questioning if this book is appropriate for children to read. However, I’m glad to have read the book to the end, fighting through the tears, to learn about their “triumphant climax” as reviewed by Booklist.

Here’s a very brief synopsis without giving away the ending and I highly recommend the book to all who want to be better informed and increase your compassionate concern for life.

Eleven-year old Nya lived in the Southern Sudan region of northeastern Africa. As recent as 2008, she must still walk for water about a “half a morning’s walk away” to a dirty “brown, muddy water pond" in the village. Walking for water, not just once a day but two trips a day for seven months out of the year. Then when the pond dried up completely, her Nuer-tribal family relocated during the rainy season closer to a larger dry lake bed but taking the added risk of tribal warfare with the Dinkas.

Bringing the empty container to the pond might have been easy except for the excessive heat, wounding thorns, and long hours. Carrying a heavy plastic jug on her head filled with water was truly arduous and sometimes Nya had the additional burden of bringing her five-year old sister Akeer. But that was better then when Akeer got sick from drinking the dirty water and needed medicine and prescribed to consume only boiled water after her illness. But that really was not practical when they lived by the dry lake bed as it would take too long to boil the small amount of water they obtained or when they walked to the pond and needed to drink right away. Eventually, their lives would change for the better in unexpected ways.

Eleven-year old Salva also grew up in Southern Sudan but 23 years earlier than Nya and from a different tribe. His family came from the Dinka tribe, at war with the Nuers for many generations, fighting over the land in close proximity to water. He learned Arabic in school, and his father was a well-respected judge and cattle owner. Life was okay until the war reached his village school - the rebels from south Sudan fought against the Muslim government to the north. Silva got separated from his family when rebels attacked his school, he became an orphan, and sent to live in rebel camps. Luckily, he was too young to be a soldier. The older people who were not useful soldiers in the rebel army rejected Silva as being a burden and adding to their starvation. He kept moving, being forced out of Sudan, encountered lions and mosquitos, retched hunger, disease and severe dehydration crossing the desert. He made his way with different people heading east to the Nile River which split through Sudan and crossed the river into the Akobo desert. Many died along the way through the desert heading into Ethiopia where they would find relative safety at the Itang refugee camp. Silva spent many years in refuge camps which got overcrowded or closed when broken governments could not handle foreign aid. He escaped back to Sudan and Kenya camps: Kakuma and Ifo, searching for a better life. His life changed dramatically when as a young adult he got adopted by an American family!

An incredibly inspiring book that shows first hand how perseverance to survive can spring forth beautiful, fruitful outcomes!

Drinking-Water Awareness

Being aware of what’s in our water is essential to our health and survival. With that awareness there are many things we can do to improve the water we consume. But what if individuals or large groups of people are not aware that they are consuming contaminated drinking water? Environmental laws are usually enacted to stop some adverse pollution but that does not make it all go away overnight. Some chemicals never go away and are labeled ‘forever chemicals’ or lack scientific data and are classified as ‘emerging contaminants.’

People must take action to help themselves, their family, community, to gain awareness. Cleanliness is next to godliness and fortunately by the grace of God there are people in the world willing to fight for safe water. The Environmental Working Group is a non-profit organization spreading awareness of what’s in our food and water for almost 30 years. To find out what’s in your drinking water and what types of filtration systems can be used to treat the water check out EWG Tapwater.

They also provide an interactive map in the U.S. on hexavalent chromium (Cr +6) contamination popularly known as the ‘Erin Brockovich’ chemical listed as tainting the tap water of 251 million Americans.

You may recall the movie staring Julia Roberts portraying Erin Brockovich in her quest for helping a small California town become aware of Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E) contaminating people’s drinking water.

It’s an amazing true story and I have some related personal experiences to share. For about one year I worked as an environmental scientist contractor to PG&E which was about five years after the movie was released. Because of the largest civil lawsuit in history costing PG&E $333 million as well as tremendous damage to their reputation and harm caused to many people, I observed they became very proactive in cleaning up remaining contaminated sites. I did not work on Cr +6 issues related to gas compressor stations but focused on electrical substations and transmission systems in the San Francisco Bay area. I led a team to remove underground pipelines containing transformer cooling oil that potentially contained PCBs. We removed contaminated soil containing arsenic that was used as an insecticide in the mid 1950’s. Power transmission lines built on landfills were subsiding needed urgent repairs. I monitored air quality at a substation construction site next to a school to make sure semi-volatile compounds disposed many decades ago in the soil did not spread.

Check out the recent Brockovich book (which I did at the local library) and found it very informative and relatable on why water supplies get contaminated, how they are affecting peoples health, and what we can do to take action. Here’s an interesting NPR review of the book.

