WaterWired

Dr. Brenda Bateman Updates Oregon's Integrated Water Resources Strategy

Dr. Brenda O. Bateman of the Oregon Water Resources Department (OWRD) traveled down to OSU yesterday to update us on Oregon's Integrated Water Resources Strategy (IWRS) and its implementation:

Download 2012_05_15_OSU_IWRS_Bateman

Here's the draft IWRS Framework (16 April 2012 version):

Download IWRS_Framework_Revised_v3

She made an excellent presentation and noted that the IWRS is slated to be voted upon by the Oregon Water Resources Commission this summer. If the Commission approves it, then it's adopted; the Legislature does not have to approve it. That's a great approach - and provides the Legislature with cover.

To see the entire the suite of IWRS documents, visit the IWRS home.

I am reminded of the Oregon Statewide Water Roundtables, which I helped plan and condict in Fall 2008.

Development of the IWRS is in excellent hands with Brenda in charge. She is a friend who is one of the sharpest knives in the drawer. I know her best for her tireless efforts as chair (since 2005) of AWRA's Policy Technical Committee,, by far the most active among AWRA's committees. 

Enjoy!

 “Unless commitment is made, there are only promises and hopes, but no plans.” - Peter F. Drucker

Treat Yourself to Some Wonderful Weekend Wilkinson (Drinking) Water!

As National Drinking Water Week sunsets I thought it apropos to show readers what the weekend tap water looks like in my building on the OSU campus, Wilkinson Hall. 

The City of Corvallis may supply OSU with its water, but it doesn't look like this until it reaches OSU's distribution system and sits around for a while.

The dogs who frequent our building keeping their human companions (PC alert!) company much prefer toilet bowl water to this tap water by a 4 to 1 margin.

Toilet-to-tap - who cares? Close your eyes and you're swilling Oregon Pinot noir.

Me? I'll just take some of that fine bottled water!

Bottoms up!

Must be a plot by the bottled water industry...

Thanks to Maria Gibson for alerting me to this local 'water crisis'.

"Enough. Man is capable of reform once presented with the facts, and the fact is that bottling water and shipping it is a big waste of fuel, so stop already. The water that comes to your house through a pipe is good enough, and maybe better." -- Garrison Keillor, 30 September 2007, Salt Lake Tribune

Dr. Robert Lackey: Is Science Biased Toward Natural?

That is the title of the provocative seminar given yesterday by Dr. Robert T. Lackey.

We had the largest group of attendees so far this term and the questions flowed freely when Bob finished.

Here is a PDF of his PPT:

Download Lackey_Is_Science_Biased_Toward_Natural_GEM Seminar_8May2012

Here is the paper he distributed with his lecture; this paper is cited in his lecture (Scott et al., 2007).

Excellent!

"Science is not value free, but it should be policy neutral." - Robert T. Lackey

“Policy preferences are commonly embedded in the science presented in natural resource and conservation biology scientific journals.”- Scott, J.M., Rachlow,J.L., Lackey, R.T., Pidgnorna, A.B., Aycrigg, I.L., Feldman, G.R., Svancara, L.K., Rupp, D.A., Stanish, D.I., Steinhorst, R.K., 2007. Policy,advocacy in science: prevalence, perspectives, and implications for conservation biologists. Conservation Biology 2l: 29-35.

Manual Water Well Drilling and Lots More: The EMAS Concept

At the recently concluded HWB BoD retreat we occasionally wandered away from vision and mission statements and 'lapsed' into discussions about water well drilling methods in remote areas of emerging regions.

One of the problems faced in such areas - especially mountainous terrain - is the lack of access for motorized well drilling rigs and the lack of supporting supplies (drilling mud, cement, gasoline, etc.). So what should be done, especially if surface water is not an option?

Manual well-drilling rigs are a potential solution. I can see some of my well-drilling friends cringing,

Last 31 July I posted about two manual water well drilling methods: the BYU method and the Terry Waller method or so-called 'Baptist' method. During our retreat John Cherry brought another one to my attention: that developed by Wolfgang E. Buchner in Bolivia. In fact, Buchner has developed more than a drilling method but a system - EMAS, a Mobile School for Water and Sanitation:

EMAS [Spanish acronym] is a Mobile School for Water and Sanitation based in Bolivia, and run by Wolfgang Eloy Buchner. EMAS is also a whole technical and social concept of water and sanitation which includes manual drilling, rain water harvesting, solar water heaters, wind power, hydraulic rams, water treatment, small tanks and sinks, a variety of hand and foot pumps, and ferrocement water storage tanks.

More movies are available in the second EMAS channel: vimeo.com/channels/emas2.

More information at emas-international.de
This channel was developed in cooperation with Akvo.org

Here is a video introducing EMAS:

This movie gives an overview of all the technologies used in the EMAS concept: manual well drilling, hand-powered water pumps, pedal-powered water pumps, windmills, ferrocement tanks, spring catchment, latrines, solar heating, drip irrigation, hydraulic ram.

 

Buchner has about 20 years' experience with this approach. Those of us at the HWB retreat felt that this is an approach we need to learn more about.

Be sure to visit the vimeo site to view more videos.

"Much ingenuity with a little money is vastly more profitable and amusing than much money without ingenuity." - Arnold Bennett

Texas Water Mission's Ann Campana Judge Foundation Final Report: Honduras Water Wells

The Ann Campana Judge Foundation just received this final report from Maria Valdez,
Executive Director of the Texas Water Mission.

 The ACJF supported TWM's water ministry in Honduras by funding the drilling of two wells, one at Esperanza Elementary School in Ojo de Agua and the other in the community of Santa Maria. 

Shown here is the drilling of the Santa Maria well.

Check out TWM's newsletter.

 Download ACJF_Honduras_Rpt_30Apr2012_TWM

"A few countries like Sri Lanka and Honduras have led the way in slashing maternal mortality." - Nicholas D. Kristof