WEBVTT 00:00:35.570 --> 00:00:39.930 People are drawn to water, and there's so much water in Yellowstone—even though 00:00:39.930 --> 00:00:44.239 we are kind of in a high desert environment—it is everywhere. So, rivers, 00:00:44.239 --> 00:00:49.890 lakes, hundreds of waterfalls, and then the big things that people really come 00:00:49.890 --> 00:00:53.420 to see: geysers and hot springs. 00:00:54.830 --> 00:01:02.730 It could be solid or gas. It can flow very quietly and slowly. It can be loud 00:01:02.730 --> 00:01:06.949 and roaring and raging and fast. 00:01:08.610 --> 00:01:12.940 And then you have Yellowstone Lake, which is like an ocean in the middle of our continent. 00:01:23.970 --> 00:01:28.180 The variety of water we have here, I think it really makes Yellowstone pretty special. 00:01:46.729 --> 00:01:51.869 Fishing is obviously a really, really popular thing in Yellowstone, and people 00:01:51.869 --> 00:01:56.369 come and fish these rivers—both because they're beautiful rivers to fish, but 00:01:56.369 --> 00:02:02.939 they're cold waters fed by mountain snows and they contain native trout that 00:02:02.939 --> 00:02:09.390 depend on cold oxygen-rich water. Yellowstone is a stronghold for native 00:02:09.390 --> 00:02:13.170 Yellowstone cutthroat trout, but Yellowstone is a stronghold for lots of 00:02:13.170 --> 00:02:17.580 aquatic organisms. Not just trout, but four species of native amphibians that 00:02:17.580 --> 00:02:20.940 are widespread throughout this place. Water is important for loons that are 00:02:20.940 --> 00:02:25.380 uncommon in this region. We know that beaver and moose, we know that grizzly 00:02:25.380 --> 00:02:29.370 bears, we know that elk, we know that bison all use shallow surface water 00:02:29.370 --> 00:02:35.250 habitats on a regular basis. I was drawn to work with water because I come from 00:02:35.250 --> 00:02:40.769 the desert where it's sparse and it's very little of it, and so you really 00:02:40.769 --> 00:02:45.239 notice just the magnetic nature of water how dependent life is to it and how much 00:02:45.239 --> 00:02:49.099 it's drawn to being toward water. 00:02:49.910 --> 00:02:55.049 Yesterday we were working on a special project that was related to a mine clean-up 00:02:55.049 --> 00:02:59.220 outside of Yellowstone National Park, so I was helping to collect water 00:02:59.220 --> 00:03:03.420 samples and do water chemistry measurements to see how the cleanup was 00:03:03.420 --> 00:03:10.260 affecting water quality running into the park. Yesterday, we're working on Soda 00:03:10.260 --> 00:03:13.739 Butte Creek, which is a really interesting tributary that comes into 00:03:13.739 --> 00:03:18.630 the park at its northeast boundary. Soda Butte Creek was at one time one of the 00:03:18.630 --> 00:03:22.530 most contaminated rivers entering a national park in the US, and an 00:03:22.530 --> 00:03:27.030 interesting reclamation project spearheaded by collaboration between the 00:03:27.030 --> 00:03:30.750 Montana Department of Environmental Quality and the National Park Service 00:03:30.750 --> 00:03:36.299 led to a clean-up effort that removed toxins that had the potential to enter 00:03:36.299 --> 00:03:42.000 Yellowstone National Park. That clean-up was successful and we've been working on 00:03:42.000 --> 00:03:46.500 a water quality project that demonstrates that conditions in Soda 00:03:46.500 --> 00:03:50.280 Butte Creek that flows into Lamar River and ultimately the Yellowstone River 00:03:50.280 --> 00:03:53.359 have been cleaned. 00:03:54.700 --> 00:04:00.950 Water's life, and water really drives the system. That's definitely something of 00:04:00.950 --> 00:04:05.810 interest for our scientists because with climate change, water patterns may change. 00:04:05.810 --> 00:04:13.040 Snow and rain patterns may change. In the Rockies we store most of our water as 00:04:13.040 --> 00:04:17.810 snow. It's delivered all winter-long, and then released slowly through the early 00:04:17.810 --> 00:04:23.060 summer. So, changes in snowpack will lead to changes in water storage, and 00:04:23.060 --> 00:04:27.460 therefore, changes in river flows. 00:04:29.890 --> 00:04:34.700 Freshwater habitats—and in particular shallow wetlands and ponds—are things 00:04:34.700 --> 00:04:39.260 that are the most vulnerable to a change in climate. And so, we should do 00:04:39.260 --> 00:04:45.310 everything we can to both understand, but protect, remaining habitats. 00:04:46.070 --> 00:04:50.420 Those healthy rivers that are flowing out of the park are also providing a 00:04:50.420 --> 00:04:55.820 great resource downstream for everything from farmers and ranches, cities, towns. 00:04:55.820 --> 00:05:01.040 You know, we need water, and so having these healthy waterways in a national 00:05:01.040 --> 00:05:06.220 park is actually providing a lot for the folks downstream. 00:05:08.850 --> 00:05:13.080 It's kind of fun when you're by a river in Yellowstone to think about the 00:05:13.080 --> 00:05:17.400 journey that that water will take: where it has been, where it has come from, and 00:05:17.400 --> 00:05:19.790 where it will go.