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| [February 27, 2013] |
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Water Quality Expert Kenneth Hudnell Calling for Shift in Policy and Treatment Strategies to Make Near Term Impact on Impaired Water Bodies
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. --(Business Wire)--
Dr.
Kenneth Hudnell, one of the foremost experts on harmful algal blooms,
cyanobacteria, their toxins, and their effects on health and aquatic
ecosystems is calling for a significant shift in government
regulatory policy and remediation strategies being applied to impaired
freshwater bodies. "Current remediation efforts focus almost entirely on
the watershed and stopping pollutants from entering water bodies - but
ignore the impaired water bodies themselves. This approach can take
20-30 years to restore a water body's designated uses, if ever, and is
far too expensive," states Hudnell, Vice President and Director of
Science at Medora Corp and Adjunct Professor at the University of North
Carolina. "We need a systems approach that combines the best of
watershed management with appropriate waterbody management technologies
to restore designated uses in the near term at a lower overall cost."
Dr. Hudnell has recently published an article entitled, "An
Alternative Approach to Regaining Designated Uses of Clean Water Act
Section 303 (D) Impaired Waters," in the February Florida Water
Resources Journal that explores government policy and technologies for
improving water body conditions using a balanced approach to freshwater
management. "Waterbody management is the use of technologies within
impaired waters to reduce the stress on impaired biochemical processes
and enable recovery. Current technologies can circulate water to
suppress cyanobacteria and enable nutrients to ascend the food web,
creating outstanding fisheries, and deactivate pathogens through
repeated exposure to ultraviolet sunlight. Other technologies can
capture excessive nutrients for reuse, and degrade toxic substances
through bacterial digestion."
U.S. EPA estimates of eutrophic water bodies have grown from 10-20% of
US fresh water bodies in 1972 to about 50% today. "We need a policy in
place that requires treating the impaired water body itself, not just
trying to prevent pollutants from entering water bodies," continued
Hudnell. "Present policies are tantamount to a doctor recommending
healthy life style choices to an ill patient without directly treating
the illness and symptoms of the disease."
Some of the measures and technologies Hudnell recommends include: 1) Satellite
Imagery from Blue Water Satellite for monitoring conditions, locating
problems, and managing progress 2) Long-Distance, Solar-Powered
circulation units that continually circulate the waters 3) Floating mats
that remove nitrogen and phosphorus from the water body and 4) Algae
Wheels to remove nutrients by growing nontoxic algae that can be
processed into biofuel, animal feedstock, or fertilizer.
The paper cites a case study in the Falls Lake Watershed of North
Carolina where the projected cost of the watershed management strategy
is about $2 billion. Implementation of waterbody management strategies
to stop harmful algal blooms and remove nutrients would cost about $25
million. "If we use only the most effective and cost efficient watershed
management tools in combination with appropriate waterbody management
tools, we could restore Falls Lake's designated uses in months to years,
not decades, at a much lower overall cost. This is a systems approach;
it brings about the conditions desired by the users of the system in the
most efficient manner," concludes Hudnell.
More Information
To view the article online, Click
Here.
To contact Dr, Kenneth Hudnell, Click
Here.
For information on using Satellite Imagery contact Milt Baker, Blue
Water Satellite mbaker@bluewatersatellite.com
http://www.bluewatersatellite.com
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