A quarterly newsletter for members and friends of the Freshwater SocietyFACETS

June 2009

Volume 33, No. 2

of Freshwater

Funding approved… Continues on page 3

The sales tax increase that Minnesota voters approved last fall will pay for $151 mil-

lion worth of water protection, water clean-up and water research over the next two years under a law enacted this spring.

The law directs the University of Minnesota to develop 10- and 25-

Funding approved for water sustainability study

Lake Pepin is a huge natural lake filling a wide spot in the Mississippi River that extends from south of Red Wing to

just north of Wabasha. It is 22 miles long and 3 miles wide.

The lake, which drains watersheds covering more than half of Minnesota, draws anglers, sailors and power-boaters from a wide area and generates millions of tourist dollars for marinas, motels and other businesses along its shores.

The lake looks inviting for almost any sort of recreation and, in many respects, it is

Arboretum… Continues on page 10

Sediment, phosphorus threaten Lake Pepin

year plans for ensuring that ground-water aquifers, lakes, rivers and wetlands are managed sustainably. And, for the first time, the legislation wrote into state law an explicit defi-nition of sustainable water use—use that weighs both human needs and the needs of ecosystems.

An October 2008 Freshwater

Society report that questioned whether current patterns of ground-water use are sustainable in the light of an expected state population increase of 1 million people played a major role in the legislation, accord-ing to three lawmakers who helped enact the spending plan.

…Lake Pepin Continues on page 5

Arboretum hosts ‘Waterosity’

As summer begins, green living will make a splash at the Minnesota Landscape

Arboretum in Chaska.The Arboretum—with co-sponsor-

ship from the Freshwater Society and Xcel Energy—will host a weekend “Splash Party” Saturday and Sunday, July 11 and 12, to celebrate the Arbo-retum’s summer exhibit “Waterosity: Go Green with a Splash.”

Did you know that some grasses need to be mowed only once a year and require less than a half the water consumed by conventional lawns? Would you like to learn how water pollution can be prevented by plant-ing a green roof? And did you know that the United States has the largest per capita water consumption in the world, twice the world average,

Clear water from the St. Croix River joins the sediment-laden Mississippi River, upstream from Lake Pepin. Three-fourths of the sediment the Mississippi carries to Lake Pepin comes from the Minnesota River.

‘AquatiScope!’ sculpture depicts microscopic water plants and animals. It is part of a juried art exhibit at the Arboretum.

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In April, I viewed a powerful television documentary: “Poisoned Waters.” The PBS documentary examined the serious pollution degrading two major bod-ies of water a continent apart—Chesapeake Bay on the East Coast and Puget

Sound on the West Coast. Reporter Hedrick Smith described agricultural runoff from poultry farms that

is feeding algae growth and depleting oxygen in a huge “dead zone” in Chesa-peake Bay. In Seattle, Smith looked at stormwater washing into Puget Sound from urban and suburban roofs, streets and parking lots.

Jay Manning, director of Washington State’s Department of Ecology, estimated that every two years the oil carried into Puget Sound by stormwater equals the Exxon Valdez oil spill.

The Clean Water Act, enacted in the 1970s, called for all of America’s lakes and streams to be fishable and swimmable by 1983. We spent billions to clean up sew-age and industrial discharges. And we have done a pretty good job of addressing that “point source” pollution.

But the Clean Water Act never had regulatory teeth to end the widespread nonpoint source pollution we all produce. While stormwater runoff and the con-version of farmland to suburban developments are big problems, it is agriculture that causes most of our nonpoint source pollution

In “Poisoned Waters,” J. Charles Fox, a former assistant administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, says: “Agriculture is by far the largest source of pollution to all the waters in the country.”

I believe we all eventually will have to demand our food be produced in a way that is less damaging to our waters. We cannot keep growing what we grow, where we grow it in the way we now grow it.

The documentary, as grim a picture as it paints, gives me hope that we can make the life-style choices—about what we eat and how we live—that we must make to reduce nonpoint source pollution. I am hopeful that a better understand-ing of the causes and effects of pollution will bring about the cultural shift we must have to address the problem.

The first step in solving any problem is understanding the problem and its causes. Too often, nonpoint source pollution seems too big, too diffuse, for us to do anything about it.

“Poisoned Waters” makes the point that the Freshwater Society made in its report on water quality and sustainability last fall: Everything we do on the land affects the water bodies draining the land. That is a point the Freshwater Society must keep making. If people understand what they face, I believe they eventually will make the right choices.

From the desk of

Gene MerriamPresidentFreshwater Society

The Freshwater Society is a non-profit organization dedicated to educating and inspiring people to value, conserve and protect all freshwater resources.

