Roger Svendsen Champions Cigarette Litter Clean-Ups

By Sage Passi

Roger Svendsen has been picking up cigarette butts around Lake Phalen for almost a decade. He brought his stash to Lake Phalen for Waterfest this year to call attention to the litter issue.

 

Roger Svendsen keeps a log count of every cigarette butt he’s picked up for the past nine years in the Phalen/Round Lake area. He has a regular beat and walks around these lakes each day. His love of Lake Phalen and the natural areas in the park are a strong driving force behind his commitment to keeping this park clean.

 

 

Roger Svendsen walks around Lake Phalen every day, no matter what season.

One late May morning this spring, while I was out at Keller Creek near Round Lake helping classes during our restoration efforts, I spied Roger coming down the paved path. I decided to seize the moment and take some time to accompany him on his route to get a closer look at what has become Roger’s passion for almost a decade. As we proceeded on our walk, I asked him how he first got started on this mission.

He told me that he was discussing litter problems in the park with some park staff years ago and asked them if they picked up cigarette butts during their rounds. “We’re paid by the hour,” they told me. “There isn’t enough time in the day or money to do it.” This was the prompt that drew him into taking on this issue with full gusto.




I ran into Roger near Keller Creek while he was on his “beat”.




Roger searches for cigarette butts in a storm drain
emptying near Round Lake.

As we walked along the path, Roger soon deviated from the sidewalk and headed down some brushy, overgrown trails to several stormwater outfalls and storm drains hidden back in the woods.

 







Roger determined that this outfall empties run-off from nearby streets
like Larpenteur Avenue into Round Lake and then into Lake Phalen.
It’s one of many regular stops along his beat.



Roger at the inlet to Round Lake

 
As Roger bent down with a stick to push a cigarette butt closer to him that was floating in the murky detritus near one of these drains, I realized that this was both a healthy obsession and a commitment with some physical demands.

No cigarette butt goes undetected!

“People have suggested that I get one of those trash grabbers so I don’t have to bend down to pick up the cigarettes, but I figured out that if I bend over to pick them up, I stay much more limber. “

At age 73, Roger has acquired a fair amount of notoriety for his role in cleaning up Lake Phalen. He’s been the subject of multiple local newspaper stories and videos. His take on his public image was summed up in this comment,

“My daughter once asked me, “How would you like being known as the daughter of the Cigarette Butt Guy?” I told her that I figure at my age, I don’t think it matters if I am crazy!”

As we continued our stroll around the park, I could tell that this daily walk has multiple benefits for both Roger and the community. Walking around the lakes each day provides him with the opportunity to be immersed in the beauty of the natural world and keep fit. But it also allows him to stay connected to a life tied to helping people with chemical addictions. Roger tells me he worked in the field of chemical addiction for many years before he retired.

The puzzle pieces were starting to fit together.

Roger’s walks provide opportunities for him to experience both “Beauty and the Beast”. His bridge view in Phalen Park frames the “island” where Roger spends time each week looking for cigarette butt litter.

 
As we got closer to the “island” in Phalen Park, Roger relayed a rather troubling fact that on more than one occasion he has picked up as many as 2,000-3,000 cigarette butts on the island in one visit.

He dedicates certain days to focus on parts of the park, including parking lots.

Hearing this has prompted me to contemplate some of the statistics and research I have been digging out about cigarette butt pollution since getting acquainted with Roger. Here are some facts I have learned;

The Scoop on Cigarette Butt Litter

 

• 5.6 trillion cigarettes are sold globally every year; 360 billion are sold annually in the United States.
• Butt waste is toxic: Cigarette butts leach organic chemicals and heavy metals (including lead, chromium, and arsenic) into the water and the environment that are toxic to fresh and salt-water fish. 
• A 2009 study found that the chemicals in a single filtered cigarette butt have the ability to kill half the fish living in a 1-liter container of water. They are poisonous when ingested by children and other living organisms. 
• Whatever their direct health impact on or benefit to smokers, cigarette filters pose a serious litter and toxic waste disposal problem. Cellulose acetate is photodegradable but not bio-degradable. Although ultraviolet rays from the sun will eventually break the filter into smaller pieces under ideal environmental conditions, the source material never disappears; it essentially becomes diluted in water or soil.
• In a review of litter cleanup project reports, the Keep America Beautiful campaign reported that cigarette butts comprise from 25 to 50 percent of all collected litter items from roadways and streets.
• The overall littering rate for cigarette butts is 65%, and tobacco products comprise 38% of all U.S. roadway litter. 
• Cigarette butt littering is often associated with the physical environment (38%), i.e. for every additional ash receptacle, the littering rate for cigarette butts decreases by 9%. Cigarette butt littering is also attributable to individual motivations; for example, 77% of individuals in a survey stated they did not consider cigarette butts as litter.