Eco Videos

We’ve been making and posting fun, educational photos and videos of animals, nature, wildlife, a ghost town, people, travel and water topics for over 15 years. Here is a list of some of my videos available on YouTube:

Rocky Mountain National Park in July, 2007 at sunrise with birds, geology, a water fall and beaver dam

Home on the Range in July 2007, Wyoming

Silverton, Colorado in July, 2007 Ghost Town

Elephant Encounters in December, 2014 in Hua Hin, Thailand

Jumping on trampoline getting wet in July, 2015 in Grand Junction, Colorado

Wasting Water in July, 2015 at Grand Junction, Colorado mortuary

Jenny Lake in Yellowstone National Park in September, 2019

Colorado National Monument waterfall and pool feeds groundwater recharge in May, 2019

Grand Mesa, Colorado Spring Snowmelt in March, 2020

My trip to IAEA in Vienna, Austria in March, 2020

Wakeboarding in July, 2020 in Grand Junction, Colorado

Please LIKE and SUBSCRIBE to our YouTube videos and channel!

South India's Water Crisis

The southeastern coastal Indian town of Chennai is facing a massive drought and loss of water supply. Monsoon rains did not fill reservoirs last fall as normally happens. Hot and dry weather produced little rain for several months until yesterday. Rain is predicted for the next several days but it may not be enough to provide water to all estimated 10 million people living there.

The city of Chennai made most of the news but the Indian government is reporting a wider spread water crisis due to monsoons arriving very late leading to conflict and villages being abandoned.

This is a humanitarian crisis that needs to be addressed directly, such as by government actions to improve infrastructure, and indirectly by all of us to address what we can do to lessen impacts on our planet and carbon emissions. I highly recommend everyone read the book: Drawdown: The Most Comprehensive Plan Ever Proposed to Reverse Global Warming  and check out my two blogs on the topic:

9-17-17 100 Solutions for Reducing Carbon and Living in a Cleaner World

9-30-2017 100 Solutions for Reducing Carbon Continued

Specific to India and other parts of the world, ideas from the Drawdown book that could help manage the water crisis include:

* Let rice field dry out in mid-season to prevent methane buildup

* Allow cattle to roam in forests to reduce deforestation

* Plant multiple crops together to improve biodiversity and health of soil; for example - in tropical areas can plant coconut, banana, and ginger together

* Keep fields vegetated rather than exposing soil to reduce erosion and loss of the carbon sink

Other low tech ways include adding shade balls to reservoirs for reducing evaporation demonstrated in Los Angeles and high tech ways to conserve water including aquifer injection, storage and recovery.

Update 7/19/2019

On June 30, I posted a blog about a new discovery of potential drinking water found beneath the Atlantic Ocean! This could have implications for other similar coastal areas including in India that deserves exploration and provide additional drinking water sources to drought-stricken areas.

Yesterday, National Public Radio provided an update on the water crisis in Chennai as to many of the causes including ‘urbanization’ where water runoff is diverted, such as for industrial use, instead of naturally flowing into the reservoir and groundwater for people to drink.

Exxon Valdez Oil Spill in Alaska

On my blog yesterday regarding Mitigating Petroleum Hazards - Part 1, I mentioned a great book to read about the many activities of the oil and gas industry written by Steve Coll, Private Empire: Exxon-Mobil and American Power published in 2013.

The book begins discussing the Exxon Valdez oil spill ten years after the event. In 1989, the oil tanker ran into a reef along the coast of Alaska and spilled 11 million gallons of crude oil. There were many causes for the accident, including the crew, company and even the U.S. Coast Guard was found to be negligent.

Here is what NOAA learned from mitigating the oil spill based on a twenty-five year review:

“In the case of the Exxon Valdez spill, after two years we understood that aggressive shoreline treatment caused more harm than the oil itself; after three to four years, we saw those differences diminish as biological productivity at the most impacted places compensated; after four to six years, shoreline communities had mostly recovered from spill activities; and over five to ten years, we discerned that changes occurring on the shoreline appeared to be linked to subtle, much larger-scale processes that we would not have noted had we not had the long-term record.”

While natural processes may be more effective than human intervention in cleaning up oil spills, the death toll on wildlife can be devastating as reported by NOAA: “How many animals died outright from the oil spill? No one knows. The carcasses of more than 35,000 birds and 1,000 sea otters were found after the spill, but since most carcasses sink, this is considered to be a small fraction of the actual death toll. The best estimates are: 250,000 seabirds, 2,800 sea otters, 300 harbor seals, 250 bald eagles, up to 22 killer whales, and billions of salmon and herring eggs.”

