The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has released an Action Plan that proposes seven measures for improving water quality, restoring aquatic habitat, and improving the management of the San Francisco Bay Delta Estuary.  The release of the Action Plan follows the agency’s analysis concluding that existing federal and state water quality programs are not adequately safeguarding the ecosystem. 

“California’s economic security depends on a healthy Bay Delta,” said Jared Blumenfeld, EPA’s Regional Administrator for the Pacific Southwest. “By upholding the goals of the Clean Water Act, we can ensure that our water is fit for drinking, farming, recreation, and for fish and wildlife.”

The Action Plan responds to findings and recommendations made following EPA’s Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking in 2011 that sought public input on the effectiveness of existing federal and state water quality protection programs.  The Action Plan prioritizes the following seven actions to be pursued in partnership with the State Water Resources Control Board, the Regional Water Boards for the Central Valley and San Francisco Bay, the California Department of Pesticide Regulation, and numerous other state and federal agencies: 

• By 2013, propose a standard to curb selenium discharges from cities, farms, and oil refineries;
• By 2013, achieve organophosphate pesticide water quality goals in Sacramento County urban streams; 
• By 2014, set new estuarine habitat standards, including salinity, to improve conditions for aquatic life;
• By 2017 establish a monitoring and assessment program for water quality in the Delta;
• Ensure that EPA’s pesticide regulation program more fully considers the effects that pesticides have on aquatic life;
• Restore and rebuild wetlands and floodplains to sequester drinking water contaminants, methylmercury, and greenhouse gases and make the Delta more resilient to floods, earthquakes, and climate change;
• Support the development and implementation of the Bay Delta Conservation Plan.

Read more: U.S. EPA Releases San Francisco Bay Delta Action Plan to Address Toxins and Stressors that Harm Fish

In the many forested areas where wildfires are currently burning, the question will soon arise: What should be done after the fire goes out? That depends on the severity of the burn and land owner goals.

100% tree mortality caused by the August, 2007 Angora Fire near Lake TahoeFor high severity burns where very few or no live trees remain to provide seed for the next generation, forest recovery can take a very long time. Typically forest landowners want to restore their lands to a forested condition as quickly as possible. In that case, an active approach can help them reach their goal sooner.

The California Tahoe Conservancy has just released a report on the outcomes of active restoration of 40 acres of Conservancy lands where all trees were killed by the 2007 Angora fire in South Lake Tahoe. That fire burned 3,100 forested acres as well as 250 homes.

Read more: Forest lands may benefit from active restoration after wildfire

A USGS report released today finds a slow recovery for California's sea otters. After several years of declining numbers, advocacy groups were hoping to see a reversal of that trend. Lori Abbott tells us what the numbers showed.

Photo credit:  Cindy Tucey

KRCB's North Bay Report examined the threats to the sea otter population early in 2011. You can find that archived story here.

Engineers at a company co-founded by a University of Texas at Dallas professor have identified a material that can reduce the pollution produced by vehicles that run on diesel fuel. The material, from a family of minerals called oxides, could replace platinum, a rare and expensive metal that is currently used in diesel engines to try to control the amount of pollution released into the air.
In a study published in the August 17 issue of Science, researchers found that when a manmade version of the oxide mullite replaces platinum, pollution is up to 45 percent lower than with platinum catalysts.
DR. K J Cho"Many pollution control and renewable-energy applications require precious metals that are limited – there isn't enough platinum to supply the millions and millions of automobiles driven in the world," said Dr. Kyeongjae "K.J." Cho, professor of materials science and engineering and physics at UT Dallas and a senior author of study. "Mullite is not only easier to produce than platinum, but also better at reducing pollution in diesel engines."
For the environmentally conscious, the higher fuel efficiency of diesel engines makes an attractive alternative to engines that run on gasoline. On the flip side, compared with gasoline engines, diesel vehicles produce more nitric oxide (NO) and nitrogen dioxide (NO2), which are known as NOx pollutants.
In June, the World Health Organization upgraded the classification of diesel engine exhaust as carcinogenic in humans, putting it in the same category as cigarette smoke and asbestos. Countries throughout the world have drafted guidelines to reduce diesel air pollution in the next decade.
Platinum orePlatinum, because of its expense to mine and limited supply, is considered a precious metal. Estimates suggest that for every 10 tons of platinum ore mined, only about one ounce of usable platinum is produced.
"Our goal to move completely away from precious metals and replace them with oxides that can be seen commonly in the environment has been achieved," Dr. Cho said. "We've found new possibilities to create renewable, clean energy technology by designing new functional materials without being limited by the supply of precious metals."