From the Northwest Herald:

Local waters might seem clearer to the naked eye, but the reason behind it could disrupt the food chain and eventually the fish supply.

Zebra mussels, which are spreading throughout the Chain O’ Lakes and the Fox River, filter through a liter of plankton-filled water a day each as they go, said Pat Charlebois, aquatic invasive specialist with the Illinois Natural History Survey and the Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant program.

But those plankton, which fog the water, are needed to serve as the base of the food chain.

“[Zebra mussels] are bad,” Charlebois said. “Because they’re removing particles from the water, some people think the water becomes clearer. Lake Michigan is clearer now, but that is because there’s no food.” Read more.

Nab the Aquatic Invader!, an educational website about aquatic invasive species, is featured this month on the Fun Zone page of the Year of Science 2009 website.

Year of Science 2009 is a 12-month celebration of how science works, why science matters, and who scientists are. It is led by participants in the Coalition on the Public Understanding of Science (COPUS), a grassroots network composed of more than 400 participating organizations representing universities, scientific societies, science centers and museums, government agencies, advocacy groups, media, educators, businesses and industry—formed in response to recent concerns about national scientific literacy.

COPUS, which began with a grant from the National Science Foundation, has grown to be an inclusive endeavor spurring communication and collaboration in the scientific community while shining the spotlight on science throughout the year. Major sponsors include the American Institute of Biological Sciences, the University of California, Museum of Paleontology, the Geological Society of America, and the National Science Teachers Association.

Nab the Aquatic Invader! is featured as part of this month’s “Ocean and Water” theme. The web site was created by Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant along with Sea Grant programs in New York, Louisiana, Connecticut, and Oregon to provide the latest information about aquatic invasive species through colorful characters and a crime-solving theme. Since its inception, the project has expanded to include species from coastal regions around the country.

“The site is clever and fun, but it’s also rich with curriculum for teachers, ideas for stewardship projects, and creative educational activities for students and other online audiences,” said Robin Goettel, IISG associate director for education.
In addition to visiting the Fun Zone, on this month on the Year of Science website you can meet scientists, including Dr. Richard Spinrad, NOAA Assistant Administrator for Research, enter a contest to name a newly-found jellyfish, and learn ways to get involved in protecting our oceans.

Upcoming Year of Science 2009 themes include “Astronomy” in July, “Weather and Climate” in August, and “Biodiversity and Conservation” in September.

With summer vacation on the horizon, NOAA and the National Park Service are alerting beach-goers to the threat of rip currents and how to prevent drowning from their strong and potentially fatal grip.

Rip currents are the leading surf hazard, claiming more than 100 lives per year nationally. For that reason, NOAA and NPS are teaming up to sponsor Rip Current Awareness Week, June 7-13, with the theme Break the Grip of the Rip®.

Rip currents are narrow channels of fast-moving water that pull swimmers away from the shore. Moving at speeds of up to eight feet per second, rip currents are surprisingly strong and swift. They account for more than 80 percent of the tens of thousands of rescues performed by beach lifeguards in the United States annually.

“Before going into the water, check the rip current outlook, swim on guarded beaches and know how to escape a rip current’s grip,” said Jack Hayes, Ph.D., director of NOAA’s National Weather Service. “Doing so can save your life.”

If you are caught in a rip current, swim in a direction following the shoreline. When free of the current, swim at an angle away from the current toward shore. Swimmers who try to swim against a rip current straight back to shore often fail to overcome its strength, risking exhaustion and drowning.

“Every year, more than 75 million visitors come to swim, fish, snorkel, scuba dive, boat and enjoy the wildlife and majestic scenery in the coastal areas of our National Park System,” said Dan Wenk, acting director of the National Park Service. “The National Park Service has a long partnership with NOAA and its National Weather Service to enhance our ability to provide visitors with the latest information on water safety.”

Rip currents can form at all surf beaches so keep these safety tips in mind:
• Check for surf zone forecasts at NOAA’s National Weather Service Rip Current Safety.
• Look for signs and flags posted to warn about rip currents;
• Do not swim against a rip current;
• Escape rip currents by swimming in a direction following the shoreline until you are free of the rip current;
• Never swim alone.

“Sea Grant and the National Weather Service have placed rip current signs in English and Spanish on ocean and Great Lakes beaches throughout the nation to warn swimmers of the dangers posed by this hazard. It is critical that all beach-goers know how to identify a rip current, and that they know what to do if they are caught in one,” said Leon M. Cammen, Ph.D., director of NOAA’s National Sea Grant College Program.

NOAA understands and predicts changes in the Earth’s environment, from the depths of the ocean to the surface of the sun, and conserves and manages our coastal and marine resources.

Break the Grip of the Rip is a registered trademark of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Here are some links for more information:
NOAA’s homepage
NOAA Rip Current information
NOAA Sea Grant
National Park Service

Planning with POWER’s latest publication—Smart Growth and Protection of Natural Resources in Indiana—responds to a problem persistent in urban and residential development in Indiana as well as other states.

“Local land use planning in the past has not incorporated natural resources,” said POWER project leader Robert McCormick. “Typically, housing is scattered in a sprawled fashion without regard to environmental impacts. As a result, we have seriously degraded our water and other natural resources.”

The goal of smart growth—an idea promoted by the U.S. EPA Smart Growth Network (SGN) in 1996—is to protect communities’ natural resources and improve the quality of life in neighborhoods through mixed-use development, transportation accessibility, and protection of open spaces.