  

Tallying the Cigarette Litter in Phalen Park
 

Roger Svendsen with his stash of cigarette butts at WaterFest 2017

I decided to invite Roger to have a display at WaterFest this year about his stewardship efforts. He told me he stores the cigarette butts he has collected over the years along in boxes in his garage. When he showed up at WaterFest, he lugged the boxes he has accumulated full of cigarette butts up to the Pavilion and placed this shocking amount of litter at one of the entrances.

As visitors walked by, they experienced a rude awakening with the potent aroma of tobacco. It made quite an impact. His tally revealed he has picked up 481,929 butts in nine years. He told me his goal is half a million butts which means he’s close to reaching his goal. That’s quite a remarkable achievement.

We’d like to thank Roger for his awesome dedication to this cause! Imagine the impacts on our treasured lakes if he hadn’t taken on this mission!

-------------------------------------------------------

References
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, ISSN 1660-4601
www.mdpi.com/journal/ijerph

Keep America Beautiful
https://www.kab.org/cigarette-litter-prevention/problem-and-facts

Let's Keep it Clean - Reduce Your Salt Use

By Sage Passi

Master Water Steward Joe Knaeble takes on excess salt use in his neighborhood.

Photo credit: cleanwatermn.org

 
We are working with Watershed Partners to “get this watershed message out about winter salt use. Follow this link to their feature story, The Iceman Cometh—Sidewalk Salt Pollutes Our Lakes and Streams, on their website about Joe Knaeble, a Master Water Steward, who has swept more than 270 pounds of excess deicing chemicals from his neighborhood over the past two winters.
 
“Our snow removal and salting practices need to be re-examined in order to strike a balance between public safety and protecting our groundwater,” says Knaeble, adding that, "protecting groundwater is also a public safety issue".

 Knaeble, a Master Water Steward, decided to develop a flyer about putting sidewalks and driveways on a “low-salt diet” and hit the pavement of the commercial corridors in the Wedge neighborhood in Minneapolis. Ultimately, he spoke with 40-50 store employees, learning how they deal with snow and ice. You can follow what happened next in his story by going to the link above.

 
Watershed Partner’s Minnesota Water Let’s Keep It Clean Website


The Let’s Keep It Clean website, unveiled in December 2106, is a a great place to check out stories about local people who are taking action to protect their local lakes and streams.

Ramsey-Washington Metro Watershed District, a member of Watershed Partners, is partnering with this consortium of educators from cities, watershed and watershed management organizations, agencies and other community partners to support this media outreach and call to action. Seventy public, private and non-profit organizations in the Minneapolis and Saint Paul metro area are working together to inspire people to protect water quality in their watershed.

Founded in 1996, the Metro Watershed Partners is a project of Hamline University in Saint Paul. RWMWD has been a member of Watershed Partners since its inception.

Every month a new story will be contributed by different Watershed Partners that will feature community actions that residents can take to address water quality issues. As time goes on you will find more resources and information on this new website.


 What kind of stories can you anticipate?




The Watershed District’s parking lot provides a teaching opportunity
to learn about pervious and impervious surfaces. ESL students test
the pervious pavers that allow water to soak into the ground.


In early November, I connected with Maddy Wegner, Training and Innovation Director for Youthrive and a local writer. Maddy agreed to help us cover a story about a group of Harmony Learning Center’s Adult ESL students who helped plant our recently installed Clean Water Legacy funded rain garden at their school.

I worked with Randee Edmundson, teacher and Citizen Advisory Commission member, and Liddy Rich, their ESL teacher, to prepare students for a tour. We led them on a bus trip to visit BMP (Best Management Projects) in the Kolhman Creek subwatershed, including Casey Lake neighborhood rain gardens, Maplewood Mall and downstream at the Watershed District office. On this tour we followed the water to lakes downstream and learned about approaches to infiltrating stormwater runoff. Maddy Wegner interviewed the participants on their journey and Scott Andre, a freelance photographer, took photographs.

To read about the Watershed District’s work with Harmony ESL students follow this link on Watershed Partner's Let Keep it Clean website.

 

Harmony Adult ESL students tour the rain gardens at Maplewood Mall.

 

Back to the topic of reducing salt use…….

