A Project of Earth Island Institute
DONATE TODAY AND HELP US CLEAN CALIFORNIA WILD FIRE DEBRIS
California has been ravaged by wildfires for the past 3 years. As a native Californian, I remember in the 1980s when high winds sparked only a few small fires. By the 1990s, the fires became larger and would burn so close to my family’s home in Southern California that we needed to stand on the roof to hose down our house and property. While the fires of my childhood were undoubtedly horrific, they pale in comparison to the fires we see today. Due, in part, to climate change and poor utilities management, today’s wildfires are larger, more intense, and more frequent than ever before.
In the week following the fires of this past October, I escaped the power outages and smoke-filled air to swim in San Francisco Bay – a gateway to the Ocean vital to humans and sea creatures alike. As a lifelong open-water swimmer, the ocean is where I go when I need to get away and regroup. But this recent swim was unlike any other. For the first time, as I broke through the shore break and started to swim I had to avoid burnt out logs, fire debris, and a deluge of plastic bottles, Styrofoam pieces, and plastic bags. While the damage wildfires cause to the communities they burn is clear, these fires also create massive amounts of debris that flows down our watersheds and ultimately enters our Bays and Ocean. Now its time for us to do our part and protect our Ocean.
In the week following the fires of this past October, I escaped the power outages and smoke-filled air to swim in San Francisco Bay – a gateway to the Ocean vital to humans and sea creatures alike. As a lifelong open-water swimmer, the ocean is where I go when I need to get away and regroup. But this recent swim was unlike any other. For the first time, as I broke through the shore break and started to swim I had to avoid burnt out logs, fire debris, and a deluge of plastic bottles, Styrofoam pieces, and plastic bags. While the damage wildfires cause to the communities they burn is clear, these fires also create massive amounts of debris that flows down our watersheds and ultimately enters our Bays and Ocean. Now its time for us to do our part and protect our Ocean.
It will be All One Ocean’s mission in 2020 to clean up our local waterways and beaches in response to California’s wildfires. With your help TODAY, our ambitious cleanup efforts will be possible. Your continued support over the years has allowed us to take students, community members, and people from all walks-of-life on our educational beach cleanups. During these cleanups we teach volunteers about how pollution of the Ocean often starts in our watersheds, and how we all can make easy and sustainable choices to create long-term change for the future of our planet.
With your gift of $50, $75, or $100, you WILL make a difference. We ask that in this season of giving you support All One Ocean in our effort to keep our Ocean clean. Your support today makes all our initiatives possible, from our Beach Cleanups and Beach Cleanup Stations to our Ocean Warriors elementary school program. Each of our programs are focused on the removal of plastics and garbage from our Ocean. Your gift today will help us continue to educate our youth, engage with local communities, and inspire optimism in the future of our Blue Planet.
For our Ocean,
Nicole Cibellis, Director – All One Ocean
With your gift of $50, $75, or $100, you WILL make a difference. We ask that in this season of giving you support All One Ocean in our effort to keep our Ocean clean. Your support today makes all our initiatives possible, from our Beach Cleanups and Beach Cleanup Stations to our Ocean Warriors elementary school program. Each of our programs are focused on the removal of plastics and garbage from our Ocean. Your gift today will help us continue to educate our youth, engage with local communities, and inspire optimism in the future of our Blue Planet.
For our Ocean,
Nicole Cibellis, Director – All One Ocean
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What Happens when the first rains come?
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First Flush Effect
First flush is the initial surface runoff of a rainstorm. During this phase, water pollution entering storm drains in areas with high proportions of impervious surfaces is typically more concentrated compared to the remainder of the storm. Consequently, these high concentrations of urban runoff result in high levels of pollutants discharged from storm sewers to surface waters.
The term "first flush effect" refers to rapid changes in water quality (pollutant concentration or load) that occur after early season rains. Soil and vegetation particles wash into streams; sediments and other accumulated organic particles on the river bed are re-suspended, and dissolved substances from soil and shallow groundwater can be flushed into streams. Recent research has shown that this effect has not been observed in relatively pervious areas. The term is often also used to address the first flood after a dry period, which is supposed to contain higher concentrations than a subsequent one. This is referred to as "first flush flood."
*Source
The term "first flush effect" refers to rapid changes in water quality (pollutant concentration or load) that occur after early season rains. Soil and vegetation particles wash into streams; sediments and other accumulated organic particles on the river bed are re-suspended, and dissolved substances from soil and shallow groundwater can be flushed into streams. Recent research has shown that this effect has not been observed in relatively pervious areas. The term is often also used to address the first flood after a dry period, which is supposed to contain higher concentrations than a subsequent one. This is referred to as "first flush flood."
*Source
