Water Quality in California: A Case for Creating New National Parks in the Sierra Nevada
Presentation by Dr. Bob Derlet, UC Davis School of Medicine
Published on May 5, 2009 - 6:26:45 AM

By: UC Davis Tahoe Environmental Research Center

May 4, 2009 - Dr. Bob Derlet will discuss the benefit of creating new National Parks in the Sierra Nevada Mountains as a means of helping to protect water quality, based on his field research in wilderness areas over the past 10 years.

The Sierra Nevada provides over 50% of California's fresh water, and protection of headwaters is essential to the future health of the State. Current protective measures of high alpine watersheds may not be adequate to meet future challenges. Even as far back as the 19th century, John Muir wrote about the need for a clean watershed as one of the rationales to set aside Yosemite as a National Park.

The presentation will compare and contrast National Park surface water quality to non-park water in terms of bacteria, Giardia, and algae, and also review the history of protection of Sierra Wilderness.

Dr. Bob Derlet is Professor Emeritus with the UC Davis School of Medicine, where he has served on the faculty for 30 years. His passion has been the Sierra Nevada backcountry since childhood, and the preservation of its natural ecosystems. He formalized his lifelong observations into scientific research efforts just 10 years ago. Since then he has hiked thousands of miles in Sierra Nevada Wilderness Areas and National parks conducting research on lake and streams. His research project investigates water quality and microbiology in Sierra Nevada Wilderness areas. Dr. Derlet is also a specialist in wilderness medicine, infectious diseases, emergency medicine and Sierra Nevada history.

Date: Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Time: 5:30 - 7:30 p.m. Lecture begins promptly at 6:00 p.m.
Cost: $5 donation requested. No-Host Bar.
Location: Assembly Rooms 139 & 141, Tahoe Center for Environmental Sciences, 291 Country Club Drive, Incline Village, Nevada (on the campus of Sierra Nevada College)

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