JOAN ROSE

Homer Nowlin Chair For Water Research
Department of Fisheries and Wildlife
13 Natural Resources Building
Michigan State University
East Lansing, MI 48824

A number of experts agree in the next century, development of sustainable water will be a formidable challenge and that a global water crisis is already occurring. Water is essential for human survival and habitation.  The world’s population lacks adequate access to “safe” water. Contaminated water kills 5 million people/year, makes 30 million ill worldwide.

Water resources in the U.S. are stressed by population growth and development influencing both quantity and quality of water.  Climate change leading to droughts and floods exasperate the situation.  Management of wastewater, animal wastes, agricultural runoff and storm waters are impacting fresh waters as well as coastal waters.  This in turn influences the health of the people using these waters for drinking water, irrigation water, fishing and recreation.
In 1996, the United States “Safe Drinking Water Act” was reauthorized and with this reassessment it was recognized that new contaminants will need to be addressed and have been developed as part of the “Contaminant Candidate List” (CCL).  This includes microorganisms such as Cryptosporidium, Helicobacter, viruses, cyanobacteria or the toxic algae.

New tools are now available to address water quality and health.  For Cryptosporidium we can use cell culture to study the infectivity and the distribution of genotypes infecting animals and humans. Enteric viruses which are often non-cultivatible some associated with severe health risks and can be examined rapidly using NASBA. Rather then examining just for fecal coliforms we can genetically match the bacteria to it’s source.  Finally through collaborations such as that between University of Michigan and Michigan State, microarray DNA technology will guide us toward a better assessment of water quality and health.