Whether you live on a farm, in a small town, or in the heart of an urban center, health and sustainable Indiana communities begin with the wise management of our natural resources. IASWCD and local SWCDs are at the forefront of this conservation initiative.
It's fairly common knowledge that surface runoff in urban areas can overload sewage and drainage systems; contribute to erosion; contribute to pollution of local water sources; and, of course flooding. Urban areas have lots of impervious surfaces (that don't soak up rainwater) like parking lots and roads, and the natural areas that would normally help manage excess water are diminished.
IU students going to class during the floods of 2008. Photo credit: IU News Service
When I was living in Bloomington, IN and wading through swamped streets after periods of heavy rain on my way to class and work, I learned first-hand what kinds of problems poor drainage systems can cause! Although it was fun to canoe around Dunn Meadow and kayak down the rapids of the Jordan "River" for a couple days during the floods of 2008, many adjacent communities were declared federal emergency areas and are still dealing with the aftermath. The city was generally bogged down for periods of time after other heavy rains, which leads one to wonder how it could better manage its rain overflow problem.
One solution can be rain gardens. Rain gardens have been a hot topic in the conservation world for the past few years. The EPA cites rain gardens as a successful way to manage runoff on their stormwater case studies. Essentially, they are a special sort of garden that is designed specifically to absorb water runoff - naturally. The water is stored in the soil. They're also more aesthetically pleasing than a drain, or a flooded sewer!
Rain gardens were first developed in residential areas in 1990 in Maryland. After a few years of studying their effectiveness, they proved to be "highly cost effective."
"Instead of a system of curbs, sidewalks, and gutters, which would have cost nearly $400,000, the planted drainage swales cost $100,000 to install. This was also much more cost effective than building BMP ponds that could handle 2-, 10-, and 100-year storm events.Flow monitoring done in later years showed that the rain gardens have resulted in a 75–80% reduction in stormwater runoff during a regular rainfall event (source)"
If you're interested in learning more about rain gardens, Indiana's Hamilton County SWCD will be hosting a Rain Garden Workshop on Feb. 28. Check out our calendar for details.
In her book Water Wars (2002), the renowned physicist, activist, visionary and writer Vandana Shiva stresses:
"Water is limited and exhaustible if used nonsustainably. Nonsustainable use includes extracting more water from ecosystems than nature can recharge (ecological nonsustainability) and consuming more than one's legitimate share, given the rights of others to a fair share (social nonsustainability)."
Developing nations often struggle with using sustainable means of production, agriculture, development, etc. Developing an economy with finite resources is immensely difficult. Just think: if currently developed nations had worried about the health of the environment and people during the Industrial Revolution, we might not have developed so fast and so far. We might not also have the resulting ecological problems rising from the reliance on fossil fuels during the I.R., polluting of waterways, etc.
Evo Morales, Presidente de Bolivia
Although wise in the long run, sustainable practices can be slower and more costly than rapid-development practices; the promise of "fast money" and rapid development in lieu of resource conservation is a strong incentive. Poor countries will drill their minerals and fossil fuels, will fell their great forests, and will clear-cut delicate ecosystems to make room for plantations. It makes sense: a country can sell these resources for a couple generations and in return can experience what is perceived to be a higher standard of living.
However, we now know that wise use of resources now will be beneficial in the long run. Convincing developing nations of this idea has proved to be difficult, although some, such as Bolivia, have taken a wonderfully progressive view of resource conservation. This year, Bolivia passed the Ley de Derechos de la Madre Tierra, or the Law of Rights of Mother Earth, which grants nature equal rights to humans. Read more here. It is interesting to note that Presidente Morales comes from an indigenous background, as do the majority of Bolivians; moreover, about two-thirds of its people are subsistence farmers (source).
High-quality soybeans growing in the residue of a wheat crop. Photo credit to the Rodale Institute
In the interest of sustainability and development, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is working with China to "help [the country] develop a long-term plan to maximize the country’s water resources in the face of a growing population and the potential impacts of climate change." Included in the delegation were representatives from 20 U.S. companies looking to do business with China. The delegates "consulted with Chinese government officials on a host of issues like water and energy efficiency, wastewater treatment and water reuse technologies. The impressive turnout by these companies shows a genuine interest in the growing Chinese marketplace. ...The Chinese government, which has set aside about $5.5 billion over the next eight years to develop a series of ground water-related strategies, has shown [a] strong interest in a growing sector of the U.S. economy." Read more about the delegation at the EPA blog Greenversations.
