the best plants for pond and stream edges (page

American Lotus at Arlington Wetlands

Plant This, Not That...Aquatic Plants!

Garden ponds are popular in many backyards.

They provide a calm and relaxing atmosphere in any outdoor space. Ponds, large and small, also add valuable wildlife habitat. Frogs, birds, butterflies, dragonflies, bees, and even crustaceans need water. If you have a pond or are thinking about installing one in the future, carefully consider your plant choices. However, something people often do not think about is aquatic invasive species. Remember, invasive species are exotic (not originally from North America) plants that escape the place they were planted and out-compete native plants, eventually taking over entire natural areas and harming the ecosystem. Most commonly, we talk about invasive species in forests and prairies - plants like honeysuckle, autumn olive, Bradford pear, and garlic mustard. In honor of all things water, this time, we are talking about waterloving invasive species. You will want to avoid those plants. Every pond has different plant zones. Below are some native plants for each area, starting from the driest zone, Plants to avoid are listed in RED. Border Plants are plants for the edge of your pond. They are happy in moist places but don’t need standing water to survive. • Blue Flag Iris (Iris versicolor) • Cardinal Flower (Lobelia cardinalis) • Buttonbush (Cephelantus occidentalis) • Joe-Pye Weed (Eupatorium fistulosum) • Turtlehead (Chelone spp.) • Virginia bluebells (Mertensia virginica) • Swamp Milkweed (Asclepias incarnata) • Swamp Rose Mallow (Hibiscus moscheutos)

• DO NOT PLANT:

Reed Canary Grass Shallow Water Plants are the plants that grow around the edge in the shallow area, sometimes called the marginal shelf or aquatic shelf. These plants can survive with up to 3 inches of water. You can plant these plants in pots set on underwater shelves or plant them directly in the soil around the pond or stream. • Arrowhead (Sagittaria latifolia) • Purple Pickerelweed (Pontederia cordata) • Marsh marigold (Caltha palustris) • Lizard’s Tail (Saururus cernuus) • Copper Iris (Iris fulva) • Blue Flag Iris (Iris versicolor) • Rushes (Juncus sp.) • Sedges (Carex spp.) • Green arrow arum (Peltandra virginica) • DO NOT PLANT: Parrot’s feather (Myriophyllum aquatica), Yellow flag (Iris pseudacorus), Purple loostrife (Lythrum salicatia), or Watercress (Nasturtium officinale)

Cardinal FLower by Deborah Bifulco Purple Pickerelweed by BDK Duckweed /Lemna minor by Joey Shaw

Floating Plants float on the water’s surface and survive without soil. They get all the nutrients they need from the water and therefore act as natural filters to remove excess nitrogen from the water and help control algae. • Duckweed (Lemna minor) • Manna grass (Glyceria septentrionalis) • Water meal (Wolffia columbiana) • DO NOT PLANT: Water hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes), Water lettuce (Pistia stratiotes), Yellow floating heart/ floating heart (Nymphoides peltata/Nymphoides spp.) Submerged Plants, also called oxygenators, grow entirely underwater. They filter the water and add oxygen. Most commonly, these are planted in pots that are sunk to the bottom of ponds. • Canadian pondweed (Elodea canadensis) • Coontail/Hornwort (Ceratophyllum demersum) • Carolina watershield (Cabomba caroliniana) • Eelgrass, water celery (Vallisneria americana)

• DO NOT PLANT:

Carolina fanwort (Cabomba caroliniana), Water Milfoil (Myriophyllum spp) Deep Water Plants, have roots in the soil and prefer deeper water, up to about 3 feet deep. These can be planted in pots at the bottom of the pond or directly into the ground. • Fragrant water lily (Nymphaea odorata) • White water lily (Nymphaea tuberosa) • Yellow water lily (Nuphar lutea) • American Lotus (Nelumbo Lutea) (not suitable for small ponds).

Mississippi River at Alton

Water & Climate at the Great Confluence

by Zachary R. Phillips, Ph.D Coordinator and Assistant Professor of GIScience, Geospatial Institute Earth and Atmospheric Sciences Department, Saint Louis University Zach is an Assistant Professor of Geographic Information Science at Saint Louis University. He holds a Ph.D. in Environmental Conservation Science from North Dakota State University, in which he studied the long-term evolution of river systems in areas once covered by glaciers. Zach teaches undergraduate and graduate-level Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and Remote Sensing classes at SLU. In his free time, he enjoys disc golfing, hiking, camping, kayaking, and exploring the natural places he lives.

Life as Part of an Integrated Water System – The Hydrologic Butterfly Effect

Somewhere in Africa, a butterfly flaps its wings... Weeks later, a destructive tornado, partially caused by the ever so slight disturbance of that delicate butterfly wing, forms on American soil. This metaphor, used to apply the complex theory of the butterfly effect to weather, may seem like an exaggeration. But, our lives centered at the confluence of two great rivers are a prime example of the interconnectivity of Earth’s natural systems. What happens thousands of miles away affects us, and in turn, the decisions we make here in our hometowns affect populations downstream and around the world. A more direct example of the butterfly effect is seen in the hydrology systems that we are directly connected to. If a raindrop falls on a sidewalk in Great Falls, Montana, that raindrop makes its way into stormwater drains and contributes to the Missouri River less than a mile away from where it landed. Upon entering the Missouri River, that drop meets with other water droplets and begins a journey of over 2,300 miles until it flows into the Mississippi near our homes. Downstream where we live, we don’t see the effect of a single raindrop because it is very small. But, over the extent of such an extensive area, the contribution of each drop of water making its way to the river builds to create a hazard with which we are all too familiar here in the Heartlands. Flooding.

