Environmental▼News The lack of real funding increases for any of the USGS programs came as no surprise, the spokesperson says, given the current pressures of homeland security and defense, which have taken a higher priority. But the USGS is especially feeling the pinch “because we’ve had several years of this kind of trend,” the spokesperson notes. To cope with the ever-shrinking budget, “we now do far less science, fieldwork, and sample collection, and as a result it’s more difficult to attract and retain young employees.” Water resources investigations suffered the biggest funding decrease under the administration’s proposal of $177.8 million, which was roughly 14% less than FY ’02 funding levels. In restoring allocations for these programs, both the House and Senate strongly criti-
cized the Bush administration. “For the third year in a row, the committee has restored a number of high-priority research programs that were proposed for reduction or elimination by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) during the budget process,” House leaders wrote in House Report 107564, which accompanied bill H.R. 5093. OMB officials “seemingly believe that the Department of the Interior no longer needs science on which to base natural resource policy decisions,” despite recommendations from the National Academy of Sciences “detailing the need to expand, not eliminate the very programs that OMB has targeted as unnecessary,” they added. Likewise, Senate Report 107-201, which accompanied Senate bill S. 2708, noted that “the committee is
dismayed that the budget estimate for the USGS once again recommends large reductions to valuable ongoing programs,” such as the Toxic Substances Hydrology program and National Water Quality Assessment program. The House and Senate recommended higher total funding levels than what ultimately emerged in the spending package, $928.4 million and $926.6 million, respectively. In final negotiations between the two chambers, however, an across-theboard cut of 0.65% was agreed on for every item in the omnibus bill to bring overall spending down to a level Congress thought the president would approve. Bush has only requested $895.5 million for USGS for the fiscal year beginning this October (Environ. Sci. Technol. 2003, 37, 131A). —KRIS CHRISTEN
New NGO to help save lakes from climate change Goldman, a professor of limnology at the University of California– Davis, who is world renowned for his work on saving Lake Tahoe from environmental degradation, will be the NGO’s first president. The NGO will complement the United Nations Environment Programme’s Global Environment Monitoring System/ Water Programme, in which more than 100 countries participate in monitoring, assessment, and capacity building of freshwater resources, by adding a climate change component to the knowledge base. “We are facing a 21st century world water crisis,” warned Goldman BRITT E. ERICKSON/ENVIRON. SCI. TECHNOL.
As an offshoot of discussions presented at the 3rd World Water Forum, held in March in Japan, a new nongovernmental organization (NGO) has been established to rapidly assemble existing data on global climate change and water resources. The World Water and Climate Network will link researchers and organizations worldwide that have concerns about the impacts of climate change on water resources, and, wherever possible, take action to restore surface waters in danger. The new NGO will be headquartered at Lake Biwa Research Institute in Otsu, Japan, near Kyoto. Charles
Lake Biwa, which is shown here in the city of Otsu, is the largest lake in Japan. Like many other freshwater resources, it is facing danger from climate change. 208 A ■ ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY / JUNE 1, 2003
at the World Water Forum. There is danger that in the future, wars will be fought over water, not oil, he said. Freshwater resources, which are already limited, are likely to be further stressed by climate change. As a result, long-term monitoring is a prerequisite, and data and information on surface water resources and climate change need to be integrated and disseminated, he said. On the basis of several presentations at the meeting, many freshwater lakes have already been affected by climate change. “For two consecutive summers, Lac Saint-Augustin in Quebec City has been closed to the public because of proliferation of cyanobacteria,” said Warwick Vincent of Laval University in Canada, who attributes the noxious algal blooms to the lake’s increasing temperatures. A warmer climate leads to increased stratification of the lake, resulting in less mixing, which, in turn, results in more phosphorus being released from the oxygen-depleted sediments, he explained. As a result, even stricter controls on nutrient inputs will be needed in warmer climates, he said. Meanwhile, fish productivity has dropped 28% in Lake Tanganyika in Tanzania because of the disap-
