'Harm' under Endangared Species Act now means direct harm, not indirect, such as habitat loss; many states object

Protection of northern spotted owls in the Pacific Northwest
under the Endangered Species Act led to the end of logging
in their habitat. (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service photo by Tom Kogut)

"The Trump administration is removing protections from the key places where endangered species live, saying states can keep the areas safe, but experts say states aren’t equipped for the task," Alex Brown reports for Stateline.

On July 10, the administration finalized regulations redefinng the word "harm" in the Endangered Species Act, to make it cover only cases where endangered animals are directly harmed. That ruled out such actvities as "logging projects that would cut old-growth trees where owls build their nests, and agriculture operations that diverted water from streams where salmon return to spawn," Brown explains.

A 2019 study of animals added to the Endangered Species List from 1975 to 2017 "found that only 17 percent of them faced threats from direct killing, while 81 percent faced habitat loss," Brown reports. The change means “You can destroy the resources a species requires as long as you don’t do it when the species is at home,” Karrigan Börk, a law professor and director of the Center for Watershed Sciences at the University of California Davis Institute of the Environment, told Brown.

"In public comments after the rule was initially proposed, wildlife agency leaders from both liberal and conservative states said the change would be a blow to their conservation efforts," Brown reports. "Wildlife officials in Arizona, Georgia, Louisiana, New Mexico, New Jersey, Vermont and Wyoming also expressed concern about the loss of habitat protections, as did the Association of Fish & Wildlife Agencies, a nonprofit that represents state wildlife managers. Of the public comments reviewed by Stateline, only Alaska’s wildlife agency leader offered wholehearted support for the change. . . . Even if states were to pass laws and invest in programs to protect wildlife habitat, they would be unable to enforce those measures on federal land."

Federal officials said the change would let states "manage wildlife without burdensome federal regulations," Brown writes.  "But legal experts and wildlife veterans say that almost no states have endangered-species laws on the books that allow state officials to prevent habitat destruction in the name of saving wildlife. . . . Many wildlife experts also noted that state wildlife agencies are already underfunded as it is. Taking on the massive regulatory system that prevents developers and extractive industries from destroying critical habitat would require far more resources than those agencies have available. A coalition of environmental groups and tribal nations have filed lawsuits challenging the federal rollback."

Snow drought in Western states adds to regional water supply worries and takes a toll on winter tourism

Western states rely on winter snowpack for community
and farming water supplies. (Photo by Lamar, Unsplash)

Unlike most of the country, Western states are experiencing warmer-than-normal winter temperatures and haven't had enough snow to replenish water needed for drier months or sustain winter tourism, which helps to fuel their economy.

"An extreme snow drought and unusually warm weather are keeping skiers off the mountains, snowmobilers off the trails and water out of the rivers across much of the West," reports Jim Robbins for The New York Times.

Much of the West relies on thawing winter snowpack to provide water for residents, irrigation, trout streams and reservoirs throughout the year.

The lack of snowpack in the Colorado Rockies and the Colorado River Basin "adds to the 26-year-long megadrought in the region, which has led to extremely low levels in the two largest reservoirs on the Colorado River," Robbins explains. "Colorado is having its warmest winter since 1895."

The reason for the drastic change in snowfall and temperature between the last few years and this year "isn’t easily explained," Robbins adds. "Scientists have found that it is difficult to attribute the snow drought entirely to climate change."

Skiing tourism in Oregon has been particularly hard hit because there's been so little snow. Presley Quon, a spokesperson for Mt. Bachelor, a ski resort near Bend, Ore., told the Times, "It’s been a really rough season for ski resorts." Robbins adds, "Last year at this time, Mt. Bachelor had 109 inches of snow at its base; this year it has 27 inches."

At higher elevations, snowpack inches are at a more normal level; however, the runoff most communities rely on for water "comes from the middle and lower elevations, which cover a far greater area than the land at higher altitudes," Robbins explains. 

Despite the abysmal snowfall thus far, there's still time for snowpack levels to rebound. Robbins adds, "February, March and often April are the months when most of the snow usually falls in the mountains."

West Virginia's waterway 'reclamation' yields cleaner water, rare earth metals and a growing outdoor industry

Deckers Creek is flowing with fresh water and 
wildlife again. (Wikipedia photo)

Coal mines left waterways across West Virginia polluted by sulfuric acid and metals, but that’s not the end of their story. "Set on a quiet hillside, a series of cascading ponds are doing their small part to fix a big problem," reports Mira Rojanasakul of The New York Times. The three-pond system slowly "reclaims" the state's waterways for wildlife and people to enjoy once again, and it comes with a side benefit of rare earth elements.

The three-pond system works to reduce water acid and then remove metals. The first pond allows water to "percolate through limestone and organic matter," Rojanasakul explains. The second pond completes more filtration, allowing the aluminum to drop out. By the time the water flows from the third pond, the iron has dropped out. "Fish and sensitive species like salamanders and frogs are returning to Deckers Creek, which for decades flowed rust-orange and lifeless from iron and other pollution."

Deckers Creeks is "one of dozens of cleanup sites being installed across West Virginia, helping the state make progress on a global environmental issue: waterways poisoned from coal mining," Rojanasakul reports. "A few miles downstream, a new, higher-tech version of this cleanup process is yielding an unexpected bonus: 'Rare earth' elements, essential for clean energy technologies and military equipment, are being recovered from the pollution."

Decreasing water acidity and removing metals isn’t just helpful for wildlife and biodiversity -- acid mine drainage "can corrode pipes and threaten drinking water for many residents of rural West Virginia who rely on backyard wells," Rojanasakul writes. 

