“Sea Level Rise: North Unit of the Arcata Marsh,” an exhibition of photographs by Aldaron Laird, is on display through February at the Arcata Marsh Interpretive Center, 569 South G St. in Arcata. Hours are Monday from 1 to 5 p.m. and Tuesday through Sunday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Each Waterkeeper program is an independent organization that reflects the needs of the waterbody and community it represents. The common thread for each Waterkeeper program is a person who serves as the public advocate for that body of water.
Waterkeepers are part investigator, scientist, lawyer, and advocate who represent all the users of the watershed who rely on clean water. All Waterkeepers also have a boat ranging in size from canoes to research vessels, but sometimes a pair of hip boots is more important than a boat. Sometimes a legal brief is more important than either. Each waterbody has its own unique challenges requiring a distinct and well-defined strategy.
Recent sampling efforts undertaken by Humboldt Waterkeeper and the California Coastkeeper Alliance have found “high concentrations” of pollutants that kill coho salmon in runoff from area parking lots. The organizations are sponsoring AB 1313 to establish statewide commercial, industrial and institutional stormwater permitting standards. A few years ago, scientists started identifying a potentially major culprit in the dramatic decline of the coho salmon fishery — a chemical known as “6PPD-quinone,” a byproduct of a chemical used in automotive tires.Throughout the course of their life, tires deposit the precursor of this chemical everywhere they travel. This precursor degrades into 6PPD-q and enters the water system, killing coho in particular — a protected species under the Endangered Species Act — with great efficiency. 
