then came an unexpected turning point: in october 2020, the america’s conservation enhancement act passed congress with bipartisan support. this new act provides landmark, sorely needed funding for the epa’s chesapeake bay program and other conservation efforts. in this video, drew robinson, of the choose clean water coalition, and dr. solange filoso, of the university of maryland center for environmental science, discuss why this act is so remarkable and how it may change the future of the bay.

“this latest capture is disturbing,” said mark fritts, a u.s. fish and wildlife services ecologist based in lacrosse, wisconsin. “we’ve never seen that many fish caught at the same time in this region.”

in the upper mississippi and illinois rivers, asian carp reproduce rapidly, have no natural competitors and out-compete native fish for food supply and space, which devastates native fish populations – in some streams, they make up 75% of fish biomass. asian carp, which can weigh between 60 and 110 pounds, are also notorious for jumping up to three meters out of the water when spooked by boat motors or loud sounds – creating a public safety risk and threatening a $7-billion sport-fishing market.

despite prevention measures, like government-contracted asian carp fisherman and dam barriers, asian carp have been slowly spreading upstream to the upper mississippi river and the great lakes. prior to this, fritts believed that most of the population in the upper mississippi river was confined below the quad-city region in illinois and iowa. now, he’s not so sure.

james lamer, a large river ecologist with the illinois natural history survey, said heavy flooding in the mississippi river basin last spring may have caused the fish to spawn upstream.

or, it could’ve been sheer luck.

according to lamer’s research, asian carp play favorites. from 2013 to 2016, lamer and his team in illinois tagged and tracked asian carp migration through the illinois and mississippi rivers’ channels in search for some sort of pattern. they found that carp species and hybrids are more or less mobile based on different water temperatures, flow and volume, which makes their spread a little bit more predictable.

“the water temperatures are still really low, and that’s when they can aggregate,” lamer said. “lacrosse might have got lucky and just got a lot of fish in that one haul just because the carp tend to congregate during those cold-water temperatures in certain areas.”

from his research, lamer knows that april weather brings favorable conditions to asian carp in illinois’ contained backchannels, which is a crucial time for government-contracted fishermen and researchers to extract invasive carp from the streams.

but due to the spread of coronavirus throughout the united states, lamer said they might not be able to get out on the water and curb their spread.

“the only thing that we can do in the meantime is analyze data and try to figure out what we have going on with the data we have,” he said.

but lamer isn’t too concerned – his research gives some hope to midwestern waterways. asian carp are finicky about their environment. their preference for deep waters could keep them out of uninfected areas if the water levels continue at their current low levels, like they have been for the last couple of weeks.

“long story short, i think any damage of not fishing for the one to two months off the water due to coronavirus can be mitigated when fishermen return to the water,” he said.

even if water conditions are perfect, history shows the mississippi’s unpredictable environment can be a natural barrier to carp mobility. for example, lamer’s tagged carp had an abundant year in 2016, but had barely any sign of reproduction the next two years. lamer and his team think it’s because changing water flow pushed unhatched carp eggs out of the upper mississippi’s uninfected waters.

lamer is keeping a positive attitude, but the “ifs” are adding up. in the worst-case scenario, asian carp spread to uninfected waters and decimate native fish populations and the fishing economy.

the midwestern waterways’ fate is up to mother nature.

“asian carp have very variable recruitment and reproduction, and so if we had the water conditions are stable for them like they were in 2016, then it could be problematic if we’re not out there removing fish,” lamer said. “if conditions aren’t conducive to spawning or movement and all of the gates stay in the water because we don’t get major flooding, it may not be as problematic.”

“it’s kind of a gamble – we’re hoping for the latter,” he added.

fritts is less concerned, too. last year mississippi’s flooding set back his team’s research, and he said every year has its own challenges.