Federal and state officials help guide West Virginia's waterway reclamation efforts, but the "boots on the ground" are often small nonprofits. Rojanasakul adds, "They monitor sprawling watersheds and build relationships within communities, even talking private landowners into opening up their backyards for cleanup work."

Many locals view their reclaimed waterways as a potential path to a new revenue source for residents and the state. Rojanasakul reports, "Employment in the state’s outdoor recreation economy is starting to rival other industries, with 20,300 jobs in 2023 compared with 17,700 workers in mining and support activities that same year."

Going against the current, Utah works to change an old western water rights rule to encourage conservation

Utah Department of Agriculture and Food photo

Many western states apply the "use it or lose it" rule to water rights, which penalizes land owners for using less water.  But Utah is working to reward conservation, reports Nina Elkadi of Grist. "Amid climate change, drought, and increased demands for water, Utah is trying to change the system, bucking one of the oldest water rules in the western U.S."

In the West, water rights come down to the 'beneficial use' principle that "declares that water rights holders must use their water for beneficial purposes, such as agriculture, or give up those rights," Elkadi explains. "In Utah, though, the state legislature has passed multiple statutes that are attempting to encourage farmers to use less water without losing rights to it."

Even as the federal government works with western states to reorganize the Colorado River Compact, Utah is doing its own water resource management. Utah wants "to encourage farmers to conserve water without punishing them for it," Elkadi reports. "It's tackling the problem through its Agricultural Water Optimization Program, which awards farmers funding to become more efficient with their water use. . . . [It's] meant to address stress and uncertainty for farmers. And aims to thwart, or at least delay, catastrophic water shortages in the region."

Utah's Agricultural Water Optimization Program provides support to farmers through grants "to improve water practices," Elkadi writes. "Farmers can also file a 'change application' to lease out any 'saved water' through a water marketplace. Utah's State Engineer Teresa Wilhelmsen told Elkadi, "It kind of gives an incentive to save that consumptive use and potentially be able to lease it or do something else with it."

Despite its benefits, some farmers have avoided participation. Wilhelmsen told Elkadi, “As you can imagine, there’s a fear of the state engineer with some folks." Elkadi adds, "This is why she is trying to frame these programs as opportunities to 'tune up your water rights.'"

While the state's water optimization program is a start, "some believe more needs to be done. Burdette Barker, an irrigation expert at Utah State University, thinks efficiency is not the only issue that needs to be addressed; adaptation needs to be at the forefront, too," Elkadi reports. Barker asked her, “Will [the optimization program] alone meet the objectives that the state and others have? Probably not. Will it allow farmers to adapt better as tighter crunches come? I think so. They will help provide farmers with tools to cope or adjust.”

Simply adding ground limestone to rivers and oceans could decrease global warming, but the challenges are many

Rivers

naturally

deliver

carbon

to

the

ocean,

preventing

it

from

entering 

the

atmosphere.
(CarbonRun graphic)

Scientists aim to fight global warming by adding ground limestone to oceans and rivers, report Brad Plumer and Raymond Zhong of The New York Times. The Earth's water sources "contain carbon dioxide that is constantly escaping into the air, where it traps heat and warms the planet. Adding limestone converts some of that carbon dioxide into a stable molecule that instead stays underwater and washes into the sea, where it should remain trapped for thousands of years."

Oceans already play a big part in removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. "By speeding up that process, scientists believe even more carbon could be packed into those watery depths," the Times reports. "One idea is known as alkalinity enhancement, which involves adding limestone, magnesium oxide or another alkaline substance to rivers and oceans, changing their chemistry in a way that makes them soak up more carbon dioxide."

The company, CarbonRun, is putting the new science to the test, with its first limestone silo under construction in Nova Scotia. Later this year, "the machine will grind up limestone inside a tall green silo and release the powder into the nearby West River Pictou, creating a chalky plume that should dissolve within minutes," Plumer and Zhong explain. With the addition of powdered limestone, the water will do the rest. "Scientists estimate that similar methods deployed in oceans could remove billions of tons per year."

Despite its promise, the technology faces challenges from nature and unanswered questions. While dumping ground limestone in a river may be successful, full-scale drops into oceans would be more complex and require massive amounts of ground limestone. The Times reports, "toying with ocean chemistry also carries unknown risks. Some environmental groups worry that even early experiments with these techniques could threaten fish and other aquatic life."

To mitigate environmental pushback, CarbonRun’s founders are "proving that adding limestone to rivers doesn’t just take carbon out of the air — it can also safely benefit local ecosystems," Plumer and Zhong add. "It’s relatively straightforward for CarbonRun to show that adding limestone to rivers converts some carbon dioxide into a stable bicarbonate. . . .The harder part is mining and moving the limestone cheaply."

A plan to restore and protect the Mississippi River is getting another chance in Congress

The Mississippi River basin, its major tributaries and the hypoxic "dead zone" in the Gulf of Mexico. (EPA map via WJS)

After centuries as a mighty force, the Mississippi River needs planned protection to keep it viable. "Democratic Sen. Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin announced that she plans to introduce the Mississippi River Restoration and Resilience Initiative in the Senate. Democratic Rep. Betty McCollum of Minnesota will bring the same bill forward in the House," writes Report for America correspondent Madeline Heim for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. The proposal is "modeled after programs that protect other major bodies of waters across the U.S., like the successful Great Lakes Restoration Initiative and the Chesapeake Bay Program."

