More than Heat
“State officials urge people to avoid contact with potentially harmful algal blooms that have shown up in prominent water bodies statewide in recent weeks due to North Carolina’s hot weather.” So read the first line of a recent press release from the NC Department…
HB 44 Bad for NC
The Senate passed a version of HB 44 which has proposed measures that directly threaten our waters. The Bill, titled Local Government Regulatory Reform, includes Section 13 which guts the most cost-effective measures to addressing excess nutrients in our waters. The measure in question…
Stuck at Milburnie
A spring day a few weeks back I had the chance to visit Milburnie Dam on the Neuse River in Wake County. The dam used to produce a small amount of electricity but now is the subject of controversy over whether it should remain…
Cracking Some Eggs
A friend once told me that you’ve got to crack some eggs to make an omelet. Metaphorically, he was referring to the need to prep a stream, floodplain, or wetland for restoration by removing all the stuff that’s preventing it from functioning as it…
Nutrients +
The multiple benefits of working to enhance the enhance habitat are definitely worth pursuing. One of the country’s largest wetlands, a 51-acre site, is constructed is Down East and doing well by a lot of measures. In developed areas, like the areas of New…
Retro Environment
It’s not a movement to protect environmental resources or reverse climate change. In fact, it’s quite the opposite. The State’s environmental commission sent draft rules to public comment to consolidate protections for streamside forest that include the use of retroactive credits. With a little…
Winter Hiking
A good way to get away from the bustle of the holidays is to get out and enjoy our great outdoors. Winter hikes offer a different perspective on nature and are a great way to work off some of that holiday ham and pecan…
Why streams aren’t straight
This was an interesting video on the geomorphology of river channels worth passing along. Straightening of stream channels was policy in the US for many years and encouraged, particularly in the first half of the 20th Century. As can often happen, as our scientific…
Bear of a Conundrum
My last post introduced the Nutrient Criteria Development Plan (NCDP), a plan for addressing the State’s approach to better managing nutrient pollution. In short, current State policy actions are triggered by the symptoms of nutrient pollution, not by the causes. In practice, this typically…
Nutrient Plan 2.0
NC’s Environmental Management Commission (EMC) recently heard the State’s plan to address problems associated with excess nutrients polluting the State’s waters. The State has been butting its head against a wall on this issue for over a decade. The last effort at this plan…