No, not PCBs, PBDEs!

PBDEs is the quick way to refer to polybrominated diphenyl ethers, toxic compounds used in manufacturing as flame retardants. Common household items that are routinely flame retarded include mattresses, television sets and computers. Since PBDEs have been identified in nature, researchers in UW-Madison's Department of Forest and Wildlife Ecology have been doing some interesting work to see what the implications may be, specifically on the Northern Leopard Frog. This UW Sea Grant video will give you a closer look.


Further information can be found in this Sea Grant news release.

National Groundwater Awareness Week

The Center for Watershed Science and Education has written four news releases in cooperation with the Wisconsin Water Resources Institute (WRI) for National Groundwater Awareness Week. The Center is part of the University of Wisconsin - Extension Cooperative Extension Service and housed in the College of Natural Resources (CNR) at UW-Stevens Point. Specifically, the Central Wisconsin Groundwater Center works with citizens and local governments throughout Wisconsin, particularly those in the central part of the state. Their website host a variety of resources that provide helpful information about groundwater issues.

This year National Groundwater Awareness week is taking place March 6th through March 12th. Raising awareness of groundwater, water beneath the earth's surface, is important because it is essential to the health and well being of humanity and the environment. In Wisconsin, groundwater provides drinking water for 70% of Wisconsin residents and 95% of communities. It also benefits lakes, streams and wetlands and helps sustain the many creatures who live there. Read the four news releases for further information.

1. Conserving Wisconsin's Buried Treasure
2. Dispelling Groundwater Myths
3. Properly Filling and Sealing Unused Wells
4. Spring is a Good Time to Test Well Water

Think Spring, Think Gardening

Two increasingly popular gardening methods are green gardening and rain gardens. While benefiting the environment in several ways, these two types of gardens also yield healthy plants and vegetables and beautiful flowers.

Sometimes also referred to as organic gardening, green gardening saves soils and nearby water systems from the trauma of the chemicals and pesticides or fertilizers which are often used in traditional gardening. For some suggestions or tips, see our recommended reading list on green gardening.

A second kind of environmentally friendly garden is a rain garden. These gardens satisfy the dual purpose of growing pretty flowers and plants while also filtering potentially harmful runoff from getting into the watershed. One local rain garden is in Cross Plains at the Rosemary Garfoot Public Library, Wisconsin's first green library. For information on how to start your own rain garden, see our recommended reading list on rain gardens.

Photo credits: Top, Amy De Simone. Bottom, Cross Plains Public Library

"The Next Step in your Carpucation"

With the coming of spring also comes National Invasive Species Awareness Week, the first week of March. Staff at the Aquatic Sciences Center have taken this opportunity to educate people a bit about the ever-unpopular asian carp. An introduction to asian carp can be read in this previous blog entry. For those who are more familiar with the species, this UW Sea Grant release helps to explain information as relayed by invasive species outreach specialist Phil Moy.

Entitled "Taking Five With an Asian Carp," this article offers information relating to five surprising facts about the species. Are asian carp really bottom feeders? Do they relate to algal blooms in any way? What about those zebra mussels and quagga, is there a connection between them and asian carp? How many types of asian carp are really out there? These are all questions answered in the press release. For further reading on invasive species, see the library's recommended reading list.

Photo credit: Chris Young

Hydrofracking leaves water radioactive?

There is concern in Pennsylvania that some wastewater is not being properly treated and, as a result, this toxic water may be mixing with drinking water sources. This is the result of a process commonly refered to as hydrofracking. More formally known as high-volume horizontal hydraulic fracturing, this relatively new type of drilling is being used to access natural gas which exists as bubbles in deep layers of rock beneath the earth's surface. This process involves blasting the rock with high pressure water which contains a combination of sand and chemicals. While some of these chemicals do occur naturally, they do not normally mix with drinking water. This is where there is a foreseen problem.

After blasting, the wastewater is treated by sewage or other wastewater treatment plants, but data has been gathered showing that the process of cleaning the water there leaves the water with levels of toxins higher than what was previously known. After being treated the water then mixes with other waters and may eventually be getting into the drinking water supply. The issue is under review while arguments are being raised about the level of testing to which the waters are subjected. The New York Times article has more on the story.

Photo credit: Kevin Moloney for The New York Times

Sturgeon Spearing Season Starts Big

Primary Wisconsin DNR reports coming out of Winnebago and Oshkosh are in. The third and fifth largest sturgeons have been added to the record books, which were started in 1941. Weighing 185 and 172.7 pounds respectively, these two female record fish are among seven sturgeon that have been added to the books in the last three years. A list of the top ten fish can be seen here.

Overall, 881 fish were caught during the first three days of the season. Out of those fish, 52 weighed over 100 pounds. Big fish are being caught because of DNR regulations that went into effect to protect the larger fish and increase their presence in WI lakes. The total maximum number of days the season could stay open is 16, and official are saying this is very likely. The final day of the open season will then be this Sunday, February 27th at 12:30pm. Read the full DNR release for more information.

Photo from the WDNR news release.

Estuary.gov - Great Resource for Coastal Literacy

The new Lake Superior Reserve, part of the National Estuarine Research Reserve System (from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration - NOAA), was dedicated in October 2010. This beautiful spot is described as "a combination of four distinct land areas and portions of connecting waterways in Douglas County, in the northwest corner of Wisconsin where the St. Louis River flows into Lake Superior." The new reserve will include research and public education opportunities.

To get teachers started teaching coastal literacy, NOAA has a great website called Estuaries.gov. According to the website, "Estuaries.Gov helps educators bring the beauty and the importance of estuaries into classrooms and educational programs. This site provides, primarily, an avenue for elementary, middle and high school students, and their teachers, to learn more about estuaries, research, and explore NOAA’s “living laboratories” - the National Estuarine Research Reserves."

Estauaries.gov can be found at http://estuaries.gov/Default.aspx