Va Brook Trout Recovering From Acid Rain

[Tim Smith]

More evidence that we can fix our problems when we try.

From the AFS news feed:

Virginia Brook Trout Streams Mostly Recovering From Acid Deposition

www.virginia.edu

November 4, 2011 - Virginia's brook trout streams are showing encouraging

signs of recovery - in most cases - from the debilitating effects of acid

rain, according to the most recent results from a long-term study led by

University of Virginia environmental scientists.

"This is good news and real evidence for the value of our national

investment in improving air quality," said Rick Webb, a U.Va. environmental

scientist in the College of Arts

<http://artsandsciences.virginia.edu/home/index.html> & Sciences and

coordinator of the Virginia Trout Stream Sensitivity Study

<http://swas.evsc.virginia.edu/VTSSS-2010/Survey.html> . "At the same time,

there is more to be done, and many Virginia brook trout streams may never

fully recover."

U.Va., with the support of the conservation organization Trout Unlimited and

several state and federal agencies, has been studying the health of

Virginia's remote mountain streams since initiating a large-scale survey in

1987. Another such survey was conducted in 2000, and again in the spring of

2010. Quarterly sampling of stream water chemistry also is conducted in 66

streams and regularly in Shenandoah National Park.

The study demonstrates a clear improvement in water quality between the 2000

and 2010 surveys. Little improvement was noted between the 1987 and 2000

surveys. Webb attributes this to a delayed effect of streams' ability to

purge acidification that has settled for years into surrounding soils and

that continues to leach into streams.

Janet Miller, a graduate student in environmental sciences

<http://www.evsc.virginia.edu/> who analyzed survey data, found that 77

percent of the sampled streams in 2010 were suitable for brook trout

reproduction. The 1987 and 2000 surveys showed that only 55 percent and 56

percent, respectively, were suitable for brook trout reproduction.

Webb attributes the improvement to the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990 that

imposed strict regulations on emissions from coal-fired power plants, as

well as improvements to technologies that reduce emissions from power

plants, automobiles and other machinery.

Between 1990 and 2009, sulfur dioxide emissions from coal-fired power plants

declined by 64 percent. Dominion Virginia Power, as a notable example,

removes 95 percent of the sulfur dioxide emissions from its largest

coal-fired power plant, located at Mount Storm, W.Va., which is upwind of

Virginia's mountains and Shenandoah National Park.

Organizers plan to continue long-term monitoring by conducting surveys every

10 years, and have launched a $500,000 fundraising campaign to support the

ongoing studies. They emphasize the importance of maintaining such long-term

research on trout streams in Virginia - not only for monitoring their

recovery from acid rain, but also for understanding the potential effects

climate change and other man-made disturbances.

The Virginia Trout Stream Sensitivity Study is one of the nation's largest

and most comprehensive long-term stream chemistry surveys. It is designed to

track the effects of acidic deposition (often called acid rain) and other

factors affecting water quality and related ecological conditions in

Virginia's native trout streams.

The brook trout is the only native trout in Virginia and the eastern United

States. The fish require clean water to propagate and are highly susceptible

to acidity deposited to the water from pollution in the air. Brook trout,

and the generally pristine and remote streams they inhabit, are considered

indicators of the overall health of the environment.

In the study, water samples are analyzed for sulfate levels and a stream's

natural ability to neutralize acidity. The researchers are finding that

sulfate levels are dropping in most streams, indicating that air pollution

reductions are having a positive effect on the environment. Due to

prevailing winds that carry pollution from coal-burning power plants -

primarily sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides - many mountain streams and

forests in Virginia and throughout the Southeast have suffered long-term

damage.

A given stream's level of susceptibility to acidification is affected by its

bedrock composition and the chemistry of nearby soils. Streams with

sandstone or quartzite bedrock - about one-third to one-half of the native

trout watersheds in Virginia - are most vulnerable to acid deposition

because they do not neutralize acid even years after pollution has been

reduced.

During the 2010 survey, 165 volunteers, mostly from Trout Unlimited and some

government agencies, sampled 384 streams, which, together with the program's

66 routinely sampled streams, represent about 80 percent of the forested

mountain headwater streams in the state that contain reproducing brook

trout.

"Through the years this has continued to be a team effort between U.Va.

scientists, Trout Unlimited and the U.S. Park and Forest services, the EPA

and the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries," said Jack Cosby,

an environmental scientist who co-directs the stream study effort. "We've

even received a lab equipment grant from the Dominion Foundation. The

cooperation between entities that might sometimes seem to be at odds has

been inspiring."

Data from the survey helps scientists determine the health of headwater

streams throughout western Virginia. The U.S. Environmental Protection

Agency and other federal and state agencies use such data to inform resource

management and to develop, evaluate and recommend national air pollution

control policies.

"It's a cause for hope that so many people share a determination to protect

and preserve out brook trout streams and the natural world they represent,"

Webb noted. "The remarkable volunteer contribution to the trout stream

surveys over more than two decades is a real testament to this

determination."

- By Fariss Samarrai

To continue the Virginia Trout Stream Sensitivity Study and a related

Shenandoah Watershed Study, the Virginia Council of Trout Unlimited and the

University of Virginia are embarking on a partnership to create an endowment

to provide significant support for a graduate research fellow. VCTU and

U.Va. are working to raise $500,000, which will generate about $25,000

annually toward support of the graduate research fellow. U.Va. will

contribute office and laboratory space, and travel and related expenses. For

information, contact David Callaghan, development officer for the College of

Arts & Sciences, at 434-924-6156 or dcallaghan@virginia.edu.

[ozark trout fisher]

It's always good to hear news like this...If only because it's so rare.

Thanks for posting.

[mic]

  On 11/8/2011 at 5:44 PM, ozark trout fisher said:

It's always good to hear news like this...If only because it's so rare.

Thanks for posting.

Simply awesome.

[exiledguide]

I'm glad to see this and thanks for posting this, I'm 70 years old and remember the Mississippi River covered with a coating of oil in downtown St Louis and no fish. It's gotten better. Its not there yet but some day you may see it as good as the three rivers in Pittsburg and the Ohio in Cincinati and Evansville. I remember when Lake Erie was declared so polluted it was almost void of life form and then years later two of my fishing club members told me how it had turned around and it became maybe the best waleye water there is anywhere. Trolling through schools of walleye more than a mile long. We never thought that any of this was possible.

[Justin Spencer]

Gives hope that some of the measures we are taking can help with the topic that shall not be mentioned. (like people giving up their beloved incandescent lightbulbs). The environment is a place that govt. regulation can overwhelmingly affect change, for the good or the bad.

[Outside Bend]

It's good to see brookies making inroads back into their own native habitat, and I hope these gains aren't dashed by the elephant in the room. But it does demonstrate things can change, if society has the will to do it.

Folks get sentimental about native fish and wild streams. Not so much about smokestacks and open-pit mines.