“my rocket is set on launch as soon as they give me permission to get back out there. but we’ll just do what we can. these forces are bigger than us and we’ll just do our best,” he said.

we interviewed him to learn more about the initiative and the impacts the work can have on the environment and policies surrounding it.

q: how was the concept of the headwaters initiative formed?

a: i think one of the impetuses was trying to think of ways the domain is a unique asset to the university. it’s really important for them to try to establish and grow their imprint in their environmental programs among liberal arts universities. from a research perspective, the domain offers a lot of really unique opportunities because we own it and it’s so unimpacted by upstream effects; and because it all goes downstream it offers stewardship opportunities as well.

q: so, how are you monitoring these water systems? are you looking at their health? what are the impacts you’re protecting them from?

a: what we’re doing right now is laying the groundwork for more nuanced research in the future. no one has really in the past done a thorough characterization of the streams’ baseline data. we have censors in streams to log light, temperature, and tell us when the streams dry out. we have leaf litter bags to see how the environment is breaking down leaf litter and cycling carbon. what we were doing yesterday was bottling samples to get a snapshot of the stream water chemistry. it’s necessary if anyone wants to do anything more nuanced, like studying the effects of global warming: you have to know your baseline.

q: the southeast is, within north america, this big hotspot for freshwater biodiversity. why is it critical that sewanee look at its biodiversity and freshwater ecosystems?

a: well, because that makes it culturally important. it’s the salamander capital of the world right there in southern appalachia. but it’s also because animals all play their own role in their ecosystem here. if we decrease diversity there’s a good chance you can wreak havoc on some of these ecosystem services that we rely on animals for.

q: such as?

a: things like nutrient cycling, soil health, forest regeneration, trophic levels. if anyone around here is interested in hunting, those animals have to have something to feed on. like i said, soil health and forest regeneration: some of the little critters that hang out on the floor play a big role in seed dispersal and leaf litter breakdown that becomes fertilizer for the plant that grows that allows the deer to eat. the health of all of these systems, none of them are independent. it’s easier to compartmentalize them to study them, but they’re all interconnected.

q: a minute ago you called the southern appalachians the “salamander capital of the world”—

a yeah, they like to put that on coffee mugs in the smokies.

q ha! well, can you explain what bsal is and why sewanee is concerned about it?

a: yeah. bsal is essentially a form of chitrid, and a lot of people who are at least somewhat acquainted with amphibians know of chitrid came through and killed a lot of frog species, particularly in south america.

q: so, is this a viral disease?

a: no, it’s a fungal pathogen. all amphibians can breathe through their skin, and though some also have lungs, they all assimilate moisture and other things through their skin. because their skin stays wet the fungus will colonize it and cause them a lot of physiological stress.

more recently, i think it was 2014, they actually documented bsal in western europe that had been brought over from asia. a lot of animals coevolved with pathogens in their environment, but if you pick up a pathogen and move it somewhere—like in this case from asia to europe—it can completely wipe out whole populations.

because we have so many species here and the international pet trade is so thriving in atlanta, there’s big time concern among most scientists that its’s really a “when” not “if” situation for bsal to get introduced to the southern appalachians. it can cause all kinds of problems for the ecosystem services i talked about before… most people are preparing already for that. it would be sad for people like me, who are just big salamander fans, but it would be terrible for the ecosystem.

q: because the introduction of bsal is a “when” not “if” situation, how do you expect shi to contribute to monitoring bsal and preparing for its arrival?

a: well, we do the stream surveys. if certain species are found to be more vulnerable than others, we will know where they are and will recognize the areas that we’ll have to focus in on.

just over a decade ago, environmental scrutiny arose regarding the st. lawrence and great lakes waterways in the northeastern united states and southwestern canada. the watershed was in the midst of a crisis caused by the spread of aquatic invasive species through ships’ ballast water — the water large ships take in to provide stability while at sea, and release when in port.

air pollution from diesel-powered vehicles that help run these ports also has blanketed surrounding communities — which often are low income neighborhoods — and can yield a higher risk of disease within them as a result.

facing increasing public concern and media attention, the ports’ stakeholders recognized the need to minimize the environmental impact of maritime transportation.

the program criteria are developed with the help of advisory committees to represent both regional issues and the binational aspect of the program. green marine, established in 2007, says the hallmark of its program is that it “makes it possible for any marine company operating in canada or the u.s. to reduce its environmental footprint by undertaking concrete and measurable actions.”

maritime associations, including the st. lawrence development council (sodes) in quebec and the chamber of marine commerce in the great lakes region, joined forces to find a way to address the problems. their talks led to the creation of a reliable framework to clearly measure and relate their environmental progress through a certification program they named green marine.

green marine executive director david bolduc and their program manager, thomas grégoire, talked with us about the growth and success of the program. here’s an edited transcript of our conversation:

q: what strategies and ideas have you used in order to engage new members in the green movement and environmental protection conversation?