One heaping coffee mug is enough to clear a 20-foot driveway
or 10 sidewalk squares (250 square feet).
Photo credit: cleanwatermn.org.

 

This winter has been an especially challenging season with its freezing rains and widely fluctuating temperature changes. Many people are grappling with the issue of salt use. I can tell by the interest shown on one of recent posts on social media when we linked to Joe Knaeble’s story on the Watershed Partners' website. Our Watershed Facebook page received 778 hits when we linked to this stewardship story.


Lesson Learned: One person’s actions can “snowball" and have positive effects downstream!

 

“Be an influencer!” says Joe Knaeble. “We need to dive into this (salt) issue, from above and below. After all, The resource at stake is dear to all of us.”

It’s not easy making decisions about how to treat our roads, parking lots and sidewalks in the wintertime. The use of salt is a challenging issue because of safety, liability and environmental factors. But we can make wiser choices about how we address these challenges.


Here are some basic recommended approaches to winter maintenance that can minimize our impact on local waterways:

 

• Remove snow early, when it’s still easy to shovel. Use a scraper to remove packed snow.
• Shovel often; and, if you can’t shovel, hire someone who can.
• Only use salt on ice, not snow.
• Don’t use sodium chloride when it is colder than 15°F—it won’t work. Magnesium chloride and calcium chloride work at colder temperatures (-10° and -20° respectively)
• One pound of salt (one heaping coffee mug) is enough to clear a 20-foot driveway or 10 sidewalk squares (250 sq. ft.)
• Sweep up and reuse left-over salt.
• When it is too cold for salt, use grit or sand to create friction instead. You can sweep up and reuse these materials.

Salt left on the sidewalk means you've used too much.
Photo credit: cleanwatermn.org.


I recently drove to Northfield to offer some assistance to my 67-year-old sister who fell and broke her kneecap while walking to her car during an especially dangerous ice storm. While cruising along Interstate 35W South, I contemplated my options at my own house and thought about the challenges residents and winter maintenance staff at city and county levels schools, businesses and other entities face when having to consider how to address this issue. It’s not simple. With increasingly unpredictable changes in weather patterns it’s certainly getting trickier.

 
There are thousands of miles of streets and highways in Minnesota, along with parking lots and sidewalks that must be maintained to provide safe conditions throughout the winter. Winter maintenance of these surfaces currently relies heavily on the use of salt and solutions of salt, primarily sodium chloride, to prevent ice build-up and remove ice where it has formed
 
Winter maintenance staff supervisors throughout our Watershed District and others in the metro area have been taking a closer look at their salt use and looking for ways to reduce their consumption in order to lessen the detrimental effects on local lakes.

Connie Fortin assists maintenance staff from Ramsey County and
cities in our Watershed District in learning how to work with the
Winter Maintenance Assessment Tool (WMAt)

Watershed districts and watershed management organizations in the metro area and others have been working with the MPCA and Fortin Consulting to offer Smart Salt Level 2 trainings that introduce city and county staff to the Winter Maintenance Assessment tool (WMAt) to identify Best Management Practices to effectively manage salt use to protect our water resources in a responsible and strategic approach. The WMAt is a web-based tool that can be used to assist public and private winter maintenance organizations in determining where opportunities exist to improve practices that result in reductions in salt use and track progress. RWMWD is planning another training this spring so that others can reflect on their approaches this winter and plan for the future.

Woodbury students prepare for water quality monitoring
at Battle Creek Lake by practicing a dissolved oxygen test.

 

While preparing Woodbury Elementary School’s students for a winter field trip to Battle Creek Lake this winter with our water quality monitoring staff, I was asked a very pointed question by one of the kids, 

 

“How does salt hurt our lakes?”

 

A few years ago I prepared a “Live Slide Show” for students to present to each other that introduced the subject of salt's impact on lakes. Playing different roles like a biologist, Pollution Control Agency specialist, snowplow driver, homeowner and a highway department official gave them an opportunity to consider salt use from different vantage points. The lesson culminated in a survey they took to their parents to review their salt use at their own homes. 