pearance of strong seasonal wind patterns and increased water temperatures, said Catherine O’Reilly, a limnologist at Vassar College in New York. Productivity in the lake has declined since 1800, but the trend is particularly noticeable after 1950, which is consistent with the warmer water temperatures. In addition to temperature, scientists are looking for other clues to show how climate change is affecting water resources. “We are at the hunter–gatherer stage of science in terms of finding biomarkers of climate change,” said Stephen J. de Mora of the International Atomic Energy Agency’s Marine Environ-
mental Laboratory in Monaco. Among the biomarkers that look promising are carbon isotopic ratios (13C/12C) of alkenones—longchain methyl and ethyl ketones synthesized by a limited number of microalgae—which can be used to estimate historical partial pressures of CO2, he said. “Global warming is bringing on a water crisis,” said Michio Kumagai of Lake Biwa Research Institute in Japan. “There are more lakes with decreased oxygen, and even Lake Biwa is facing danger. That is why we need an international consortium to save lakes,” he warned. —BRITT E. ERICKSON
Recycling sludge bacteria magnetically
YASUZO SAKAI, UTSUNOMIYA UNIVERSITY
An innovative new magnetic separation technique could reduce by several percent the volume of sludge generated by the most widespread wastewater purification method in the world, according to researchers who have developed the method. However, other water treatment engineers have reacted skeptically to the claims, which have not yet been published.
Magnetic separation could make wastewater treatment more effective.
By replacing the gravitational settling that is commonly used in activated sludge treatment with magnetic separation, the new process could make wastewater treatment more efficient. Magnetic separation has the potential to cut
some 5 tonnes of waste from the several hundred tonnes produced each day by a plant that serves 100,000 people, according to environmental engineer Yasuzo Sakai at the Department of Applied Chemistry, Utsunomiya University, Japan. The new technique should also help wastewater facilities overcome two persistent problems associated with activated sludge treatment. Activated sludge treatment relies on countless legions of “active” bacteria to digest the organic matter in sludge, and it is used throughout the world for wastewater purification. When this treatment method works right, balls of bacteria, called flocs, do their job of breaking down organic pollutants and then settle out so that the clean water can flow out. One problem that plagues activated sludge treatment occurs when long strands of filamentous bacteria form mats between the bacterial balls, preventing the flocs from settling. When this is severe, the process doesn’t work and the plant has to be shut down and cleaned. Excess biomass is the other problem and happens because when the process is working right, bacteria thrive on the organic compounds. Researchers have documented that 100 kilograms (kg) of organic pollutants in sewage can generate an astounding 40–80 kg of bacteria cells. This excess bio-
News Briefs Educator honored In recognition of 25 years of outstanding teaching, John Philip Sumpter of Brunel University in the United Kingdom earned the Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry’s Environmental Education Award presented at the SETAC meeting held in Hamburg, Germany, in late April. Dr. U. Noack Laboritorien of Sarstedt, Germany, sponsored the award and cited Sumpter for introducing “modern ways of teaching, like group project work and presentations.” Sumpter’s “small but powerful” research group is noted for its contributions to the study of endocrine disruption and the hormonal control of fish reproduction. Sumpter was also noted as one of the 20 most highly cited scientists in environmental science in the United Kingdom. For more information about Sumpter’s research, go to www.brunel.ac.uk/depts/bio/staff/ sumpter.htm.
“Green” and profitable businesses Businesses can be profitable and environmentally responsible, suggests a new database containing more than 650 examples of economically successful companies that have either won environmental awards or are recognized by the U.S. EPA’s National Environmental Performance Track program. This resource, which is a partnership between Greenbiz. com and EPA, is aimed at helping businesses use more environmentally friendly practices and make a profit at the same time. The database is searchable by environmental initiative, such as waste recycling or energy efficiency, or by type of company, and it is updated as new awards are given. To view the database, go to www. greenbizleaders.com.
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