MSU research: global scope, local impact

Joan Rose, Nowlin Chair of Water Research

Phone: (517) 432-4412
E-mail: rosejo@msu.edu
Profile: www.fw.msu.edu/people/RoseJoan/JoanRose.htm
Special Report: MSU integrates the science and policy of water
Photo: hi-res jpg

Presentation: "Drinking Water and Health: Forecasting Pathogen Risks in the Great Lakes"

Abstract: Epidemic and endemic waterborne disease and pathogen risks associated with drinking water and recreational water remain of significant concern in the Great Lakes Basin, which is home to 100s of recreational beaches and supplies drinking water to 40 million Americans and Canadians annually. Historically, communities in states and provinces around the Great Lakes experienced the worst outbreaks of typhoid and dysentery every recorded in the US (1920-1929). In 1993 the largest waterborne outbreak in the US took place in Milwaukee. The most recent waterborne outbreak occurred in South Bass Island in the community of Put-In-Bay in Lake Erie in 2004. Wastewater disposal approaches, significant rainfall and lake events caused massive contamination leading to a large waterborne outbreak. Development of better technology, modeling and monitoring from satellite to DNA data will provide the necessary information used in a risk assessment framework to address predictions and ultimately protection for all large fresh water basins worldwide. This includes pathogen discovery in sewage using molecular and microarray technology, transport and fate models that include sunlight inactivation coefficients, land-use and climate models for water quality impacts with both remote and in-situ sensing data and new probability of infection models.

Presentation: "Collaborating for Quality in Science-Based Risk Assessment"

Abstract: The reef was dying. The high nutrient loads that were detected were the likely cause, but there were no likely solutions. While the unique aquatic environment brought scores of tourists and their money to the small patch of lands positioned strategically and precariously in the US southeast coastal ecosystem, more people, more sewage and the billion dollar price tag for improving the wastewater system loomed as a seemingly insurmountable challenge. Initial probes revealed additional hazards: human enteric viruses, hepatitis A virus, and noroviruses were detected in almost 80% of the locations. These viruses were flushed down nearby toilets and were able to reach the waters within 4 to 24 hours. For the affected citizens, the identification of these human health risks made the price tag to begin to “fix” the water quality and sewage treatment system to begin to be seen as not only reasonable but necessary. The river turned red. Concerned citizens soon brought out the news media and the police. One county blamed another, yet the watershed knew no political boundaries: rain, community sewage outfalls, farms and wildlife all shared the blame and the risks. This type of political battle is not uncommon within watershed- and water quality-management. While solutions may eventually be found, the political, social, and environmental damage which occur in the process may be irreparable. What is the solution? With an early warning system in place, strategies for fixing the worst first and identifying key hot spots, before serious damage is done, would move communities forward and help minimize the threshold of environmental damage it takes to move the political will. This paper proposes such a model and evaluates criteria for success.