Stormwater runoff is rapidly becoming the most important pollution threat to the nation's waterways. Major efforts to reduce runoff to the Chesapeake Bay, the Everglades, the Great Lakes and the Gulf of Mexico have largely failed to keep pace with human population growth and changing land uses. In the Salish Sea, stormwater runoff now carries the largest mass of toxic chemicals to the waters of Puget Sound. Toxic runoff originates from our doorsteps, lawns, streets, parking lots, highways, commercial and industrial facilities, and almost everywhere else people live and work.
Myriad regional efforts are now underway to reduce the impacts of polluted runoff on Puget Sound. Examples include pollution reduction via toxic source control, low impact development, redevelopment using green infrastructure, and best management practices to filter or otherwise remove contaminants from stormwater. Are these costly efforts working? Will they be enough to ensure a sustainable and resilient Puget Sound ecosystem for future generations? How will we know?
These questions are driving ongoing NOAA research on stormwater. Recent scientific findings are pointing to salmon as key sentinel species for understanding both the ecological impacts of stormwater as well as the effectiveness of toxic reduction strategies. This presentation will explore how salmon can mirror the success or failure of current strategies and more clearly frame the challenges that lie ahead.
Dr. Nathaniel Scholz
Nat Scholz is a marine conservation biologist with a research focus on pollution. A native of the central Oregon coast, his career began with graduate research in Boston University's Marine Program in Woods Hole, MA. After teaching marine science on a tallship schooner in the Caribbean, he went on to finish a doctorate in marine zoology at the University of Washington.
Nat is currently with the Northwest Fisheries Science Center in Seattle. The Center is the headquarters for NOAA's fisheries research in the Pacific Northwest. For the past decade, he has been leading a group that studies the impacts of toxic chemicals on the health of coastal watersheds and embayments.
Pollution research at the Center is designed to help NOAA (and many others) identify toxic hazards to both humans and aquatic life, to assess the effectiveness of pollution control strategies and habitat restoration projects, and to protect and recover endangered species. The science also supports NOAA's mission to anticipate and minimize pollution threats related to human population growth, coastal development, and climate change.
A list of scientific publications and information on the Center's Ecotoxicology Program can be found at
http://www.nwfsc.noaa.gov/research/divisions/ec/ecotox
