tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32343402115309491322024-03-13T10:59:35.253-07:00WaterWonksBetaWaterWonkshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03376564091457611595noreply@blogger.comBlogger23125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3234340211530949132.post-4257272074110641192012-08-08T14:16:00.000-07:002012-08-08T14:16:02.622-07:00CALENDAR<br />
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<b><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #222222; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt;">8/26-31 World Water Week: Water + Food Security (Sweden)</span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><br />
</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><a href="http://www.worldwaterweek.org/">http://www.worldwaterweek.org/</a>
website<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><a href="http://www.worldwaterweek.org/sa/node.asp?node=479">http://www.worldwaterweek.org/sa/node.asp?node=479</a>
prices/registration<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Stockholm
International Water Institute (SIWI)</span><span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt;"> is a policy institute that
seeks sustainable solutions to the world’s water problems. It manages projects,
synthesizes research, publishes findings and recommendations and each year hosts
a conference called World Water Week.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Each conference has a theme. </span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>From 2009-2012 the
umbrella theme has been “Responding to Global Changes” within that framework
the theme for 2012 is ‘water and food security’.</span></span><span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt;">The conference
consists of plenary sessions, panels, social and networking events and
speakers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There are also workshops,
poster sessions and an exhibition hall with over 50 exhibitors.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However these exhibits are non commercial and
are exclusively intended to serve as a compliment to the discussions taking
place during the week.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Attendees can buy
full week or one day passes and early bird prices are available.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Full week passes bought before June 30 cost
approximately 707 euros ($876) and one day passes are approximately 177 euros
($219). Student passes are also available at around 212 euros ($262) for a
conference pass and 59 euros ($73) for a one day pass.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt;">9/5-6 Water Innovations Alliance * quite difficult to find information<br />
</span></b><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt;">*hard to find info on upcoming conference<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"> </b></span><span style="color: #393533; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><a href="http://www.waterinnovations.org/">http://www.waterinnovations.org/</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<strong><span style="background: white; font-size: 12.0pt; font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Water Innovations Alliance</span></strong><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt;"> </span></span><span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt;">is an industry association focused on
developing new funding, increasing collaboration and raising awareness for
cutting-edge water technologies and the problems they solve.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The 4<sup>th</sup> Annual conference will be
held on the 5 and 6 of September 2012 in Boston Massachusetts.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This conference has a heavy technological
focus, it aims to educate large companies, engineering firms, universities,
utilities, start-ups, NGOs and governments on new water technologies,
innovations and prospects and by doing so improving awareness and collaboration
between these entities which will hopefully lead to the development of
increasingly effective water technology.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt;">This conference centers on speaker
presentations and panels, there are no technical programs, workshops,
exhibitions or poster contests.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However,
in 2011 the conference featured a unique activity, a large scale watershed
stewardship stimulation game in which participants make decisions about their
resources and livelihoods over a 20 year period.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In 2011 the registration fee for the
conference was $500 with no student prices.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt;">9/9-12 WateReuse <br />
</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><a href="http://www.watereuse.org/symposium27">http://www.watereuse.org/symposium27</a>
website<br />
<a href="http://www.watereuse.org/symposium27/registration">http://www.watereuse.org/symposium27/registration</a>
prices/registration<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt;">The 27<sup>th</sup> annual WateReuse Symposium
will take place on September 9 through 12 2012.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The focus of this conference is on water reuse and desalination,
particularly on new innovations in these areas.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It is hosted by the WateReuse Association, a non-profit that was formed
as a state body in California in 1990 and then reformed as a national organization
in 2000.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Its mission is to </span><span style="background: white; color: #333333; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt;">advance the beneficial and efficient uses of high-quality, locally
produced, sustainable water sources.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #333333; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt;">The symposium features speakers who present the
latest information on applications, technologies, health and safety, funding,
and legislative and regulatory activities.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>There is also a technical program, an exhibition hall featuring 20
exhibitors and for the first time ever poster presentations, a perfect
opportunity to present ongoing research that is not yet complete.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Additionally, during the symposium special