The ‘Private Empire’ book describes NOAA and other government scientists try to do their job conducting investigations of the oil spill assessment but running into confrontations with industry officials. Feds got fed up with the company’s intimidation tactics to suppress their work and many quit their jobs. I had no idea how powerful Exxon Mobil Corporation became until reading this book that mentions U.S. President George W. Bush, a former oil man himself, saying “no one tells them what to do!”

Another book I look forward to reading is Rachel Maddow’s Blowout, available on October 1st. Here’s a summary:

“Rachel Maddow’s Blowout offers a dark, serpentine, riveting tour of the unimaginably lucrative and corrupt oil-and-gas industry. With her trademark black humor, Maddow takes us on a switchback journey around the globe—from Oklahoma City to Siberia to Equatorial Guinea—exposing the greed and incompetence of Big Oil and Gas. She shows how Russia’s rich reserves of crude have, paradoxically, stunted its growth, forcing Putin to maintain his power by spreading Russia's rot into its rivals, its neighbors, the United States, and the West’s most important alliances. Chevron, BP, and a host of other industry players get their star turn, but ExxonMobil and the deceptively well-behaved Rex Tillerson emerge as two of the past century's most consequential corporate villains. The oil-and-gas industry has weakened democracies in developed and developing countries, fouled oceans and rivers, and propped up authoritarian thieves and killers. But being outraged at it is, according to Maddow, “like being indignant when a lion takes down and eats a gazelle. You can't really blame the lion. It's in her nature.”

This book is a clarion call to contain the lion: to stop subsidizing the wealthiest industry on earth, to fight for transparency, and to check the influence of predatory oil executives and their enablers. The stakes have never been higher. As Maddow writes, “Democracy either wins this one or disappears.”

Grand Junction Water Restrictions Imposed

The City of Grand Junction began requiring residents to restrict outdoor water use to twice per week. This changes to once per week in October. More details are available as discussed in the The Daily Sentinel.

This restriction does not apply to my neighborhood located in Mesa County with water supplied by Ute Water. At my home, we changed from less frequent watering with a longer duration to move the water deeper into the root zone of native desert plants. We've cut our water bill in half as compared to last year and our plants are doing just fine! 

International Cooperation for Global Survivability: Let the Thai Cave Boys Be a Beacon of Hope

The recent rescue of the Thai Cave Boys serves as a great example of what humans can accomplish under the most challenging, dangerous, and extreme conditions and what we can learn in surviving other environmental crises. When the Thai soccer team went missing, apparently their parents did not even know where they had gone. One boy on the team who did not join them for the cave adventure knew where they had gone as a team many times before. However, this time heavy rains blocked their exit and forced the boys and coach deeper into the limestone cave system. They survived on drinking the relatively clean water from drips coming off the top of the cave ceiling rather than the dirty flood water. The coach had been a Buddhist monk for many years, which most young men in Thailand spend time at the temple for blessing the family. So he instructed the team on being calm and to meditate. The physically-fit children stayed positive and when they were discovered to still be alive by two British divers, they sent back humorous and caring messages to tell their families they would be ok. They asked their teachers not to give more homework!

The rescue became an international event with people around the world sending prayers for hope. Thais, Americans, Aussies, Brits and other diving teams came together to trouble shoot options. These experts had never before experienced such dangerous conditions and they had to brainstorm different ideas on how to swim the children out through the dark, cold, narrow passageways.  The local governor took charge of the situation and made the decision to perform the rescue immediately before the monsoon rains raised the water levels. The Thai King help acquire resources and equipment from other countries. Many people demonstrated courage in the face of adversity! Local farmers allowed their rice fields to be destroyed in order to divert and pump water out of the caves, block water fall entrances and lower water levels.

So in summary, human errors and misunderstanding of the power of nature caused the initial crisis of trapping the explorers. Many did not give up hope of finding them and most importantly as far as I know the children did not panic. When people globally came together to solve the local problem, they worked together and made many sacrifices – including the Thai diver who ran out of air and died – and loss of businesses for the greater good to rescue these children.

So for many problems we face where human errors are due to a misunderstanding of the power of nature, we must find a way to globally come together and realize we are sharing this planet’s resources and we must find solutions to our problems. Americans cannot continue to dump 25% of the world’s carbon in to the global atmosphere and then stay ignorant of the evidence for climate change. We need advanced nuclear power and recycling of spent fuel to provide a source of clean energy in addition to other renewable sources. We cannot be against everything and block all progress. We need to teach more engineers to understand the power of nature and design structures to work with nature rather than believing we can control nature. We can plant more trees rather than destroy the forest. Water restrictions based on the local aridity should be continuous and not just during droughts. We cannot over consume, create trade imbalances, and dump our waste without it having serious economic and ecological effects.