BOARD OF DIRECTORSTodd R. Bolin, ChairTom Gapinske, Vice ChairDonald Theissen, Ph.D., SecretaryThomas B. Skramstad, TreasurerBlyth Berg Brookman, Vice Chair of ProgramsJill Gibson Blyth Bruce BomierRichard S. Caldecott, Ph.D. Emeritus DirectorRobert Elde, Ph.D.Paul Floyd, J.D.Richard G. Gray, Sr., D.Sc.,Stuart E. Grubb, P.G.Jo Ellen Hurr, Emeritus DirectorBarbara Luikens, M.D.John Packard

STAFFGene Merriam, PresidentJoan Nephew, Executive Director Scott Branch, Operations AssistantChris Prok, Operations Manager Jeanne Prok, Program ManagerPatrick Sweeney, Communications DirectorCherie Wagner, Project ManagerLaura West, Administrative Assistant

Facets of Freshwater is published quarterly by the Freshwater Society.

If reprinting this material, please contact the Society for permission, give credit to Facets of Freshwater by the Freshwater Society, and send us a copy. Fax: 952-471-7685

For subscription or membership information, contact us at:2500 Shadywood Road,Excelsior, MN 55331or call 952-471-9773.E-mail: freshwater@freshwater.org

Visit the Freshwater Society web site at: www.freshwater.org

FACETS June 20092

Funding approved for water sustainability study Continued from page 1

That report, Water Is Life: Protecting a Critical Resource For Future Generations, cited conflicting reports over the years about the sustainability of groundwater pumping in the Twin Cities and called for a “scientifically rigorous study of sustainability that will inspire consensus among experts and citizens.”

State Sen. Sandy Rummel, DFL-White Bear Lake, who chaired a subcommittee that wrote the water portion of legisla-tion that also covered wildlife habitat, parks and trails and the arts, said she assembled a thick file of previous reports on Minnesota’s water resources. But she said the Freshwater report was the one she relied on most.

“This was the one I started with,” Rummel said of the Freshwater report. “It was the one I went to last. And it was the one I depended on all through it.”

Two other key legislators with deep interest in water and the environ-ment—Rep. Jean Wagenius, the chair of the Environment and Natural Resources Division of the House Finance Commit-tee, and Sen. Ellen Anderson, chair of the Environment, Energy and Natural Resources Budget Division of the Sen-ate Finance Committee—also cited the Freshwater report’s impact on the dis-cussion of water sustainability this year.

“It was very important to me,” Anderson, DFL-St. Paul, said of the report.

Wagenius, DFL-Minneapolis, said the Freshwater report played a key role in focusing attention on groundwater. And the vote last fall by Minnesota citizens to increase the sales tax by three-eighths of one percent to benefit the environ-ment and the arts gave lawmakers the money—even in a time of state defi-cits—to boost spending on water.

“Water went from being a non-issue to being a huge issue,” Wagenius said. “And part of it was your (the Freshwa-ter Society’s) work, and part of it was the new money.”

The water spending plan appropri-

ates $750,000 for the University of Minnesota Water Resources Center to prepare a 25-year sustainability plan that will also have a 10-year component. The legislation directs the university to enlist the assistance of a string of state, federal and local governmental agencies, plus “private nonprofits with expertise in water resources,” in writing the plans.

Anderson, Wagenius and Rummell said they expected the Freshwater Society would be involved in helping the university. The society currently is co-sponsoring, with the Water Resources

Center, a series of workshops on sus-tainability for groundwater profession-als. The workshops have been aimed, in part, at developing a shared under-standing about how to think about, measure and model sustainability across Minnesota.

Deb Swackhamer, co-director of the Water Resources Center, said she, too,

envisioned that the Freshwater Society would be asked to play some role in preparing the sustainability plans.

The new definition written into state law for water sustainability provides that, for the purposes of the 10- and 25-year plans, water uses will be con-sidered sustainable when they do not “harm ecosystems, degrade water qual-ity or compromise the ability of future generations to meet their needs.”

Wagenius said the definition’s explicit recognition of the needs of ecosystems was a victory for the envi-ronment over purely human needs and values.

The $151 million in water funding is part of about $397 million the Legisla-ture and Gov. Tim Pawlenty approved spending over two years on wildlife habitat, water, parks and trails and the arts.

The water spending will maintain an effort, begun in 2006, to dramatically speed up the testing and clean-up of lakes and rivers. “We were on track to get this done in 40 years maybe, if we were lucky,” Anderson said. “Now we will get there in 10 years.”

