Great Lakes Top Priority: Stop Invasive Species

Recently, more than 200 delegates from the Great Lakes states and other regional organizations met in Washington in support of a shared vision to restore and protect the Great Lakes.

Their number one priority: stop invasive species before they completely overwhelm the Great Lakes ecosystem, crowd out desirable species and wreak havoc on the regional economy. Aquatic invasive species are not just a threat to the health of our fishery. They are a threat to our economy.

At the annual Great Lakes Day in Washington, which is co-sponsored by the Great Lakes Commission and the Northeast-Midwest Institute, an unprecedented alliance of the Great Lakes states, including mayors, tribal authorities, resource managers and conservation groups, set forth a short list of critical, near-term priorities for starting the Great Lakes on the road to recovery. They are urging Congress to join state and local efforts to increase funding for Great Lakes clean-up programs and approve key policy measures.

The full list of near-term priorities, including specific legislation, is as follows:

• Protect water quality by appropriating $1.35 billion for the Clean Water State Revolving Fund (CWSRF) to update sewerage systems, safeguard drinking water and protect coastal health in the Great Lakes. Reauthorize the CWSRF to provide additional funding in future years.
• Stop aquatic invasive species by passing the National Aquatic Invasive Species Act, authorizing construction and maintenance of a dispersal barrier to prevent the introduction and spread of harmful aquatic invasive species and appropriate $20.2 million to the Great Lakes Fishery Commission to control sea lamprey and manage fishery resources.
• Appropriate $54 million for the Great Lakes Legacy Act to clean up contaminated sediments and restore Great Lakes "toxic hot spots."
• Restore Great Lakes Wetlands by appropriating $28.5 million to partner with the states in restoring 200,000 acres of valuable wetlands, and $16 million for the Great Lakes Fish and Wildlife Restoration Act.
• Enact Great Lakes restoration legislation by authorizing the recommendations from the Great Lakes Regional Collaboration restoration strategy, and by funding coordinated actions.

Source — Great Lakes Commission

Aging Sewage Pipes Pollute Nation

Many of the more popular beaches in Southern California are polluted with sewage as often as one out of every three days. Much of it from storm drains full of untreated runoff. But missing from their analysis is another major source of coastal sewage pollution--the sewer pipes.

It is a national problem. Name the city or county, and chances are the public officials most vociferous about the environment are often the ones most inattentive to the worst source of pollution in their waters: sewage. Over the last two years, dozens of places throughout America have had their worse sewage spill in decades, if not ever.

Most of the sewage pipes in America were installed 60 years ago in the great post-war building boom. They were meant to last for 50 years. Now, sewer pipes are breaking at an unprecedented rate. Last year there were 73,000 sewer spills in America.

Recently, the biggest news story in Dallas was about the search for a little boy who disappeared and may have fallen into a large sinkhole above a sewer pipe. Every couple of weeks, the local and national news carry stories about sinkholes that mysteriously appear, swallowing cars, sidewalks and even homes.

What's happening? When sewer pipes corrode, dirt falls in. Over a period of time, the ground below the surface and above the pipe is gone. Eventually it rains, causing a pipe break and instant sinkhole. The only question left is why we let so much of our sewage infrastructure rot away when we know people will get sick by the tens of thousands, when we know that sooner or later we will have to fix them, as the EPA demands.

Some places figured it out. San Diego, for example, had some of the leakiest sewer systems and sickest surfers in America. With EPA sanctions looming, the city hired a company out of St. Louis that fixes sewer pipes from the inside - removing a favorite excuse for inaction...the disruption of traffic. This same company did the same thing beneath the White House. And, yes, when they are fixing pipes they do find alligators in the sewers.

Broken or rotting sewer pipes are the most immediate and damaging threat to our environment - not rising temperatures at the North Pole. It's sewage on our beaches from leaky pipes.

Source — The Water Infrastructure Network
By Nancy Trahan, San Gabriel Valley Tribune

ALERT!   SOFTWARE UPDATES

Operator10 v8.16 and Antero v4.09 installs and updates are now available for downloading from our web site.

To download program updates, go to http://www.allmaxsoftware.com/download.php to begin the update process.

To download an evaluation version of Operator10, go to http://www.allmaxsoftware.com/operations.htm and click the "Get Operator10" button on the left hand side of the screen.

To download an evaluation version of Antero, go to http://www.allmaxsoftware.com/maintenance.htm and click the "Get Antero" button on the left hand side of the screen.