bolduc: our program’s best-selling tool is the program itself: its rigor, credibility, and transparency. social license is increasingly required by industries, and shipping is no exception. the program fills a real need within the marine industry for a thorough but simple framework that guides ship owners, port authorities, terminal operators, and shipyard managers toward improved environmental performance. tailor-made by the industry for the industry, it’s steadily engaging new participants. the program’s uniquely collaborative approach is also playing a key role in recruiting new members. leading environmental groups, government representatives, and the academic/scientific community appreciate the program giving them a true say in the criteria development and program’s revision to ensure that each level of our performance indicators consists of ambitious but still feasible goals. external verification also ensures the program’s rigor.

there’s also the business case for sustainability. the program and its members are demonstrating how being greener often means being more efficient, which can ultimately save money and improve the bottom line. taking proactive steps to be sustainable also reduces the chances of green marine’s certified participants running environmental risks, which reduces the likelihood of costly legal action.

… green marine inspires its participants to adopt best practices and leading-edge environmental technologies that result in the greater protection of our ecosystems. although it is a voluntary program and there is no competition, per se, among participants, the certification process spurs a healthy emulation among the industry’s stakeholders — a kind of a positive peer pressure. new member ports joining in one region, for example, can have a snowball effect by encouraging other ports and terminal operators in the same region, or working in the same trade, to join.

q: why do ports act as a unique outlet for action on emissions and an opportunity for leadership, in comparison to, say, the trucking industry or airline industries?

grégoire: ports are intermodal hubs where ship owners, tug operators, stevedores, truckers, and railroad operators all cross paths. it’s also where the marine industry is in direct contact with the general public as ports are often adjacent to residential communities.

many port authorities are not terminal operators but landlords. their tenants – the terminals – operate all the facilities within the port’s vicinity. ports can play a leadership role by encouraging tenants to take measurable actions toward greater sustainability. they can set the example, especially when it comes to air emissions. ports can reduce pollution by managing traffic to avoid road congestion, installing shore power utilities for vessels in harbour, rewarding greener ships, encouraging best practices among port users, and engaging and cooperating with governments and the community to create greener spaces.

q: what has been the most rewarding part of the growth of green marine?

bolduc: green marine’s steady but thoroughly considered expansion has permitted us to evolve our framework to be inclusive without compromising any objectives or performance standards. the most rewarding part of this growth is the local, national, and international recognition that green marine is receiving. the green marine certification is now referenced as an example of industry best practices, a model to emulate to achieve continuous improvement. it’s become harder to talk about the maritime sector’s efforts to improve sustainability without hearing green marine being mentioned. part of this discussion – and solution – is a testimony to the program’s relevance and credibility. it is also rewarding to see more and more of the marine industry pursuing their sustainability through green marine’s framework as it aligns with our fundamental goal of advancing environmental excellence. i believe that our most important accomplishment to date has been to foster a culture of dialogue between the industry and its stakeholders regarding environmental issues.

q: how do you intend to further engage ports to reach and protect their surrounding communities?

grégoire: green marine is trying to provide both individual and collective benefits to its members. the certification scheme helps all of the participating members – including ports – to demonstrate their commitment to greater sustainability and to measure their progress with a common “yardstick.” the collective goal is to maintain and even bolster the entire industry’s social license.

social acceptability is at the forefront of port development these days and must be addressed. green marine started out by addressing a few key issues that included community impacts, but this performance indicator focused primarily on mitigating noise and dust nuisances. … our working groups are currently developing the criteria for a new performance indicator that will split the existing performance indicator for community impacts into two: one of them will continue to address noise, light, dust, and other nuisances, as in the past. and the other new indicator will specifically focus on community relations, such as improving communications and establishing information channels. splitting the indicator in two reflects the program’s evolution as its participants advance from a purely environmental protection stance to a more holistically sustainable development approach.

q: how do you think operating as a binational organization has affected your success as an environmental organization? what challenges come with this dynamic?

bolduc: green marine has significantly enlarged its north american reach over the past decade, quadrupling its original participation and overall membership. one of the program’s core strengths comes from being responsive to regional concerns related to the maritime industry’s environmental footprint. industry representatives and green marine supporters (representing government, the academic/scientific community, environmental organizations) serve on three regional advisory committees. each committee assesses local concerns and discusses feasible solutions. the recommendations often lead to the program’s evolution.

