White River Partnership Receives National Award

Vermont’s White River Partnership received the 2012 U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service National Fish Passage Program’s Partner of the Year Award at the partnership’s annual meeting in Rochester, Vt.

The partnership, a small community-based non-profit organization, was recognized for its professionalism, dedication, and leadership in response to Tropical Storm Irene in 2011. The storm damaged thousands of culverts and caused widespread flooding, stranding residents and isolating towns in the White River basin.

Mary and Greg Russ, executive director and project manager of the partnership respectively, acted quickly following the storm to identify failed road culverts and notify local, state, and federal authorities. Their efforts triggered the deployment of Service fish passage engineers and stream restoration experts to ensure that road crossing repairs promoted fish passage.

Fish-friendly crossings not only protect fish, they protect communities and are more economical in the long run because they can withstand flood events.

Based on their experience responding to the 2011 storm, the Russes have continued to advocate for fish-friendly culverts and their environmental, social and economic benefits.

As a result of the on-the-ground response following Irene, FEMA’s Public Assistance Program provided nearly $3 million in funding to rebuild storm-damaged infrastructure in the City of Rochester alone. The funds also supported the purchase of land in floodplains for permanent restoration efforts.

The Partnership’s efforts also "helped spur a national discussion on road crossing standards," said Susan Wells, the Service’s national fish passage program coordinator.

Initiated in 1999, the Service’s national fish passage program works with local communities to restore river systems. More than 700 partners nationwide collaborate with the program to rebuild infrastructure for long term resiliency and health of fisheries. Each year the program recognizes the accomplishments of one of these partners.

More Information:

USFWS-National Fish Passage Program: http://www.fws.gov/fisheries/facilities/nfpp.html

USFWS-National Fish Passage Program/Northeast: http://www.fws.gov/northeast/fisheries/help/nfpp.html

White River Partnership: http://www.whiteriverpartnership.org/

source: USFWS

Oil Spill in Yellowstone River

On July 1, 2011, crude oil spilled into the Yellowstone River. According to Montana officials, the spill released over 1,000 barrels of crude oil into the river.

These are a few details concerning the spill:

- The spill occurred when a pipeline feeding the ExxonMobil refinery in Lockwood broke.

- On July 2, Governor Brian Schweitzer, Disaster and Emergency Services (DES) and other state agencies were notified by Yellowstone County DES that crude oil was released into the Yellowstone River from an ExxonMobil Company pipeline.

- Evacuations took place in the immediate area of the spill due to the odor from the oil.

- Unified Command for the incident includes the EPA, State of Montana and Exxon Mobile.

- Other agencies involved include: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, U.S. Coast Guard, Montana Fish Wildlife and Parks, North Dakota Disaster and Emergency Management, National Response Center, PPL Montana.

- Following the spill, Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks issued a consumption advisory for fish caught in the Yellowstone River in the area of the oil spill.

- For more information, visit: visit www.yellowstoneriveroilspill.mt.gov

Colorado River Basin Water Use Study

An April 2011 report from the National Parks Conservation Association analyzes the impacts of water management in the Colorado River Basin and five national parks that lie along the Colorado River and its tributaries.

According to the report, water management has altered the natural state of the river, including the long-term presence of major dams and non-native species, and changes in water flow in the system.

National parks examined in the study include Grand Canyon National Park, Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, Canyonlands National Park, Dinosaur National Monument, and Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park.

The report cites several factors which affect the rivers in these parks:

• Dams along the Colorado River have fundamentally changed ecological and environmental processes in these parks by  destroying natural habitats in some areas, creating highly unnatural flow regimes, trapping sediments that are critical for building and maintaining aquatic and riparian habitats and altering natural water temperatures that foster native fish communities.
• Reintroducing more natural water flows in the rivers can protect park resources. In addition, any further alterations to the natural flow of the river must not compromise these treasured parks, which receive a total of more than 8.5 visitors annually. . Recent proposals to divert water from the River for municipal and agricultural uses would likely be detrimental to the parks. 
• Climate change scenarios predict the western United States will become drier and warmer, which increases the likelihood that the volume of water in the river annually will decrease and releases from reservoirs like Lake Powell will be reduced.
• Non-native fish have been introduced; causing issues for native species through predatory and competitive behavior and the non-native tamarisk has altered the river channel, further restricting river flows.

The report outlines steps that can be taken to reverse or mitigate some of the challenges facing the river, including:

• Changes to dam operations to reduce impacts on endangered species and other resources, which would have relatively minor effects on hydropower revenues.
• Climate change research to clearly understand and ensure that its effects on the River are taken into account for all future policies and decisions impacting water flow in the river.
• Additional research on costs and benefits of restoring more natural flows so that the value of the parks along the River can be properly assessed.

To view a full copy of the report, please visit: http://www.npca.org/cpr/colorado_river_basin/

source: National Parks Conservation Association