Groundwater and Neonicotinoid Pesticides

Join us for a discussion of two interrelated topics that are of great consequence to trout streams.

 

Carrie Jennings of the Freshwater Society will be kicking us off with a 15-minute "Groundwater 101" presentation, focusing on the Vermillion River.  The Vermillion has its headwaters in complex terrain created at the margin of a former ice sheet. The landscape is characterized by features associated with multiple pulses of ice advance and slow ice stagnation. Broad, east-trending valleys formed as meltwater coursed through tunnels in the former ice sheet. Some of these valleys are eroded into the Prairie du Chien dolomite bedrock and are filled with thick sequences of sand and gravel. These are places where the groundwater can be exchanged between the bedrock aquifer and surficial aquifers. Carrie will explore this area along I-35, what is known, what has been newly discovered, like the fen at Murphy Hanrehan Park where cold calcareous groundwater is known to be upwelling to supply the Vermillion River, and potential impacts to groundwater discharge in this area including water bottling and data center development. 

 

Carrie will be followed by Lucas Rhoads of the Natural Resources Defense Council.  Lucas will zoom in from Washington DC to talk about Neonicotinoid insecticides.  Neonic insecticides are the most commonly used insecticides in the country, used on upwards of 12 million acres across Minnesota each year. While neonic contamination is best known as a leading cause of pollinator declines, research increasingly demonstrates their harms to aquatic ecosystems and human health. Lucas will discuss common uses of neonics, their impacts on ecosystems and health, and current efforts to rein in their use.

 

We will conclude with a joint Q&A session with Carrie and Lucas.

 

Carrie Jennings, PhD, is the Research and Policy Director for the Freshwater Society.  She was a field geologist for 24 years with the Minnesota Geological Survey and with the DNR. Carrie is Adjunct Graduate Faculty at the U of M and was the science reports lead for the County Geologic Atlas program at the DNR. She applies her understanding of glacial geology and landscape evolution to shape policy and technical approaches for managing surface water and groundwater, avoiding hazards, and  using resources wisely. Carrie and her husband live on a 120-acre farm which is primarily in a permanent conservation easement through the Dakota County Farmland and Natural Areas Program.

 

Lucas Rhoads is a senior attorney within NRDC’s Nature Department. He works to protect pollinators, other wildlife, and human health from pesticides. He advocates at both the federal and state levels for policies that rein in unnecessary pesticide use—while employing litigation to enhance and enforce existing pesticide protections. He is based in NRDC’s Washington, D.C. office and has been working with groups in Minnesota for the past three years.