new regional committees may be formed as soon as a region’s membership numbers warrant one. meanwhile, the marine industry is very integrated in some regions, such as the great lakes, where addressing binational concerns is essential and can help in some cases to eliminate future bureaucratic frustrations or conflicting regulations.

balancing the priorities of the different regions is challenging. not all environmental issues are as pressing everywhere… it is also challenging to keep up with the different regulatory baselines from the various regions where green marine now has participants.

q: where do you hope to see green marine in 10 years?

bolduc: green marine will continue to increase in size and status as a sustainability leader as its members demonstrate that the program’s framework clearly identifies and measures priorities, accomplishments, and opportunities. … where will green marine be in a decade from now? who knows! international interest is mounting. … (but) green marine will continue its leadership role in helping ports and seaways create more sustainable futures and cleaner waterways.

the epa’s take on green marine

to learn about the environmental benefits of programs like green marine, we also spoke with abby swaine, who works for the united states environmental protection agency’s new england regional office in the clean freight program on voluntary and regulatory programs to improve freight fuel efficiency. on the voluntary side, swaine promotes the epa’s smartway transport partnership as the regional liaison to the national program and promotes epa’s sustainable ports initiative. here’s an excerpt from our conversation:

q: why are organizations like green marine important to the fight for cleaner operations and development?

swaine: the epa believes in collaborating with a variety of organizations that work toward goals we have in common, across all environmental media (air, water, land). green marine has the capacity, as an independent, self-supporting nonprofit, to lead voluntary efforts at ports to go beyond compliance with environmental regulations.

q: how does green marine further the epa’s ports initiative?

swaine: the epa’s ports initiative works in collaboration with the port industry, communities, and all levels of government to improve environmental performance and increase economic prosperity. this effort helps people living and working near ports across the country breathe cleaner air and live better lives. at present, the epa’s ports initiative focuses on reducing criteria air pollutant emissions from ships, cargo handling equipment, trucks and trains. the epa also has a ports focus within its new smart sectors program. aspects of green marine complement and go beyond what either epa program offers at this time.

q: why do you believe ports have a leverage point for action on emissions and pollutants?

swaine: as populations and associated consumption grows, ports will continue to handle increased amounts of freight throughput. port authorities acknowledge that they have been granted a social license to operate and contribute to area-wide as well as local attainment of ambient air quality standards. therefore, proactive ports have been welcoming the chance to work with regulators, communities, and nonprofits to demonstrate meaningful efforts to minimize their impacts.

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online:

to learn more about green marine visit their website at: https://www.green-marine.org

to learn more about epas ports initiative visit: https://www.epa.gov/ports-initiative

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special thanks to david bolduc, thomas grégoire, and abby swaine for their involvement and time as well as the green marine-certified port of albany for images of operations.

some of the ways humans degrade water quality in coastal areas is through nutrient pollution, land-use change, and industrial contamination. the delaware bay and its tributaries are not only affected by activities in the immediate area, but from those that might occur at the far reaches of the watershed. these upstream inputs of pollution eventually work their way downstream to the bay where they are accumulated and compounded.

“one of the largest sources of pollution is from fertilizers that lead to nutrient pollution and eutrophication within our waterways,” said taylor deemer, a master of science student in marine biosciences at the university of delaware, lewes campus. 

deemer explains that farmers anticipate losing a portion of the fertilizer that they put down on their fields to runoff from rain events. as a result, to ensure that their crops receive the proper amount of nutrients, they often put down extra. these nutrients are not just useful for promoting the growth of terrestrial plants, but also promote the growth of aquatic ones as well, such as phytoplankton. eutrophication is when these excess nutrients reach the bay, leading to what is known as algal blooms, which are proliferations of various phytoplankton species.

phytoplankton is generally a good thing in aquatic systems, as it provides much of the oxygen that aquatic organisms need to survive. these bloom events, however, lead to bacterial growth that draws down the oxygen levels and lead to fish kills for those organisms that can’t escape the area.

options to combat nutrient pollution would be to simply use less pesticides, herbicides, and fertilizers. an additional option is to find methods of application that incorporate the fertilizers into the soil, rather than just spreading them across the surface where they run off more easily.

another issue that promotes these blooms is land-use change. changing the usage of land is especially problematic when coastal salt marsh environments are removed and used for other purposes, like home developments, shopping centers, and industrial properties. salt marshes, when present, act as buffers between the mainland and the estuaries. they absorb runoff pollution from the mainland, trapping it in the sediments. these systems also mitigate coastal flooding events by acting as a drainage area during times of increased water level, such as major storms or extreme tidal events.