Financial investment is a strong, sustainable, and responsible means of encouraging the responsible use of water and other resources for nations that desire to grow their economies. Closer to home, Soil and Water Conservation Districts work to encourage producers such as farmers, foresters, and ranchers to manage their production systems in an environmentally conservative way (such as no-till farming) that improves their soil and their profits. Watch a short video about some of the great conservation projects here in Indiana below!
Goose Pond is a young, celebrity Wildlife Area in Greene County, IN. I referenced it in my post Wetlands Are Awesome as one of the most successful resource conservation projects in recent history here in Indiana. It's an invaluable resource for wildlife, hunters, birdwatchers, educators, scientists, and area landowners.
The Indiana Association of Soil and Water Conservation Districts (IASWCD) was excited to feature a presentation about Goose Pond at our 2012 Annual Conference. IASWCD is part of the unique Indiana Conservation Partnership which aligns the interests of a variety of federal and state agencies, including the 92 Indiana Soil and Water Conservation Districts. Members of the Partnership, especially NRCS and the DNR, worked together over a number of years to make the Goose Pond Fish and Wildlife Area a reality. Goose Pond is an invaluable resource for Hoosiers! Read my post about wetlands to learn more.
Those interested in celebrating and learning more about Goose Pond are invited to its annual Marsh Madness bird festival,March 2-4. The celebration takes place at multiple locations around Greene County and takes place at during the height of the annual Sandhill Crane and waterfowl migration through the area.
The Friday kickoff event takes place from 6:30 - 10pm on March 2. Support the Visitor Center while enjoying a wine tasting from Oliver Winery at the Linton Elks Lodge. Also look for the silent auction! Tickets are $30/person.
Saturday's events run from 7am - 7pm. There is truly something for everyone! Families are welcome and there will be children's activities. Self-guided tours allow participants to witness the annual bird migration; guided tours by bus will be running hourly. Visitors can view live birds of prey, listen to speakers, attend workshops, and shop for arts and crafts. Tickets are only $5/person.
A fair featuring crafts and vendors as well as children's activities will take place on March 4 from noon to 5pm. It is free to attend.
A watershed, or drainage basin, is an extent or an area of land where surface water from rain and melting snow or ice converges to a single point...where the waters join another waterbody, such as a river, lake, reservoir, estuary, wetland, sea, or ocean. The drainage basin includes both the streams and rivers that convey the water as well as the land surfaces from which water drains into those channels.
The world is connected by water like our bodies are by blood. If our bodies were a watershed, our flesh would be the drainage basin; our veins would be tributaries; and our hearts would be the final body of water.
We all live in a watershed. In Indiana, there are six different watersheds that drain into five different large bodies of water.
There is a lot of agriculture in Indiana. This is great growing land! However, food production can put quite a strain on our water system. For example, poorly-managed manure can drain into streams; chemical and nutrient run-off added to croplands can as well. Eventually, our water systems drain into the Mississippi River Basin, which drains into the Gulf of Mexico.
The Mississippi River Basin. Map courtesy of NPS.
The Gulf of Mexico is a rich and delicate body of water that is currently recognized as a "hypoxic dead zone." (It's actually the most notorious dead zone in the world.)This means that due to contamination, not enough oxygen is available for life to exist. Dead zones can be caused and exasperated by nitrogen and phosphorus, which are two chemicals commonly, even extensively, used in agriculture.
Agriculture in Indiana can thus contribute to the dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico.
NRCS Chief Dave White stated, “The Mississippi River Basin provides drinking water and recreation for millions of people and hosts a globally significant migratory flyway. The basin also houses some of our nation’s most productive agricultural land." The health of the Basin affects our health. The Mississippi River Basin Initiative (MRBI) "works with farmers using a conservation systems approach to manage and optimize nitrogen and phosphorus within fields to minimize runoff and reduce downstream nutrient loading" in order to improve the health of the land and of the Gulf.
Fact: Dead zones are reversible. In fact, the Black Sea, a dead zone when it was under Soviet Union management, has been revived. After the Soviet collapse, fertilizers became too expensive and thus fewer nutrients made it into the Sea. Fishing has once again become a major economic activity in the region.
Soil and Water Conservation Districts in Indiana encourage landowners to optimize the use of phosphorus and nitrogen on their lands to reduce runoff. If you work in agriculture, learn more about MRBI to see how you can improve your land's health and the health of the Gulf.
For most of the United States' history, wetlands were primarily seen as soggy farmland. In that spirit, wetlands were systematically drained and converted to farmland or subjected to other developments. As the country expanded, it lost about half of its wetlands (source).