Over the past two decades, Mississippi waters have included record highs and lows as drought and flooding have taken a toll. Despite the river's environmental traumas, it remains a vital part of U.S. infrastructure. "Millions of Americans rely on it for drinking water, commerce and recreation, and its floodplains provide food and habitat for hundreds of fish and wildlife species," Heim writes. "But it's facing a multitude of challenges, from extreme weather to habitat loss to persistent agricultural and industrial pollution. That pollution contributes to the Gulf of Mexico's dead zone, which last year was almost as big as Yellowstone Park."

Heim reports, "Even in the past few years, the river has experienced the impacts of a changing climate, said Kelly McGinnis, the Mississippi River Network executive director. Last spring, communities along the upper river saw near-record floodwaters, book-ended by severe droughts that slowed shipping traffic to a crawl."

The Mississippi River's restoration plan would be housed within the Environmental Protection Agency, but input and problem-solving data from the 10 states the river touches would be used. Program funding "would fall into four main buckets," Heim explains. "Those include improving water quality, restoring habitats, reducing the presence of invasive species and creating natural infrastructure to protect against flood damage."

Beyond the four focus points, the program includes a "science plan," which "would create three regional hubs at universities in the 10 border states for research on the river's challenges," Heim reports. While the Mississippi plan is based on the success of The Great Lakes Initiative, it faces a far more partisan Congress for passage. "Baldwin said that she plans to have discussions with senators from across the aisle whose states border the river and that she believes bipartisan support is possible. . . . Its supporters believe that its reintroduction will help remind people of the threats the river faces."

Frequently dredging the Mississippi River helps to keep cargo moving, but places to 'stash' sand are in short supply

The Mississippi River near Wabasha, Minn., is a dredging
hotspot. (Photo by Elizabeth Flores, Star Tribune)

Frequent dredging kept cargo moving along the Mississippi this year, but moving sand from here to there has its own complications. "Historic low flows turned the Mississippi River into a construction area in 2023 as the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers dredged huge quantities of sand to keep the channel open for barge traffic," reports Chloe Johnson of the Minneapolis Star Tribune. "Massive machines like the Dredge Goetz, a 225-foot-long vessel with a suction pipe nearly two feet wide, were moving through the river constantly to keep it clear. . . . From May to July, 'day in and day out, we were digging,'" said Tom Heinold, chief of operations for the Rock Island District of the Army Corps of Engineers.

Extreme weather fluctuations make preparing waterways more difficult. Johnson explains: "A sudden drop in flow means the water in the river loses velocity, and all the sand flowing with it drops to the bottom." This year's snowmelt and sudden drought caused that scenario to unfold, with sand blocking up many expected "choke points" and clogging some unexpected areas.

Constant dredging is expensive and leaves the corps searching for places to "stash the sand." Johnson reports. "It's expensive work for the corps and the taxpayers who fund it – between surveying potential dredging areas, sucking the sand up and moving it into storage areas. The dredging program on the Upper Mississippi cost an average of $45.4 million a year between 2014 and 2023. . . . As the corps seeks new places to dump sand in the future, Sabrina Chandler, manager of the Upper Mississippi River National Fish and Wildlife Refuge, told Johnson, "I'm not sure that it's going to be a very simple fix."

While environmental advocates push for wildlife protections, the river's ability to ship remains the top concern. "It's a challenge to tease out all the impacts of dredging and sand placement. The upper Mississippi has already been chopped into 29 pools, each ending in a lock and dam to keep water high enough for shipping navigation. Since Congress required the 9-foot shipping channel in 1930, that navigation mission remains first and foremost for the corps on the river," Johnson writes. "Wildlife managers who bargain with the corps on sand placement are left looking for the least harmful scenario in a river system that has already been massively changed by human intervention across 145 years."

States that share water from the Colorado River are working to balance the needs of farmers and cities

Upper Division: Colo., N.M., Utah and Wyo.
Lower Div.: Nev., Ariz. and Calif. (Wikipedia map)

Contention over how to share water from the Colorado River has rankled seven Western states and the federal government for more than 100 years. The stakes have only increased in recent years. "The future of the American West is quietly being hashed out in the conference rooms of a Las Vegas casino this week," reports Annie Snider of Politico. "Just across the strip from the Bellagio's fountains, in the shadow of an enormous Eiffel Tower-knock-off, negotiators from the seven states that share the Colorado River are racing to reach a deal on how to share the West's most important — and shrinking — waterway."

Over the past 20 years, climate change and drought have shrunk the river's flow by more than 20 percent, and "the only question now is how much worse things will get," Snider writes. "The negotiations over how to share the pain of bringing water use in line with the shrunken waterway will have huge implications for the 40 million people who rely on it at their taps in metro areas. . . as well as for the powerhouse farming operations that use roughly three-quarters of the river's water to irrigate some of the country's most productive agricultural land. Also on the line are the interests of 30 federally-recognized tribes along the river and the 11 national parks and monuments it courses through, including the Grand Canyon."

Colorado River Basin (Wikipedia map)

Politically, the conflict is a "landmine for the Biden administration, which has taken a much more aggressive approach with the affected states than its predecessors," Snider reports. "The sharpest pain will be centered on the three lower river states: Arizona and Nevada — two crucial political swing states – and California, home of the Democratic Party's most deep-pocketed donors and whose governor is widely believed to harbor presidential ambitions."

The roil doesn't stop there. "Especially contentious is the fault line between farmers, who typically hold the most protected rights to the river," Snider explains, "and the urban areas that are states' economic engines and are home to their voting bases, but are first in line for water delivery cuts under the century-old legal regime that governs the river."

This past year's record snowpack melt, paired with a three-state agreement to "conserve water over the next three years in exchange for $1.2 billion in federal funding, have headed off the disaster for now," Snider reports. "But crafting new rules to govern the river through a much drier future beginning in 2026 will be exponentially harder." 

