4/3 Survive the Sound, Skagit poop, Columbia water, Tacoma LNG, car pollution, estuary CO2, rain art

Sponsor a Fish, Save a Species

Survive the Sound is Back!
Predators, disease, pollution, oh my! It’s tough in Puget Sound for steelhead. Fortunately, you can help and have some fun in the process by joining Long Live the Kings''s Survive the Sound. You can follow the perilous migration of 48 funny looking steelhead smolts. These fish will face all sorts of obstacles along the way, and few will survive. It’s up to you to pick the fish that will make it to the finish line alive. Sponsor more than one fish, invite friends, or build a big team to have a chance at winning the grand prizes!  Proceeds help Long Live the Kings restore wild salmon and steelhead, and support free classroom participation.

New Skagit County website highlights fecal pollution
In an effort to keep fecal pollution out of area waters, Skagit County has launched a new website — Poopsmart.org. In areas of the county, particularly in the Samish and Padilla bay watersheds, feces pollution from sources such as septic systems, livestock and pets is a frequent problem. If feces from any of those sources isn’t managed properly, it can get carried into area streams, rivers and bays…. The new website that launched this week is another effort to spread the word that poop is a pollutant, and there are several ways community members can help keep it out of the water. This new effort is called the Poop Smart campaign. Kimberly Cauvel reports. (Skagit Valley Herald)

Appeals Court Orders More Spill Over Dams To Help Columbia River Salmon
The federal government will have to spill more water over Columbia and Snake river dams starting Tuesday in an effort to help young salmon migrating to the ocean. This will make up the biggest planned water spill over dams for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The requirement comes after the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on Monday ordered  federal dam managers on the Columbia and Snake rivers to comply with a judge’s ruling from last year. The National Marine Fisheries Service had appealed U.S. District Judge Michael Simon’s ruling to increase spill over dams. Courtney Flatt reports. (NYPB/EarthFix)

Protesters blockade PSE headquarters over Tacoma gas plant
Protesters erected a miniature longhouse -- just five feet tall and 12 feet long -- in front of Puget Sound Energy's front doors Monday morning and blocked the entrance to the company's headquarters in Bellevue for about three hours Monday morning. The protesters oppose a liquid natural gas plant, including a 150-foot-tall gas storage tank, being built at the mouth of the Puyallup River. The round, 8 million gallon tank, already rising high above the Tacoma tide flats, is much narrower but about as tall as the Tacoma Dome. John Ryan reports. (KUOW) See also: Protesters build a longhouse at PSE, ask what it and LNG project have in common  Candace Ruud reports. (Tacoma News Tribune)

Calling Car Pollution Standards ‘Too High,’ E.P.A. Sets Up Fight With California
The Environmental Protection Agency on Monday took steps to challenge California’s decades-old right to set its own air pollution rules, setting up a showdown between the federal government and a state that has emerged as a bulwark against the Trump administration’s policies. The E.P.A. statement was part of the agency’s widely expected decision to reconsider, and most likely roll back, Obama-era rules requiring automakers to hit ambitious emissions and mileage standards by 2025. The statement, though, was notable for the forcefulness of its language suggesting that the Trump administration would take on California’s authority to set its own rules. Scott Pruitt, the E.P.A. administrator, signaled that he aimed to make California fall in line. Hiroko Tabuchi reports. (NY Times)

Study suggests estuaries may experience accelerated impacts of human-caused CO2
Rising anthropogenic, or human-caused, carbon dioxide in the atmosphere may have up to twice the impact on coastal estuaries as it does in the oceans because the human-caused CO2 lowers the ecosystem's ability to absorb natural fluctuations of the greenhouse gas, a new study suggests. Researchers from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Oregon State University found that there was significant daily variability when it comes to harmful indices of CO2 for many marine organisms in estuaries. At night, for example, water in the estuary had higher carbon dioxide, lower pH levels, and a lower saturation state from the collective "exhale" of the ecosystem. Oregon State University (Phys.Org)

Art revealed by rain adorns area sidewalks
There’s art on the sidewalks of Mount Vernon, but it takes some rain to see it. Instead of being scribbled on sunny days and washed away during the next rain, “Rainworks” art remains hidden until the sidewalks get wet. Images adorn sidewalks at seven locations in Mount Vernon and one in Bay View, waiting to be discovered on rainy days and brighten the often dreary days of spring, said Kristi Carpenter of the Skagit Conservation District. The conservation district partnered with seven area artists to create a Rainworks Art Trail in Mount Vernon. Community members are encouraged to try to see all the art through May 31 before it fades away. Kimberly Cauvel reports. (Skagit Valley Herald)

Now, your tug weather--
West Entrance U.S. Waters Strait Of Juan De Fuca-  235 AM PDT Tue Apr 3 2018  
TODAY  SW wind to 10 kt. Wind waves 1 ft or less. W swell 4 ft  at 7 seconds. A chance of rain.
TONIGHT  SW wind to 10 kt becoming SE 5 to 15 kt after  midnight. Wind waves 2 ft or less. W swell 3 ft at 7 seconds.  Rain.

--
"Salish Sea News & Weather" is compiled as a community service by Mike Sato. To subscribe, send your name and email to msato (@) salishseacom.com. Your email information is never shared and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Salish Sea News: Communicate, Educate, Advocate

Follow on Twitter.

Salish Sea Communications: Truth Well Told