attention is paid to Florida’s specific water supply and water quality issues
and at the conclusion there is an airboat tour of the Florida Everglades and a
deep sea fishing tournament.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt;">There is early bird registration that ends on
July 27, rates depend on memberships ranging from $625-$725 for conference
passes, and one day passes range from $225-$250 depending on the day.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Student passes cost $200.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>All registrations after July 27 will cost $50
more dollars.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Finally the airboat tour
is an additional $40, the fishing trip is an extra $50 and guest passes ranging
from $30 to $40 are available for certain events <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt;">9/16-21 IWA World Water
Congress + Exhibition, Korea<br />
</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><a href="http://www.iwa2012busan.org/">http://www.iwa2012busan.org</a> website<br />
<a href="http://www.iwa2012busan.org/registration-accommodation/registration-fees/">http://www.iwa2012busan.org/registration-accommodation/registration-fees/</a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>pricing/registration<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The International Water Association (IWA) is a global
network of water professionals that covers every area related to the water
cycle; from <span style="background: white;">research, practice, regulation, and
industry to consulting and manufacturing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The IWA aims to provide knowledge, leadership and expertise <span style="color: #222222;">on the science, research, practice and management of
water.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One of the ways they do this is
once every two years they host the IWA World Water Congress and Exhibition in
different cities around the </span>globe.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>On the 16 through the 21 of September 2012 approximately 5,000 people
from around the world will gather in Busan Korea to discuss a whole range of
water issues.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Presentations and
conferences will be organized around six themes;</span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> Managing utilities and their assets, Water treatment
technologies, Wastewater treatment and reuse, Water and health, Water resources
supply and sustainability and Water, climate and energy.<span style="color: #393533;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt;">A wide variety of organizations are expected to
attend.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In previous years the
organization with the greatest attendance has been educational institutions
followed, in order, by utilities, government and consultants/contractors.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The larges work type is expected to be
managers, followed by researches and then by engineers/technical workers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Also due to location this year a strong Asian
contingent is expected and so a focus on/break into Asian Market…<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Like other large conferences there will be a
large exhibition hall with approximately 200 exhibitors representing an array
of organizations/businesses; </span><span style="background: white; color: #393533; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt;">u</span><span style="color: #393533; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">tilities, technology and product
manufacturers, consultants, knowledge and research institutes, NGOs, media, and
countries.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There will also be workshops</span><span style="background: white; color: #393533; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt;">, technical programs, speakers, and people will be invited to give
papers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>An important feature of the
World Water Congress are the specialist group meetings.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These groups are at the core of the IWA.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They are extremely specialized and the
members are very active in their niche.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>These groups are an exceptionally effective means of international networking,
sharing information and skills and making good professional and business
contacts. <br />
</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There is only one package which
covers attendance at sessions, entry to exhibition hall, lunch morning and
afternoon teas Sunday welcome reception and ticket for the Thursday dinner
gala.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Prices depend on membership
status, whether or not you are from a low income country (LIC), and when you
buy your ticket (there is an early bird special, tickets are cheaper if bought
before 1 July).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There are also student
rates, <span style="background: white; color: #222222;">550 euros and 335 euro for
those students from LICs.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt;">9/24-26 GWPC/NRWA WaterPro, Nashville <br />
<a href="http://www.waterproconference.org/prices.aspx?type=attendee">http://www.waterproconference.org/prices.aspx?type=attendee</a><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt;">WaterPro is the
annual conference of the National Rural Water Association (NRWA).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It will be taking place September 24 through
26 in Nashville Tennessee.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is
designed to bring together water and wastewater utility systems for sessions in
operations, management, boardsmanship and governance.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This year the Ground Water Protection Council
(GWPC) will co-locate with WaterPro.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Ground Water Protection Agency- protection, conservation and management
of groundwater resources.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Members are
state officials who make decisions involving ground water issues. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt;">The event will
