Feb
8
TGIF! Weekly Water News Summary, 2 – 8 February 2013
February 8, 2013 | Posted by Michael "Aquadoc" Campana
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Mary Frances and I are headed to Reno, NV, where we met when we both worked at the Desert Research Institute in the 1980s (1976-1989 for me). I will be attending the last meeting of the Nevada Climate Change EPSCoR Project’s External Advisory Board at DRI.
Both of us will enjoy seeing some old friends.
In the meantime, you can enjoy this week’s summary of water news by clicking here.
“We’re the canary in the mineshaft in the desert Southwest.” -Pat Mulroy of SNWA, on water resources management, reported by @GE_Water
Feb
7
JAWRA Highlights – February 2013
February 7, 2013 | Posted by admin
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JAWRA Highlights – February 2013
Sanford and Selnick present a new estimate of evapotranspiration across the conterminous U.S.
Wigington et al. develop a hydrologic landscape classification approach that describes factors of climate-watershed systems that control the hydrologic characteristics of watersheds.
Tufekcioglu et al. question the assumption streams can be protected from grazing effects by specifying some buffer distance.
Polebitski and Palmer investigate customer response to demand management strategies during two drought periods in the City of Seattle.
Arbuckle examines the effectiveness of Iowa’s Local Water Protection.
Xia et al. discuss some aspects of modeling the important but immensely complex Yellow River.
McMahon and Smith analyze the potential economics of the Arkansas Valley “Super Ditch.”
Chen et al. examine possible scenarios for U.S. water withdrawals over the next 25 years.
Carleton and Mohamoud explore the effect of flow depth and velocity on nitrogen loss rates in channels.
Kinzel et al. compare LiDAR to conventional methods for mapping river bathymetry.
Varghese et al. investigate the marginal profitability of cultivating rice under irrigation.
BOOK REVIEWS: Rainwater harvesting in rural China; Membrane Technology; Land Decontamination; Desalinization … and more.
Feb
2
Normative Science: When Scientists Become Stealth Policy Advocates
February 2, 2013 | Posted by Michael "Aquadoc" Campana
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Friend and colleague Dr. Robert T. Lackey recently published an article on normative science in OSU’s Terra Magazine. It’s an excellent take on science and advocacy.
He begins:
Scientific information is important in many policy debates in the Pacific Northwest (salmon; wildfire severity; human activities and climate; genetically modified organisms; water scarcity). Science is essential in such policy debates, but I am concerned that policy-biased science is increasingly common.
Science should be objective and based on the best information available. Too often, however, scientific information presented to the public and decision-makers is infused with hidden policy preferences. Such science is termed normative, and it is a corruption of the practice of good science. Normative science is defined as “information that is developed, presented or interpreted based on an assumed, usually unstated, preference for a particular policy choice.”
I won’t continue here – you can go to the article, which also allows comments.
One of the comments was by friend and colleague Todd Jarvis who alluded to an article he wrote that was recently published in the Oregon Geologist Examiner.
Last May I posted a PDF of Bob’s lecture on Is Science Biased Toward Natural?
Good stuff.
“Science is not value free, but it should be policy neutral.” – Robert T. Lackey
Feb
1
TGIF! Weekly Water News Summary, 26 January – 1 February 2013
February 1, 2013 | Posted by Michael "Aquadoc" Campana
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The new AWRA Board of Directors is having its first meeting in the DC area today and tomorrow. Best of luck to an exceptional group as they chart the organization’s future under the leadership of President Carol Collier.
Click here for the weekly water summary.
Enjoy!
“The altar cloth of one eon is the doormat of the next.” —Mark Twain (thanks to Lynn Montgomery)
Jan
30
The Journal ‘Ground Water’ Succombs At Last: It’s One Word, Not Two
January 30, 2013 | Posted by Michael "Aquadoc" Campana
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When I received my January-February 2013 issue of Ground Water the other day I noticed that the two words in the journal’s title had merged into one. The same thing has happened to the other major NGWA journal, now Groundwater Monitoring and Remediation.
The organization is still the National Ground Water Association (NGWA). But look at the close proximity of ‘ground’ to ‘water’ in the logo; sure looks like one word to me. It has been that way for years. We know what will happen eventually.
Why the change? I found this explanation on the NGWA WWW site:
The technical publications of the National Ground Water Association, Ground Water® and Ground Water Monitoring & Remediation®, will undergo slight title changes in 2013 as they adopt the
one-word treatment of “groundwater.”
Beginning with the first issues of 2013, the publication titles will read as Groundwater andGroundwater Monitoring & Remediation.
The change comes after confirming that the process will not affect those doing research, online tracking, or the status of the journals in the scientific community.
Prior to the change, NGWA contacted Thomson Reuters and confirmed such a change would not affect indexing in its Thomson Reuters Web of Knowledge (formerly ISI Web of Knowledge) or disrupt issuing an impact factor/journal citation report.
Similarly, the U.S. National Library of Medicine stated the change would not affect indexing in its PubMed database.
Finally, the U.S. ISSN Center confirmed that because the proposed change is so minor that assigning new International Standard Serial Numbers — typically required for a publication name change — would not be necessary.
