Farm Runoff

Both upstream of downtown Walla Walla and after the city, Mill Creek is lined by farms. The farm fence pictured here was less than 30 feet away from the water, just east of Walla Walla Community College. 

There are lots of plants around the edge of the water, acting as a barrier between the runoff from the farms and the creek. What could the consequences be if those did not exist? In many areas, they don't have proper filtering systems for runoff from agriculture before it reaches a water source. 

Agriculture runoff is considered a nonpoint source pollutant because it come from a wide area of land. In 2003, the Environmental Protection Agency established a number of measures to be used to help control this runoff. These documents can be found here:

http://water.epa.gov/polwaste/nps/agriculture/agmm_index.cfm

There area  variety of additives in the runoff from farms. They include pesticides, herbicides, and fertilizers. Pesticides and herbicides create problems for obvious reasons: they are toxic and can often times kill the organisms living in the water. Fertilizer is a more complex pollutant. The fertilizer is comprised of nitrogen, phosphates, and potassium, in a variety of proportions. These act as nutrients to the plants on the farms, and continue to act as nutrients to plants as they are brought into the rivers from runoff. This gives algae and other plants in the water extra growing ability. Bacteria begin to eat away at the algae, and in doing so they also use up the dissolved oxygen in the water. 

The main effects of this situation are an increase in turbidity, due to the extra plant growth and the bacterial waste, and a lower dissolved oxygen content. 

One of the easiest and most effective ways to prevent this runoff is to plant a barrier between water (such as lakes and rivers) and farmland. It is important to use native plants because they will have the ability to allow for percolation of the runoff, instead of having the runoff sit in the top layer of the soil. 

Sources:

United States Environmental Protection Agency. (2013, September 09). Water: Polluted runoff. Retrieved from http://water.epa.gov/polwaste/nps/agriculture.cfm

Birds: Both adding to the pollution and suffering from it.

Like these Canadian Geese, birds in the area flock to Mill Creek because it is such a large water source in our desert-like area. 

After seeing hundreds of birds living around Mill Creek while conducting pH tests, I wanted to learn all about how these birds were being harmed by the pollution in the creek. However, to my surprise, the birds are actually adding to the pollution in many cases. 

Yes, the birds are still being negatively effected by the pollution in the water. The toxins that runoff into the creek will bioaccumulate and be consumed by the birds, where the toxins will then living and accumulate in their systems. Because many of the pollutants are carcinogenic, they have lots of negative bodily effects on the birds and the birds' reproduction.

However, by flocking to these areas, the birds are also creating a problem in the water. Bird feces acts the same way as fertilizer in the water. Bacteria eat the organic waste, and during this process they also use a significant amount of the oxygen in the water. Lower dissolved oxygen in the water leads to other aquatic animals not having sufficient oxygen to survive. Bird waste is considered an "organic macro-pollutant" in water sources. 

So, while I still do pity these little geese for living in a polluted area, they aren't exactly helping. Even though large portions of the organic waste in Mill Creek come from other sources, such as fertilizer from farm runoff (which will later be discussed), the birds here aren't making things better. 

Sources:

Gobel, P., Dierkes, C., & Coldewey, W. G. (2007). Storm water runoff concentration matrix for urban areas.Journal of Contaminant Hydrology, 92(1-2), 26-42. Retrieved from http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0169772206001938

"Stormwater Runoff 101"

So, on this blog we have not actually clearly stated what stormwater is. That is being done in our research paper which we are in the process of compiling information for. However, it is important to understand where stormwater pollution comes from, as well as what can be done to stop it.
NRDC released this video, which, in only a few minutes, clearly explains stormwater, how to fix it, and gives examples of urban areas which are changing their ways to help the environment.

Graffiti: Illegal and Environmentally Detrimental

When people look at graffiti, such as that which lined the bridges going over Mill Creek at most of the sites we examined, they may be upset because it seems out of place. In such a natural environment, the neon spray paint colors seem to jump out, and not necessarily in a good way.
But, the problem extends beyond just the visual pollution on these bridges. As seen here at sites 3 and 8, the graffiti work done is dangerously close to the creek.

|At both locations, there was evidence of some spray paint which had dripped down and into Mill Creek. 

There have been many studies done which show the negative effects of the toxins within paint. The solvents can lead to birth defects, and traces of benzene have been make the spray paint considered carcinogenic. 

To say that it is a bad idea to put this paint into Mill Creek would be an understatement. The ecosystem would completely crash if too many of these toxins existed.

