5/21 Buttercup, drought, sea rise, EPA math, Mukilteo ferry dock, Manke Lumber

Buttercup

Creeping buttercup Ranunculus repens
The creeping buttercup, is a flowering plant in the buttercup family Ranunculaceae, native to Europe, Asia and northwestern Africa. It is also called creeping crowfoot and (along with restharrow) sitfast. Like most buttercups, Ranunculus repens is poisonous, although when dried with hay these poisons are lost. The taste of buttercups is acrid, so cattle avoid eating them. The plants then take advantage of the cropped ground around it to spread their stolons. (Wikipedia)

Low snowpack, hot spring lead to drought declaration for nearly half of Washington state 
Washington Gov. Jay Inslee declared drought Monday for nearly half of Washington watersheds, as the mountain snowpack that churns through hydropower dams, irrigates our state’s orchards and provides for fish continues to dwindle well below normal. Twenty days into May, “our statewide snowpack is the fourth-lowest it’s been over the past 30 years,” said Jeff Marti, the drought coordinator for the Washington Department of Ecology. Winter left many areas of the state with lower-than-normal snowpack. A hot, dry spring quickly zapped much of the snow that did accumulate. Evan Bush reports. (Seattle Times) See also: Nooksack expected to be 25 percent below average. Here’s how the state is responding  A total of 24 Washington river watersheds — including the Nooksack, the Upper Skagit, and the Lower Skagit-Samish — were included in the order, which could spell trouble for farmers and residential users as well as the salmon that require a constant supply of cold, clear water through summer.  Robert Mittendorf reports. (Bellingham Herald)

Rise in global sea levels could have 'profound consequences'
Scientists believe that global sea levels could rise far more than predicted, due to accelerating melting in Greenland and Antarctica. The long-held view has been that the world's seas would rise by a maximum of just under a metre by 2100. This new study, based on expert opinions, projects that the real level may be around double that figure. This could lead to the displacement of hundreds of millions of people, the authors say.  Matt McGrath reports. (BBC)

E.P.A. Plans to Get Thousands of Deaths Off the Books by Changing Its Math
The Environmental Protection Agency plans to change the way it calculates the health risks of air pollution, a shift that would make it easier to roll back a key climate change rule because it would result in far fewer predicted deaths from pollution, according to five people with knowledge of the agency’s plans. The E.P.A. had originally forecast that eliminating the Obama-era rule, the Clean Power Plan, and replacing it with a new measure would have resulted in an additional 1,400 premature deaths per year. The new analytical model would significantly reduce that number and would most likely be used by the Trump administration to defend further rollbacks of air pollution rules if it is formally adopted. Lisa Friedman reports. (NYTimes)

It’s a go! Ferries awards $26.4 million for marine contract 
The new Mukilteo ferry terminal is finally getting its feet wet. Washington State Ferries on Monday awarded a $26.4 million contract to Seattle-based Manson Construction to build the marine structures for the new terminal. These include the vehicle transfer bridge, overhead pedestrian walkway and other components. It also covers demolishing the old terminal and nearby fishing pier, and building a new fishing pier closer to the ferry action. Andrea Brown reports. (Everett Herald)

A lumber company accused of polluting a Tacoma waterway has agreed to settle, EPA says
Manke Lumber has agreed to settle allegations it violated the Clean Water Act at its Tacoma Tideflats facility, the Environmental Protection Agency said Monday. Manke will pay a $320,000 penalty and build a treatment system to fix water quality violations, the EPA said. The company will also invest in a project that will designate 38 acres of undeveloped land for conservation and recreation in Mason County. That includes 1,500 feet of Goldsborough Creek, 580 feet of a tributary and a 20-acre riparian corridor. Alexis Krell reports. (Tacoma News Tribune)


Now, your tug weather--
West Entrance U.S. Waters Strait Of Juan De Fuca-  241 AM PDT Tue May 21 2019   
SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY IN EFFECT FROM NOON PDT TODAY THROUGH  THIS EVENING   
TODAY  W wind to 10 kt rising to 15 to 25 kt in the afternoon.  Wind waves 1 ft or less building to 2 to 4 ft in the afternoon.  SW swell 6 ft at 12 seconds building to W 10 ft at 14 seconds in  the afternoon. 
TONIGHT  W wind 15 to 25 kt becoming SW 5 to 15 kt after  midnight. Wind waves 2 to 4 ft subsiding to 2 ft or less after  midnight. W swell 9 ft at 12 seconds.

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