Mussels -- 'the unsung heroes of river life' -- are finally making a comeback in the Apalachicola River

The ACF River Basin watershed.
(Wikipedia map)

It's a success story with muscle, or should we say mussels? "Some good news for the Apalachicola River," reports Dan Chapman from U.S. Fish & Wildlife. "After centuries of pollution, drought, sprawl, dredging, straightening, dam-building, and a 'water war' between Florida, Georgia, and Alabama, the iconic river whose headwaters reach into the Appalachian Mountains has something to brag about. . . . Seems the most vulnerable of its riverine residents, the freshwater mussels, are making a comeback. Scientists say the federally endangered fat threeridge, for example, 'is far more abundant and widely distributed … than previously thought.' The same can be said for the Chipola slabshell, a threatened mollusk that lives along a major Apalachicola tributary with headwaters in Alabama."

Fat threeridge mussels
(USFWS photo)

The fat threeridge has come a long way. "In 1981, a biologist certified the last living fat threeridge in a major Apalachicola tributary," Chapman writes. But the river, which has been in distress for over a decade, needs all the mussels it can muster. "Freshwater mussels are the unsung heroes of river life. They suck up water to feed and, in the process, filter out bacteria, pollutants, and sediment. The 'livers of the river' also serve as keystone species, indicators of a river’s health, and the quality of its water. When they’re in trouble, we’re in trouble."

The return of the fat threeridge and the Chipola slabshell mussel means efforts to restore the river are working. Chris Metcalf, who coordinates the federal-landowner Partners for Fish and Wildlife Program with multiple other services, "has worked on 20 projects on five private properties across the Chipola River watershed," Chapman reports. "They’ve protected 74 acres of stream-side habitat, planted 4,000 trees, installed 16 miles of cattle fencing, and restored 10 miles of stream buffers."  Metcalf told him, "All that work has helped to increase the population of mussels and created more habitat for them to thrive and survive."

Chris Metcalf has worked on 20 projects to help improve
mussel water environments. (Photo by Dan Chapman, USFWS)

Not all of the reasons for the mussel's surprising comeback are clear, but the "recovery of the at-risk species is a success story worth celebrating, especially during the 50th anniversary of the landmark Endangered Species Act," Chapman adds. "It is also a much-needed win for the Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint river basin, which, for decades, has dealt with hydrologic, economic, and political decisions beyond its control."

Low-high, high-low: Mississippi flooded in spring, but now levels are falling and barge traffic could be slowed again

Just below the confluence with the Ohio River, a barge loaded with coal and gravel found the channel close to the Kentucky shore of the low Mississippi River last Friday as the Missouri shore grew more sandy. (Rural Blog photo by Al Cross)

Life on the Mississippi is getting drier as the river faces drought and dipping levels. Low water is "threatening to disrupt commerce for a second consecutive year, months after cities along the vital economic artery saw floodwaters test their sandbag barriers and containment walls," reports Shannon Najmabadi of The Wall Street Journal. "Water levels in St. Louis and Memphis are 10 to 20 feet lower at this point in the year than in 2020 and 2019 due to lack of rain. Parched soils have absorbed moisture instead of letting it run off into the river, though recent downpours have helped, said Lisa Parker, spokeswoman for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' Mississippi Valley Division."

Over half of U.S. soybeans are exported, and most of that goes down the Mississippi, Najmabadi notes. Mike Steenhoek, executive director of the Soy Transportation Coalition, "said the Army Corps of Engineers has begun monitoring water levels and has 16 dredges operating on the Mississippi River to keep the water channel and harbors deep enough for transit. Steenhoek told the Journal, "We've really seen this ebb and flow—this dramatic ebb and flow—this last year more than we've seen in years past."

Part of spring's water highs stemmed from Minnesota's record snowfall melting in April, its runoff engorging the river, but it is increasingly plagued by droughts. "Low water levels on the Mississippi River last fall contributed to $20 billion in economic losses, according to an AccuWeather estimate. Some barges were grounded on sandbars," Najmabadi reports. "Other vessels lightened their loads to keep them from sitting too low in the water, which increased transportation costs for farmers and others."

The river's fluctuating levels are affected by weather and changing climate, but the river is engineered by humans. Nicholas Pinter, a University of California professor who has extensively researched rivers and watersheds, told Najambadi, "Climate change is in there. . . . [But] it's smaller than the impacts of levees and navigational infrastructure on portions of the Mississippi River."

Bob Criss, a professor emeritus at Washington University in St. Louis and "critic of the Corps' management of the river, said U.S. goods should also be moved by rail," Najambadi reports. "Because locks and dams used to make the Mississippi River navigable create a slow-moving, deep channel that has changed the environment." Criss told her: "The Mississippi River from St. Louis all the way to New Orleans was twice as wide as it is now. It was full of islands and sandbars, which are habitats for birds and everything else. The barges do not pay for the river maintenance. . . . They pay nothing for the dredging."

Tracy Zea, president and chief executive officer of the Waterways Council, which represents river shipping interests, "is hopeful water levels won't be as low as last fall," Najambadi writes. "About 500 million tons of goods, worth more than $158 billion, are transported on inland U.S. waterways each year, Zea said. The vessels are more fuel-efficient than trucks or trains. One barge can carry the load of 70 fully loaded semi-trucks."

