Water slides!

A colleague of mine told me about an interesting upcoming conference in Milwaukee (see here), and we chatted for a bit about how the city is really striving to be a focal point in the discussion of water resources.

That conversation got me curious about what else has happened in Milwaukee of late, so I did a quick Google search... Lo and behold, up came these very interesting presentations from July's Water Summit (scroll about midway down the page)...

Haiti - Day 5

NPR put two series of incredible photographs on their site here and the NY Post/Fox News, of all outlets, offers perspective too.

Water hogs!

I caught an interesting bit on water supply in the US on the CBS Evening News last night. Glad to see that this is getting so much attention.

I can't wait to get Steve Solomon's book...


Watch CBS News Videos Online

Water wars?

Check this NPR story about this book coming out tomorrow... pre-order on Amazon.

Anything is realistic?

Last night 60 Minutes aired an interesting and frightening piece in which Arnold Schwarzenegger spoke about his "vision" for addressing California's water crisis. After painting a grim picture of the impact that overconsumption and a multi-year drought have had on California's agriculture and environment, the investigation shifted to what the Governator will do to combat the problem. Though he has proposed adding storage capacity through $11 billion in modifications to the State's dams and supports a canal to divert water around the Bay-Delta, instead of taking the opportunity to present additional details on his ideas, Mr. Schwarnegger spoke in platitudes. When Ms. Stahl asked whether his visions of cranes as far as the eye can see and farmers and fish coexisting in perfact harmony were really possible, Mr. Schwarzenegger stated simply "Anything is realistic. It doesn't mean because it's a desert that we cannot go and bring water in here and start growing things. All we have to do is deliver water and then we can grow anything we want."

Now that I think about it, the Governor's plan would have perfectly addressed the request Munson's boss made of him in Schizopolis:

"It should lay out a new course of action... but one that can change direction at any moment. If you must mention facts and figures, don't do so directly. The general thrust... should remain embedded in one's mind forever... but specific words should be forgotten the moment they are heard. It should contain nothing that can be confirmed or denied. It should be on my desk Friday morning."

Check out the video below and suffice to say that I hope this action plan addresses the situation more thoughtfully.


Watch CBS News Videos Online

Tragedy of the Himalayas

In preparation for the Copenhagen climate talks, Time magazine put together a fascinating and terrifying glimpse into the consequences that global warming may (has begun to?) exert on water supply in Asia. I've only just seen it today since a coworker shared her copy with me. Check it out!

I tried to track down the McKinsey report referenced in the aforementioned piece and found this; I'm not sure that it's the document the author mentioned but it looks fascinating nonetheless. I also found this assessment of the economic impact of drought in China, which looks to be equally interesting.

Space-age water gauge

A very cool and innovative use of Landsat data.

Who owns what(er)?

The SF Chronicle published an interesting note on Sunday from Dr. Peter Gleick, the President of the Pacific Institute, on water rights. The comments section is pretty instructive, as well. Lots of numbers, lots of points of view...

A few bits

In an interesting blog post on the San Francisco Chronicle site last Friday, Peter Gleick raises a provocative question regarding whether "beneficial uses" of water from California's Sacramento River should be redefined to account for the scarcity of water in the region: "Maybe it is time to explicitly demand that the SWRCB determine whether and how much water for watering lawns and outdoor landscapes is "beneficial" or "reasonable.""

A bit about getting green roof construction right in Architecture Week.

Lastly, a depressing story about Akwesasne, the St. Regis Mohawk Tribe, and the impact that PCBs have had on the men that live there.

Another plug for Blue Gold: World Water Wars

I finally watched Blue Gold: World Water Wars tonight and I was blown away by how much I didn't know about multinational companies' involvement in water provision.  I highly recommend watching it below (if that doesn't work, try here).

NC mulls stricter water management

North Carolina's state legislature is considering further regulation of the state's water resources, to include mandatory permits on users that extract 100,000 gallons or more in a single day period.

Check the Senate version of the bill here and the House version here.

Happy World Oceans Day and more

First of all, happy World Oceans Day.

Second, some interesting news over the weekend, including:

1. A  piece in the San Francisco Chronicle about a NMFS plan to restore salmon in the Bay Delta.

2. A bit in the New York Times about green roofs in New York.

3. A short article in the Boston Globe about water use in Massachusetts.

Governance must come from Governator

Bill Reilly, former EPA administrator under George H.W. Bush, called out Gov. Schwarzenegger today in the San Francisco Chronicle for his failure to provide the leadership that Mr. Reilly and colleagues deemed necessary to effectively manage the delta ecosystem.  In his piece, Mr. Reilly calls governance "the critical missing ingredient in water management in the delta."

Water efficiency in CA...

NRDC released a report yesterday on reducing the amount of water used by California's commercial, industrial, and institutional (CII) sector, which uses 2.5 million acre-feet annually, or 1/3 of the water consumed in the state's urban areas.  I haven't yet had a chance to read the full paper but skimmed the executive summary.  A couple of findings jumped out at me: 

(1) According to the group's analysis, by adopting the recommended measures, California's CII sector could collectively cut water use by up to 50% (thereby saving 1.3 million acre-feet per year).

 (2) Individual organizations could potentially tap public agencies and/or utilities to offset capital costs associated with expenditures to increase water efficiency, and would typically begin to realize savings (on water and wastewater bills) after an average estimated payback period of between 1 and 4 years (and generally less than 2 1/2 years).

Very cool stuff, and definitely deserves a full read-through.

