Photo Courtesy of Marbet, Erica

The average individual could walk through a creek without even noticing these small gems. In fact most people are completely unaware of their existence. Freshwater bivalves are a kind of freshwater molluscs. They are bivalves which live in freshwater, as opposed to saltwater. The majority of species of bivalve molluscs live in the sea, but a number of different families live in freshwater. Fresh water mussels can thrive in many different habitats small ditches, lakes, canals, rivers and creeks. While walking Mill creek with our summer youth program employees we found hundreds of fresh water mussels. The species we found is the Western Pearlshell (shown in all pictures). The Xerces Society is dedicated to developing a variety of publications that educate people on how to identify and conserve fresh water mussels, as well as manage their habitat. “The Society uses advocacy, education, and applied research to defend invertebrates”. For more information about fresh water mussels of the pacific northwest visit, http://www.xerces.org/western-freshwater-mussels/.

photo courtesy of O’Connell, Emmett

photo courtesy of O’Connell, Emmett

Pictured is Rana Brown Shellfish Biologist photo courtesy of O’Connell, Emmett

The final presentation of the day is from Katie Campbell and Ashely Ahearn with Earthfix.  They work to get media coverage for all the wonderful work scientists are doing all over the Puget Sound area.   Stressing to remember that when giving an interview that it’s not live, no one is trying to make you sound stupid and everything can be edited.  If you can aim your content toward 6th graders and relate your science to real people it’ll be easier to draw their interest.  Some times the story requires a picture or a video in order for the issue to hit home for the average person who is not in the scientific community.  Remember that scientists have their thumbs on the pulse of what is happening in our ecosystems and weather the information is good or bad it is our duty to share it with the rest of the world.

Attending this conference was nothing short of enlightening and informative. I was honored to be in the presence of over 250 climate change specialists and researchers from all around the region.

Presenters discussed everything from climate change adaptation to mitigation planning. Our main task was to review scientific results, challenges, and solutions related to the impacts of climate change on first peoples, natural resources, and infrastructure in the Pacific Northwest.

Following the presentations was an inspirational speech given by Washington State Governor Jay Inslee about increasing resilience in the Pacific Northwest (PNW).

What is causing the climate to change? It is mostly human consumption of fossil fuels. Eighty four percent of the world’s energy comes from fossil fuels. Fossil fuel usage is one of the largest contributors to global warming. The use of fossil fuels increases our carbon dioxide emissions or carbon footprint. We have dumped more than 1.325 trillion tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. The path that we are on will lead to a 5-50 inch increase in sea level and approximately a four degrees Celsius warmer world by the end of the century. Imagine what a 5-50in rise in sea level could do to our shorelines. Though I was aware of the many consequences that the over use of fossil fuels has on our planet, I had no idea that I would see the impacts in my lifetime. For example, the picture below is downtown Olympia in the year 2100 if we do nothing to mitigate climate change.

(The dark blue indicates sea level rise)

Why plan and prepare for impacts of climate change? First our tribal communities, culture, employment, and way of life is all connected to our first foods. Our traditions and ceremonies depend on healthy salmon runs as well as shellfish harvesting. Sea level rise caused by climate change could cause our first foods to no longer be available to our people. Second our treaties and regulations only serve our community if there are salmon and shellfish to harvest. For instance, temperature increases between one and five degrees Fahrenheit could cause our cedar trees to be found in new locations, likely outside our usually and accustom treaty grounds. If trees like the red cedar are no longer found in their traditional locations at optimal harvesting times how will we teach the next generation to weave? Developing a plan of action now is key to preserving our community’s way of life.

This photo is from the LOTT reclaimed water website. http://www.lottcleanwater.org/reclaimed.htm

The LOTT Clean Water Alliance in Olympia is at the intersection many serious water issues in our region.

• The Thurston County population continues to grow and therefore produce more wastewater.
• For the health of South Puget Sound, LOTT is limited in how much wastewater it can discharge to Budd Inlet.
• In order to avoid discharging treated wastewater into Budd Inlet, LOTT treats wastewater to almost drinkable quality (“Reclaimed Water”), and infiltrates it into the ground at a site up near Hawks Prairie.
• A growing population requires adequate sources of water for drinking and many other uses.
• Most basins in Thurston County are closed to new water rights, and some streamflows are low compared to historical levels.
• Groundwater is connected to surface water.