U.S. dams are aging and not made to withstand new climate extremes, increasing the risk of disastrous failures

Flood waters approached the top of the Wrightsville Dam near
Montpelier, Vt. (Montpelier police photo via The Boston Globe)

Often overlooked and mostly old, dams provide drinking water, energy and transportation across the U.S., and as the recent flooding in Vermont showed, many need repair and updates that take weather extremes into account. "Heavy rainfall in the Northeast on June 9-11, 2023, generated widespread flooding," writes Hiba Baroud for The Conversation, a journalism platform for academics. "One major concern was the Wrightsville Dam, built in 1935 on the Winooski River north of Vermont's capital city, Montpelier. The reservoir behind the dam rose to within 1 foot of the dam's maximum storage capacity, prompting warnings that water could overtop the dam and worsen already-dangerous conditions downstream or damage the dam. . . . There are more than 91,000 dams across the U.S., in all 50 states, with diverse designs and purposes. . . . The average dam is 60 years, and more than 8,000 dams are over 90 years old."

Besides age, climate change adds another reason for dam fortification. "Compounding the risk in ways that are not yet fully understood are the intensifying rains brought about by a warming planet. Warmer temperatures mean more water in the air and a roiled atmosphere that brings both periods of drought and the potential for deluge," reports Sabrina Shankman of The Boston Globe. Baroud reports: "Designing new dams and upgrading existing infrastructure will need to be based on updated design procedures that consider future climate projections. . . . While older dams aren't necessarily unsafe, they were constructed following outdated design standards and construction procedures and for different environmental conditions. That influences the likelihood and consequences of their failure during disasters."

The U.S. receives an "infrastructure report card" from the American Society of Civil Engineers every four years. "The most recent report card estimates that 70% of U.S. dams will be more than 50 years old by 2030," Baroud reports. "Overall, the report gave U.S. dams a 'D' grade and estimated that more than 2,300 high-hazard potential dams – those that could cause loss of life or serious property damage if they fail, based on the level of development around them – lacked emergency action plans. . . . Decommissioning or replacing dams can be complicated and cost-prohibitive. Regularly maintaining and upgrading older dams can be a cost-effective way to strengthen them and make them resilient to natural hazards."

While overtopping is the number one cause of dam failure, overall structural integrity is influenced by "how long water flows over a dam and the volume of water. . . its purpose, size and location," Baroud explains. "If a dam is designed for flood protection and is surrounded by homes, businesses or critical infrastructure, a large uncontrolled release of water could be catastrophic."

California, Arizona and Nevada will take less water from the Colorado in return for at least $1 billion in federal funds

Lake Mead (Photo by Matthew Reamer, The New York Times)

"The Biden administration has negotiated a hard-fought agreement among California, Arizona and Nevada to take less water from the drought-strained Colorado River," reports Christopher Flavelle of The New York Times, noting that the deal "reduces, for now, the risk of the river running dry below the Hoover Dam, which would jeopardize the water supply for Phoenix, Los Angeles and some of America’s most productive agricultural land."

The states along river, also vital source of hydroelectric power, reached an agreement with the administration Monday "to conserve an unprecedented amount of their water supply in exchange for about $1 billion in federal funding, according to people familiar with the situation," reports Joshua Partlow of The Washington Post, who reported the outlines of the deal last week. The money would go to states, cities and Native Amerian tribes.

"California, Arizona, and Nevada have agreed to voluntarily conserve 3 million acre-feet of water over the next three years, which amounts to 13 percent of these states’ total allocation from the river," Patrlow reports. "The Biden administration has committed to compensating the states for three quarters of the water savings — or 2.3 million acre-feet — which would amount to at least $1 to $1.2 billion in federal funds, the people familiar with the talks said. The money from the Inflation Reduction Act would pay farmers and others who voluntarily forego their supplies."

Flavelle reports, "The agreement struck over the weekend runs only through the end of 2026, and still needs to be formally adopted by the federal government. At that point, all seven states that rely on the river — which include Colorado, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming — could face a deeper reckoning, as its decline is likely to continue."

Record-breaking snowmelt is flooding the Mississippi

Mississippi River course, watershed, and major tributaries
(Wikipedia map)

Where there's snow, there's eventually water, and this spring, the Mississippi River and its vast tributaries have left their drought-filled days behind and are swelling with record-breaking snowmelt. "Flooding expected this spring is likely to bring the river to its highest level in over 20 years, according to the National Weather Service," reports Kayla Guo of Politico. "For the next three weeks, the Department of Agriculture said, all barge traffic across part of the Upper Mississippi has stopped due to flooding. . . . [It] predicts that around the end of this week, locks and dams as far south as Saverton, Missouri (around the Mississippi River's midpoint) could be forced to shut down until mid-May due to high water."

Riverside Park in La Crosse, Wis., flooded on April 26.
(Photo by Eric Auer Lee, La Crosse Tribune)

People in the river's central valley are preparing for the surge. "Cities in Iowa and Illinois are likely to face a big test of beefed-up flood defenses in the next week as flooding from record snow in Minnesota courses down the Mississippi River," reports Joe Barrett of The Wall Street Journal. "Some cities in Minnesota had record or near-record snowfall this winter, and much of it rapidly melted as temperatures climbed to the 80s and 90s earlier this month. . . . Peak floodwaters are heading for Iowa and Illinois. . . .The floods aren't expected to cause as much damage as they did in 2019. . . . One of the biggest and longest-lasting flood seasons on record. . . . Snow this winter was heavily concentrated in Minnesota and Wisconsin, so most tributaries of the Mississippi south of those states aren't likely to contribute to the flood."

Marquette, Iowa, pop. 430, is one town preparing. "Highway 76 along the Mississippi is closed north of Marquette. Marquette Mayor Steve Weipert said the city is in a good place, as they continue to follow their plans," reports KCRG News in Cedar Rapids. Weipert told KCRG, "We knew at every stage what we had to do, and go ahead and get 'er done, and that's how life goes on the river." Barrett reports, "Still, the floods are poised to present the first significant test of new pumps and strengthened temporary levees that cities put in place or into their flood-fighting plans after 2019. . . . The river crested in La Crosse, Wis., about 25 miles north of the Iowa border, on Wednesday at the third-highest level ever."