 

Here are some facts incorporated in the “Live Slide Show”:

• Continuous levels of chloride concentration (as low as 250 mg/L) which is the equivalent of one teaspoon per five gallons have been known to harm aquatic life.
• There are numerous reports of increased terrestrial bird deaths due to road salt.
• Road salt can be toxic to plants, hindering their ability to absorb water and nutrients and reducing shoot and root growth.
• Chlorides sink to the bottom of a lake and may interfere with the lake’s seasonal turnover of its layers, reducing dissolved oxygen levels at the bottom.
• The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency Groundwater Report found that thirty percent of the wells in the Metro have chloride concentrations that exceed the state standard. Seventy-five percent of Minnesotans rely on groundwater for their drinking water. High amounts of salt in groundwater cause drinking water to taste salty. The cost to remove salt from drinking water using reverse osmosis would be expensive.
• Chlorides have been shown to decrease the biodiversity in wetlands, altering the development of wood frogs, decreasing the number and types of fish available and increasing mortality rates of organisms that rely on an aquatic system.

On the boardwalk at Battle Creek Lake students will witness our water quality monitoring staff collecting water through a hole augured in the lake and demonstrating different water quality tests and methods they use to collect samples that are sent to a lab for further analysis, including conductivity, which is a measurement associated with chlorides. Students will have an opportunity to monitor some of the lake's perimeters themselves using probes, dissolved oxygen kits and a clarity tube. 

 

Their nearest lake, Battle Creek Lake, is one of thirty-seven lakes in the metro area that has been declared impaired for chlorides.

 

For a list of lakes impaired for chlorides in the Twin Cities area.

 

Here is a video that illustrates this monitoring process on 74 lakes in the seven county metro area that the MPCA is coordinating to get a better handle on the impacts of salt on our local water bodies.

What else can one individual do besides lowering their salt diet?

Think about how fast you drive? The amount of salt maintenance crews need to use is impacted by the speeds we drive on our freeways and roads.

I’ve been really slowing down while walking and driving. I'm trying to be more careful and taking fewer risks since my sister’s recent fall. My “not too long ago” memories of breaking my wrist when falling on ice a few years back have made me more cautious. I’d like to avoid a repeat performance or similar accident.

A few years ago, before my own fall, I resorted to putting salt on my sidewalk at the base of my front steps and across my upper sidewalk. Earlier in the fall, I had hired someone to depress a channel in the sidewalk to direct gutter run-off in this area into my yard and garden edge when I replaced some of my sidewalk. I had to replace the first section of concrete slab in my sidewalk at the base of my front steps that had settled. I was tired of the pool of water that turned to ice at this juncture, making walking across it hazardous. So first, I tried this “engineering approach". Despite this strategy, a thin, but slick, layer of ice still occasional formed there. So, I resorted to applying some salt to the icy patch.

“Wrong!” I declared to myself when my recently added native plantings of Canada Anemone and other wildflower, as well as some of my turf grass next to the sidewalk, died in the spring as a result of this addition of chlorides. Lesson learned...I never went back to using salt.

Grit provides a good option for alleviating slippery
sidewalks and steps. It can be swept up easily before
it goes into the storm drain and downstream.

So then what?

I invested in a bag of grit, which I have since been liberally spreading on any icy patches across my sidewalk and down my steps. It seems to be working. I know this will require sweeping up in the spring, but it is a lot less detrimental than using salt since the Mississippi River is only a couple blocks from my house. Plus it’s much less likely to get tracked into my house.

Early last winter while I was out of town, my friends, who were looking after my house while I was gone, bought a bag of sand and sprinkled it extensively all over my sidewalk after a big snowstorm. I swept up sand all over my house from the living to my bedroom and hallways all through the summer and had to keep that up all summer along my sidewalk. I can just imagine what ended up in the street too and headed to the river. 

Never again! 

I know that some people have large driveways and long sections of sidewalks that have to be maintained. I’m not sure if grit is cost effective in those scenarios. And, what about parking lots? What should maintenance staff at schools, churches and those taking care of other public property or business do when we get an ice storm or ice accumulation?  


Come to One of Our Level 2 Salt Trainings


During a recent Master Water Steward training session, a Master Water Steward posed the idea of designing her educational capstone to engage her neighbors in digging trenches and lowering the boulevards to capture the snow melt from their sidewalks.

At a recent Blue Thumb meeting I heard about Metro Bloom’s Blooming Boulevards project in the Harrison neighborhood in Minneapolis. In the summer of 2016, Metro Blooms and their  partners began installing native plants along boulevards around Redeemer Lutheran Church in the Harrison neighborhood of Minneapolis.

Sheltonn Johnson of Northside Economic Opportunity Network learns a
quick way to excavate boulevards in the Harrison Blooming Boulevards project.