The Thai diver rescue team is now helping rescue flood victims in Laos – an engineering failure of an unfinished dam project due to heavy rains.

What's SNOTEL telling us about Current Snow-Water Conditions in Colorado?

Over the past week, over 22 inches of snow fell on the Grand Mesa of Grand Junction. Now the snow-water equivalent for the northern mountains of Colorado is above 80% of normal. However, the southern mountains including the San Juan's are well below 50% of normal. We will see if spring snowfall can make up the deficits to avoid another water crisis.

For more information on this important federal website, see NCRS!

Rocky Mountain Dry

The severe drought in the Rockies and Colorado River basin continues which is a bummer to the ski industry and 40 million people who rely on the water supply as well as for the ag industry that provides food to much of the world. Check out the US Drought Monitor!

Warm and Dry Fall

In Grand Junction, Colorado and most of the Rockies we are enjoying an Indian Summer with dry cool nights and warm days. We've turned off our irrigation water last week and the landscaping plants are going dormant for the winter. We will still need to water weekly to monthly during the fall and winter seasons. The ski industry is already concerned as it is so warm they are not able to begin making snow yet they planned to open in less than one month!

According to the Drought Monitor: "Changes in the West this week were mixed. Abnormal dryness (D0) expanded westward in the Upper Colorado River Basin over western Colorado, eastern Utah, and south-central Wyoming in response to warmer-than-normal temperatures and short-term precipitation deficits. Colorado also saw a south and southwestward expansion of moderate drought (D1) due to the continued dryness in the region and impacts on soil moisture and vegetation. A re-examination of data due to rains over the last 30 days resulted in a trimming of moderate (D1) and severe (D2) drought over northeast California and northwest Nevada. These rains have been enough to improve long-term rainfall deficits, streamflow, and soil moisture. Likewise, a one category improvement was made in drought conditions over western Wyoming."

The long term trends indicate we need to continue our efforts to conserve limited resources and find ways to be more efficient and prosperous! One way is for expanding partnerships to share common interests - we need to plant more native trees everywhere to make up for many lost to logging, beetle infestations, and clear cutting. We can take positive steps to reverse the impacts. We are donating to several organizations that support planting trees and people living in the Rain Forest so contact us if you are interested in a list of great organizations!

Balancing Water Demands for Food and Nature with Water Sharing Investment Partnerships

One of the biggest issues facing all watersheds is how to keep sufficient streamflow to support aquatic life while balancing the withdrawals from water consumers including agriculture and municipal drinking water.  For example, many fish are very sensitive to changing water conditions of temperature, oxygen, and chemistry which are affected by the weather and climate as well as water supply. Obviously, during drought conditions the declining supply creates greater impacts for all users. It's a simple matter of supply and demand: while debates continue over the severity of climate changes affecting water supply and dramatic impacts to nature and our habitat, projecting the demand side of water and food resources is easier to forecast. Worldwide, we have accurate population growth numbers and consumption rates so we know demands for water and other resources will exceed supplies. Therefore conservation, if not rationing, is essential. Perhaps for too long we have considered that nature will provide infinite resources for free but coming soon we will all have a huge debt to pay for our ignorance and greed!

While there are large markets for consumer demands on water, can a system be created to sustain natural resources? According to Brian Richter, Chief Water Scientist with The Nature Conservancy (TNC), a market-based strategy is stimulating conservation in the western United States and Australia - water markets are especially effective with irrigated lands. To create a special strategy for protecting nature - innovative partnerships are needed. In April 2016, a water balance fund began in Australia to encourage investments -- perhaps this is like our repaying nature for the huge loans we have taken. For more information on the Water Sharing Investment Partnerships (WSIPs), please see the article by TNC.

Save on watering plants for less than $10

The most common problem with irrigation is adding too much or too little water.  How often and how much do I need to water indoor and outdoor plants? I used to use the touch method and if the soil felt dry then I would water or tried to water on a regular schedule. Going on vacation, I came home to find our houseplants were over watered and nearly died! So now we've discovered soil moisture meters. Several companies sell meters that you stick in the soil which measures moisture content.  The ETEKCITY soil water monitor currently sells for $8.99 with no charge for shipping by ordering from their website. Be careful when sticking the probe into hard ground -- use a screwdriver first to loosen the soil so the meter does not break. This 5-year old boy loves making measurements of soil moisture and growing native plants!