It’s the friday before Christmas and I have some excellent news. The beaver summit steering commission met yesterday and arrived at two wonderful dates for our upcoming conference. Sonoma State will host our virtual conference beginning April 7th, International Beaver Day from 1-5. With the second session offered two days later, April 9th from 1-5. The opening day will be a beaver issues 101 course, including nativity, ecology and management. The second day will focus on new research and policy. It really is going to happen. Plan your wednesday and friday after Easter accordingly!
I was so excited to have an actual date I couldn’t resist playing with some graphics. I’m sure the real artwork will be much much better.
Of course you and I know a million reasons California should care about beavers, but of course the people who most need to be there and learn why they matter are people who don’t yet think they matter, so we have to be pretty careful about not appearing to preach to the choir.
Although we definitely will. The choir is awesome. And getting larger all the time.
There are all kinds of issues we face that beavers can help with. Not just salmon and water storage. Some are topics most folks don’t even recognize as being relevant to beavers. Just ask our friends at Phys.Org.
Restoring wetlands near farms would dramatically reduce water pollution
Runoff from fertilizer and manure application in agricultural regions has led to high levels of nitrate in groundwater, rivers, and coastal areas. These high nitrate levels can threaten drinking water safety and also lead to problems with algal blooms and degradation of aquatic ecosystems.
Previous research has shown that wetlands improve water quality, but how much of an impact are wetlands having on nitrate removal now, and what improvements could wetland restoration deliver in the future?
Gee that’s interesting. Do wetlands really make a difference?
Researchers from the University of Illinois Chicago and the University of Waterloo sought to evaluate these details at the U.S. scale and publish their findings in a new paper featured in the journal Nature.
Their study examines the positive effects of wetlands on water quality and the potential for using wetland restoration as a key strategy for improving water quality, particularly in the Mississippi River Basin and Gulf of Mexico regions.
The wetland essentially has a purifying effect when nitrate-laden water enters its boundaries. Chemical reactions take place that removes the harmful nitrate from the water, allowing for harmless nitrogen gas to be released into the atmosphere and cleaner water to flow downstream.
“Unfortunately, most wetlands that originally existed in the U.S. have been drained or destroyed to make way for agriculture or urban development. Ironically, areas with the biggest nitrate problems, due to agriculture and intensive use of nitrogen fertilizers, are also usually areas with the fewest numbers of remaining wetlands,” said Kimberly Van Meter, UIC assistant professor of earth and environmental sciences and co-lead author of the paper.
Gosh that’s a big problem. The places that need these wetlands the most are the ones that drained them. And making wetlands is a huge undertaking. Who has the time or the resources? I mean farmers aren’t made out of money.
Too bad there wasn’t some kind of wetland-making rodent just swimming around and wanting to help. Of course the researchers have a plan. But it has a pretty hefty price tag.
The cost of a wetlands initiative is estimated at $3.3 billion a year, an amount researchers described as feasible given current government spending levels. While that is twice the estimated cost of a non-targeted approach, the model showed it would remove 40 times more nitrogen.
How much do beavers charge again?
