Significant areas of coastal wetlands have been restored and enhanced in Port Arthur, Texas. The largest restoration took place in the Lower Neches Wildlife Management Area near the Gulf of Mexico where historic water flow has been brought back into roughly 1,300 acres of wetland.

The other main restoration site is located within the J.D. Murphree Wildlife Management Area where approximately 1,500 acres of coastal emergent marsh plant communities have been restored to historical conditions through the installation of berms and other water control structures.

Almost 90 acres of estuarine intertidal marsh and over 30 acres of coastal wet prairie have also been established by NOAA in conjunction with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, the Texas General Land Office, and the Chevron Corporation.

“Coastal wetlands are extremely valuable habitats that provide numerous services for both humans and the environment,” said John H. Dunnigan, assistant administrator for NOAA’s National Ocean Service. “The wetlands restored through this cooperative project will help improve water quality and provide a buffer as tropical storms and hurricanes move onshore.”

The restored wetlands are a way for Chevron to compensate the public for the injury caused by the Clark Chevron refinery in Port Arthur. The refinery, which commenced production in 1902, caused substantial injury to natural areas and waterways inside and adjacent to the processing plant by releasing hazardous substances into the environment.

“These completed projects will not only provide habitat benefits to the fish and wildlife of the region, but will also enhance public use and outdoor recreation opportunities,” said Wildlife Management Area manager Jim Sutherlin.

The restoration is a part of NOAA’s Damage Assessment, Remediation and Restoration Program. Through this program, NOAA works with industry, agencies and communities to restore environments harmed by oil spills, hazardous substance releases and ship groundings. Last year, the program settled nearly 200 natural resource damage assessment cases, generating almost $450 million for restoration projects.

The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation is now carrying out tests in hope of finding out if bacteria can aid them in their struggle against invasive mussel species that are threatening to spread across the West’s waterways.

During the summer of 2008, a preliminary test was executed at Davis Dam on the Colorado River at Laughlin in Nevada. In this dam, Quagga mussels (Dreissena rostriformis bugensis) were exposed to dead bacteria of the Pseudomonas fluorescens species, a non-infectious bacterium that is commonly found in water, soil and food.

Quagga Mussels

During the first test the mussels where exposed to bacteria in jars, but the next test will take place in 10-20 gallon aquariums to in order to more accurately mimic real dam conditions. Water will flow through the aquariums, but will not be released back into the river – it will instead be disposed of through an evaporation pond. A third experiment is also planned, where bacteria will be released in a domestic water intake line which is currently encrusted with a 2-3 inches thick layer of mussels (approximately 5-7.5 cm).

“We are always looking for new, more effective techniques for managing mussels, and this one looks very safe and very promising,” says Reclamation scientist Fred Nibling. “We’ll have a series of tests where we’re going to be testing off-line, off the river, so we can have the data to where we can apply for the permits to test elsewhere.

If the initial testing proves to be successful, the Bureau of Reclamation hopes to have a larger scale test approved by the Environmental Protection Agency.

The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation got the idea to use Pseudomonas fluorescens from Daniel Molloy, a researcher at the New York State Museum who discovered that both zebra and quagga mussels died if they ingest the bacterium. He confirmed the effect in 1998 and the method was patented by the museum. Eventually, the Californian firm Marrone Organic Innovations was awarded a National Science Foundation grant to commercialize the technology.

According to Molloy’s research, a mussel needs to ingest a high density of a strain of the bacteria in order for the bacteria to be lethal. If the density is high enough, a toxin inside the bacterium cell will efficiently devastate the digestive tract of the animal.

One advantage with Pseudomonas fluorescens compared to conventional anti-mussel treatments like chlorine is that mussels recognize chlorine as dangerous and close their feeding valves to keep the chemical out. They do however happily devour Pseudomonas fluorescens. Another important aspect is that research has found that Pseudomonas fluorescens does not kill fish or shellfish.

If large scale testing also proves successful, the Bureau of Reclamation say they wish to meet with municipal public works and water authority officials before the bacterium is put into general use. “We want to make sure they’re very comfortable and they have a chance to ask questions,” says Nibbling.

Zebra mussels

The June sucker, Chasmistes liorus, is a critically endangered fish endemic to Utah Lake and the Provo River. The fish was once plentiful within its range but is now facing problems with pollution, turbidity, drought, alteration of water flow, loss of native vegetation, and the introduction of new species, primarily the European carp (Cyprinus carpio) and the walley (Sander vitreus vitreus).

Grass Carp

The European carp was introduced to the lake as a food fish during the late 19^th century and is causing severe problems for the June sucker by ripping out weeds while feeding along the bottom. Without these weeds, June sucker fry have no place to hide and end up in the stomach of predatory fish like walley and bass.

During recent years, about 100,000 June suckers have been raised in a hatchery and released into the lake, but the state of Utah are now saying that they have to do something about the carp problem if they want the June sucker population to survive in the long run. “It’s probably the biggest barrier to June sucker recovery,” says Mike Mills, the local coordinator for the recovery program.

Wildlife officials are now planning on removing roughly 1 million pounds of European carp from the lake each year during the next coming six years in an effort to make the environment more favourable for the June sucker. But what do you do with 6 million dead carps?

As of now, a substantial amount of dead carps has been turned into compost, and there is also talk about using them for international humanitarian missions. Other suggestions include converting them into bio-fuels and garden fertilizer, or use them as a protein source in imitation crab meat for the food markets of Central Europe and Asia. The old fashion solution of turning fish into fish sticks, canned fish, fish sauce, fish meal and pet food is naturally also an option.

Some have suggested that the carps should be tossed out to rot away in a landfill or placed in a hole in the desert, but Wildlife officials are not very keen on that idea. “It’s hard to see a fish wasted when there are people in the world that are starving and could use the food,” says Mike Mills. “It’d be great if we could find a market for these fish and that market could fund the whole effort.“

Source: msnbc.msn.com