“Water went from being a non-issue to being a huge issue.” —Rep. Jean Wagenius

FACETS June 2009 3

Major parts of the water spending

$6.5 million Buy and restore conservation easements for 50- to 100-foot buffers near lakes and rivers

$3.6 million Map topography and drainage

$7.5 million Increase groundwater testing and protection

$4.7 million Encourage use of treated wastewater, including use by ethanol plants

$15 millionSpeed up testing of lakes and rivers

$18 million Clean up polluted lakes and rivers already designated as polluted

$33 million Wastewater treatment grants to cities to reduce dis-charges of phosphorus and other pollutants

$9 million

Combat agricultural pollution by monitoring pesticides and fertilizers in groundwater, researching agricultural practices and making loans to farmers to pursue best management practices

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“Sometimes we wonder just what the heck people think we’re doing,” said Pat Hart-

man, as he strained to hear frogs croak-ing in the distance while cars zoomed by on the road behind him. Chris Brueske, his survey partner, determined their loca-tion with a Global Positioning System.

After a minute, Hartman’s watch beeped, signaling the end of their listen-ing period. The men jumped into action, filling out a log sheet noting the types of frogs they heard and their estimates of the relative density of the frog popula-tions.

Hartman and Brueske were in Leba-non Hills Regional Park in Eagan in mid-April as volunteer monitors for the Minnesota Frog and Toad Calling Survey.

Along with hundreds of other volun-teers across the state, they were helping the Department of Natural Resources track the health of frog populations and the ecosystems the frogs inhabit.

Worldwide, amphibian popula-tions are in trouble. According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s “red list,” nearly half of the world’s species of frogs and toads are threatened. Habitat loss, disease and cli-mate change are factors in the decline.

“Frogs are great indicators of the

Volunteers listen carefully for ecosystem health

health of wetlands, and of water quality,” said Krista Larson, who coordinates the survey for the DNR Nongame Wildlife Program. So the DNR came to believe that monitoring amphibian populations could prove a valuable gauge of the health, not only of frogs, but also of the state’s wetlands.

The survey hasn’t yielded any con-clusive results on either frogs or wet-lands—yet.

Survey data collected since 1997 indi-cate that spring peepers, as well as tree frogs, seem to have declined as much as

10% statewide, according to Larson. The American bullfrog, on the other hand, has become more common. Once found mainly in southeastern Minnesota, bull-frogs now live in much of the state.

Populations of the other 11 species of frogs and toads found in Minnesota appear to be holding steady.

Prior to 1994, the DNR did not moni-tor frog and toad populations.

“It was a big gaping hole,” said Larson. An explosion in the number of deformed frogs sighted in Minnesota prompted the DNR to copy a popula-tion survey model already in use in Wisconsin.

The Frog and Toad Survey makes no attempt to put a number on frog popu-lations, a near impossibility given the elusiveness of the creatures. Brueske and Hartman didn’t sight a single frog during their April stops in Lebanon Hills, and they have rarely done so over the years. They were, however, barraged with frog calls at each of the 10 listening stops on their route.

At each stop, they ranked the pres-ence of each species they heard—based on the volume of those calls—on a 0-3 scale. Zero being none, 1 – individuals can be counted with space between calls, 2 – individuals can be distinguished but

How to volunteer Would you like to get outdoors, help do some important biological research and

hear some pretty interesting croaking? The Minnesota Frog and Toad Calling Survey recruits volunteers every winter and

spring to run routes starting in April or May. Volunteers from outside the metro area are especially needed.

Volunteers are assigned open routes on a first-come, first-serve basis. As a survey volunteer, you will be asked to run the same route three times, once

early in spring, once in late spring and again later in the summer. Each route consists of 10 listening stops, and all are accessible by road.

For more information and a map of available routes, visit the survey home page on the Minnesota DNR website: www.dnr.state.mn.us/volunteering/frogtoad_sur-vey/index.html, or call/email Krista Larson, program coordinator, at krista.larson@dnr.state.mn.us or 651-259-5120.

Volunteers listen… Continues on page 8

Pat Hartman fills out a log recording frog calls. At right is Chris Brueske.

American bullfrog

FACETS June 20094

Sediment, phosphorus threaten Lake Pepin Continued from page 1

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inviting. But it suffers from two major pollution problems: excess sediment that is washing into the lake at 10 times the rate it did before European settlers reached the Mississippi, and excess phosphorus that feeds summertime algal blooms and depletes the oxygen needed to sustain plants and fish.

Since 2004, the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency has been researching Lake Pepin’s water quality and the sources of its pollution, planning how to reduce the sediment and phosphorus and modeling how the lake would respond to reductions.

This fall the agency will make public a plan calling for significant—40 percent to 50 percent—reductions in both pollut-ants in watersheds that feed Lake Pepin.

The plan—called a TMDL, for Total Maximum Daily Load—is the biggest such water quality plan the MPCA ever has written, and it is one of the biggest such plans undertaken anywhere in the country. It will be followed within a year by a plan proposing how to achieve those reductions.