deemer added: “they also provide a nursery habitat for many species of fish and invertebrates, acting as a safe space for the young to grow and mature.”

i, personally, have spent countless hours educating the public on the importance of these wetlands as the creative director of a team of ud students. as a team, we constructed a display on vernal pools for the 2018 philadelphia flower show. with this display, we illustrated how crucial ephemeral pools and wetlands are to the reproduction and development of aquatic species. 

when speaking with deemer, i asked whether building berms to combat nutrient pollution would be effective. but he said, “it would be really difficult to intercept all of the water by building berms. it would be much easier and more environmentally friendly to promote wetland habitat protection and restoration.”

wetland restoration was the focus of the university of delaware’s piece at the flower show. the exhibit urged attendees to contact their local department of natural resources to find out if there are certification programs in their areas. some states even have programs where citizens document vernal pools so they are protected. and you can do the same from your home, and your state. just look up your local department of natural resources, or check for a local extension office. 

now a giant machine, akin to a mechanical earthworm, denominated lady bird, burrowed deep under the city, creating a tunnel. this tunnel will serve to redirect sewage overflows, keeping the waste out of the city’s rivers on the occasions when the archaic sewage system becomes overwhelmed — a problem that has contributed to 3 billion gallons of raw sewage deposited into the anacostia and potomac annually.

this tunnel project is part of a larger commitment, $2.6 billion that d.c., along with the environmental protection agency, has invested in a the clean rivers project, a 20 year rivers cleanup initiative.

one report released by dc appleseed, a d.c.-based organization focused on solving problems affecting the district and its residents, stated that the anacostia river is one of the dirtiest in the country, practically unswimmable and for all safe purposes unfishable. yet, the rivers are still a hub for d.c. life. people boat and fish in both of the city’s rivers, and the banks house parks, stadiums and other centers of activity.

currently, the district’s sewer system dates back to the 1800s. it uses a combined approach, with one set of pipes for both sewage and stormwater. this means that with any storm that accumulates more than a quarter inch of rainfall, sewage flows into the rivers through 60 main overflow sites.

to give you an example of the extent of the problem, the highest rate of overflow for the last quarter of 2015 was the northeast boundary swirl effluent combined sewer overflow. there were 10 overflows in the quarter, which equaled spillage of 128.66 million gallons of sewage and flowed for just under 80 hours. to put it in perspective, this is enough sewage to fill just under 195 olympic swimming pools.

it’s estimated the new tunnel will cut those sewage overflows by 96%.

the machine used to create this tunnel is known as a tunnel boring machine, and consists of a cutterhead, scrapers, a giant screw and a conveyor belt. lady bird is 442 feet long (more than a football field in length, according to dc water), weighs 1,325 tons, and can move at a speed of 4 inches per minute.

to travel forward it braces itself against the sides of the concrete tunnel behind it and uses hydraulic jacks to propel itself forward as the cutterhead slowly rotates. the earth is loosened and mixed with a soapy, conditioning substance. it is then sucked into a giant screw which turns, carrying the muck to a conveyor belt, where it travels out of the tunnel to be disposed of at a dumping site.

after each push a new section of the tunnel is put up by workers, who make use of a mechanical arm to fit the pre-made sections into place. as the next shove occurs, grout is injected between the new tunnel and the outside dirt. workers lay down rails so the next section of tunnels can arrive and the cycle continues.

while lady bird has completed her section of the tunnel, as has a machine named lucy diggs slowe, named for one of the founders and first president of alpha kappa alpha sorority, and later an administrator at howard university. two other machines will continue to work. the third tunnel boring machine, named nannie after nannie helen burroughs, a civil rights activist who was very prominent in d.c. and helped provide education for african-american girls. nannie is digging the portion of the tunnel near rfk stadium, which will connect to the tunnel that lady bird is working on. the fourth machine, a micro tunnel boring machine simply called abigail, will connect lucy’s tunnel to existing sewers.

these tunnels, when combined with urban sustainability and green infrastructure projects such as distributing free rain barrels to residents and replacing asphalt with a more porous pavement, green roofs and rain gardens. all of these, and other efforts combine in the $2.6 billion, 20-year clean rivers project. in a decade, at the end of this initiative, district residents can expect to once again see rivers that are swimmable, fishable and compliant to the epa regulations.