Once reclaimed water infiltrates into the Hawks Prairie site and to two other proposed new sites, it will move with groundwater and into the vicinity of drinking water wells.  Reclaimed water will be treated as it moves underground, and it will eventually find its way to nearby streams and to the Deschutes River.  This could be very beneficial for augmenting stream and river flows.  However some residual chemicals may remain in reclaimed water.  These chemicals would come from household products like medicines, shampoos, and cleaning products.  Imagine you are a fish swimming in the Deschutes River.  You could be swimming in the last traces of ibuprofen, Mr. Clean, and Dial soap left in LOTT’s reclaimed water. Imagine pouring water from your tap.  Though drinkable, it could have the smallest trace of other people’s antibiotic prescriptions, bathroom cleaner, and Head and Shoulders.   These chemicals may already be in groundwater and surface water, because thousands of septic tanks are in the ground in Thurston County.  Septic tank waste is not nearly as thoroughly treated as reclaimed water, but it too will eventually connect to groundwater.

Reclaimed water could be a very good tool for water conservation, but it is a new tool in Thurston County.  LOTT is currently planning a study to determine if residual chemicals remain in reclaimed water as it moves through groundwater and eventually to streams.  You can find a link to the study plan at http://www.lottcleanwater.org/pdf/groundwater.pdf.  As a representative of the Tribe, I sit on the science task force for the reclaimed water infiltration study. The role of the science task force and also a community advisory group and independent peer review team is to provide input on the planning and implementation of the study.

To support the tribe’s treaty reserved right to harvest, salmon need good spawning habitat and an adequate supply of clean water.  In some streams, there is not enough water. LOTT’s reclaimed water may help increase flows, but the chemical content of that water when it reaches streams is unknown. Also unknown are the potential effects on animals and plants in the water and on humans. The results of this study will turn those unknowns into solid information and answers.

Last week Millie Judge (author of the Judge report) spoke at the South Sound Science Symposium.

Watch highlights from her talk below.

Currently, the first two speaker’s presentations are now online here: http://go.nwifc.org/s42012

We’ll add more as the day goes on.

We’re recording Milly’s talk, but here are some quick notes. Just a reminder, you can watch the live-stream all day at this link: http://www.ustream.tv/channel/southsoundscience

From the talk:

• Are some areas of improvement. There is more to be done and habitat is still the driver.
• Forest cover continues to decline. Where development happens, habitat declines.
• If we don’t get a handle on habitat, especially forest cover, we aren’t going to get to salmon restoration.
• Despite the best shoreline regulations in the nation, we’re still seeing declines in shoreline habitat. This is true outside of shoreline protection.
• Funding for salmon recovery projects is even too low. We’re hitting a ceiling. Only 31 percent of the funding we actually need. Its actually a $1 billion project.
• Funders like funding projects, not people or capacity to “do the work.” You can’t develop projects without people to do the work. So the bottleneck in restoration is people, not project money.
• The problem with the growth management act is that is always plans for growth. There’s never an “enough is enough” step that creates shortages and forces people to move elsewhere.
• Scientists should keep on saying what’s going on. Its hard when the status quo is criticized. She was told that if she criticized funding, it would be cut off. She doesn’t buy that.
• We need to do a better job influencing people who hold the purse strings.

From the Q&A:

1. Can we redirect litigation funds to restoration funds? The idea behind the growth management hearing board is that it wasn’t supposed to be a legal process. But, it turned out to be a legal process.

2. In response to a question about possibly cutting operational funding, Judge says that one of the major things we do is outreach to legislators.

3. Do you agree that legislators don’t want to hear science, as opposed to what impacts people in their districts? Yes, unless its a crisis, the lawmakers want to hear good stories. Hire wonks.

The South Sound Science Symposium is being held today at the Squaxin Island Tribe’s event center. You can find the agenda for the day’s events here and live streaming should be available here.