The plan, backed up by regulations that require sewage treatment plants to obtain permits for their discharges, will force Twin Cities plants to further crank down the levels of phosphorus they release into the Mississippi River.

Lacking any similar enforcement mechanism to demand sediment and phosphorus reductions by farms and individual residents along the river, the plan almost certainly will call for vol-untary cuts in the two pollutants and propose state financial inducements for adoption of management practices that alleviate the pollution.

The Freshwater Society interviewed Gaylen Reetz, who directs the MPCA’s efforts to clean up lakes and rivers statewide, about the effort to improve Lake Pepin’s water quality. Reetz’ responses have been edited for brevityQ. In qualitative terms, what are Lake Pepin’s problems?A. Phosphorous loading, which is

nutrient enrichment that results in algal blooms. And the second part is turbidity in the water column. When you com-bine the two, we have too much algae, and it shades out the rooted macro-phytes, which are water celery, a favor-able food for migrating ducks. Algae create an additional oxygen demand in the water, so some of the more desir-able fish species cannot survive, such as walleye and sauger and bass. The fish that will probably thrive are carp and other rough fish.Q. Are the problems getting better or get-ting worse?A. What I’d like to say is both. When we plot some of the data, long-term, it appears to be getting worse. Now, at the same time, if you look at 40 to 50 years ago, I think we’d say there have been significant improvements in Lake Pepin as a result of improvements made in the metro area with wastewater treatment and combined sewer overflow.Q. In quantitative terms what are Lake Pepin’s problems? How much phosphorus and sediment flow into the lake every year, and how much can the lake handle? A. Lake Pepin is subject to nuisance algae blooms when river flows decrease. To reduce the frequency of nuisance blooms, phosphorus concentrations in the Mississippi need to be reduced from 180 parts per billion to 100 parts per bil-lion. Annual loads of suspended solids need to decrease by 40 to 50%, from the current average rate of 850,000 metric tons per year to around 500,000 metric

tons per year. If current sedimentation rates con-

tinue, the entire lake will fill in in 300 years, and the upper third will be gone this century. If we halve the annual average load of sediment, life expec-tancy will increase to 600 years. Q. Does the current plan examine the nitrogen that flows down the Mississippi and contributes to the oxygen-depleted zone in the Gulf of Mexico? A. It may look at it, but that really isn’t the focus of the study we’re doing. Q. What is the timeline for releasing the current study, proposing a clean-up plan and—finally—cleaning up the lake?A. The goal we’ve had is to try to have a study prepared, in draft, for public comment and review in September or shortly thereafter, and then try to have a cleanup plan in place within a year of that being finally approved.

As far as ultimately cleaning up the lake, it’s going to take some time. When you’re dealing with the size and scale of the system we’re looking at, it did not deteriorate in five to 10 years, and it’s not going to turn around in five to 10 years. It’s going to be more like 10, 20, 30 years.Q. If you could immediately implement all the changes in behavior the clean-up plan is likely to recommend, would Lake Pepin get cleaner? How long would it take?A. Yes, it will get cleaner, and I think if everything was done tomorrow, I would say it still may take a 10-year kind of timeframe for the response to fully occur. But it would respond.Q. What has Minnesota spent on the plan so far, and what will it cost to put into practice?A. At this point, I think we’re in the $3 million range. I don’t even have a good estimate of the dollars as far as imple-menting the whole thing. It will cer-tainly be expensive, but we need to look at that not only as the improvement to Lake Pepin, but also the improvement to all those contributing waters that people Lake Pepin Continues on page 11

Gaylen Reetz, MPCA regional director

FACETS June 2009 5

The fifth year of the Freshwater Society’s Water is Life Art Con-test culminated with an inspir-ing event.

Twenty-nine Minnesota high school students were honored at the Gray Freshwater Center on May 6 for works of art they created to depict the value of water and the many threats it faces in today’s world.

The students were chosen from more than 200 entrants. The art and accompa-nying statements explaining the work were judged at regional competitions across Minnesota. The artists, their fami-lies and their instructors were among guests invited to view the art and hear some motivating and interesting words about our freshwater resources.

Gene Merriam, Freshwater Society president, spoke of the critical issues facing our freshwater resources in Min-nesota. He urged all to join the society in spreading information on our water by participating in events associated with the society’s initiative for next year—2010 - The Year of Water.

Keynote speaker, Sandy Spieler, artistic director of the In the Heart of the Beast Puppet and Mask Theatre, spoke

about the many productions she has been involved with that were focused on themes related to water. Her descrip-tions conveyed to the audience the importance and beauty of water and the emotions it can spark in individuals and societies.

