Ethanol Push Could Threaten Water Supplies

When it comes to solving the fossil fuel crisis, it seems like every silver lining comes accompanied by a dark cloud.

As attention turns more and more toward using corn and other products to produce ethanol for fuel, experts warn that increased production of these crops could pose a threat to the nation's water supplies.

Both water quality and the availability of water could be threatened by sharply increasing crops such as corn, said Jerald Schnoor, professor of environmental engineering and co-director of the Center for Global and Regional Environmental Research at the University of Iowa.

Mr. Schnoor is chairman of a National Research Council panel that studied the potential impact of increased use of biofuels on water supplies. The committee report was released Wednesday.

A stated goal is to increase biofuel production about six times, 132 billion litres by 2017, Mr. Schnoor said.

“That would mean a lot more fertilizers and pesticides” running into rivers and flowing into the oceans, he said in a telephone interview.

Water available depends on where the crops are grown, he added. If it is an area needing irrigation, it takes 7,570 litres of water for every bushel of corn: “That's a high amount of water.”

And that is in addition to the secondary issue of how much water is needed by the factories that produce the ethanol, he said.

What is needed is a breakthrough in technology so that ethanol can be produced from cellulose such as grass, wood and sawdust, Mr. Schnoor said. “If we could do that it would be much better environmentally.”

While Brazil is having success producing fuels from sugar cane, “we don't have much tropical land in the United States,” Mr. Schnoor observed.

Also, he noted, Brazil uses waste from the cane to fuel its ethanol factories, while the U.S. uses natural gas or other fuels.

The report notes that water “is an increasingly precious resource used for many purposes including drinking and other municipal uses, hydropower, cooling thermoelectric plants, manufacturing, recreation, habitat for fish and wildlife and agriculture.”

Supplies are already stressed in some areas of the country, including a large region where water is drawn from the underground Ogallala aquifer, which extends from western Texas up into South Dakota and Wyoming.

Growing biofuel crops requiring additional irrigation in areas with limited water supplies is a major concern, the report says.

It suggests the possibility of irrigating crops for biofuel with wastewater that would not be suitable for food crops.

Other suggestions include developing more water-efficient crops and adopting agriculture practices that reduce the amount of chemical runoff.

The study was sponsored by the McKnight Foundation, Energy Foundation, National Science Foundation, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and National Research Council Day Fund.

The National Research Council is an arm of the National Academy of Sciences, an independent organization chartered by Congress to provide science, technology and health policy advice.

Minnesota Burning Restrictions

Spring burning restrictions in effect April 14 (April 14, 2008)

Spring open burning restrictions for much of central Minnesota will go into effect at 8 a.m. on Monday, April 14. The restrictions are meant to address the fact that most spring wildfires originate from the burning of yard debris, according to Olin Phillips, Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) fire protection manager.

The counties affected by the April 14 restrictions are: Anoka, Benton, Carlton, Chisago, Douglas, Grant, Isanti, Kanabec, Mille Lacs, Morrison, Pine, Pope, Sherburne, Stearns, Stevens, Todd and Washington. Additional counties will be added to the restricted area as temperatures warm, snow cover disappears and the potential for wildfire increases in areas north of the Twin Cities metro area.

Go to DNR Web site for a map of fire restriction areas and more information.

“The DNR is asking residents to use alternative methods of debris disposal, such as recycling, composting or chipping,” Phillips said.

Restrictions are going into effect later than in recent years, thanks to normal winter snowfall and cool spring weather. Since the inception of spring burning restrictions, the number of spring wildfires has been reduced.

Although April 14 marks restrictions on the issuing of debris burning permits, Forestry personnel may still give some variances for specific activities. “Each variance application is reviewed separately,” Phillips said. “These permits are only granted for situations such as prescribed fires conducted by trained fire personnel, burning for approved agricultural practices, and construction or economic hardship burning for which there is no feasible alternative.”

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Fishing Opener Is Getting Close!

Not long now until fishing opener in Minnesota. Governor Pawlenty will have his usual media circus in the Brainerd, Minnesota area this year (info- www.minnesotaoutside.net or www.fishingminnesota.110.mb.com). I will be opening the year on Cut Foot Sioux along with hundreds of others. Hopefully, the weather cooperates.

Walleyes have a reputation for being short strikers. They'll hit the bait without getting hooked. But walleyes aren't tentative eaters. Usually, the walleye makes a sincere attempt to eat the bait. The fisherman just didn't allow the fish to succeed.
Avoiding this problem-and consequently hooking more fish-is a two-step process. Step one is to understand how a walleye eats. Sometimes a walleye will slash a bait like a pike or a muskie does. But usually they'll swim up to it and flare their gills, inhaling their prey and the water surrounding it. If anything happens to interrupt that flow of water, you get a short strike, or nothing at all.
Step two is adapting your presentation to decrease resistance in the lure-and-line combination, and thereby permit your bait to flow right into the walleye's mouth. To that end, he offers the following six tips:
1: Use Light Line Light (4- and 6-pound-test), thin-diameter lines offer less drag, or resistance, on a lure. This lets a walleye suck it in more easily.
2: Bounce the Bait When you're using live bait use a bottom-bouncer rig. Bouncers are L-shaped wires that have a lead weight molded to the shaft. As an angler retrieves the rig, the weight bounces off the bottom and creates slack in the line, which allows the fish to inhale the bait more easily.
3: Shorten the Stroke Many jig fishermen pump their rods too vigorously, using long vertical strokes that can pull the bait out of a fish's mouth. Use short lifts instead and you'll hook more walleyes.
4: Offer a Bigger Bite Adding a plastic body to a jig also helps by increasing the surface area to which the fish's sucking force is applied.
5: Pump a Crank With crankbaits, steady retrieves may hook aggressive walleyes, but a stop-and-go technique is better for deliberate feeders. Once the lure achieves proper depth, lift the rod tip, reel in the slack, and repeat.
6: Troll With the Flow When the water has a chop, trolling with the waves imparts that necessary slight slack in the line. Also, keep a close eye on your inside planer board as you make a turn; it will give you that small amount of slack that allows for more solid strikes-and more walleyes in the boat.