托比：洋博士溫州勤治水

王舒

哈德遜河是美國(guó)紐約州境內(nèi)一條全長(zhǎng)約507千米的河流。河的這一側(cè)是紐約，另一側(cè)就是新澤西州。多年前，一位叫托比·米切萊納（Toby Michelena）的美國(guó)人就沿著新澤西州的這一側(cè)沿岸，從事了長(zhǎng)達(dá)4年半的水質(zhì)分析。他不曾想到多年后，會(huì)在千里之外的中國(guó)浙江溫瑞塘河上，為溫州的“母親河”治水。

托比·米切萊納是溫州肯恩大學(xué)生物學(xué)講師。去年，他發(fā)起了溫瑞塘河生態(tài)修復(fù)項(xiàng)目，通過(guò)取樣分析，建立了塘河完整的生態(tài)數(shù)據(jù)模型，為政府尋找治水方法提供依據(jù)。

受邀為溫瑞塘河治理出謀劃策

2015年8月，懷著對(duì)東亞文化的熱愛(ài)，在美國(guó)肯恩大學(xué)任教的托比來(lái)到溫州，在溫州肯恩大學(xué)教授生物學(xué)、環(huán)境科學(xué)等課程。

托比是美國(guó)紐約州特洛伊的倫斯勒理工學(xué)院生物學(xué)博士。在成為教師之前，一直從事環(huán)境保護(hù)領(lǐng)域，主攻石油、水等能源清潔處理方向，對(duì)水環(huán)境整治特別關(guān)注。對(duì)托比而言，來(lái)到溫州，注意到貫穿整個(gè)城區(qū)的溫瑞塘河，是再自然不過(guò)的事情。溫州肯恩大學(xué)位于甌海區(qū)麗岙街道，溫瑞塘河就從這附近穿過(guò)。課余，托比常常沿塘河騎自行車到南塘街喝咖啡。

溫瑞塘河是溫州的母親河。從古至今，兩岸的居民依靠溫瑞塘河獲取生活用水以及食物，發(fā)展河道運(yùn)輸和農(nóng)業(yè)灌溉。但是，隨著經(jīng)濟(jì)的高速發(fā)展，近年來(lái)溫瑞塘河水系以及當(dāng)?shù)仄渌朗艿絹?lái)自地表徑流、農(nóng)業(yè)、市政以及工業(yè)污水的嚴(yán)重污染。越來(lái)越多的人意識(shí)到塘河污染的嚴(yán)重性，百姓對(duì)污水治理的關(guān)注和熱情也日漸高漲。

“在河邊騎自行車的時(shí)候，我都會(huì)觀察這條河流及周邊環(huán)境，觀察附近居民是如何依賴這條河流生活生產(chǎn)?！痹诤彤?dāng)?shù)厝私涣骱?，托比慢慢了解到，溫瑞塘河在溫州歷史文化上占了非常重要的位置，既然是母親河，就應(yīng)該尤為珍視更加呵護(hù)。

出于對(duì)塘河的關(guān)注，也是從自身水質(zhì)研究專業(yè)出發(fā)，托比第一時(shí)間加入了這場(chǎng)治水大戰(zhàn)役。他多次作為專家代表，受邀參加由溫州市溫瑞塘河管理委員會(huì)發(fā)起的治水課題討論，為溫州治水出謀劃策。

去年12月起，托比帶領(lǐng)溫州肯恩大學(xué)的4名學(xué)生和3名工作人員，發(fā)起了溫瑞塘河的生態(tài)修復(fù)項(xiàng)目。項(xiàng)目主要目的是為了更好地了解河流和河流中的生物，通過(guò)取樣，了解整個(gè)塘河的生態(tài)系統(tǒng)，建立塘河的數(shù)據(jù)模型，進(jìn)而去分析污染對(duì)河流的影響，對(duì)如何最好地保護(hù)河流作出更好的決策。

