WaterWired

Talk: 'Evolution of a Potable Water Partnership in Rural Honduras'

Here is a presentation I gave this afternoon at our GEM (Geography, Environmental Sciences, and Marine Resource Management) seminar:

Download GEMinar_29January2013_Campana

Enjoy!

”The road to help is paved with good intentions.” – Tracy Baker

Paper: 'Hydrostrategy, Hydropolitics & Security in the Kura-­Araks Basin, South Caucasus'

This paper by Berrin Basak Vener, Baek Soo 'Peggy' Lee, and me was just published in the Journal of Contemporary Water Research and Education's (JCWRE) special issue on Water and International Security. Here is the Introduction by issue editor Dr. David Kreamer. 

Download 149_Campana_KAB

Abstract

After  the  Soviet  Union’s  dissolution,  the  Kura-­Araks  Basin  became  an  international  river  basin   with  respect  to  the  South  Caucasus  states  of  Armenia,
 Azerbaijan,  and  Georgia.  Despite  differences  among   these  countries,  they  depend  greatly  on  the  Kura-­Araks  Basin.  They  proposed  to  jointly  monitor  Kura-­Araks   Basin   surface   water   quality   and   obtained   funding   to   do   so   from   the   North   Atlantic   Treaty   Organization’s   Science  for  Peace  Programme.  Thus,  the  South  Caucasus  River  Monitoring  Project  was  born  in  late  2002. The   South   Caucasus   River   Monitoring   Project   formally   ended   in   December   2009,   and   was   a   model   of   collaboration  and  cooperation  in  a  region  where  such  traits  have  at  times  been  in  short  supply.  Not  only  were   valuable   data   collected,   but   collegial   professional   relationships   also   were   forged   among   the   participants.   In   the   long   run,   this   latter   aspect   will   likely   prove   to   be   the   most   important   product,   not   just   for   the   South     Caucasus,  but  for  others  as  well.

Download 149_Campana_KAB

"The optimist learns English. The pessimist learns Chinese. The realist learns Kalashnikov." - South Caucasus colleague

NASEC Presentation: Crisis, Conflict, Security, Sustainability - The Future of Water

Here is my presentation for the NASEC meeting today. I will be okay as long as they don't ask me to define sustainability.

But really - it is more about resilience. Forget sustainability. Here is a video.

Download NASEC_2012_Campana_Final

I might update this later today.

The graph below is from xkcd.

Update at 10:40 PM EST: The talk went well, but I basically chucked the above presentation and ad-libbed it. Mentioned resiliency a few times but didn't dwell on it; just enough to whet their appetites (thanks to Joe Dellapenna and Jerry Sehlke).

Met some BRIGHT undergraduates!

"Which of the 32 definitions of 'sustainable' are you using today?" - David Brookshire

Groundwater and Development - WatSan Session: My Presentation & Abstracts at IAH 2012

If there's one thing that I could fix about the recent IAH meeting it would be the posting of PDFs of the oral presentations (and possible posters). 

Here is my abstract and presentation (to be retired after this meeting), Groundwater Development on the Embera Indian Comarca, Southern Darién Province, Panama

Download 1-541-Campana

Download 3_541_TH2C_Campana

Here are the abstracts of the others in the session, Groundwater and Development - Water and Sanitation Projects:

Alan MacDonald - The Role of Hydrogeological Science in African Water Supply and Sanitation Programmes

Laurra Olmsted - A Fresh Approach to a Traditional Problem of Providing Aid

David Bethune - Hydrogeologists Without Borders: Connecting Hydrogeologists with Development

John A. Cherry - Origin of Springs on Mountain Slopes and Implications for Small Water Supplies

Enjoy!

"At a time when $700 billion can be found overnight to bail out the richest bankers in the world and $1000 billion can be spent on one single ‘war’, sovereign wealth funds in far rich countries alone are at $2500 billion and growing, it stretches cruelty when we are told that the world can’t find an extra $80 billion a year to meet the basic needs of food, water, sanitation and housing for the majority of the world’s population." - Urban Development and Sacred Area Development Minister Dinesh Gunawardena of Sri Lanka, speaking at the 3rd World Urban Forum in Nanjing, China.

The Road Home From Banff; My US Water Vision Presentation

Heading home to Oregon tomorrow after a fruitful week at the CWRA-CGU National Meeting.  I enjoyed the people, program, and the place. Banff is quite the venue.

I really enjoyed meeting the CWRA Executive Committee, led by President André Saint-Hilaire, the Board of Directors, Executive Director Rick Ross, and the members. It was great seeing my counterpart again, Past-President Andrew Szojka, who came to our 2011 Annual Conference. I look forward to AWRA partnering with them. They are a great group and we 'fit well' together.

By the way, here are the conference proceedings:

Download Proceedings of 2012 CWRA-CGU Conference June 5-8

I fully expect to attend next year's meeting in Saskatoon, the 'Paris of the Prairie'. CWRA and CGU will partner with CMOS - the Canadian Meteorological and Oceanographic Society. Could be as many as 1,000 attendees. This meeting had close to 600.

 This picture (not of Saskatoon) was taken on 7 June; there is some fresh snow on the mountains.

I gave a brief talk on the USA water vision:

Download CWRA_2012_Vision_Campana

I trimmed it quite a bit since I had just 15 minutes, and that improved it greatly. Going from 40+ slides to about 20 made it a lot better. There were far too many slides with nothing but bullets and text. B-O-R-I-N-G!!

Sleep now!

"Canadians have an abiding interest in surprising those Americans who have historically made little effort to learn about their neighbour to the North." 
- Peter Jennings