USAtoday. (2023, December 30). Salmon won’t return to the Klamath River overnight, but tribes are ready for restoration work. Retrieved January 28, 2024 from https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2023/12/30/klamath-river-dam-removal-first-step-fish-restoration/71938341007/

After decades of fighting to remove the Klamath River’s dam, the last of four hydroelectric dams is expected to come down in 2024. Local tribes have been fighting for the removal so that they can restore the river’s natural flow. The removal process was approved by the federal government in 2022 and is the largest removal project in US history. After the removal of these dams, the river’s flow was restored and many fish species were able to live in this river again. The salmon, however, is not supposed to come back for decades. Despite this progress, this removal is just the beginning to the restoration of the Klamath River. 

The removal of these dams marks the beginning of a long process of restoration of the Klamath River. With protests from the local community, more laws will hopefully be put into place to preserve the natural species that live in the river. Although this is a massive project that involves construction companies and ecological restoration firms, it will all be worth it in the end because the river is vital to the survival of the local people and environment. 

TAS environmental services. (2023, October 18). Liquid Gold: Navigating the Waters of Environmental Cleanup and Prevention. Retrieved January 28, 2024 from https://www.taslp.com/category/environmental-remediation/

As humans we rely on water for many different purposes including drinking, agriculture, and healthy ecosystems. Due to many pollutants and contamination, our water sources are not always purified. The TAS environmental service organization strives to remediate contaminated water. Clean water will result in better human health and can be used for irrigation, livestock, and processing crops. In order to obtain these things, the TAS environmental service organization uses advanced technology to purify the water. These techniques include pump-and-treat, chemical treatment, and bioremedies. This organization also regulates wastewater to ensure that it is clean before it is released back into the environment. 

The TAS environmental service organization is very committed to sustainability and restoring our water sources. Thanks to their work, more clean water can be used for farming and drinking purposes. Even if people cannot directly join the organization, they suggest many other ways to help. These ways include fixing leaks at home, using low-flow appliances, and practicing water-saving habits. Also, they highly suggest advocating for policies that promote clean water. The organization’s strategy of removing the pollutants has proven to be very successful and beneficial. 

Earth day. (2023, December 15). CV SAN Earth day. Retrieved January 21, 2024, from 

https://www.cvsan.org/zero_waste/community_and_education/earth_day.php

For many years Castro Valley has hosted April Earth Day cleanups for local residents to participate in. Each year, this event brings together up to 1,000 volunteers to help with projects all over Castro Valley. These volunteers often include students and teachers from local schools. Last year’s cleanup happened on April 22nd and had over 400 volunteers helping out. These volunteers planted new trees, pulled weeds, picked up litter, and participated in many other environmentally beneficial activities. They also worked at schools to make the campuses and nearby parks cleaner. Earth Day cleanups in Castro Valley have been happening for over 20 years and have been a huge success. 

The April Earth Day clean up in Castro Valley has resulted in much cleaner neighborhoods and is a wonderful way to bring the community together. Much of environmental science is studying how to improve the local environment and this program shows how a community can come together to clean up their neighborhood. I hope that this initiative inspires other communities to organize similar activities and yearly events. 

Sierra Nevada Alliance. (2024, January 17). Great Sierra River Cleanup. Retrieved January 21, 2024, from https://sierranevadaalliance.org/great-sierra-river-cleanup/

On September 21st, 2023, the California Coastal Cleanup organization hosted a watershed cleanup of the Great Sierra River. This event, called the Great Sierra River Cleanup happens once a year. Last year, 249 volunteers came and removed over 5 thousand pieces of trash from the Sierra Nevada waterways. The goal of the event is to remove as much litter and plastic pollution as possible. The idea for this event came from an Oregan resident named Judy Neilson who organized the “Plague of Plastics” which was an event that called for a statewide cleanup. California was inspired by O’regan’s effort and created the California Coastal Cleanup day. 

Calling for a whole state-wide cleanup is a wonderful way to remove trash and pollutants from our waterways and oceans. The Great Sierra River Cleanup is just one of the many events hosted by the California Coastal Cleanup organization that helps restore our environment. This company deserves so much applause for their efforts and success stories. Hopefully more people will find out about the events and go and volunteer themselves, I would definitely be interested in next year’s one myself. 

AP NEWS. (2023, November 24). EPA offers $2B to clean up pollution, develop clean energy in poor and minority communities. Retrieved January 21, 2024, from https://apnews.com/article/environmental-justice-grants-biden-epa-clean-energy-657a43f21b8ca7800757a72e83f3bc7c

Recently, the Biden Administration made the largest investment ever in environmental justice; $2 billion. This grant will be overseen by the EPA, Environmental Protection Agency, led by the administrator Micheal Regan. The goal of this money is to develop cleaner energy systems and clean up air pollution in disadvantaged areas. Specifically, the grants will be given to locally-based groups to monitor air pollution, mitigate urban heat islands, reduce indoor toxins, and boost electric transportation. Each community involved is expected to receive $10-$20 million to fund their projects. Communities apply for the grant, and if they don’t receive one right away they can apply again later on. The program will run for a year, hoping to help many communities in the United States. 

Minority communities are oftentimes overlooked so this program dedicated to helping them restore their environments is very important and beneficial. Biden’s decision to fund $2 billion to disadvantaged communities will result in much better transportation & a huge reduction of air pollution. Regan, the leader of the EPA, clearly has made environmental justice his top priority which is going to benefit us all in the long run. A huge part of environmental science is bettering the environment around us and this article gives a great example of the US president and the EPA trying to do so. 