2016年底，由托比主持的《溫瑞塘河綜合整治成效評(píng)估研究》被列入“2016年溫州市水體污染控制與治理科技創(chuàng)新項(xiàng)目”和“2016年溫州市公益性科技計(jì)劃項(xiàng)目”，獲得了市級(jí)財(cái)政資助15萬(wàn)元。

坐著船兒去河面上采集樣本

近幾個(gè)月來(lái)，生活在塘河兩畔的市民時(shí)常會(huì)見(jiàn)到一張滿頭白發(fā)的洋面孔。坐著游艇，拎著專業(yè)儀器和塑料桶，在河面上采集樣本……這是托比和他的團(tuán)隊(duì)在溫瑞塘河上采樣。

托比的團(tuán)隊(duì)選取了溫瑞塘河茶山到匯昌的一段18公里的水域，按照用地性質(zhì)、污染來(lái)源等情況篩選出6個(gè)采集點(diǎn)，每月進(jìn)行一次水樣采集，計(jì)劃用一年時(shí)間采集河流樣本進(jìn)行研究。“對(duì)我來(lái)說(shuō)，每次在河面上的工作是最快樂(lè)的?！痹谕斜瓤磥?lái)，在游艇上看著塘河，讓他切切實(shí)實(shí)地感受到自己正在為了保護(hù)塘河，為了幫助它變得干凈而努力著。

周而復(fù)始，看似循環(huán)枯燥的工作，每一次都讓他們有新的發(fā)現(xiàn)。

4月19日，筆者來(lái)到了溫州肯恩大學(xué)的生物實(shí)驗(yàn)室。實(shí)驗(yàn)室的一側(cè)，堆放著十余個(gè)塑料箱，里面裝著兩天前剛從塘河收集回來(lái)的樣本。每次采樣回來(lái)，托比和團(tuán)隊(duì)就要對(duì)所取的每個(gè)樣本進(jìn)行過(guò)濾、分離、化驗(yàn)、分析……全部完成要經(jīng)過(guò)1000多個(gè)步驟。“情況并不樂(lè)觀。這次的河水呈現(xiàn)的顏色很深，這是之前從沒(méi)碰到過(guò)的?！蓖斜认蚬P者一邊展示剛剛沉淀、過(guò)濾后的水質(zhì)樣本，一邊解釋：“干凈的水質(zhì)，應(yīng)該是透明無(wú)色的，而這次顏色不僅特別深，其中幾個(gè)點(diǎn)還出現(xiàn)了不知名的綠色物質(zhì)。”對(duì)于河水的這種變化，還要經(jīng)過(guò)進(jìn)一步的化驗(yàn)，才能知道原因。

“干凈的河流，生態(tài)分布均勻、水生植物豐富。但我們?cè)谔梁永飬s沒(méi)有發(fā)現(xiàn)豐富的生物群體存在。特別是在河水和泥土接觸的河床區(qū)域。水中微生物大多以水生植物為食，目前已采水樣顯示，溫瑞塘河中這類水生植物非常少?！蓖斜韧茰y(cè)，這一變化很有可能是因?yàn)樘梁觾?nèi)的食物鏈發(fā)生了變化。

當(dāng)然，也有意外的發(fā)現(xiàn)。某一天他們?cè)谀硞€(gè)點(diǎn)的采樣中發(fā)現(xiàn)河床有許多蝸牛。而他們也發(fā)現(xiàn)，不同采集點(diǎn)，因?yàn)橹苓叚h(huán)境不同，水質(zhì)情況也有很大不同，比如南塘河區(qū)域因?yàn)橹苓吷虡I(yè)發(fā)達(dá)，水質(zhì)污染比其他采集點(diǎn)更加嚴(yán)重。

