Good morning
— and congratulations! It’s nice to be in a room with the
nation’s best and brightest future watershed scientists and policymakers.
Welcome to Washington, D.C.!
I’m
Vice Admiral Conrad Lautenbacher, Under Secretary for Oceans and Atmosphere
and Administrator of NOAA. I know why you’re here today —
but I bet most of you don’t know why I’m here. It’s
because NOAA, or the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration,
is the main federal agency responsible for coastal and marine management.
NOAA is part of the U.S. Department of Commerce, and NOAA’s mission
is to study and predict changes in the Earth’s environment and
then apply this scientific knowledge to help protect and manage this
country’s coastal and marine resources. The goal is to make sure
that our seas and coastal areas — and all the many living resources
and coastal economies that depend on them —stay healthy for your
generation and for the many generations to come.
Slide
What NOAA
does every day affects you — and what you do every day affects
NOAA. As part of NOAA, we predict and forecast the weather in your hometown.
This includes forecasting floods and droughts, storms and river flow.
We predict climate events, such as El Niño, which can tell us
which parts of the country will have more rain or flooding, or which
will experience drought. We restore coastal wetlands in your state.
We manage the fisheries that you depend on for food. These are all examples
of how we manage your water resources, which are only as healthy as
you and I treat them. We must partner with you and other federal agencies
and states to succeed in managing water resources for your future and
that of future generations of students.
I know
you are already deeply involved in studying water resources through
your schools. And that you know far more about watersheds and water
policy than most of your peers. I’d like to share how NOAA fits
into that water cycle, and what some other students are doing to partner
with NOAA to help manage these vital resources.
Across
this nation and around the globe, NOAA’s employees are on the
front lines, taking the pulse of the planet to safeguard and provide
for the wise use of our environment. By using science and technology
to prevent harm to our planet, and working to sustain its health, we
are doing our best to foster America’s and the world’s environmental
and economic well-being.
We work
to find solutions not only to current concerns, but to identify issues
on the environmental horizon — in your future — that will
be important to our nation and global neighbors. Water is among the
most preeminent of these issues.
Slide
Globally,
watersheds and the management of water resources are taking on increased
significance. Nations all over the world agree that water is the major
resource issue confronting the planet.
How many
people around the world do you think have no access to safe and affordable
drinking water? The answer is one in every five.
Half the
world’s people do not have adequate sanitation. As a result, between
three and four million people die of waterborne diseases every single
year!
By 2025,
more than half of the people in the world will live in countries that
will not have enough water for agriculture, industrial and domestic
needs.
The lack
of water (and poor water resource management) has contributed to droughts
and famines; floods displacing millions and costing billions in damages;
pollution of freshwater, coastal and marine systems and trans-border
resource conflicts — among other very serious consequences. In
today’s world these problems take on added significance because
they represent potential threats to our national security.
You may
wonder what we’re doing globally to address these water problems.
So many of our environmental issues are global and NOAA is at the forefront
of international action.
I just
returned from the World Summit on Sustainable Development in South Africa.
There, many countries sat down around a common table to talk about how
we can better care for our environment.
The most
exciting result of this meeting, for me, was the launching of “White
Water to Blue Water.” You and I understand that the land is linked
to the sea. You would be surprised how many people don’t. What
happens on land and upstream will directly impact our coasts and oceans.
This initiative will build national and regional partnerships to mange
watersheds and bring together people who might not ordinarily work together,
but who share the problems and are essential to the solution. If we
are to manage and protect our oceans and coasts, we have to develop
partnerships with the people and activities from the entire watershed
— from the white water of the rivers in the mountains to the blue
water of the sea.
Slide
NOAA approaches
these threats under four umbrella categories: SCIENCE, MANAGEMENT, EDUCATION
and RESTORATION.
Slide
NOAA
Water Science
- NOAA
has developed a set of scientific tools to study watershed science
— everything from predicting where rain will fall and forecasting
disasters like floods, storms or droughts, to protecting water quality.
- One
important set of tools in helping to assess and respond to the impact
of pollutants is monitoring and assessment of water quality. This
is particularly true in coastal waters, where non-point source pollution
from fertilizers, pesticides and herbicides, can have a devastating
impact on the marine environment and living marine resources.
- NOAA's
role in watershed science relates directly to what you have just learned
about the Chesapeake Bay. Recently, NOAA's National Estuarine Eutrophication
Assessment, examined the health of 138 estuaries in the lower 48 states
— covering 90 percent of our estuarine water area — including
the Chesapeake.
- Eutrophication
is the accelerated production of organic matter (particularly algae)
in a water body — in this case, an estuary, which is where rivers
meet the ocean. Eutrophication is usually caused by an increase in
the amount of nutrients being discharged to the estuary. This has
a negative effect on water quality and ecosystem health.
Slide
- Coral
reefs, like estuaries, depend on good water quality for life and are
dependent on the quality of the water that comes to them from the
land. NOAA offers training to high school students interested in studying
coral reef habitats. For over 10 years, NOAA has involved more than
2,000 local students and teachers in Coral Reef Classroom in one of
our most treasured places — the Florida Keys National Marine
Sanctuary.