With help from Planning with POWER, smart growth development is already underway in Porter County and is under consideration in a handful of other Indiana counties. POWER’s new publication provides details on smart growth development in Indiana and outlines methods for implementation, including SGN’s “Ten Principles of Smart Growth.”

Planning with Power—a statewide educational program that links land use planning with watershed planning at the local level—is coordinated by Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant and Purdue University Extension. The project is designed to empower communities to prevent and solve natural resource problems resulting from changing land use in growing watersheds and to empower local officials to incorporate watershed protection measures into comprehensive land use plans.

For more information or to download the publication, visit Planning with Power or contact Robert McCormick at 765-494-3627.

On May 1, 2009, LaSalle County joined the Illinois Prescription Pill and Drug Disposal Program (P2D2) Network. IISG helped sponsor this collection box for unwanted medicines in Ottawa, Illinois. Pictured from left to right: Bob Shull, Ottawa public works director; Jennifer Sines, clinical pharmacist, Illinois Valley Community Hospital; Captain Brent Roalson, Ottawa Police Dept.; and Bob Rick, Ottawa Public Works Director.

From Science Daily:

Eating fish – long considered ‘brain food’ – may really be good for the old grey matter, as is a healthy dose of sunshine, new research suggests.University of Manchester scientists in collaboration with colleagues from other European centres have shown that higher levels of vitamin D – primarily synthesised in the skin following sun exposure but also found in certain foods such as oily fish – are associated with improved cognitive function in middle-aged and older men. Read more.

Now that spring is finally here, many of us are thinking about gardening. Is this the year you put in a water garden? Or do you already have a water garden, and plan to add new plants? Well, before you head out to the garden center, you should know that water gardening is one way that invasive aquatic plants can spread into new waterways. When introduced into local waters, these plants can displace native ones, which are sources of food and shelter for native wildlife. Because they grow so prolifically, invasive plants can also clog drainage pipes, impede navigation, and make fishing difficult.

Does this make water gardening a bad idea? Not at all. It means you should be careful to choose plants that are native or non-invasive. It also means you should be careful how you get rid of plants you no longer want or need. For instance, do not release them into natural waterways.

IISG has a 4-page brochure, Invasive Aquatic Plants: What every Plant Enthusiast needs to Know, that provides tips on how best to situate your water garden and how to choose plants carefully. You might want to take the “Most Wanted List,” included in the brochure, with you to the garden center. These are the baddest of the bad invasive plants.

From the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:

Lake Michigan is on the rebound after flirting with near-record low water levels in 2008.

In January 2008 the water was so low that the human polar bears taking their annual New Year’s Day plunge off the Door Peninsula had to navigate around yellow police tape so they didn’t slash their feet on an offshore shipwreck.

Sixteen months and two cold and wet winters later, the lake has added more than 2 feet of water, and it continues to rise almost daily. Read more.

From the Sangamon County Department of Public Health:

On Saturday, April 25, residents are encouraged to rid themselves of any unwanted or expired medications at the Illinois State Fairgrounds, Lot 21 entering Gate 11, from 8:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. This initiative is sponsored by the Illinois EPA, Sangamon County Department of Public Health, C.W.L.P., Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant, Illinois Lake Management Association, Sangamon County Sheriff’s Department and Springfield Metro Sanitary District. Residents can properly dispose of the following items: over the counter medications, medicated aerosol products, medicated shampoos, soaps, creams, and pressurized inhalers. No controlled substances will be accepted. If you have questions about whether or not your medication is considered a controlled substance, contact your pharmacist.

Residents are asked not to flush their pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs). The PPCPs can enter the water supply via sinks, toilets, or trash disposals. Most people dispose of human and pet medication either by flushing them down the toilet or throwing them in the trash. These methods create the potential for harmful chemicals to end up in our rivers and streams. An excess of PPCP in the water can harm local aquatic ecosystem. The effects of the pharmaceuticals can be observed in certain aquatic life, such as feminization and altered neurological behavior in fish. Medications that are flushed down the toilet can build up in the water system and alter the environment. Even medications that are thrown in the trash can spend years degrading into the soil and making their ways into the water supply. In addition to the effect on the water, chemicals from medicinal waste can end up in fertilizers used for agricultural land.

Pharmaceutical-related chemicals have been found in trace amounts in samples of finished drinking water. Waste water treatment and drinking water treatment plants do not have the technology to remove 100 percent of the drugs. With increasing amounts of PPCPs entering rivers and streams that provide the source of much of our water supply, and with increases in the use of medications by the aging baby boomer generation, it is important to take steps to reduce their impact on water resources.

Several environmental groups in Illinois have teamed together with the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency to create drug disposal sites within the state. These sites were created in order to provide an environmentally safe method of disposing of old, expired, and unwanted medications.

“Sangamon County was on the forefront with including acceptance of unwanted and expired medications within our Household Hazardous Waste collections two years ago,” said Angela Harris, Recycling Coordinator with the Sangamon County Department of Public Health. “We believe it is important to educate residents on how to properly dispose of their medications. Illinois EPA notified us that due to the State’s budget, we were not selected for HHW collection this year. Therefore, we are focusing solely on collecting unwanted and expired medications.” This event is a prelude to establishing permanent drop-off location programs.