Climate Change and Flooding – Trends Heading in the Wrong Direction

Living among interconnected systems is a challenging aspect of human life. Human societies need to be close to rivers for beneficial services such as drinking water, waste management, transportation, food, recreation, prayer, and many others. But, rivers are constant sources of uncertainty. And, considering humans produce more CO2 now than ever, climate change will only continue to increase the levels of uncertainty and risk related to rivers. There are global effects of climate change, such as warmer temperatures and increased atmospheric moisture, but the effects of climate change also vary regionally. So, how exactly will the effects of climate change affect the river systems of the Midwest? Frankly, flooding is going to get worse everywhere in the Midwest, but for different reasons. In agricultural watersheds and smaller tributaries, the frequency of flooding is predicted to increase thanks to the increased intensity of spring rain events. For larger rivers, the increasing height of flood crests and the duration of flood events during the springtime are the main cause for concern. The Missouri

Braided Waterways along the Mississippi River

and Mississippi Rivers, being tied to larger drainage basins influenced by watersheds in cold northern states, are sensitive to winter weather patterns, snow accumulation, and the spring thaw. In northern climates, the most severe floods start when rain falls on snow, and these events are only expected to increase in frequency due to climate change.

Climate-related Threats to Infrastructure – The (Sad) State of the Union

Another major concern is the current state of American infrastructure, and the added stress climate change will put on infrastructure, specifically water-related infrastructure. Infrastructure generally makes it easier for us to live. And according to the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), the general state, condition, and safety ratings for infrastructure in the United States earn a letter grade of a C-minus. Within that, water-related infrastructure is generally worse off. Aspects of infrastructure related to dams, rivers, levees, stormwater, and wastewater all earn a grade of D or lower. Only two categories of water infrastructure, drinking water, and bridges, earn grades in the C-range. Closer to home, water infrastructure grades in Missouri and Illinois are in the same general range, earning grades in the C to D range. Some examples of the failing state of water infrastructure in our region exist in different forms. Examples of poor drinking water infrastructure are frequently broken water mains in the winter or the decaying state of lead water supply pipes once used to construct homes and schools in the Midwest and greater St. Louis region. An example of failing levee infrastructure is the Len Small levee on the Mississippi River, located about 160 miles downstream of its confluence with the Missouri. To improve the state of our infrastructure, the updates and repairs to waterrelated infrastructure are expected to require over $20-billion in funding for Illinois and Missouri and more than 20 years to do so.

One’s Benefit is Another’s Burden - Water Disparity and Climate Change in the Heartland

In terms of water resources and climate change, historically underfunded communities are at the greatest risk. Currently, the investments being made in Midwestern infrastructure are not proportionate for all communities. In communities where funding for maintenance, repairs, and infrastructure upgrades does not keep up with demand, any normal stress on water infrastructure is compounded. A further concern is raised because climate change will only exaggerate the existing disparities due to increased stress on water infrastructure. In areas where people get their water from wells, agricultural runoff is expected to inhibit habitants’ ability to get clean drinking water. The failure of the Len Small levee, built by farmers in 1945, is a perfect example of how one community benefits from infrastructure upgrades while burdening others. As other levee projects were completed on the Mississippi, there were noticeable increases in the flooding of Dog Tooth Bend. Now, after standing pat for nearly 50 years, the Len Small levee has been breached and repaired three times since 1993 and currently lives in a state of disrepair as Dog Tooth Bend is slowly being turned into an island. With higher flood crests expected due to climate change, the typical solution is to raise levees. But, because

different levees are managed and maintained by various organizations, not all levees are incorporated into the project plans and raised comprehensively. This displaces water that originally would enter the floodplain in one area and forces it to another. So, by deciding to raise one levee while not raising another, humans enter a feedback loop where communities fight one another to keep floods at bay while inadvertently putting other communities at greater flood risk.

Working toward a solution – Getting Back to Nature

There are possible successful strategies to mitigate the impacts of climate change on water, but adjusting the currently bleak projections in a positive way requires the concerted effort of people coming together for the common goal of adapting our behavior to protect these vital systems. In adapting to climate change, experts recommend naturebased solutions like reforesting aquatic corridors, installing green infrastructure such as green roofs, retention basins, and rain barrels or gardens that catch water before it enters the storm drain and rivers. Further actions to protect our resources, such as installing solar panels, using less plastic, and cleaning up after others, are also critical activities that don’t go unnoticed in helping aquatic systems adapt to climate change. We have observed from the COVID pandemic that solutions to complex societal problems exist, and that society is capable of using scientific knowledge, political decisions, and a multi-pronged effort from citizens to solve problems that were once unsolvable. Because, as was the same with COVID, there is no one solution to solving the problems that climate change presents. Each of us must contribute however it is possible. How people individually contribute to climate change adaptation are expected to be diverse, and the outcomes of such complex undertakings are not always certain at the onset. But, one thing that is certain is that moving forward, each of us is part of the solution because we are all parts of one vast interconnected system. Earth.

Contributors:

Craig Adams, Ph.D., P.E., F.ASCE Principal Investigator, SLU WATER Institute Olive L. Parks Endowed Chair and Professor, Civil Engineering Parks College of Engineering, Aviation and Technology

Chris King, Ph.D., CSP, CHMM Principal Investigator, SLU WATER Institute Director and Assistant Professor, Center for Environmental Education and Training College for Public Health and Social Justice

Jason Knouft, Ph.D., Professor of Biology, SLU Dept. of Biology Scientist, Large River Ecologist, NGRREC Roger Lewis, Ph.D., CIH Principal Investigator, WATER Institute Professor, Environmental and Occupational Health

College for Public Health and Social Justice

Rachel Rimmerman, MBA Director of Business and Outreach, WATER Institute

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