Photo: Tamarack Bog Nature Preserve, Pigeon River FWA. Rich Fields, IDNR Division of Public Information and Education
Over the past couple of decades, we have become aware of the vast array of benefits wetlands provide to the ecosystem(s) that support us. As stated on the Indiana Department of Environmental Management (IDEM)'s website, wetlands protect our homes, our crops, and our wildlife. Wetland restoration projects have been underway nationwide since the mid-twentieth century. Most people have heard of the Everglades, one of the most wide-reaching and successful (and expensive) wetland restoration projects to date.
Wetlands protect our homes from floods, as well as stream or river banks from erosion, by acting as a sponge for excess water. They "naturally store and filter nutrients and sediments," which makes our drinking water cleaner. Lastly, "more than one-third of America's threatened and endangered species live only in wetlands." People use wetlands for hunting, fishing, photography, education, and more. The economic value of wetlands as stated by IDEM comes to $59.5 billion.
As wetlands affect and protect so many parts of our lives, it comes as no surprise that efforts to restore and conserve them are undertaken by a variety of agencies, organizations, and individuals.
So what's being done to restore and conserve wetlands in Indiana? Federal programs such as the WRP, or Wetland Reserve Program, and its sister WREP, Wetland Reserve Enhancement Program, have a presence here in Indiana. One of the most successful projects as of late was the creation of 7,200-acre Goose Pond, located in Linton, IN. Formerly a permanent easement under the management of NRCS, it is now owned and managed by the Indiana DNR. It is an invaluable resource for wildlife, hunters, birdwatchers, and area landowners.
Wetlands take centuries to form, and much less than that to drain. While the past few decades' successes are notable, and a step in the right direction, it will take centuries for wetlands to recover.
"...On average, restored wetlands regained only about three-quarters of their original biological performance....[Wetlands also] hold at least a quarter of the world's land-based carbon, according to the World Resources Institute’s Millennium Ecosystem Assessment. But restored wetlands hold less carbon—on average, 23 percent less than untouched wetlands" (GOOD Magazine).
In Indianapolis' local weekly newspaper NUVO, editors shared information about a project that tests the soil of urban neighborhoods. Free soil testing is offered to residents of two neighborhoods lying shortly northeast and west of Indy's city center. The communities are experiencing high levels of unemployment and below-average graduation rates. Additionally, high levels of leadin the communities' soil are negatively impacting local children. According to NUVO, the soil contaminants "threaten to exacerbate a host of social ills by undermining local children's ability to concentrate and learn."
An EPA grant is funding the project, which is administered by Improving Kids Environment(IKE) and IUPUI.
IKE founder Tom Nelter founded the organization to bridge what he views as a "gap that existed between the Indiana Department of Environmental Management, a regulatory agency not focused on health, and the Indiana Department of Health, which wasn’t addressing environmental issues" (NUVO).
Soil and water conservation is traditionally thought of as having a rural focus. However, the quality of our natural resources, whether they're located in a city center, in agriculture, or protected lands, affect each person individually. Environmental health is human health.
What non-ag soil and water conservation projects have you seen in your community?
In 2007 Rafael Correa, the president of Ecuador, had a difficult choice to make. One of the most biodiverse areas of the planet was currently protected as an Ecuadorian national park (Yasuni), but the country was feeling economic pressure to destroy it in order to get at the 846 million barrels of oil that lay below. The oil there was valued at $7.2 billion USD. Sr. Correa proposed a compromise:
Pristine Yasuni National Forest
If the rest of the world donated half the value of the oil, then the rainforest would remain protected.
The United Nations Development Programme helped Ecuador to establish and administer a trust fund to manage the funds it received. Celebrities (Al Gore, Leonardo DiCaprio) and a host of businesses and national governments stepped up to the challenge. According to The Guardian, $116 million was donated by the December 30 cut-off date. For now, the park's most valuable sectors will remain free from oil exploitation.
"The notion that everyone has a personal and financial interest in saving the rainforest (and other ecosystems) is a relatively novel one, so it’s not surprising that the world hasn’t poured even more money into Ecuador’s coffers. This experiment has made clear, though, that the decision not to drill for oil does have financial value—over the longer term, that value could outstrip the profits of exploiting resources.
[As] Reuters’ Felix Salmon...puts it, “Oilfields, eventually, run out of oil. But untapped oilfields never do.” As long as the world depends on oil, fears climate change, and values biodiversity, Ecuador can essentially charge the world rent on benefits derived from the rainforest."