Photo credit: Metro Blooms

Ash trees had already been removed from the boulevards, following the city’s plan to address emerald ash borer. By excavating the boulevards after the trees’ removal, the heavily compacted soil was loosened and swales were created where there used to be berms. This allowed water to collect in the boulevard, instead of running off and should benefit the trees that will be planted in the spring. This may also alleviate some ice conditions that arise on adjacent sidewalks.

For more information visit Metro Blooms Blooming Boulevards.

So what will YOUR first step be?

Take a look at your own salt diet and see what you can do to help our local water bodies and “keep it clean”. Then team up with others to find ways to work together to take further steps like Joe Knaeble, the “Ice Man”, did in his own neighborhood. 

Big Yellow Excavators Improve Local Fishery

By Bill Bartodziej

 

How can big yellow excavators improve a local fishery and create a safeguard against carp in the Phalen Chain of Lakes?

Let’s back up before we answer this question.

Markham Pond is at the headwaters of the Phalen Chain of Lakes and drains into Kohlman Creek, which feeds Lake Kohlman. About six years ago, Markham Pond was identified as a carp nursery area. Thousands of carp, young and old, had the ability to migrate down into and infest the main lakes in the Phalen Chain. Carp are bottom feeders that stir up sediments, release nutrients and can negatively impact water quality. 

 

Markham Pond is a shallow system, with a maximum depth of four feet. During harsh winters, it’s likely that game fish species, like bluegill sunfish and largemouth bass, froze out and died. However, carp are a very resilient species and can handle winter conditions in shallow lakes and ponds.

Over the last couple of winters, Markham Pond was drawn down (or drained) in order to manage the carp population. This year, summer sampling in the pond revealed a few native fish species, like minnows, green sunfish, and bullhead, but no common carp. We took that as a sign that we were successful in significantly reducing carp and eliminating this threat to the Phalen Chain of Lakes.

University of Minnesota Carp Research Team
netting carp on Markham Pond

So the bad guys that threaten water quality are gone, end of story, right?

Wrong. Carp are stealthy and reproduce like crazy, and have to potential to explode in Markham again. What can we do to naturally control carp in Markham? The surprising solution was actually discovered in our watershed by the University of Minnesota’s Carp Research Team; bluegill sunfish zealously consume carp eggs, acting as a biological control mechanism. Carp have a very difficult time successfully reproducing in lake and pond systems with high bluegill populations. Thus, reintroducing a healthy bluegill population in Markham Pond will create a safeguard against the re-establishment of a substantial carp population.  

 

Bluegill's appetite for carp eggs should keep the carp population in check.

So how do we improve habitat for bluegill sunfish and other game fish in Markham Pond and help them survive the winter? A reasonable approach is to create a deep water refuge by excavating a wide and deep hole for game fish to hunker down in during the cold months. This fall the watershed is in the process of drawing down the pond by opening up a water control structure. A dry pond bottom will make it easier for excavators and earth moving equipment to do their work this winter.

 

The Plan
 

Pond levels are down as we intentionally lower
the lake level in anticipation of construction.

During January and February, we plan to remove accumulated sediment that has washed into the pond and create a fourteen foot deep refuge almost an acre in size. A grant from the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency will help support this work. The paved parking lot at the north end of Hazelwood Park will be used as the construction site entrance and equipment staging area.



Next spring, the pond will be filled back up again and the watershed will work with the DNR to stock game fish species. This deeper refuge area will not freeze to the bottom, even during harsh winters, and will have suitable dissolved oxygen levels for game fish.

Additional benefits of the project will include increased recreational fishing opportunities, robust aquatic plant growth, enhancement of wildlife habitat, reduced pond bottom re-suspension from carp activities and, hence, improved water quality in Markham Pond and downstream waters in the Phalen Chain of Lakes.

So when you drive by Markham Pond this winter and see big yellow backhoes digging away, be assured that this work will help to improve our fisheries and preserve the water quality in the Phalen Chain of Lakes.

Skip Raking this Fall

By Angie Hong
Reprinted from the blog East Metro Water, Tips and Tales about Keeping Water Clean, Nov. 1, 2016

 

What if someone told you that you could skip raking your leaves this fall? Sam Bauer, an assistant professor for Minnesota Extension, is spreading the word to weary Minnesotans everywhere – raking your leaves is a waste of time, do something else with your energy.

It turns out that raking leaves off of your lawn can actually be counter-productive. "The leaves have organic matter in them,” Bauer said in an interview with the Washington Post. “You're adding good organic matter to your soil when you're not picking them up." Instead of raking, Bauer recommends that you mow your lawn a few times as the leaves are falling to break them up into little pieces that decompose more rapidly. If you have a very heavy coating of leaves, you may need to remove some and add them to your gardens or compost pile, but the rest can be shredded and left where they are.

