Evaluating ecosystem services is a major component of ecosystem-based management practices. The Kanawha River provides several ecosystem services to the surrounding areas, including but not limited to: mitigating droughts and floods, detoxifying waste, and renewal of soil fertility. The toxic chemical spill in January and the coal ash spill into one of the Kanawha’s tributaries in February have decimated the quality of water within the river, and we can expect to see this have impacts on aquatic life into the future, likely impacting biological diversity, soil fertility, and water drinkability.
Two months later, the issue of drinkability is still unresolved, while other issues have not even been discussed. These accidents point to the importance of an ecosystem-based management approach that values regulation and enforcement, so as not to interrupt valuable ecosystem services.
Sources:
– http://www.esa.org/ecoservices/comm/body.comm.fact.ecos.html
– http://www.actionbioscience.org/environment/esa.html
– http://www.cnn.com/2014/02/11/us/west-virginia-slurry-spill/
– http://www.rollingstone.com/culture/news/dont-drink-the-water-west-virginia-after-the-chemical-spill-20140312
Photo Source:
– http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-AZ2jvM8FL9E/UikmzSKVafI/AAAAAAAAFS4/QRyhKGJpuPU/s1600/cropped_kanawha_falls_glen_ferris_wv.jpg