The Mississippi is awash in spring, but fears of another drought that will impede barge traffic are never far away

Lake Pepin, the river's widest natural section, is part of the Minnesota–Wisconsin border. (Photo: Tom Peterson, Stateline)

A Wikipedia snapshot on how mighty the "Mighty Mississippi" is: The river has the world's fourth-largest drainage basin ("watershed" or "catchment"). The basin covers more than 1,245,000 square miles, including all or parts of 32 U.S. states and two Canadian provinces. Wow.

Spring is here, melting ice on the Mississippi and snow in its watershed. "As state and federal officials prepare for the prospects of spring floods, last fall's drought, which stalled commercial boat traffic on the mighty river, is never far from mind," reports Tom Peterson of Stateline. "The drought provided an expensive reminder of just how vital — and how vulnerable — the economic thoroughfare is." Lou Dell'Orco, chief of operations for the Army Corps of Engineers, told Peterson, "It's a highway. If you haven't lived around it, you don't recognize it. But it's a major artery to move goods and commerce in a safe, efficient and cost-effective manner."

The river handles "92% of the nation's agricultural exports and 78% of the world's exports in feed grains and soybeans," Peterson reports. "Millions of barrels of crude oil and other petroleum products move on the river monthly, as do 35% of the nation's exports of thermal coal, which fuels power plants. . . . Eleven of the top 12 agriculture-exporting states in the nation lie in the basin. . . .When the river dropped precipitously last fall, it snarled barge traffic and delayed shipments, exacerbating supply chain problems and bringing the Mississippi River's role in the U.S. and global markets to the fore."

"What comes this spring is uncertain. The National Weather Service's spring flood forecast called the risk to the Mississippi main-stem 'well above normal,'" Peterson reports. "Since February, the service reported, at least one significant weather system has moved through the Upper Mississippi region each week, leaving an 'anomalously large snowpack.'" As of April 12, the service's website says, "Based on snowmelt alone, [they are] expecting the similar river levels that were seen in April 2019. . . . Based on snowmelt alone, we are expecting rivers to crest between April 19 to 26. Any additional precipitation may result in secondary crests or exacerbate ongoing flooding."

Olivia Dorothy, director for the Upper Mississippi Basin at American Rivers, told Peterson, "We've known for quite some time that climate change is going to be causing these pendulum swings between extreme drought and extreme floods." Peterson adds, "Ice, floods and low water made navigating the Mississippi difficult long before Mark Twain began chronicling its charms and dangers. The dangers are expected to become more frequent."

Colorado River continues to dry as states fail to find a solution; federal officials step up with 'a shot across the bow'

Dark skies move over the Colorado River at Horseshoe
Bend, Arizona. (Photo by RJ Sangosti, The Denver Post)

How to share water from the drying Colorado River while addressing depleted reservoirs continues to be a quagmire for seven Western states and the federal government. 

Because the states have failed to find a solution, "U.S. Bureau of Reclamation officials are considering whether to order Arizona, California and Nevada to take less water out of the river," reports Conrad Swanson of The Denver Post. "Federal officials must decide whether to impose cuts on the three lower Colorado River Basin states by either following the longstanding system of water-rights seniority or by spreading them across three states evenly."

"While federal officials consider their options, each of the seven states in the Colorado River basin will continue to negotiate water use for the long term. The first option would be to take no additional action, which means conditions along the Colorado River would worsen." Swanson explains. "The second option would cut water use from lower-basin states, based predominantly on the priority of water rights. Under the Colorado River's prior-appropriation legal system, those drawing water from the river the longest [primarily California] have a higher priority. So cuts would be imposed on those with the youngest water rights, like Arizona." Ian James of the Los Angeles Times reports, "The stakes in the decision are high for California, which receives the largest share of water from the Colorado River . . . Imposing an equal across-the-board cut would hit California harder, particularly in agricultural regions."

Swanson reports, "Federal officials expect to choose one this summer, and the plan would go into effect next year." By announcing two solutions, federal officials are "flexing their muscles over a problem they had hoped the states would solve themselves. . . . The move strengthens the federal agency's resolve to conserve water from the Colorado River as the seven states within its basin repeatedly fail to find common ground, said Rhett Larson, a water law professor at Arizona State University." Larson told Swanson, "I am reading this as a shot across the bow. The federal government is saying, 'Brace yourselves, because if you don't come up with something, we will.'"

This year's enormous snowpack did not solve the over two decades of drought. Swanson notes, "Water levels at lakes Powell and Mead — the country's two largest reservoirs — are still projected to diminish as they face historically dry conditions exacerbated by climate change." Deputy Interior Secretary Tommy Beaudreau told James, "The prolonged drought afflicting the American West is one of the most significant challenges facing our country today. We're in the third decade of a historic drought that has caused conditions that the people who built this system would not have imagined."

"Larson said he feels as though federal officials, particularly President Joe Biden, might ultimately lean further toward cutting water use across the board. . . . spreading the cuts more evenly would curry favor within the swing states," Swanson writes. Larson told her, "Realistically, there isn't a solution to this that doesn't require California to take some cuts. . . . Joe Biden needs Nevada and Arizona a lot more than he needs California. . . . You can't discount the politics."