- NOAA
gets students wet learning basic coral reef biology and concepts of
habitat interdependence. Students experience first-hand practice with
water quality sampling and oceanographic data collection.
- This
hands-on fieldwork gives our budding scientists experience in analytical
thinking, demonstrates the role management plays in protecting natural
resources, and informs students about careers in environmental science.
Slide
NOAA
Water Management
- Based
on the science, NOAA also actively manages water resources, and involves
many of your states in this process. In partnership with States, counties,
Native American Tribes, and regional organizations; NOAA expertise
covers vast watershed, coastal and ocean areas through coastal zone
management and fisheries management.
- Many
of you live in coastal states, and that includes the Great Lake states,
or what we call our “4th coast.” These states have a special
relationship with NOAA through the Coastal Zone Management Act (or
CZMA) that sets up a partnership between the federal and state governments.
The Act relies on states to develop and implement Coastal Zone Management
plans because, in our country, it is states that have land use planning
authority.
- Please
realize, if you don’t already, that when it comes to healthy
water, everyone is a stakeholder. Even if you don’t live in
a coastal state, you can still have a huge impact — positive
or negative — on our oceans and coasts. What is really important
is that you can each have a choice about what your particular impact
is going to be.
- Many
of you are from the mid-west — and states that border the Mississippi
River. It is important to remember that water quality is directly
affected by land use and development, like farming. NOAA studies the
effects of runoff in places like the Gulf of Mexico where the high
levels of nutrients from agriculture and the resulting eutrophication
have created a “dead zone” of low oxygen where fish and
other marine life have trouble living, or can’t live at all.
- We don’t
want more dead zones in our country — and you can help prevent
them.
- Estuaries,
coastal zones, wetlands, coral reefs, the Gulf of Mexico – everything
I’ve mentioned — are all home to marine life, including
the fish that we eat.
- Commercial
and recreational fishing contributes $111 billion to the nation's
economy and support 1.5 million jobs, and provides food for all of
us. So, these areas are important to both commerce and the environment.
Slide
- Through
the National Estuarine Research Reserve System, NOAA plays a valuable
role in the nation's effort to sustain healthy, functioning estuaries.
The reserve system is a network of 25 protected areas established
for long-term research, environmental monitoring, education and stewardship.
Look at this map and find the NERR closest to you.
- Students
like you have been involved in helping manage these special areas.
- As you
can see here, Girl Scouts have helped NOAA conduct a beach study measuring
beach slope gradient in our Waquoit Bay NERR, in New Hampshire.
- Students
from South Carolina cruise on the CAROLINA PRIDE in our ACE Basin
NERR. [ACE Basin named for Ashepoo, Combahee and Edisto rivers]
- Students
plant oysters grown on floats at York River State Park in our Chesapeake
Bay Virginia NERR.
Slide
NOAA Education
- To help
prepare your generation and others to become responsible water resource
stewards, NOAA has created education programs for teachers, students
and the public.
- During
the last century, over one-half of the world’s wetlands have
been lost, [source: Global Environment Facility Report] causing a
major loss of biodiversity. Many rivers and streams running through
urban areas are dead or dying. Due to water extraction, some of the
world’s largest rivers — from the Yellow River in China
to the Colorado River in North America — are drying up, barely
reaching the sea and thus depriving downstream communities of water
for irrigation.
- Nowhere
is human impact on natural ecosystems more evident than in coastal
areas around the world, where human populations have settled and continue
to move – in the United States and around the globe, over 50
percent of the population now lives near the sea.
- Protecting
coastal areas is now a major concern.
- This
is an area where NOAA believes further education and outreach can
play an important role in helping to improve our understanding of
ecosystems functions and create a new generation of stewards for our
coastal areas.
- To demonstrate
this commitment, NOAA sponsors the “B-WET” Program. Established
this year, our Chesapeake Bay Office’s Bay Watershed Education
and Training Program improves and enhances existing environment-based
education for students, teachers and communities throughout the Chesapeake
Bay watershed.
- Although
efforts are currently underway throughout the Chesapeake Bay watershed
to use the environment as a primary teaching tool, we feel a larger
emphasis needs to be placed on incorporating the environment into
your classroom and every day activities.
- Programs
like the B-WET Program will not only lead to a “healthier”
Chesapeake Bay, but will also reinforce an ethic of responsible citizenship.
Slide
- In many
parts of the Unites States, high schoolers have taken the initiative
to bring water resource education to their communities. Students at
the Cabrillo High School in Lompoc, Calif. (between San Luis Obispo
and Santa Barbara), have made such an impact that they are now considered
a satellite office of our Sanctuary Program.
- In 1986,
the Cabrillo High School Aquarium began as a partnership between a
student, a teacher and a local physician/amateur aquarist who agreed
to sponsor the student and teacher’s science project —
The Warm Water Reef. This original partnership soon blossomed into
hundreds of partnerships among students, teachers, district staff
and members of the business community — locally and nationally.