Washington Examiner. (2023, August 9). Here’s how a former NASA engineer hopes to clean up the world’s dirtiest waterways. Retrieved August 27, 2023 from https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/policy/energy-environment/former-nasa-engineer-clean-up-worlds-dirtiest-waterways

After helping remove hazardous pollutants from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, a former NASA engineer, Albino,  uses those same techniques to restore contaminated groundwater sites. His technique involves what is called a spear, an eco-friendly solvent that is placed in the water to extract and destroy chemicals. They usually stay in the water for up to 12 months and do not harm the area because they are eco-friendly. While he has deployed these spears in many parts of the world, including Europe, the US, and the pacific, recently he has focused on the Anacostia River in Washington D.C. 

Based on Albino’s confidence in his ability to restore the Anacostia river, I strongly believe that his spears will be successful, as they have been many times before. His work is very important since clean, toxin-free rivers can be used as water sources for humans and animals. I think his strategy is very smart because the spears are made up of eco-friendly material so they can stay in the rivers for a long period of time without harming the local environment. This relates to environmental science because it involves both the clean up and the restoration of rivers around the world. 

UN Environment. (2023, August 23). Largest river and wetland restoration initiative in history launched at UN Water Conference. Retrieved August 14, 2023 from https://www.unep.org/news-and-stories/press-release/largest-river-and-wetland-restoration-initiative-history-launched-un

On March 23, 2023, the government launched the Freshwater Challenge at the UN water conference in New York. This challenge’s goal is to restore 300,000 km of rivers and 350 million hectares of wetlands. To fulfill these goals, the Freshwater Challenge will first provide the evidence needed to design restoration measures. Then they will determine which areas need restoration the most. Then they will improve current restoration measures. Finally, they will collect financial reimbursement to fulfill their projects. 

The work of the Freshwater Challenge is very important. Healthy rivers & freshwater ecosystems have many benefits. For starters, they serve as a vital water supply for us humans. They are also critical for adapting to climate change. Since rivers are very degraded, the fish populations are starting to suffer as well. This is why I think that the Freshwater Challenge will be beneficial and should be pursued. This program relates to environmental science because they had to research the best ways to restore the environment and chose to focus on river restoration. This challenge will greatly help us in the future. 

Mission Blue. (2023, April 18). Restoration and Protection in Action: A Year of Success for the Sulubaaï Environmental Foundation on Pangatalan Island, the Philippines. Retrieved August 14, 2023, from https://missionblue.org/2023/04/restoration-and-protection-in-action-a-year-of-successes-for-the-sulubaai-environmental-foundation-on-pangatalan-island-the-philippines/

The Sulubaaï Environmental Foundation, founded by Fréd Tardieu, a French business developer, has been dedicated to restoring the Pangatalan Island, and other Philippine islands since 2011. This year, in 2023, the foundation has already successfully completed many restoration projects. For starters, they have established three MPA’s, marine protected areas, that cover over 760 hectares of land. Within these MPA’s, 200 hectares have been labeled as completely off limits for taking resources from. Further, the Foundation has made plans to build a Environmental Education & Restoration Centre which will help the surrounding communities. 

The foundation has done many impressive projects that will help restore the Philippines environment. I think their hard work and dedication will definitely have visible results and help many of the local communities inhabiting the land. This topic relates to environmental science because it focuses on the restoration of damaged and overused land. The foundation must have done some research on how best to help the environment and this is the study of how to ensure environmental restoration. 

United Nations. (2023, June 8). World Environment Day: from Clean Up Around the Lake to Interactive Dialogue at Radio Republik Indonesia (RRI) in Indonesia. Retrieved August 14, 2023, from https://indonesia.un.org/en/235415-world-environment-day-clean-around-lake-interactive-dialogue-radio-republik%C2%A0indonesia%C2%A0rri

The United Nations Environment Programme, an organization who provides solutions to environmental issues, holds an international day for the environment each year. This day aims to bring together communities to help restore the environment by ridding local areas of trash. This year, in 2023, the event took place in many places, including Sawangan, West Java, and Indonesia. Volunteers joined the #BeatPlasticPollution cleanup by collecting and properly disposing plastic waste from around lakes. They collected around 26.6 kilograms of plastic and inorganic trash. 

The UNEP reminds everyone of their shared responsibility to help the environment through their yearly cleanup days. I think making it an official event around the world is a smart tactic because many more people feel inclined to partake which resulted in the removal of a lot of plastic. This event is an example of on-land environmental cleanup, which may not be as often discussed, but is also very important. 

The Ocean Cleanup. (2023, July 7). Introducing the Interceptor Barricade: The Ocean Cleanup returns to Guatemala. Retrieved August 14, 2023, from https://theoceancleanup.com/updates/introducing-the-interceptor-barricade-the-ocean-cleanup-returns-to-guatemala/

In 2023, the Ocean Cleanup, an organization dedicated to the removal of plastic in oceans, visited Guatemala because hurricanes there historically have forced immense amounts of trash to flow through rivers into the ocean. In order to prevent this, they made a barrier for the Rio Las Vacas river, which flows into the Caribbean sea, called the Interceptor Barricade. This barricade was a bunch of floating booms that captured the plastic but allowed the water to flow through. Once the trash was collected, they passed it onto the local waste management authority who sorted and recycled the collected waste. 

This article describes an organization’s attempt to clean up the environment by preventing trash from entering the ocean. Once in the ocean, the removal of trash can be very difficult and often too late, since it could have already harmed animals and the environment, so I think it’s strategic and beneficial to attempt to prevent the trash instead of attempting to remove it. A large part of environmental science is studying how to better the environment and this article stimulates that by providing an example of people attempting to clean up the ocean.