The need for clean air and water

 â€œLearn from my mistakes,â€� was the admonition from Ann Riley, a national expert on river restoration, during a stream management workshop held at the Cornell Cooperative Extension (CCE) in Millbrook in July. For many years, Riley worked on water projects in California, both officially and in her own practice.

With wry, self-deprecating humor, she showed her audience slides of the unintended consequences of too many projects, most of which used the common hydrologic techniques of their time. Her appreciative listeners, including two North East Conservation Advisory Council (CAC) members, Dianne Engleke and Lynn Mordas, learned many things from Riley’s misadventures.

Riley stressed that it’s important to build a balance with the stream. There are formulas by which a good hydrologist can determine the equilibrium or size an individual stream is seeking. The management objective then would be to avoid excessive erosion and excessive sediment deposition. Ironically, many traditional techniques of stream widening, straightening, lining with rocks or concrete, poorly designed culverts, dams and low bridges can all lead to those very excesses.

Riley’s advice was to use land-use remedies first to prevent excessive runoff and flooding, with more permeable surfaces to catch rainwater such as “greenâ€� or rainforest roofs, permeable check dams on hillsides and well-maintained gravel roads. Probably the most amazing fact related by Riley was that the tensile strength of willow roots is equal to or stronger than concrete. A new generation of flood control methods has resulted from the interaction of structural engineers and plant ecologists, working together with dense root systems as  natural dams.

Another event at CCE was a forum on air quality in Dutchess County, held on the second day of a regional ozone health alert, making it more than an academic exercise for many breathing-challenged attendees.

Gary Lovett of the Institute of Ecosystem Studies spoke first and laid out the basics of air pollution especially ozone formation. Ozone is created in the chemical reaction between such pollutants as motor vehicle exhaust, industrial emissions, solvents and gasoline vapors, in the presence of sunlight. That’s why ozone is more common in the summer and a primary constituent of smog, a hot weather phenomenon.

Lovett stressed the health consequences of ozone: triggering or worsening a wide range of respiratory ailments, reducing lung function, inflaming the lining of the lungs and permanently scarring lung tissue. This includes the lung tissue of animals, though there are only a few studies of farm animals and none that Lovett knew of on wild animals.

In addition to these health risks, there are serious economic consequences, including in rural areas. In the United States alone, ozone is responsible for an estimated $500 million in reduced corn productivity each year.

Robert Sliwenski of the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC), Division of Air Resources, was also at the forum. He brought the audience up to date on the state’s plans to clean up the air, including increased regulation on the use of gasoline cans, certain consumer products (i.e., household cleaners), asphalt paving, cement plants, dust generation and small engines.

Sliwenski also discussed the “downwind syndrome,� pollution from Midwest power plants which has a tremendous impact on our local air quality, but needs federal government action to stop or even slow it.

A local perspective rounded out the evening. Eoin Wrafter of the Dutchess County Department of Planning and Development spoke next, acknowledging that the county has not been in compliance for the eight-hour ozone requirement under the Clean Air Act. One plan to change that situation is to identify all county projects, 20 years out, which will be monitored for air quality. The county will conduct emission analyzes of new development projects, looking at how many more vehicles the development will bring. In addition, there will be an increased emphasis on mass transit, although that is still a challenge in rural areas, and encouragament of more commuting by the various Rail Trails.

Reports on both these events with suggestions for local action were submitted to the North East CAC at the last meeting on July 23.

— Diane Engleke

Chairwoman of the CAC