Archives for February, 2010

Good news for wild orcas, captive orca in distress


http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/gallery/2010/02/24/GA2010022405140.html

http://www.kitsapsun.com/news/2010/feb/23/new-calf-spotted-l-pod/

Humans and salmon compete for CA water


Feinstein’s Water Bomb (Feb 12 article in the High Country News) indicates that things are really starting to heat up in California.  Water stress is manifesting in political lobbying and reversals that may jeopardize the Sacramento River salmon that K and L pod presumably pursue each winter.  Up here in the Northwest the water competition [...]

State of the Sound by Bill Ruckelshaus


Sound Waters 2010 meeting, Coupeville, WA
It is possible to make progess!

We’ve largely brought point-sources under social control.  40 years ago, 85% of pollution was from big industrial or municipal sources, while 15% was from non-point sources.  Now the percentages are reversed.
The Clean Air Act helped.  Think of the people in Denver that can see [...]

Stormwater, salmon, and the health of Puget Sound


Keynote speaker at Sound Waters 2010
Dr. Nathaniel ‘Nat’ Scholtz, NOAA/NWFSC
Coho salmon are our first choice for a ’sentinel species’ because they:

are widely distributed
inhabit lowland steams that are important and familiar to humans and areas impacted directly by stormwater runoff (if we can reduce toxics in lowland streams, then we’ll likely keep them out of the [...]

New Tacoma ship terminal & tidal energy permits


Puget Sound Harbor Safety Committee meeting notes
Feb. 3., 2010, 10-12 a.m., South Federal Building
New container ship terminal in Tacoma (SSA Marine presention)

Puyallup Tribal Terminal
3-4 berths (~850′ spacing, 51′ deep)
200 acres
About the scale of Terminal 18
Market demand is too low to proceed
Permits should be in place in ~1 year
Construction will take at least 2 years
Port has [...]