Swanson notes that six of the seven states "found common ground this spring but couldn't set aside enough water. Plus, California — the wealthiest and biggest water user — wasn't on board, leading some water experts to suggest that filing lawsuits might be the only way to force progress. . . . Others have expressed hope that the increasing willingness of federal officials to force cuts will pressure the states into a deal."

Putting the mighty back into the Mississippi: River levels rise

The Mississippi River and its tributaries could be back
to normal by this spring. (Photo by Chip Flory, Farm Journal)

After months of drought and barge congestion, "The shipping crisis on the Mississippi River might finally be ending," reports Michelle Rook of Farm Journal. "Since last July, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has been dredging the river 24 hours a day, seven days a week to ease shipping backups. With improved snowpack in areas such as Montana and precipitation through the midsection of the country late last fall and this winter, the Mississippi River and its tributaries could be back to normal by this spring."

The needle is moving in the right direction. “When you look at the river gauges for points such as Memphis, Tenn., and St. Louis, Mo., we’re seeing water levels equal to or at least comparable to this time last year,” Mike Steenhoek, executive director of the Soy Transportation Coalition told Rook. "So, we’ve seen about a 20-foot swing in river levels since last fall, which is really meaningful."

The U.S. Bureau of Transportation Statistics reports, "In 2020, the river carried more than half of the 165.5 million tons that moved between 12 states." With that amount of traffic, "Steenhoek says it takes time for barge and river traffic to resume normal levels," Rook reports."Steenhoek says barge freight rates have also eased in the past year. In early February, the Department of Agriculture reports the barge rate for a shipment originating in St. Louis was $18.55 per ton. That is 26% less than a year ago. Last October, freight rates for St. Louis cargo hit $105.85."

The Mississippi shipping crisis reignited a push for the U.S. to add transportation flexibility through fortification of rail systems, which also struggled to meet demand during the drought.

L.A. Times: Counting evaporated water in Colorado R. dibs would be unfair to California; creative management needed

Arizona and Nevada have never used all their shares, the Times says.

The six Colorado River states that are not California came up with an idea to manage the river that was both clever and disingenuous, the Los Angeles Times says in an editorial: "When calculating the amount of water used by each state, include the amount that evaporates in the Lower Basin before it reaches its destination. The Colorado travels farthest to reach California, which uses the most water, so naturally — the argument goes — California should be on the hook for most of the evaporation."

The plan, offered in January, "was a public relations victory, because left unexamined, it sounds almost reasonable. California and the [L.A.] Metropolitan Water District had a different proposal, but the evaporation argument caught them flat-footed," the Times reports, then argues: "Federal regulators should not be swayed. Evaporation was not part of the formula when all seven states entered into the Colorado River Compact in 1922, nor in the subsequent treaties, agreements and court decisions that together form what is known as the Law of the River. It’s a questionable measure even for the long-term recalculation that the states face in 2026. It has no legitimate place in discussions of short-term emergency measures.

"All seven states need a more constructive approach that recognizes not merely the necessity of broad cuts all around, but of creative management of existing supplies. Nevada knew this when it wisely banned thirsty decorative lawns. The other states and their water agencies have likewise adopted smart strategies, none more so than the MWD, which is building a huge water-recycling plant, and which voluntarily banked much of its supply in Lake Mead to keep the reservoir operating."

The editorial concludes, "The Law of the River is complex and the peril of shrinking water supplies is serious. There are many painful decisions to make between now and 2026, debates about whether to restrict what farmers can grow and what developers can build, how to respect the water rights of Indigenous tribes and Mexico (where the river now dries up before it reaches the Gulf of California), whether and how to adjust the West’s first-come, first-served water laws. First, though, the states need a fair and workable survival strategy, and soon. Nature has its own timeline, and it’s short."

The East Palestine train: How did it travel through towns without a warning label that it was highly hazardous?

How could a train with at least 20 cars of potentially explosive material not have a warning label? "In a press conference following the catastrophic derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, Gov. Mike DeWine expressed difficulty grasping one particular aspect of federal rail regulations," reports Reid Frazier of The Allegheny Front. DeWine said, “This train … was not considered high-hazardous material train. Frankly, if this is true – and I’m told it’s true – this is absurd, and we need to look at this.”

The reason for the accident is being looked at first. "The National Transportation Safety Board – the federal agency investigating the crash – says it is looking at a damaged wheel bearing on one of the cars in the Norfolk Southern train as a possible cause for the Feb. 3 crash," Frazier writes. "The derailment, which released toxic chemicals into the streams and air around East Palestine, [has left] many wondering how the country’s regulations around rail traffic could have allowed a train with 20 cars of hazardous material not to be considered a 'high hazard.' And could stronger regulations have prevented it from happening? . . .  All four U.S. senators from Ohio and Pennsylvania say they’ll push for new rules to prevent a similar disaster in the future."

"The rules federal regulators wrote a few years ago regarding hazardous train cargo will likely need to be revisited, experts say. These rules were written during a period of high-profile rail accidents involving crude oil trains, including the Lac-Mégantic, Quebec disaster in 2013 that killed 47," Frazier reports. "The final rules, published in 2015, mandated tighter regulations for 'high-hazard flammable trains.' But the government defined these as trains carrying crude oil and other liquid fuels. Flammable gases like vinyl chloride were excluded from the regulations, against the recommendations of the National Transportation Safety Board. . . . Regulators allowed exemptions in the rules that the Norfolk Southern train was operating under when it derailed," Frazier writes. A 2015 regulation defines high-hazard train as one "comprised of 20 or more loaded tank cars of a Class 3 flammable liquid in a continuous block or 35 or more loaded tank cars of a Class 3 flammable liquid across the entire train."