“河水受到周圍環(huán)境、當(dāng)天天氣等影響，有許多不確定因素?！蓖斜雀嬖V筆者，通過(guò)每個(gè)月的水樣和淤泥采集，對(duì)水體中的各種動(dòng)植物鑒別和分析，逐步摸清溫瑞塘河中動(dòng)植物食物鏈的關(guān)系，從而建立詳細(xì)的溫瑞塘水系營(yíng)養(yǎng)結(jié)構(gòu)，正是他們現(xiàn)階段在做的工作。

“只有了解塘河的現(xiàn)狀，才能在將來(lái)對(duì)癥下藥治理?！蓖斜日f(shuō)。

研究治水規(guī)律讓更多河流受益

“學(xué)校實(shí)驗(yàn)室要在節(jié)假日和寒暑假關(guān)閉，但托比主動(dòng)要求加班，學(xué)校特別批準(zhǔn)了。而我每次來(lái)，他都在?！睖刂菘隙鞔髮W(xué)生物老師田雪晨是托比團(tuán)隊(duì)中的一員。他由衷佩服托比的敬業(yè)精神。而對(duì)于年輕的團(tuán)隊(duì)成員周璇來(lái)說(shuō)，塘河治水項(xiàng)目的領(lǐng)頭人是個(gè)老外，更讓作為溫州人的她，覺(jué)得自己必須努力。

在溫州兩年，通過(guò)和塘河的一次次親密接觸，托比覺(jué)得自己更快速地融入了溫州的生活。他將自己當(dāng)作溫州新的一員，用自己的熱情和知識(shí)，找出塘河被污染的原因，確定治理方式，提出治理目標(biāo)，他很自豪能參與其中。他說(shuō)：“我愛(ài)溫州，溫瑞塘河就像哈德遜河一樣，都是我的母親河。我會(huì)盡己所能，讓溫州變得更美。”2016年，托比本人榮獲了溫州市2016年度“雁蕩友誼獎(jiǎng)”。這一獎(jiǎng)項(xiàng)是為在溫州經(jīng)濟(jì)貿(mào)易、文化教育、科技衛(wèi)生等領(lǐng)域中作出突出貢獻(xiàn)的外國(guó)專家設(shè)立的榮譽(yù)獎(jiǎng)項(xiàng)。

在美國(guó)期間，托比對(duì)哈德遜河的水質(zhì)研究，以分析政府經(jīng)濟(jì)政策改變對(duì)河流水質(zhì)產(chǎn)生的影響，為當(dāng)?shù)靥岢隽艘幌盗姓未胧┙ㄗh。在對(duì)溫瑞塘河的研究過(guò)程中，托比對(duì)于塘河治理也提出了自己的觀點(diǎn)和建議。“塘河污水治理已經(jīng)到了刻不容緩的地步。有時(shí)候通過(guò)一些簡(jiǎn)單的方式，就可以很大程度改善水質(zhì)?！彼ㄗh，可以通過(guò)科普教育，告訴人們生活用水對(duì)水質(zhì)的影響，告訴市民如何妥善管理家庭生活污水、修理店里排出的油污，確保它們不進(jìn)入河流。“另外，對(duì)于塘河整治，更需確保對(duì)岸上垃圾的妥善處理，不能丟在河里或地面上，政府有關(guān)部門也應(yīng)該加強(qiáng)管理，確保不會(huì)有額外的污染物進(jìn)入河流。還有許多其他復(fù)雜的問(wèn)題，如化肥，農(nóng)藥和可能影響河流的其它污染源。所有這些都需要進(jìn)行評(píng)估和理解，以便真正地修復(fù)河流。”

今年2月，時(shí)任浙江省委書記夏寶龍到訪溫州肯恩大學(xué)。在參觀學(xué)校生物實(shí)驗(yàn)室時(shí)，夏寶龍得知托比正在研究溫瑞塘河治污后非常高興，對(duì)托比說(shuō)：“這個(gè)很適用于浙江省的五水共治。你要加快研究進(jìn)度，如果能取得成效，我要好好獎(jiǎng)勵(lì)你?！?/p>