- Thousands
of visitors, including those in weekly guided tours for elementary
students, have toured the aquarium’s hands-on-learning laboratory.
What’s especially great is that Cabrillo students receive scholarships
to continue their studies in marine science and environmental studies.
- The
program has received the President of the United States' Environmental
Youth Award and NOAA honored the Cabrillo High School Aquarium Program
by sending three students and two adults to Washington, D.C. to explain
to each branch of NOAA why the program has become so successful with
community and students.
- In 1999,
NOAA also granted [it] the National Environmental Hero Award, one
of twelve such honors given in the United States.
Slide
NOAA
Restoration
- Finally,
NOAA is very involved in habitat restoration — we need to help
protect habitat for fish, to restore resources like coral reefs in
national marine sanctuaries, and to restore aquatic resources damaged
by spills of oil or hazardous substances.
- We also
play a supporting role to state Coastal Zone Management programs and
National Estuarine Research Reserves in restoring beaches and estuarine
habitats. As an example, the NOAA Fisheries Community-Based Restoration
Program started out when NOAA helped a teacher and some students in
California to restore a highly degraded segment of Adobe Creek in
Sonoma County, Calif.
Slide
- Anadromous
fish runs are declining throughout California, largely because of
the way humans have changed fish spawning habitat. As part of NOAA's
effort to restore habitat for salmon and steelhead trout, the Restoration
Program awarded funding to the Adobe Creek Fish Passage Project.
- As part
of the ongoing task of educating others on environmental awareness,
the students of Casa Grande High School involve students of all ages,
kindergarten through college, into the Adobe Creek Restoration Project:
to heal a stream, repair its habitat, and save a fish from extinction.
- NOAA
is funding the construction of a permanent step-pool fish ladder system
to provide passage for steelhead trout and chinook salmon over a 12-foot
obstruction, thereby providing the fish with access to additional
spawning habitat. The student group will maintain the fish ladder
and monitor its success as part of their ongoing stewardship of Adobe
Creek.
- These
students often give up their lunch hours, evenings, and weekends to
put in extra hours at the hatchery and in the creek. They use the
knowledge and skills of well-trained marine biologists every time
they step into the hatchery or a creek. And though each member is
an extraordinary student, it isn't because they are on the honor roll.
It's because they care enough to meet the challenge and make a difference
in protecting our water resources and the wildlife it supports.
- There
are many more excellent examples of how your generation is getting
involved and getting others excited about protecting and exploring
our watersheds and coastal resources.
Slide
- NOAA
is helping high schoolers to explore… Girl Scouts, between the
ages of 14-17, were chosen from all over the country to participate
in a field trip this August to NOAA’s undersea habitat, the
Aquarius. The Aquarius is located 20 meters beneath the surface of
the Atlantic Ocean, next to coral reefs in the Florida Keys National
Marine Sanctuary. This extremely successful adventure was the result
of a collaborative effort between NOAA’s Ocean Exploration Program,
National Underwater Research Program, and the National Marine Sanctuary
Program.
Slide
- NOAA
is also introducing students to the world of marine science and technology
… high school and college teams from 10 states and Canada competed
in an underwater ROV (remotely operated vehicle) design competition
held in May as part of a NOAA/NASA Symposium in Monterey, Calif. The
competition took place in Florida at both the Kennedy Space Center
and a community college campus, and culminated with a great underwater
battle as teams competed to pick up “treasure” from the
bottom of a pool using home-built ROVs – underwater tethered
vehicles were guided by students “on shore” via cables
that carry signals between the operator and the vehicle.
Slide
- NOAA
is also bringing students into the field… In August, the NOAA
fleet hosted four “Olympics of the Mind” NAACP competitors
aboard the NOAA Ship RONALD BROWN. These high school students assisted
scientists aboard the ship in a multifaceted study of the bottom topography
and associated water column in the coastal waters off Ft. Lauderdale,
Miami, and Key Biscayne, Fla.
Slide
Conclusion
I am delighted
that you’re devoting talent and intellect and energy to the many
challenges of water — it is, of course, an indispensable resource
that none of us can live without. As you well know, it is also a resource
we cannot take for granted.
In many
respects, the quality of our country’s and world’s environmental
and economic health will reflect the quality of our water and —
from the tops of mountains down to our rivers, across our fields and
back to the sea where it all begins — how well we treat water
throughout this cycle is, ultimately, how well it is going to treat
us.
Thank you
for your commitment to the health of our planet — and please keep
up the outstanding work!
Wherever
you live in the U.S., whether in a coastal or Midwest state, you have
an impact on non-point source (or runoff) pollution. It’s easy
to forget that things we do every day effect downstream ecosystems.
There are fragile habitats, like coral reefs, that depend on our good
stewardship to survive. There is a real need to educate people about
their contributions to polluted runoff. This country depends on you
and everyone else to serve as ambassadors — to learn about these
fragile habitats and help take care of them.
NOAA offers
many internships both at Headquarters and in the field for college students.
Remind your teachers to pick up a NOAA packet before they leave to learn
more about joining our team. I hope someday you will all be working
at NOAA!
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