Water

The University of Washington is working to develop a comprehensive Sustainability Plan. Led by Executive Sponsor and UW Facilities Vice President Lou Cariello, the Sustainability Plan is on track for delivery on Earth Day, April 22, 2020. The team will be using several tools to identify gaps and the actions that will comprise the Plan, including UW's 2018 STARS submission (Sustainability Tracking, Assessment and Rating System) and the Climate Action Inventory.

Due to this year's unusually hot and dry summer, the City of Seattle has asked businesses and residents to voluntarily reduce water usage by 10 percent. The University of Washington supports this effort, and calls on the UW community to conserve water and be aware of your water usage.

The largest dam removal project in the United States provided a unique opportunity for a group of students, who spent 10 weeks this spring studying with UW oceanographers to discover how the released sediment is interacting with the marine habitat at the river's mouth.

The University of Washington is part of a partnership which is using a water monitoring sensor on the state ferry MV Salish to help them gain information on low-oxygen water and ocean acidification.

The Salish crosses the Admiralty Inlet between Port Townsend and Whidbey Island 11 times a day, and the sensor, or acoustic doppler current profiler, will provide data on the speed and direction of water movement. The area was chosen to measure water exchange between the Puget Sound and the Pacific Ocean.

The West Antarctic Ice Sheet, which holds enough water to raise global seas by several feet, is thinning. Scientists have been warning of its collapse, based on theories, but with few firm predictions or timelines.

Managing marine fisheries from an ecosystem perspective is a unique challenge, one that is bringing together numerous scientists on a new task force to move the science on this issue forward. Dubbed the Fishery Ecosystem Task Force, the group—funded by the Lenfest Ocean Program—will conduct their work under the leadership of Tim Essington from the College of the Environment’s School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences.

By hightailing it to nearby ponds and shallow waterways, frogs and salamanders have – until now – had a way to evade exotic trout introduced to the West’s high-mountain lakes for recreational fishing.

The Columbia River is perhaps the most intricate, complex river system in North America. Its diverse landscape crosses international borders and runs through subarctic, desert and sea-level ecosystems. Surrounding communities rely on the river for fishing, agriculture, transportation and electrical power.

As the Earth warms, experts know the Columbia will change – they just don’t know how much or when.