Tuesday, January 31, 2012
News from Norwalk
Just east of the Five Mile River, another urban stream gets support from its local watershed association: http://www.newstimes.com/opinion/article/Sites-significant-concern-among-those-who-care-2683525.php
Friday, January 27, 2012
Social Change Website Examples
In order to move forward with implementation and education strategies for the Watershed-based Plan, it's important to consider how goals are understood by the public and to what extent residents and businesses can be motivated to participate in stewardship. Good PR requires simple communication of sometimes complicated scientific concepts. We'd like to share a few examples of conservation websites we've found that do an especially good job of distilling their message:
Friday, January 20, 2012
The Economic Impact of State Parks, Forests and Natural Resources
Following last week's post, a related (and local) example of the economic value of open space. According to CTDEEP and Uconn's Center for Economic Analysis (CCEA), "...outdoor activities on state lands have an economic impact of more than $1 billion a year." Read More...
Friday, January 13, 2012
Environmental Regulations and Jobs
Environmental regulations don't necessarily depress the job market, according to a new study by the Chesapeake Bay Foundation: http://www.northernnecknews.com/?p=517
Friday, January 6, 2012
Implementation Measures and Education
Many of the implementation measures outlined in the watershed-based plan could potentially be coupled with educational programs through school partnerships and volunteering. For example, a rain garden constructed at or near a school could serve as a demonstration site for educators, and could be maintained and monitored throughout the year by students. Local nature centers or environmental organizations could partner with school teachers to provide watershed education as part of basic science classes.
Trout Unlimited's Trout in the Classroom was suggested at the recent stakeholder meeting as a resource for both teachers and watershed advocates. The program provides lesson plans and a web resources library to engage students in ecosystem and habitat studies as they relate to the individual fish and to the wider watershed. The program includes raising the trout from eggs to fry in a classroom tank, where students monitor water quality and learn about trout habitat; at the end of the year students can release their trout into a state-approved stream.
Learn more about the program: http://www.troutintheclassroom.org/
Blair Mill Elementary School in Horsham Township, PA recently partnered with AKRF to design, install, and monitor a series of small stormwater management wetlands and riparian plantings. A watershed education program was developed with the help of Trout Unlimited's resources. Learn more about this project, and see the design concept.
What other established programs exist to help watershed managers engage local schools? How have others in the watershed used management efforts to promote community education?
Trout Unlimited's Trout in the Classroom was suggested at the recent stakeholder meeting as a resource for both teachers and watershed advocates. The program provides lesson plans and a web resources library to engage students in ecosystem and habitat studies as they relate to the individual fish and to the wider watershed. The program includes raising the trout from eggs to fry in a classroom tank, where students monitor water quality and learn about trout habitat; at the end of the year students can release their trout into a state-approved stream.
Learn more about the program: http://www.troutintheclassroom.org/
Blair Mill Elementary School in Horsham Township, PA recently partnered with AKRF to design, install, and monitor a series of small stormwater management wetlands and riparian plantings. A watershed education program was developed with the help of Trout Unlimited's resources. Learn more about this project, and see the design concept.
What other established programs exist to help watershed managers engage local schools? How have others in the watershed used management efforts to promote community education?
Friday, December 30, 2011
Modeling Pollution Load Reductions
Over the course of the next several weeks, the AKRF team will be developing pollution reduction targets for the watershed, and modeling the reduction capabilities of the projects proposed as part of the watershed-based plan. This process will help to focus management actions based on the cost and efficiency of the proposed projects. In addition to pollution reduction values associated with place-based practices, the final plan will also include general percent removal factors typically associated with non-structural activities (land use change, wildlife management, etc).
To determine load reduction targets, we will use WinSLAMM software to establish baseline conditions for each sub-watershed. Baseline conditions will be defined by pollutant loads associated with a watershed comprised of woods in good condition. Our reduction targets for N, P, TSS, and fecal coliform will be the difference in loading between the existing condition models (Phase I) and the baseline condition models.
Once completed, this phase of the project will link the proposed management actions with existing conditions in the watershed. It will also also help us gain a better understanding of the cost/benefit associated with different methods of pollution control, and will help us to develop performance criteria.
Research by Dr. Robert Pitt of the University of Alabama provides the basis for the WinSLAMM modeling approach.
To determine load reduction targets, we will use WinSLAMM software to establish baseline conditions for each sub-watershed. Baseline conditions will be defined by pollutant loads associated with a watershed comprised of woods in good condition. Our reduction targets for N, P, TSS, and fecal coliform will be the difference in loading between the existing condition models (Phase I) and the baseline condition models.
Once completed, this phase of the project will link the proposed management actions with existing conditions in the watershed. It will also also help us gain a better understanding of the cost/benefit associated with different methods of pollution control, and will help us to develop performance criteria.
Research by Dr. Robert Pitt of the University of Alabama provides the basis for the WinSLAMM modeling approach.
Thursday, December 22, 2011
Christmas Tree Carbon Footprint
In the spirit of the holidays, we're going to break from our usual subject matter and share this interesting item: the first ISO-compliant, third-party peer reviewed Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) comparing artificial Christmas trees to real Christmas trees (in case you ever wondered!).
The LCA-study took into consideration five key indicators to determine which tree type is preferable from an environmental perspective. The results of the LCA found that the choice of either has a negligible impact on the environment compared with the overall individual family´s carbon footprint. However, the study’s findings also show that length of ownership, disposal method and “tree miles” can make a difference as to which tree is environmentally preferable.
The LCA-study took into consideration five key indicators to determine which tree type is preferable from an environmental perspective. The results of the LCA found that the choice of either has a negligible impact on the environment compared with the overall individual family´s carbon footprint. However, the study’s findings also show that length of ownership, disposal method and “tree miles” can make a difference as to which tree is environmentally preferable.
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