The artists were acknowledged for their achievement and their art was further highlighted by reading their artists’ statements. Each semi-finalist was presented with $100 and a framed certificate. Scholarships for $500 were

presented to the six distinguished stu-dent artists that placed highest in the final judging.

The 2009 Water is Life Art Contest was expanded to include the southwest and central regions of the state. Col-laborating with Minnesota’s Educational Cooperative Service Units, the Freshwa-ter Society offered the contest to senior high students in the following regions: Southeast Service Cooperative (Roches-ter), South Central Service Cooperative (Mankato), Northeast Service

Water is Life art contest

1 2

Art contest winners, from left: Quanzakari DeChiara-Crillion, Alixandra Biwer, Meghan Reistad, Sarah Olson, Bradley John-son and Luke Muyskens. The blue mask, symbolizing water, is from the In the Heart of the Beast Puppet and Mask Theatre.

FACETS June 20096

Cooperative (Mountain Iron), Metro Service Cooperative (the seven-county Twin Cities area), Lakes Country Service Cooperative (Fergus Falls), Resource Training and Solutions (St. Cloud) and SW/SC Service Cooperative (Marshall).

The 2009 Water is Life Art Contest semi-finalists’ and scholarship winners’ artwork will be on display at several venues, including the State Capitol, until May 2010. For an exhibit schedule, go to www.freshwater.org. This year, for the first time, the contest included video

entries. To view the videos, go to the Freshwater Society’s page on YouTube.

The top six entries and the artists’ statements were:

1 BrADLEY JoHnson - In the background, a well and clean water are shown in color.

These represent hope for the child, which drives his existence. He is young, and at some point in life he may be able to leave his pov-erty stricken neighborhood and attain the fresh water far off in the distance. In Africa, a well costs as little as $200 and can supply an entire community.

2QuAnzAkArI DECHIArA-CrILLIon - DNA symbolizes life in that it is essential

to the blueprints for all forms of life com-pressed into an extremely small and elegant shape. Because all life depends on water, fresh water is possibly our most important resource.

3ALIxAnDrA BIWEr - The hand repre-sents our ability as humans to nourish or

starve all life on earth. We are the protectors or the destroyers, by choice, yet many of us do not acknowledge the power our daily decisions have on our atmosphere. The gold-fish represents all animals on earth, including ourselves. It defines vulnerability and our fragile existence. The glass symbolizes our ecosystem, one slip of the human hand and it could all vanish.

4sArAH oLson - If we, as humans, can take something as simple and common as

a soda can and turn it into a piece of art, we could do much more to help save the fresh waters of the world, and more or less save life, because water is life, and by polluting waters with pop cans like these in the piece is polluting our very own livelihood. So please, reflect upon what you have done for this earth’s resources lately, and make sure you see this piece as a shining droplet of hope rather than a falling tear.

5MEGHAn rEIstAD - I created a vessel that represents the world, ultimately the

source of water. I then crafted a small plate. It is dry and cracked, but where water is pouring from the world there stands a small flower, a sign of life. This piece of work dem-onstrates the relation between water and the value of it to the flower. It explains how water brings life to creations that may otherwise be lacking the essentials to live.

6LukE MuYskEns - The video incorpo-rates a series of shots varying from a bliz-

zard to frigid snow to melting ice to running streams and standing pools. These shots highlight not only the versatility of water, but also its prevalence in the world around us by finding water in places where it is not usually thought of. The message in this video is how when winter turns to spring and water melts and is released from its frozen state, the water brings the life of spring.

3 4 5

Sandy Spieler, artistic director, In the Heart of the Beast Puppet and Mask Theatre, was keynote speaker for the awards ceremony.

FACETS June 2009 7

there is some overlapping of calls, and 3 – calls are constant, continuous and overlapping.

For example, chorus frogs were a 3 at every stop on Brueske’s and Hartman’s run, and wood frogs were an intermittent 1, audible only at some stops. They iden-tified no other species.

Recording the volume of amphibian voices at pre-determined spots repeat-edly “is a way of measuring change over time,” said Larson. Volunteers are asked to travel their assigned route three times each year. The first is done in the spring when water temps rise above 50 degrees, the second in early to mid-summer when waters are generally above 60, and the final run later in summer when lakes and wetlands reach 70 degrees.

Frog calls are mainly pro-duced by males attempting to attract females. Most species do so by inflating their vocal sacs, forcing air over their vocal chords.

Friends since they attended St. John’s University a decade ago, Hartman and Brueske have been listening to frog and toad calls for four years. They circle Lebanon Hills on a pre-designated two-hour route that takes them from a lakeshore to deep in the midst of a housing development, to a forested dirt road and finally to a highway overpass.

Hartman, a biology teacher at Mahtomedi Learning Center, and Brueske, who works for the Min-nesota Department of Health and holds a degree in chemistry, do their best to assure the validity of their results.