Leaves contain vital nutrients like phosphorus, nitrogen, and potassium that turf grass and other plants need to grow. In fact, these nutrients are the exact same ones found in compost and commercial fertilizers. Leaves, however, are free and readily available to most Minnesota homeowners. During the course of the winter, the leaves decompose under the snow and release nutrients into the soil. In addition, research at Michigan State University suggests that leaf litter can help to suppress weeds like dandelions from growing the next spring. On their own test plots at University of Minnesota, Extension experts like Bauer have found that mulching your leaves in the fall, as well as leaving grass clippings on the lawn during the rest of the year, provides enough nutrients to replace one standard application of fertilizer per year. 

While the nutrients in leaves might be good for your lawn, they can still spell trouble for local wetlands, lakes, rivers and streams when they end up in the street. Leaves wash into storm drains that connect to local waterways, and the phosphorus and nitrogen released feeds algae in the water. This contributes to more algae blooms and poorer water quality the next summer. In addition, fall rains can turn leaves in the street into a soggy mess that clogs up storm drains and contributes to localized flooding. Some people make the mistake of dumping their leaves into nearby wetlands or ravines that drain to rivers and streams, because it seems like an easy and natural way to get rid of them. Instead, the leaves send a pulse of nutrients into the wetlands and streams and can make the water turn green and slimy in the spring. For this reason, most cities have ordinances that prohibit residents from dumping leaves and other yard waste into wetlands and buffer areas.


So why do so many people rake their lawns each fall if it’s actually better to leave the leaves there? According to Bauer, people tend to do things out of habit regardless of whether they're actually useful. "Everyone thinks that your lawn needs to be watered every other day, too," he said. My advice? Skip raking the lawn and use your energy to sweep the leaves off of the driveway and out of your street instead. Also, you still need to eat your broccoli.

_________________________________________________________________________

 

Angie Hong is an educator for East Metro Water - www.mnwcd.org/emwrep - which includes Brown’s Creek, Carnelian Marine - St. Croix, Comfort Lake – Forest Lake, Middle St. Croix, Ramsey Washington-Metro, Rice Creek, South Washington and Valley Branch Watersheds, Cottage Grove, Dellwood, Forest Lake, Grant, Hugo, Lake Elmo, Newport, Oak Park Heights, Oakdale, Stillwater, St. Paul Park, West Lakeland, Willernie and Woodbury, Washington County and the Washington Conservation District. Contact her at 651-330-8220 x.35 or angie.hong@mnwcd.org.

To subscribe to other blogs written by Angie Hong, visit this link: East Metro Water.

What is the State of the Mississippi River in 2016?

By Sage Passi

Photo credit: Sage Passi

 
Friends of the Mississippi River (FMR) and the National Park Service’s Mississippi National River and Recreation Area (MNRRA) recently released their second edition of the State of the River Report. In 2012 the first issue of the report was released. That report helped precipitate a series of river management milestones, including the closing of the Upper St. Anthony Lock, statewide phase-outs of triclosan and coal tar sealants and improved targeting of state clean water funds.

It will be exciting to see what milestones emerge in coming years in response to the latest report. 

The 2016 report, available online here, highlights fourteen key indicators of river health and ecological health and presents each in a way that non-scientists can understand. The report examines the status and trends of each indicator and suggests strategies for improvement moving forward. 

The report breaks these indicators into five categories related to flow, swimming and recreation, ecological health and other river contaminants. 

Lark Weller (National Park Service) and Trevor Russell (FMR), authors of the report, were guided by advisors including multiple state agencies, the University of Minnesota, The St. Croix Watershed Research Station, and Metropolitan Council Environmental Services.



These are several issues in the report that stood out as Weller and Russell summarized the State of the River Report 2016 at the Science Museum on the evening of September 22.


Let’s start with some of the good news …

The metro river is home to a resilient population of bald eagles.

Photo credit: Rusty Mathiasmeier

Currently the metro river is home to approximately 55 active nesting sites. This is approximately a 35% increase since 2011, indicating a strong and stable bald eagle population. Research is tracking this productive eagle population, which averages about one and a half nestlings per nest, well over the threshold for a healthy population. Research has shown that cottonwoods, eagles’ preferred nesting trees, are not regenerating successfully in the metro river corridor. Research into cottonwood regeneration methods holds promise for sustaining a healthy population, but it is important to develop and implement a river reforestation plan to ensure healthy habitat for eagles in the future.


