If you've never heard of the Sacramento Delta, you're not alone. Even people who live in California aren't too sure where it is. But the Sacramento Delta is crucial to the health of the state, and climate change is threatening the delta's very existence.

The Sacramento Delta is a small triangle of land just inland from the San Francisco Bay Area. It's where the fresh water from California's major rivers and the salt water from the Pacific Ocean meet. More than 20 million Californians get some of their drinking water from the delta. It also provides much of the water for California's huge agribusiness.

Feb 2, 2010 - Today is World Wetlands Day
Plan a visit to a wetland soon, you may be surprised at how beautiful they are!

For more than 25 years, February 2nd has been designated as World Wetlands Day. Wetlands are under-appreciated in many areas. First we have to drain the swamps, is still a common approach to development in many areas. This approach, of course, is actually a bad idea, a very bad idea, since wetlands, besides being important to the species that live there, are important groundwater recharge areas.

A judge overseeing endangered salmon on the Columbia and Snake Rivers is raising the possibility of dam removal. If politics trumps science this time, how can we hope to deal with climate change?
By Paul VanDevelder
July 6, 2009

If ever there were a story that foreshadowed the political and legal Waterloos that loom in seeking solutions to climate change, surely that cautionary tale is the one about the Columbia and Snake rivers' salmon and their imminent extinction. And like most stories about endangered species or environmental threats, this one is not only about fish and rivers -- it's about us.

Antibiotics, Antimicrobials And Antifungals In Waterways

"Rivers, creeks, lakes, estuaries, basins, sea waters and wells have been reported to be contaminated by several of these compounds," says Dr. Sauve, adding that a previous review by the scientific team also demonstrated that pharmaceuticals could promote microbial resistance when released in the environment.

Article by:  Laura Tull

Summary: Volunteering for Earth Day/ Week can not only help the environment, but can educate, preserve history, and memories for the future.

20-03-2009

A new report based on 40 years of data analysed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S. Geological Survey, state government wildlife agencies, and non-governmental organizations including Audubon (BirdLife in the USA), shows that birds are sending an important and troubling message about the state of the environment. The report also shows that investment in conservation works, exemplified by the remarkable recoveries of waterfowl after more than 30 million acres of wetlands were restored and managed.

Source ABC, October 29, 2008
Frogs and salamanders are disappearing in Yellowstone National Park and researchers at Stanford blame their decline on global warming. These amphibious indicators of the environment are the kind of discovery that, for a Ph.D. candidate, can be the makings of a career. So, it says quite a bit when Sarah McMenamin of Stanford University says she would give it all up for a different result.

"I was always of two minds when I kept coming with these results. It's exciting because it's going to be a paper with a large impact. But on the other hand this, this is frightening," said McMenamin.

About 4 out of 10 freshwater fish species in North America are in peril according to major study by Canadian, US and Mexican scientists.

See The Associated Press, Seth Borenstein, The Denver Post, 9 11 08 for more. When will we get it, waterways are not toilets. Pollution kills and hurts the economy. These fish are food and recreation and business too. Stop dumping chemicals and sewage, that is what we should be demanding of industry and our governments.