Before volunteers can have their data logged in the official DNR record, they must pass an online test in which they listen to audio recordings of multiple frog species and attempt to identify their calls.

“Ninety-two percent this year,” Brueske said, half bragging, half joking.

Volunteers are only required to know the frog calls relevant to their part of the state. This process makes it fairly easy to flag outliers. On that night in Lebanon Hills, Brueske and Hartman detected only two relatively common species, cho-rus frogs and wood frogs.

“We know they know their calls,” Lar-son said of the volunteers who make the survey possible. “And they really want to help, so they do study—every once in a while, I get .mp3 clips that people have recorded, asking me what frog this could be.”

True to form, Brueske and Hartman carried the official DNR frog call CD in the car with them. To make sure they

were hearing wood frogs, which have become rarer on the early spring run, they listened intently to track after track of frogs recorded in the wild.

Of all the calls, Hartman said, the American bullfrog (an invasive species in most of Minnesota) is the most distinc-tive. “It sounds like a slow lightsaber,” he said. Wood frogs sound a bit like a duck quacking, and spring peepers sound almost alien, high pitched and far-away.

Brueske’s and Hartman’s Lebanon Hills route is one of the original Twin

Cities Metro area routes designated by volunteers in the early 1990s. Most of the routes statewide were randomly assigned via a computer model in 1998.

The placement model, a result of a partnership with the National Amphib-ian Monitoring Program and the United States Geological Survey, scattered approximately 250 dots on a map of the state, according to potential volunteer density. The participants then fleshed out the routes, and the routes have been run consistently, with as little change as pos-sible, for the last 11 years.

The DNR publishes a year-end report based on survey data, available at the sur-vey’s home page: www.dnr.state.mn.us/

volunteering/frogtoad_survey. But due to the relative infancy of the survey, data analysis has been fairly minimal.

The annual report lists spe-cies trends as rising, falling, or stable, but it is done as a single, statewide analysis. Larson hopes to do more with the data in coming years, including ana-lyzing populations by region.

She believes, for example, that spring peepers, once com-mon in the Twin Cities, seldom are heard by volunteers now. The most certain trend in the data, the increase and spread of American bullfrogs, comes from bullfrogs being sold as pets and bullfrog tadpoles being sold as fishing bait, according to Larson.

But certainty in the apparent decline in spring peepers and tree frogs is proving to be more difficult. “It looks like a 10 percent drop, but it’s completely dependent on weather, and we’ve had some odd springs,” Larson said.

A more average spring this year, in terms of both temperature and precipita-tion, could show both species returning to previous levels Larson said. Or this year’s data, she said, could shed more light on whether Minnesota is “seeing a real, bio-logical decline” in amphibian species.

FACETS June 20098

Volunteers listen carefully… Continued from page 4

to hear some frog calls, or to take the quiz on which calls belong to which frogs, visit the Minnesota Frog and toad Calling survey website: www.dnr.state.mn.us/volunteering/frogtoad_survey.

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Wood frog

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PasswordsA minute-by-minute history of the world

Dick Gray, founder of the Freshwater Society, has written the Passwords column since 1968. The columns are based on Gray’s belief that we must use our vast knowledge to work toward the preservation of water.

Twenty-three years ago the Fresh-water Foundation (now the Freshwater Society) sponsored a

series of lectures on water in Minnesota. I prepared and delivered the series, called Lakeology.

The 12 lectures were given on Wednesdays at 10 a.m. in the Wayzata Community Church auditorium. The attendance was moderate to begin with, but by the 12th session, about 100 people showed up each week. Some mothers brought their children, and at least one of them has grown up to become a major environmental scientist at an eastern uni-versity. The lectures “turned on” many adult attendees to our natural Minnesota world.

The lectures covered the history of lakes and rivers of Minnesota, how the world and Minnesota were formed, and how the glacial age shaped the state’s topography and chemically determined the nature of our waters and soils in dif-ferent areas of the state.

To better understand the develop-ment of our world and its part called Minnesota, I concocted a calendar of 12 months, with January 1 being 00:00:01, the first second of the first minute of the first hour of the first day of the start of our world. Modern humans’ place in the world occupied the last second of the last minute of the last hour of the last day of the historical year—December 31 at 23:59:59.

Opinions vary as to how and when our world of today came into existence, but in general, birth by “a big bang” or otherwise occurred some 5 billion years ago. By a complicated amalgam of chemistry, heat, pressure (and some say pure luck) the material of the eventual earth coalesced into the “roundness” that astronauts have viewed from space.

When Earth’s history to date is condensed into 12 months, the first six months, the start of geological Azoic Era, 5.0 billion to 2.3 billion years ago, had no life that we know of. The oldest rocks to

be found in Minnesota from that period occur in the Minnesota River Valley.

