Grantee Research Project Results
2015 Progress Report: Water, Our Voice to the Future: Climate change adaptation and waterborne disease prevention on the Crow Reservation
EPA Grant Number: R835594Title: Water, Our Voice to the Future: Climate change adaptation and waterborne disease prevention on the Crow Reservation
Investigators: Doyle, John , Camper, Anne
Current Investigators: Doyle, John , Eggers, Margaret J.
Institution: Little Big Horn College , Montana State University
EPA Project Officer: Hahn, Intaek
Project Period: August 1, 2014 through July 31, 2017 (Extended to July 31, 2019)
Project Period Covered by this Report: August 1, 2014 through July 31,2015
Project Amount: $914,466
RFA: Science for Sustainable and Healthy Tribes (2013) RFA Text | Recipients Lists
Research Category: Tribal Environmental Health Research , Human Health
Objective:
Integrate traditional ecological and community knowledge, scientific data and climate models to produce a cohesive document that describes existing and projected local climate, hydrologic and microbial water quality changes and their impacts on resources, Crow traditions, ecosystems and community health.
- Hypothesis I: Traditional ecological and community knowledge of Tribal Elders, scientific data and modeling will effectively complement one another to produce a more comprehensive assessment of existing and projected climate, hydrologic and microbial water quality changes and their impacts on resources, Crow traditions, ecosystems and community health.
- Hypothesis II: Future climate change impacts will be profound in the Northern Plains Crow Reservation, with climate and hydrologic changes exceeding current and historical observations.
- Hypothesis III: Local microbial water quality is influenced by climate driven spring flooding and late summer drought.
Progress Summary:
Progress Summary/Accomplishments (Outputs/Outcomes):
Eleven interviews have been conducted with Tribal Elders on changes in climate and local ecosystems experienced in their lifetimes. Sixty home wells have been sampled for inorganic and microbial contaminants; the results and associated health risks are being explained to the participating families. Wells will be re-tested during high water in the spring to see if spring flooding is exacerbating well water contamination. One local watershed is being studied in more depth to determine how a local spring – a vital community water source – has become contaminated with E. coli. Local and regional climate data and climate projections are being compiled to assess climate change effects and projected impacts on the Crow Reservation. The Crow Environmental Health Steering Committee meets regularly and is involved in advising and contributing to every aspect of this community-engaged research project. Local, regional and national presentations have been given.
Graduate student Brame has successfully sampled and processed water samples from the Little Bighorn River on three occasions in the past 6 months, with two more sampling dates planned in the next 4 months. Each sampling trip provides information of target organism partitioning between sediment and water, samples also are collected for molecular work that student Brame will use to determine numbers of enteropathogenic E. coli in riverbed sediment, water and suspended sediment. Microcosm experiments currently are being developed to provide insight on how microorganisms partition themselves between water and sediment and what effects climate change might have on microbial partitioning and survivability in a river system.
Future Activities:
Elder interviews, home well water testing and well owner education, community outreach, climate change data compilation and microbial surface water research are all ongoing. Community and academic researchers including a Steering Committee representative have been invited to present on this project at the NIEHS Traditional Ecological Knowledge Workshop in Washington, DC, in December 2015.
Journal Articles on this Report : 1 Displayed | Download in RIS Format
Other project views: | All 53 publications | 5 publications in selected types | All 4 journal articles |
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Type | Citation | ||
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Eggers MJ, Moore-Nall AL, Doyle JT, Lefthand MJ, Young SL, Bends AL, Crow Environmental Health Steering Committee, Camper AK. Potential health risks from uranium in home well water: an investigation by the Apsaalooke (Crow) Tribal Research Group. Geosciences 2015;5(1):67-94. |
R835594 (2015) R835594 (2018) R833706 (Final) |
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Supplemental Keywords:
Native American, tribal, Crow traditions, climate change, water quality, well water, drinking water, water contamination, surface water, groundwater, traditional ecological knowledge, community based participatory research, community engaged research.Progress and Final Reports:
Original AbstractThe perspectives, information and conclusions conveyed in research project abstracts, progress reports, final reports, journal abstracts and journal publications convey the viewpoints of the principal investigator and may not represent the views and policies of ORD and EPA. Conclusions drawn by the principal investigators have not been reviewed by the Agency.