Some native mussels are being reestablished in the metro river.

The Higgins eye pearly mussel, a freshwater native

mussel, has been reintroduced into the Mississippi

River in the Twin Cities. Results look promising. 

Photo credit: USFWS

The discharge of untreated waste to the river through the early 1900’s eliminated the mussel population downstream of St. Anthony Falls. Since then mussels have responded favorably to improved sewage treatment, the separation of storm sewers from sanitary sewers and other water quality improvements.

Mussel habitat downstream of the confluence with the Minnesota River is degraded, most likely due to high loads of sediment and other pollutants. However, some mussel species have returned and this lower reach of the river now supports 28 of the original 43 native mussel species. Upstream of St. Anthony Falls there are now 18 native mussel species. Ongoing efforts to reintroduce native mussels into the river will be important to their continued recovery.


There has been an increase in the diversity and quality of the river’s fishery, particularly smallmouth bass and walleye, since the 1970’s.

The trophy walleye fishery between the Ford Dam and the Hastings Dam is one of the highest quality urban fisheries in the United States. The small bass fishery upstream of the Coon Rapids Dam is considered world-class. It is estimated that more than 129 species of fish (120 native, 9 introduced) live in the river up to St. Anthony Falls. An estimated 86 species are now found above the falls.

There are catch and release regulations for the river between the Ford and Hastings Dams for walleye, sauger, largemouth bass and smallmouth bass, as well as for muskellunge, above the Coon Rapids Dam. These fish may be caught, but must be returned alive to the water. These guidelines were established to protect and maintain high quality fish populations.


Now for the not-so-good news …

 



There are a number of indicators that are cause for concern. The river is impaired by excess sediment, bacteria and phosphorous. Fish consumption guidelines are in place throughout the river due to elevated levels of contaminants like PFOS and mercury. The river meets standards for chloride, but levels are increasing throughout the metro area. River flows have multiplied to worrisome levels. Nitrate concentration has increased substantially. Invasive Asian carp continue to move upstream. 

There are several emerging issues on the horizon - microplastic fibers, pharmaceuticals and triclosan-derived dioxins in the metro river pose uncertain risks to aquatic life and health. Additional research and collective action are required to mitigate their potential long-term impacts.

Let’s look a little closer at five of these issues and what you can do about them …

FMR has a Stewardship Guide that highlights the “top 10” stewardship actions that you can take with your friends and neighbors to help protect and restore the Mississippi River and its watershed for future generations. Download it here. There’s also a Teachers Guide.


FLOW
Metro river flows have increased by 24% over the last seventy years.

The timing, amount and intensity of rain and snow can impact river flow which naturally varies seasonally and from year to year. There are positives and negatives to high and low flows. High flows can cause erosion, degrade habitat and carry more pollutants into the river system. But they can also restore natural floodplains and dilute concentrations of some key pollutants. Low flows tend to deliver less pollution to the river, but they can also amplify the effect of sources like wastewater treatment plants.

In developed areas, hard surfaces such as roads, roofs, driveways and parking lots contribute run-off that increases flows into nearby water bodies. In agricultural areas, row crops and artificially drained fields result in increased runoff which typically leads to higher flows downstream. These seemingly small changes in runoff, spread over a large landscape have significant impacts on river flow and hydrology.

Much of Minnesota’s native prairies and wetlands have been converted to row crop agriculture. While native landscapes absorb and transpire water effectively, annual crops only consume water during a portion of the year, allowing a great share of annual precipitation to enter surface waters. The Minnesota River, an important influence on the Mississippi River, has significantly more flow per unit of precipitation than it used to. Increases in rainfall due to climate change may also be responsible for a portion of recent increases in river flows. 

What Can You DO?

Farmers can adopt changes to cropping systems, increase perennial vegetation on the landscape during spring and fall (before and after row crop establishment and harvest). Residents and cities can install rain gardens, rain barrels, pervious pavers, green roofs and restore native landscapes.


BACTERIA
Parts of the river are impaired with excess bacteria posing health risks for recreational users.

Many parts of the river from its confluence with the Crow River (in Dayton) downstream through St. Paul have average bacteria concentrations that are too high. These reaches are “impaired” for E. coli. It is recommended that swimming or other recreational contact be limited in impaired sections of the river and that it be avoided everywhere in the river within 48 hours of a rainstorm (including storms upstream). Recreational users are advised to be especially cautious downstream of storm drain outlets. For a map of impaired stretches of the river, see page 17 in the report.