The month of July in that calendar, 2.3 billion to 1.9 billion years ago, was the start of the so-called geological Archeo-zoic Era, which saw the origin of life in the form of primitive sea plants. Even today our world is covered with more than 70% water, most of which is salty.

Historical August, 1.9 billion to 1.5 billion years ago, yielded the oldest fossil bacteria that have been identified in rocks of the North Shore of Lake Superior.

In historical September, 1.5 billion to 1.15 billion years ago, there was much mountain activity and the formation of sea bottoms with thick limestone deposits.

In historical October, the start of the geological Proterozoic Era, 1.15 billion to 765 million years ago, thick iron, nickel and copper deposits were formed.

In historical November, the start of the geological Paleozoic Era, 765 to 384 million years ago, the first worms, fish insects and frogs appeared. I have early fossils of Orthoceras, 400 million years old from Morocco.

In the first 15 days of historical Decem-ber, 384 to 205 million years ago, the first reptiles, trees, dinosaurs and mammals appeared.

From historical December 16 through 25, the start of the geological Mesozoic Era 205 to 76 million years ago, the first birds, flowers and pine-like trees appeared, according to fossil records.

From historical December 26 through 29, the start of the geological Cenozoic Era, 76 to 25 million years ago, wooly animals, Wyoming horses and African elephants show up in the fossil records.

On historical December 30, just 25 to 12.7 million years ago, Western moun-tains, Colorado redwoods and elephants in North America appeared.

On historical December 31, before 7 p.m., more mountains and camels appeared, and volcanic action was rampant.

On historical December 31 at 7 p.m.,

some 2.7 million years ago, great glaciers, the first evidence of man and the first tools appeared. At 11 p.m., 532,000 years ago, glaciers were present, humans first used fire and there were mastodons and tigers in California. At 11:59 p.m., 9,000 years ago, humans developed further, lakes formed, and bison, American lions and tigers appeared, according to fossil records.

On historical December 31, between 11:59:00 p.m. and 11:59:55 p.m., from 9,000 years ago to 735 years ago, we had the first use of bronze and later iron, the development of the alphabet, the development of astronomy, the birth of Christ, the end of the Roman Empire, the Middle Ages, the growth of churches, European settlement of the new world. Maps, the concept of gravity and the use of calculus became part of an emerging civilization.

Over the past 174 years, our world has seen overwhelming population growth and the development of large cities, autos, planes, transistors, nano-technology, computers and stem cell techniques.

Now, on December 31 at 23:59:59, what must we do in the last second? Conserve and do something about maintaining our lakes, rivers, aquifers, wetlands and all other water sources.

Minnesota alone has 15,291 lakes —yet we tend to forget Water is Life. There is no substitute for water. Water is still cheaper than dirt. Here we have something that is the most precious thing on Earth to us and we tend to take it for granted.

Let’s conserve, preserve and protect our waters. It’s in our own best interests.

Arboretum… Continued from page 1

because of the goods we import? You can explore those issues and more

at the summer-long—June 6 to Oct. 4—Waterosity event. It fuses the visions of artists, horticulturalists and scientists to explore the connection of water to every aspect of life and to encourage citizens to make their homes more water-efficient.

Waterosity offers tools and solutions to combat the water related problems we face, and works of art that will inspire us to want to conserve water.

“We can show the best practices to homeowners so they can make changes,” said Jamie Spanks, the Arboretum’s grants and research officer.

The “Harvest Your Rain” demonstra-tion area shows visitors how to conserve water at home through the use of rain gardens, rain barrels and green roofs.

The green roofs—roofs that use plants and a layer of soil instead of shingles and tar—were planted atop Arboretum picnic shelters and are designed to absorb and slowly use rain water that, otherwise, would run off the roof and carry pollut-ants to surface waters.

Once the plants on the roof take root, they require minimal upkeep and can withstand the cold Minnesota winters according to Spanks. Because the soil used on the green roofs is lighter than traditional topsoil, the roofs require little structural reinforcement.

Arboretum guests can visit the

“Cutting Edge on Lawns” demonstration area to compare grasses that are alterna-tives to the Kentucky bluegrass most commonly used in lawns.

While some of the grasses are com-parable to the Kentucky bluegrass in the amount of care they need others require minimal upkeep. The No Mow Mix grows so slowly that, on average, it needs only one mowing per year and it requires a half-inch or less of water per week.

Using the alternatives to Kentucky bluegrass could cut water used on lawns each year by 1,500 gallons per home.

Guests can also learn the benefits of drip irrigation systems, rain sensors and sprinkling system controllers to monitor watering. These devices can reduce water usage up to 50 percent and make water-ing more efficient.