include educational sessions and an exhibit hall.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Full registration costs $525 before August 31
and $580 after with the option to add a spouse for $60 and $70
respectively.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Passes to the exhibit hall
and education sessions cost $450 and $500 and access to only the exhibit hall
costs $25 $40.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There are no student
prices.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="background: white; color: #222222;">9/24-26 GreenGov, DC <br />
</span></b><span style="background: white; color: #009933;"><a href="http://www.greengov2012.org/">www.<b>greengov</b>2012.org/</a> </span><span style="background: white;">website<span style="color: #009933;"> <br />
</span></span><a href="http://www.greengov2012.org/registration.html">http://www.greengov2012.org/registration.html</a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>registration/pricing information<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt;">GreenGov, DC is
another young water conference, created in response to Executive Order 13514
signed by President Obama which set aggressive water, energy and waste
reduction targets for the Federal Government to meet. September 24-26 2012 will
mark its third annual meeting.<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></b>It is an educational event, an attempt
to bring together leaders in government, private sector, non-profit sector and
academia to identify ways to grow green industries, create jobs and curb
pollution by incorporating sustainable practices into federal policies. The
Symposium is hosted by the Association of Climate Change Officers (ACCO), a
professional development organization </span><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt;">whose mission is to
“…</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt;">advance the knowledge and skills of those dedicated to developing
and directing climate change strategies in the public and private sectors, and
to establish a flexible and robust forum for collaboration between climate
change officers.<span style="background: white;">”</span></span><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Monday the 24th and
Tuesday the 25<sup>th</sup> consist of plenary sessions, program tracks,
networking, and exhibits.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Overall there
will be approximately 350 speakers across more than 80 sessions and 9 breakout
tracks, 40+ exhibitors and a ‘knowledge bar’ consisting of 11 experts on
environmental sustainability issues.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Wednesday conference goers have the opportunity to attend post
conference activities, including three green facility tours, as well as
meetings and workshops.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Over 1,200
people are expected to attend.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There are
two types of passes, a one day pass and a conference pass.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The cost of these passes differs depending on
what organization you are associated with, government employees, corporate
employees, etc.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There are special
student rates, $245 for a day pass and $350 for a conference pass.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><br />
9/29-10/3 WEFTEC, New Orleans</span></b><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><br />
</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><a href="http://www.weftec.org/">http://www.weftec.org/</a> website<br />
<a href="http://www.weftec.org/packages/">http://www.weftec.org/packages/</a>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Pricing/registration information<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt;">The Water Environment Federation (WEF) is a
not-for-profit technical and educational organization of engineers and
individuals in industries related to wastewater, water quality and water
reuse.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was 36,000 individual members
and 75 affiliated Member Associations representing water professionals all over
the world.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It seeks to promote
innovation, provide networking opportunities and serve as a knowledge platform
to future the goal of clean and safe water worldwide. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt;">WEFTEC is WEF’s annual technical exhibition and
conference.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This year it will be held in
New Orleans beginning September 29 and ending October 3<sup>rd</sup>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is the biggest meeting of its kind in
North America and the world’s largest annual water quality exhibition.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is attended by all types of water quality professionals;
however there is a big emphasis on wastewater.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>In fact, in previous years up to “87% of attendees were leaders from the
municipal and industrial wastewater treatment and water quality markets who are
there to see and purchase equipment and services.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To this end there are almost 1,000 exhibitioners
and 18,000 attendees from all around the world.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>In addition to the exhibition hall there are 23 workshops, 130 technical
sessions, tours, speakers and events.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The idea is that the event is so large you can personalize your
experience, by selecting which events to take part in; WEF has 11 education
tracks to help attendees do this.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There
are a variety of events available for students including a student design competition,
a student paper competition, a career fair and annual WEF student chapter meeting<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>WEFTEC
has a complicated pricing structure.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>There are a variety packages with different levels of access and they
vary in cost and WEF members and non members also pay different amounts.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There is also an early bird special in which
registration is cheaper before July 13 2012.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>In addition there are 8 events you can choose to participate in that