The NGWA® Board of Directors voted to allow the one-word spelling to appear on the covers of the publications on April 17, 2012.
This move to make the change on the covers follows the decision of the NGWA Board on June 12, 2009 to allow the one-word spelling in journal papers and other content inside the publications.
Coincidentally, the U.S. Geological Survey switched to one-word usage for all of its publishing efforts on March 26, 2009. [Note: see my blog post on the USGS decision; also see my post on the 'one v. two' debate.]
Ground Water is a leading technical publication for groundwater hydrogeologists. Published six times a year, 2012 marked its 50th volume.
Ground Water Monitoring & Remediation is a quarterly publication focusing on the field of groundwater monitoring and cleanup. It will enter its 33rd year in 2013.
“The title changes will be a seamless transition for the thousands of groundwater researchers and practitioners who rely and depend on our journals for content,” said Thad Plumley, NGWA’s director of publishing and knowledge products.
Interesting to note that Dr. Bill Alley, who spearheaded the USGS’s switch to the ‘one-word’ camp (groundwater), is now NGWA’s Director of Science and Technology. I am not suggesting there is a connection between Bill’s employment and the ‘one word’ decision.
For the hardy band of hard-core two-worders, NGWA’s action is the beginning of the end.
Time to move on, folks.
Note that JAWRA has used the one-word spelling for years.
“By such innovations are languages enriched, when the words are adopted by the multitude, and naturalized by custom.” – Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra, author of Don Quixote
Jan
25
TGIF! Weekly Water News Summary, 19 – 25 January 2013
January 25, 2013 | Posted by Michael "Aquadoc" Campana
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Spent much of the workday at the Oregon Water Resources Department, where I attended a meeting of the Groundwater Advisory Committee, on which I serve.
I also met with friend and colleague Dr. Brenda O. Bateman, OWRD Senior Policy Coordinator, to discuss the 2013 AWRA Annual Water Resources Conference inPortland, which we co-chair. Brenda chairs the AWRA Policy Committee and edited AWRA’s recent IWRM report.
Click here to access the summary.
Enjoy!
“No one is useless in this world who lightens the burdens of another.” – Charles Dickens
Jan
18
TGIF! Weekly Water News Summary, 12 – 18 January 2013
January 18, 2013 | Posted by Michael "Aquadoc" Campana
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Here in the USA we celebrate the birthday of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.on Monday, 21 January. His actual birthday is 15 January.
Read Taylor Branch’s trilogy. It’s extraordinary.
Now – off to the weekly water news!
“I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character. “ – Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Jan
11
TGIF! Weekly Water News Summary, 5 – 11 January 2013
January 11, 2013 | Posted by Michael "Aquadoc" Campana
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Last night I arguably became the last WaterWonk on the globe to see Last Call at the Oasis, the latest of the ‘water crisis’ films.
I will give my ten cents in a couple of days, likely Monday.If you have a chance to see it before my review, do so.
In the meantime, check out the water news here.
Enjoy!
“Those who have the privilege to know have the duty to act.” – Albert Einstein
Jan
8
The Glimmer Twins Speak: Get Those Special Session Proposals and Abstracts In!
January 8, 2013 | Posted by Michael "Aquadoc" Campana
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Mick and Keith have nothing on us!
Friend and AWRA member extraordinaire Cheryl Ulrich snapped this photo of Ari Michelsen and me at the Tuesday night social event at the recent AWRA Jacksonville meeting.
She calls us ‘The Twins’.
Yes, I may have that dazed look in my eyes, but I am wearing my Weston Solutions badge holder, which made Cheryl happy.
Still two weeks to submit a proposal for a special session at the Portland 2013 AWRA Annual Water Resources Conference. They are due 21 January.
Download 2013_Annual_Call_for_Special_Session
Want to be a sponsor?
Download PDX_2013_Sponsor_Brochure_Final
Don’t forget to submit your abstract for Ari’s Water for Mega Cities: Challenges and Solutions. conference, 16-18 September in Beijing. Abstracts are due 11 March.
And our 2013 Summer Specialty Conferences - Environmental Flows and Healthy Forests = Healthy Waters – are seeking abstracts, due 8 February 2013.
“Persistence is the antidote to powerlessness.” – Joan Chittister
Jan
4
TGIF! Weekly Water News Summary, 29 December 2012 – 4 January 2013
January 4, 2013 | Posted by Michael "Aquadoc" Campana
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Carol Collier is now AWRA President; read her first message. Bill Battaglin, who did an excellent job as President, now is our Past President with Mark Dunning moving into the President-Elect position. Rafa Frias and Noel Gollehon join the Board of Directors. Ken Carper and I move off the Board.
Good news! It’s the International Year of Water Cooperation!
Here is a quiote from a colleague who is a more than a little skeptical of the IYWC:
“It’s the International Year of Water Cooperation? Knock yourself out, dude!” – Anonymous
I am actually ‘cautiously optimistic’.
Click here for the news!
Enjoy!
“Those who think they can and those who think they can’t are both right.” – Henry Ford
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