Frazier reports, "The NTSB also recommended these trains have electronically controlled pneumatic braking systems, which studies have shown are better than the kinds of air brakes that were on the Norfolk Southern train. The rules originally mandated that these trains have electronic brakes. But after lobbying by the rail industry, the Trump administration rescinded those rules. So far, the Biden administration has not yet signaled an appetite to revisit them."

Train that derailed Feb. 3, creating a dangerous disaster, wasn't labeled hazardous; critics see lax federal monitoring

Photo Gene J. Puskar,  The Associated Press

The official website for East Palestine, Ohio, calls itself "The place you want to be." But at 9 p.m. on Feb. 3, a Norfolk Southern train chugged through, and no one in the town of 5,000 knew the cars were carrying hazardous chemicals. The train derailed, followed by an explosion, a dangerous fire and a controlled burn that released more toxins.

"Among the chemicals the freight was carrying, five cars contained vinyl chloride, a colorless gas that is linked to various cancers and is used in a variety of plastic products and manufacturing," reports John McCracken for Grist. "In the initial days after the derailment, temperatures rose in the cars holding the vinyl chloride and officials at both the railroad company and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency ordered that residents evacuate East Palestine" while they conducted a controlled burn of some cars. Gov. Mike De Wine "two bad options," McCracken reports. "Do nothing and risk that a train car full of vinyl chloride would explode, which would have been 'catastrophic,' resulting in shrapnel flying out in a one-mile radius. The second option won."

East Palestine in Columbiana County, Ohio (Wikipedia)

DeWine "said he learned that the train cars were marked as non-hazardous, and thus officials weren’t notified that the train would be crossing through the state," McCracken writes. "He called on Congress to look into the regulations that would allow a train carrying multiple cars with hazardous substances to be labeled non-hazardous." He said, “We should know when we have trains carrying hazardous materials that are going through the state of Ohio." 

"About 4.5 million tons of toxic chemicals are shipped by rail each year and an average of 12,000 rail cars carrying hazardous materials pass through cities and towns each day, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation, reports Tom Perkins of The Guardian. "Ineffective oversight and a largely self-monitoring industry that has cut the nation’s rail workforce to the bone in recent years as it puts record profits over safety is responsible for the wreck, said Ron Kaminkow, an Amtrak locomotive engineer and former Norfolk Southern freight engineer" and secretary of Railroad Workers United, "a non-profit labor group that coordinates with the nation’s rail unions."

“The Palestine wreck is the tip of the iceberg and a red flag,” Kaminkow told Perkins. “If something is not done, then it’s going to get worse, and the next derailment could be cataclysmic.” Perkins notes that the Transportation Department "in 2020 approved a rule to allow liquified natural gas, or LNG, to be shipped via rail with no additional safety regulations. Trains can now run 100 or more tank cars filled with 30,000 gallons of the substance, largely from shale fields to saltwater ports. The decision was opposed by local leaders, unions, fire departments and the National Transportation Safety Board."

Friday flora/fauna: Invasive black carp thrive in mid-America; homes found for L.A. ponies, ousted as city ends rides

Black carp (U.S. Geological Survey photo)

Invasive and damaging black carp have established themselves in the Mississippi, Ohio and Illinois rivers, according to a study that is "the first to identify an established population, or one that is naturally reproducing and living to adulthood, anywhere in the U.S.," reports Meredith Howard of the Belleville News-Democrat in Illinois. The study was done by Southern Illinois University, the U.S. Geological Survey, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Missouri State University and the Missouri Department of Conservation.

USGS said the carp “prey on species such as snails and mussels and pose a risk to many already imperiled native mussels in this region.” Howard notes, "Mussels improve water quality by filtering out algae, bacteria and pollutants and they also provide nutrition for other species." The carp, native to east Asia, were imported to control vegetation in Southern fish farms. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said the recently passed water-resources appropriation expands federal efforts to control Asian carp.

Alessia Del Val, 4, on a Griffith Park pony. (LAT/Christina House)

Since 1948, pony rides have been available in Griffith Park in Los Angeles, but under pressure from animal-welfare activists who said (sometimes yelling at children during rides) that the horses were overworked, the city didn't renew the contract for the petting zoo, which expires Dec. 21. A veterinary inspection "did not show any outright signs of neglect or animal abuse, the expert found some animals were in need of help for saddle sores, as well as hoof and dental care," the Los Angeles Times reports. "The expert recommended better shelter and amenities, such as easier access to lower water troughs."

Owner Stephen Weeks worried that he wouldn't be able to find homes for more than 30 ponies, but he said he got 50 calls a day, and by Wednesday 25 had homes. Weeks told the Times the rest will probably go to a sanctuary so they can get medical care, and he chose not to sell any for auction or to another horse-ride business. “Some ponies are obviously capable of working, but as far as commercially working, it’s just my preference,” he said. “They’ve done that, and now they should experience something new in life, less work. ... It's almost like saying goodbye to a family pet.”

Photo from The Notebook by Poplar Terrace and Friends

Bradford pear trees were once a popular landscape planting, but they turned out to have several problems, including being invasive and hurting other species. It got so bad in Kentucky that the University of Kentucky is offering a bounty (seedlings of better species) for proof of destruction of Bradfords, a cultivar of the callery pear. In Louisville, "Bradford pears were aggressively growing into a field of white flowering trees on River Road, resulting in the destruction of the much-needed native species and the surrounding forest land," so they were removed, local philanthropist Christy Brown reports in her latest Poplar Terrace newsletter. "Ultimately, while it may be alarming to see so many trees uprooted, bear in mind that removing invasive species helps protect the biodiversity our River City relies on. In order to protect the resilience of our environment, we must protect the wild lands which enrich our health, culture, and economy."