In all honesty, I don't see the popularity of graffiti fading anytime soon. Rebellion is always going to happen, and graffiti is an easy way to act upon it. However, some hope can be seen for the environment. There are many groups which are starting to promote the use of nontoxic spray paints for art.
One group which has stood out is nontoxicprint. You can follow this link to their website, where they can explain the health hazards that go along with spray paint, as well as alternative brands that don't have as much of an effect. Check it out!
http://www.nontoxicprint.com/

-Marra

Sources:
nontoxicprint. (2013). Retrieved from http://www.nontoxicprint.com/thetoxicityofsolvents.htm

Erosion- why it should be avoided.

When walking along Mill Creek, we noticed that there were these large walls constructed along the side of the recreational trail. They were lots of rocks, covered in what appeared to be chicken wire. It is obvious that these were put there to keep the trail from eroding into Mill Creek.
This led us to question the following:

Erosion seems like a pretty normal, natural process. Why are environmentalists trying to avoid erosion into waterways?

So, we did a little research. When the soil is very arid, it tends to be picked up by wind. In the case of Mill Creek, the light dirt from the path would have easily just slipped down into the water because it was higher up. When extra soil/sediment is in the water, there are more loose particles. The turbidity has increased.
This ends up causing a problem because, as the water has a higher level of turbidity, less sunlight can get down to the bottom. A lack of sunlight causes a problem for the plants in the river that need it for photosynthesis.
From a recreational standpoint, turbidity is also a problem because it is less appealing. Not as many people are likely to jump into a nice, dirty river to take a swim. People tend to be more drawn towards cleaner sources of water, and erosion makes the water dirtier.

-Marra

Here is a photo of the wall of rocks which was constructed alongside Mill Creek. This photo was taken between sites 2 and 3, near Walla Walla Community College. 

Sources:

Impacts of erosion on soil, air, and water quality. In (2013).Plant and Soil Sciences eLibrary. Davis: USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture. Retrieved from http://passel.unl.edu/pages/informationmodule.php?idinformationmodule=1086025423&topicorder=4&maxto=7

"No Dumping" Logos

When I went on a run this week, I noticed that many streets in Walla Walla to the south of Whitman College had logos similar to this on their stormwater drains:

Courtesy of the city of Columbia, Missouri. 

http://www.gocolumbiamo.com/PublicWorks/StormWater/StormwaterEducation-StormDrainMarkerVolunteers.php

Why do drains in other areas of Walla Walla not have these? I have explored many parts of town, and the neighborhoods off of S. Howard Street were the first which I have discovered to have these logos. Is it possible that, because those neighborhoods are slightly nicer, they just have enough funding to add these logos?

The larger point with these is that I find it interesting that these logos were put in place near drains which were connected to smaller streams, rather than the drains connected to major streams such as Mill Creek. 

From doing research online, I have found that a lot of the issue with stormwater pollution is that, generally, many people simply do not know that the drains go straight into the waterways much of the time. These logos are serving as a way for people to know where the water ends up, because many people do not know this. For instance, Phoenix has been working towards bettering their awareness of point-source pollution after they took a poll and found that only 1 of 4 residents knew that it directly flowed into local rivers (Canales 2010). Phoenix's Environmental Services Department has set up a website- complete with a printable PDF coloring book which teaching kids all about where the drain water goes. Additionally, they have an awareness website giving recommendations to their residents about what things to put down the drains and how to dispose of other materials. 

Here is the link to the awareness website:

http://phoenix.gov/waterservices/esd/stormwater/index.html

Also, I suggest checking the coloring book out (and maybe even breaking out the Crayons).

http://phoenix.gov/webcms/groups/internet/@inter/@dept/@wsd/@esd/documents/web_content/d_045668.pdf

-Marra

Sources:

Canales, A. (2012, November 10). Phoenix website helps raise awareness on storm-water 

pollution. The Arizona Republic. Retrieved from http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/local/articles/20121110phoenix-website-helps-raise-awareness-storm-water-pollution.html

Do electrical transmission towers have negative environmental consequences?

Mill Creek has several near the different testing sites- directly next to Site 3 and Site 5. 

(Photos from Site 5)

These transmission towers seem so unnatural being that they are placed right next to the creek. What different consequences could result in the environment because of their placement so close to an ecozone? 

I discovered a PDF from the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin that discusses the environmental impacts. Though it is specifically regarding Wisconsin, not Washington, the information is still very interesting and much of it can be applied to Walla Walla. 

Check it out:

Environmental Impacts of Transmission Lines- Wisconsin

-Marra