這正是托比所希望的，將塘河污水研究的成果從溫州推廣至浙江乃至全國(guó)?！氨M管這一項(xiàng)目開(kāi)發(fā)的模型是專門針對(duì)溫瑞塘河水系環(huán)境建立的。但可以通過(guò)對(duì)溫瑞塘河的治理研究，開(kāi)發(fā)出穩(wěn)健的、可以在浙江省乃至全國(guó)范圍的其他河流系統(tǒng)中使用的模型，讓更多的河流受益?！?/p>

（本文圖片攝影：陳彤彤）

Toby Michelena， while working at Kean University， USA， spent over four years analyzing water samples obtained from New Jersey side of the 507-km Hudson River flowing between New York and New Jersey. His analyses provided data for environmental protection of Hudson River. Before he became a teacher， he had engaged in environmental protection projects designed to wastewater treatment.

In August 2015， Toby Michelena came to teach biology and environmental science at Kean University-Wenzhou， an education joint-venture between Wenzhou and Kean University. It came into full operation in 2014.

The 1，178-km Wenrui River is the mother river of Wenzhou. It provides the drinking water for millions of people along the river. However， the river is polluted by wastewater discharged by commerce， agriculture， civil service projects， and industry.

In December， 2016， Toby Michelena started a project which aims to restore the ecology of Wenrui River. Under his leadership are four students and three faculty members. The project aims to study the river and the flora and fauna living in the river on the basis of water samples obtained throughout the river system.

Before the project， Toby Michelena had attended several seminars at the invitation of the water-controlling authorities of Wenzhou.

Shortly after its inception， the project got listed as a key research project and government funds came in.

Since the project started， Toby has become a familiar sight on the river. Local residents often see a silver-haired foreigner riding a motorboat， with plastic boxes and instruments. The team has selected an 18-km section of the river for taking monthly samples from six sampling points. The six spots were chosen in consideration of pollution sources and land uses.

I went to visit Toby at the biology laboratory on the campus on April 19， 2017. Toby and his colleagues were analyzing the latest samples. The analysis is a time-consuming procedure of over 1，000 steps. “The situation isnt optimistic，” Toby explained to me. “The river was tinted with substances in dark colors， which we have never encountered before.” At that time， what was in the water sample remained unknown. A clean river should have a good ecology with a great abundance of aquatic plants， especially in the riverbed where water and soil meet. The samples indicated the river didnt have an adequate number of aquatic plants. Toby conjectured that there had been some changes in rivers food chain.

There have been some unexpected discoveries. One day， they found quite a few snails in the riverbed at one sampling spot. “The river is affected by many factors，” said Toby to me. “Sample studies can throw light on the food chains of the flora and fauna of the river. At present， we are trying to understand the river so that effective solutions can be formulated.”

Toby says he feels happy whenever riding on the river because the ride gives him a sense of relevance and participation. He has adopted Wenzhou as his home and he considers Wenrui River as his mother river like Hudson River. In 2016， he was awarded Yandang Friendship Award， a government honor for foreigners who contribute to the social and economic prosperity of Wenzhou.

Toby is highly concerned with Wenrui River. Though it takes time to exterminate all pollution from the river， some simple measures， however， can greatly improve the ecology of the river. Public awareness should be enhanced so that people will know that their everyday life affects the river， and that they need to reduce the discharge of wastewater into the river. Other issues should be considered： wastes should stay on the land and should be processed appropriately. Government should make sure no additional pollutants get into the river. Chemical fertilizers， pesticides and other pollution sources should be assessed.

In February 2017， Xia Baolong， then chief of CPC Zhejiang Committee， visited Toby at the laboratory on the campus. After learning about the details of Tobys project， Xia was very happy to say， “This project is suitable for the water project Zhejiang has been doing for years. I would give you a big award if you can accelerate your study and get positive results.” This is exactly what Toby expects. If successful， the project his team is undertaking can be applied across the province and beyond. Though the model was originally developed for Wenrui River， it can serve as a prototypical model for studies in other places.