What Can You DO?

Clean up your pet waste, make sure septic systems are up-to-date and reduce run-off at home and in your community.

PHOSPHORUS
Portions of the river are impaired with too much phosphorus.

Historically wastewater treatment plants have been significant sources of phosphorus to surface waters in Minnesota. Metropolitan Council wastewater treatment plants have made phosphorus reductions of 88% since 2000, significantly helping the river. Overall 57% of phosphorus in the metro Mississippi River comes from the Minnesota River in an average flow year. Because remaining phosphorus pollution is largely linked to unregulated agricultural runoff, future improvements will require substantial reductions in cropland, pasture and rural runoff, along with curtained stream bank erosion.


What Can You DO?

This rain garden was built by Mitzi Knutzen with assistance from Master Water Stewards, Anna Barker and Stephanie Wang, to reduce sediment in Battle Creek which flows to the river. 

Photo Credit: Sage Passi

You can reduce the run-off from your lawn or driveway by planting native plants, building rain gardens and directing your downspouts to your lawn so the rain soaks in instead of picking up dirt and other phosphorus containing materials that can be carried into the sewer and then to the river.

Residents can also help by using lawn chemicals wisely, (use phosphorus free fertilizer), use phosphorus free dish-washing detergents and soaps, pick up pet waste and keep grass clippings and leaves out of storm drains. 

 
CHLORIDE
Levels are increasing throughout the metro area.



Salt brine sprayed and dried on a road surface for anti-icing before a snow storm

The river is currently well below the state’s chloride standards to protect aquatic life. However, many tributaries, lakes and wetlands fail to meet these standards. Thirty-nine tested metro area water bodies are impaired for excess chloride with another 38 close to exceeding standards. Twenty-seven percent of the metro area sand and gravel wells exceed federal guides. Chloride levels in the metro area increased by 81% from 1985-2014.

What Can You DO?

Residents can do their part by using de-icing chemicals sparingly and not apply traditional rock salt in temperatures below 15 degrees F when it is no longer effective.

More smart winter maintenance information is available at Simple Tips to Protect Our Water.


MICROPLASTICS
Fibers are the most common microplastic in the river.

Microplastics are tiny pieces of plastic that end up in the environment through the breakdown of litter, car tire wear, or after plastics in clothing and consumer products are washed down the drain. Consumers may be most familiar with microbeads, which manufacturer began adding to facial washes, toothpastes and other products as an abrasive agent in the late 1990’s. They began showing up in surface waters by the mid-2000’s. Wastewater facilities are not designed to remove these contaminants.

In December of 2015 the US Congress passed legislation to phase out plastic microbeads from personal care products, effective on July 1, 2017.

While microbeads have captured the attention of consumer advocates and lawmakers, it is fibers rather than microbeads that are the primary source of microplastic pollution in the metro river. These fibers come from synthetic fabrics such as microfleece, polyester and nylon and are shed during machine washing, as well as through atmospheric deposition. Many are dense and sink, especially in low-velocity waters. 



Avoid buying synthetic fabrics that contain microfibers
which may be harmful to aquatic life in the river.

Microplastics can block or damage feeding apparatus, digestive tracts and circulatory systems in invertebrates, fish, mussels and birds. Studies have documented liver stress, early tumor formation and potential reduction in feeding. They also may pose some human health hazards such as intestinal inflammation, effects on gut flora and the immune system. See the report for more information.

Recently the U.S. Geological Survey, in partnership with the National Park Service, began sampling river water, sediment, and fish and mussel tissue for microplastics in the metro river. Preliminary results indicate that fibers are the dominant type of microplastic in these samples. Fibers represent about 90% of the microplastics accumulating in metro river sediment.

What Can You DO?

Download the smartphone app from www.beatthemicrobead.org to scan product labels and determine whether they contain microbeads. Consumers can also choose clothing made from natural fibers, avoid single-use plastics such as plastic bags and take-out containers, and remain careful not to litter or flush plastic materials down the toilet.


Conclusion …

While the challenges we face are complex and daunting, the river today is healthier, thanks to the actions of those who have come before us. The return of abundant wildlife to a once-troubled river is evidence that restoring the Mississippi is possible through shared commitment and decisive public action. With strong leadership and action by river supporters we can pass on a healthier and more resilient Mississippi River to future generations.

Photo credit: Sage Passi

 

Thank you to the State of the River 2016 report for much of the text in this article.