Waterosity also features juried art installations in the exhibit that work with the models to demonstrate the press-ing need to conserve water. The Global

Spydrology display uses steel columns to make 3-D bar graphs of water con-sumption throughout the world. On each column is the name of a country and sta-tistics on its yearly water consumption.

Daily water use for one person each day in the United States from internal water sources averages 1,158 gallons for home, industrial and agricultural needs. In comparison, Brazil uses 230 gallons of internal water per person each day, and India uses 423 gallons per person daily.

The “Go Green with a Splash Party” will provide information and solutions to gardening and water conservation prob-lems, as well as art displays, theater and jazz performances and family-friendly activities. The event will be open from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. each day.

The weekend party will kick off at 11 a.m. Saturday with a class called “Money-Saving Solutions for Your Landscape Irrigation System.” The class, which has an admission fee of $20 for Arboretum members and residents of Chanhassen and $30 for others, will focus on coordinating soil, plants and the environment to ease water demands.

Winning entries from the Freshwater Society’s 2009 Water is Life high school art contest will be displayed at the event.

The Arboretum also is hosting hands-on art workshops from noon to 2 p.m. on both July 11 and 12, presented by the Minnetonka Center for the Arts; presen-tations at 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. each day of “Are You Thirsty,” an exploration of water issues by the In the Heart of the Beast Mask and Puppet Theatre; and a jazz concert at noon on Saturday.

The summer-long Waterosity exhibit is sponsored by Freshwater Society, Xcel Energy, Minnehaha Creek Watershed District, Galleria, C.H. Robinson World-wide, Aveda, Tennant, Toro, Great River Energy, Allied Waste, University of Min-nesota Extension, Irrigation Consultants & Control, Minnesota Valley Electric, KARE 11 and Comcast.

For more information on the weekend event and directions to the Arboretum, go to www.arboretum.umn.edu.

‘Take Back the Tap,’ part of the Waterosity art exhibit, illustrates the water—and plastic packaging—consumed by five families in a year. Inside, there is information on the energy and resources that go into producing throwaway bottles.

FACETS June 200910

… Lake Pepin Continued from page 5use before it gets to Lake Pepin.Q. What are the major sources of the phos-phorus and sediment?A. The major sources of phosphorus are the Minnesota River at 50 percent, and the Upper Mississippi at 25 percent. The metro wastewater treatment plants are about 6 percent as a result of significant reduction they have made over the years. Most of the phosphorus is from nonpoint sources even in low-flow years.

The Minnesota River valley is esti-mated to be the source of 75% of the sus-pended solids. Of that, about one-third is from cropland and fields, one-third is from river banks and bluffs and one-third is from ravines. Q. What are the implications of the plan for agriculture?A. The Total Maximum Daily Load study, once that’s approved by EPA, has some regulatory requirements that apply to some portions of the regulated

or point sources. Agriculture doesn’t fall into that realm. So no new requirements come with the TMDL that haven’t been in place in the past. On the other hand, I think the real opportunity here is that agriculture will be expected to help control their contributions. Production agriculture and water quality are linked. We can have both; it’s not one or the other. And there are many management practices that are effective for control-ling runoff and loss of nutrients from fields.

Q. But there are going to be big reduc-tions that agriculture will be asked to make, both in phosphorous and sediment runoff? A. Yes.Q. What are the implications for sewage treatment plants and the people who pay the bills for treatment? A. We’ve identified what kind of reduc-tions will be necessary to achieve water

quality improvements and we’re going to have to look at the technologies that will help make those reductions. It will mean some additional reductions in phosphorous, and the technology that treatment facilities will have to add to make that reduction is costly. Ultimately, it is the people who are using that treat-ment facility, the ratepayers, who cover those costs.Q. What financial resources are pledged to cleaning up the river, and how do you hope to use them?A. In Minnesota, we are so fortunate that citizens of the state last year voted for the Legacy Amendment. Over the next 25 years, that’s estimated to generate close to $5.5 billion. We have a great oppor-tunity to have the resources to protect and improve the water resources in Min-nesota. My colleagues in very few other states ever see that kind of potential and opportunity in front of them.

Join our WorkFreshwater is a scarce and vital resource that is in increasing demand. Contamination, pollution, and over-use are a few of the many challenges that continue to threaten freshwater resources. The Freshwater Society works to foster active stewardship among all citizens, conduct public education and awareness of freshwater issues and promote sound public policies that protect freshwater.

Check us OutThe Freshwater Society is taking our message of conservation and protection of water resources to more people. Check our:• Redesigned web site: www.freshwater.org.• New blog: www.freshwatersocietyblog.org.• Videos on YouTube• New Facebook group

Take a look at what we have to offer. Join the Facebook group, reply to our blog.

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