Clean water and culture

Two notes for today:

First, last night I was lucky enough to attend an artist's talk/book launch party hosted at the Aperture gallery and celebrating the release of Eirik Johnson's second monograph, Sawdust Mountain.  For four years, Eirik photographed in Washington, Oregon, and northern California, working to elucidate the complicated and fragile relationships between the region's ecology, industry, and individuals that harvest and/or preserve natural resources.  The images paint beautiful, desperate portraits of a region in transition and inherently reference water (whether they depict a fisherman cleaning a slamon along the Sol Duc River or a fresh clearcut in Nemah, Washington).  Take some time and check them out here.

Second, I haven't been following the moves of the Clean Water Restoration Act particularly closely, but I did notice today that, late last week, Ducks Unlimited came out with a statement of support for the Act.  In addition, the Grand Junction Sentinel reported Monday that other groups, including Trout Unlimited and the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership have expressed similar support.  Dissent remains among the sportsman community (here, for example), but the support of organizations like DU, TU, and TRCP is crucial, especially since many farmers' organizations that have expressed concern with the bill (here, here, and here, for example) are located in regions where organizations like DU and TU are most active (check out DU priority regions here, and TU's conservation projects here, for example).  For the latest on the CWRA, go here.

New news and new work

A couple of interesting tidbits of note:

1. A new lawsuit in the delta smelt world.  This one was filed last Thursday by the Pacific Legal Foundation, and claims that the application of the Endangered Species Act to the delta smelt is unconstitutional because the fish has no commercial value.

2. A favorable judgment for California farmers/potentially unfavorable judgment for delta smelt.  Basically, folks managing water diversions must reconsider the impacts that export reductions have on the state's farmers.

3. A real-life Chinatown scenario involving California's environmental water account, designed to buffer the effects fo reduced water flows from the Delta, and a wealthy Beverly Hills businessman.

4. The Nature Conservancy released a report on Thursday on the condition of shellfish reefs in temperate estuaries worldwide.  The authors note that in 70% of bays and 63% of marine ecoregions, oyster populations have experienced population decline of >90% from historic levels.  The paper cites five actions critical to improving the condition of shellfish beds: improve protection efforts, restore and recover reefs, manage fisheries sustainably, stop the spread of exotic shellfish, and improve water quality.  Here's a brief teaser from the TNC blog.

5.  I will be working with Eco Brooklyn to source materials, design, and build a green roof on their show house in Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn.  Check their blog here for more information, though I will post my research findings, etc. here as well.

Science in the City

Tickets for the 2009 World Science Festival became available yesterday.  Sessions of interest to water people include The Hudson Since Henry and Rising Waters in a Thirsty World.

The Hudson session will include input from Alex Matthiessen, president of Riverkeeper, Eric Sanderson, one of the folks behind the Mannahatta Project, and John Waldman, a professor of biology at Queens College whose research focuses on ecology and evolution of fishes and urban aquatic environments.

Maude Barlow, Senior Advisor on Water to the President of UN General Assembly, and Radley Horton, a climate change modeler and Climate Science Lead for the Science Policy Team of the NYC Panel on Climate Change, will present with other colleagues at the Rising Waters presentation.

As John Tierney noted yesterday, tickets sold out last summer and some programs may sell out rather quickly... so get tickets soon!

Of conflict and culture

California’s Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta is, in many ways, a useful arena in which to study the water struggles that may face the world in coming decades.  The Delta and its water are subject to competing interests: while the ecosystem supports sensitive endemic species and an array of other ecologically- and commercially-important organisms, agricultural interests and water resource management agencies seek to utilize the system to mitigate California’s dry climate and promote economic growth.  Shifting patterns of precipitation and climate change complicate the situation.  The competition for water, exotic species invasion, widespread pesticide use, and increases in stormwater runoff has caused myriad ecological impacts, including the listing of the delta smelt as a federally-threatened species.  The result has been a protracted and complicated legal battle, and pieces included in Friday's San Francisco Chronicle and Sacramento Bee suggest that despite a resolution reached in December 2008 to reduce water exports, the fight for water is not yet over.

On a slightly different, but related, note photographer Lukas Felzmann has examined California's inland waterways, wetlands, fields, and industrial agriculture landscapes from an interesting perspective.  Check out a review of, and images from, the resulting book here and order it here.  It is phenomenal.

World Water Wars

Friday's Science briefly mentioned three films on water and people shown at the Environmental Film Festival in mid-March.  Although I missed the festival, I just added Blue Gold: World Water Wars to my Netflix queue.  Check out the trailer below... it looks utterly fascinating:

Water access in Asia

On Friday, the Asia Society released a report highlighting the risk that climate change, population growth, and urbanization pose to the continent's water resources.  The authors note that 1 in 5 Asians already lack access to clean drinking water and that, although it is the world's most heavily populated continent, Asia has the least water per person of any continent other than Antarctica.  The report concludes that decreased access to clean, stable water supplies "will have a profound impact on security throughout the region."

A Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty story released yesterday on water conflict in the Central Asian states serves as a reminder of the serious state of water politics today, even before popoulations swell, urban areas expand, and patterns of precipitation shift due to climate change.  Uzbekistan's President, Islam Karimov, has enlisted the support of counterparts in Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan to prevent the construction of hydropower stations in Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan and the associated disruptions in water supply in the three downstream nations.  Kyryzstan and Tajikistan argue that they cannot afford the prices their neighbors demand for oil and natural gas, and that hydropower is perhaps the only path toward energy independence and ending winter energy rationing.