range from $0-$75 and 6 facility tours that are $50 each.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Students receive a substantial discount on
admission to technical sessions and exhibitions, which are free for students
who are WEF members and $30 for students who are not.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In addition there are a limited number of
hotel rooms for students and academics available at $169 per night.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt;">10/3-5 WaterSmart Innovations Conference and Exposition, Las Vegas<br />
</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><a href="http://www.watersmartinnovations.com/index.php">http://www.watersmartinnovations.com/index.php</a>
website<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="background: white; color: #222222;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><a href="http://www.watersmartinnovations.com/registration.php">http://www.watersmartinnovations.com/registration.php</a>
pricing/registration information<span style="background: white; color: #222222;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt;">The WaterSmart
Innovations Conference and Exposition (WSI) is one of the biggest urban-water
efficiency conferences in the world.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
5<sup>th</sup> annual WSI will take place October 3-5, 2012 at the South Point
Hotel and Conference Center in Las Vegas Nevada.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The WSI is presented by the Southern Nevada
Water Authority (SNWA), an agency that was created in 1991 to manage South
Nevada’s water needs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is comprised of
seven member agencies who work together to provide water treatment and delivery
for the Greater Las Vegas Valley.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
SNWA is also responsible for acquiring and managing long-term water resources
for South Nevada.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt;">WSI spans three
days and includes a series of workshops, professional speakers, technical
sessions and an exhibition hall featuring displays from 35 vendors.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There are also a number of social/networking
events, such as a sponsored cocktail reception, and three technical tours; one
to the Hover Dam, one to the Springs Preserve and the Venetian Resort
Casino.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>On average around 1,100 people
from 40 different states attend the Conference.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The attendees, as well as the participants, are from industries,
business or government bodies that are in one way or another affected by water
efficiency.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Most exhibitors are businesses that make
products such as water efficient toilets, showerheads and faucets or efficient
irrigation products.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However there are
also public bodies such as the Californian Urban Water Conservation Council who
use a collaborative approach to increase efficient water use.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt;">. The conference is one of the cheaper water
conferences with registration for the full three days costing $390 per person
and an exhibits only pass being free.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>However, there are no student prices and the technical tours cost $35
each.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Finally hotel rooms at host venue
cost $55 per night Sunday through Thursday and $85 a night on Fridays and
Saturdays.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="background: white; color: #222222;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>WaterWonkshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03376564091457611595noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3234340211530949132.post-70356934137071961622012-08-08T14:14:00.002-07:002012-08-08T14:14:37.931-07:00ABOUT US: About This Issue<br />
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Welcome to our inaugural issue of Water Citizen News Preview
Edition!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Over the next 6 months, we
intend to publish one complete issue a month, covering current events and
features in a wide range of water-related topics, while developing
opportunities for interaction and participation by our readers through
comments, selective publication of contributed content, and story assignments
for Water Citizen Journalists to participate in Crowd Journalism using the
NewsiT app.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For more on the overall
format of Water Citizen News, as well as our mission and team, see “About Water
Citizen News.”</div>
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In this month’s issue, we have several exciting
features.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Water Citizen News features
water issues from around the country and around the globe.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In this issue, we have coverage on policies
to support more coordinated management of water and energy in buildings from a
recent Senate hearing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Farmers discuss
the “explosion” of use of digital technology, including smart phones, for smart
water management. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Jeffrey Sachs, author
and thought leader on global poverty issues, shares his thoughts on how water
underlies many of the world’s conflicts<o:p></o:p></div>
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Water, like politics, is local, and water stories, like
charity, begin at home.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Consequently, a
common theme in many of this month’s articles is the undertold stories of water
in DC, from the leadership on Green Infrastructure by DC Water, to the
challenges of restoring and “restorying” both the river and the community of
Anacostia.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>By sharing some of DC’s
stories, we hope you will recognize similar issues and opportunities in your
own communities.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We look forward to
finding innovative ways to tell those stories, using remote communications and
app-based Water Citizen Journalism to deliver stories from all over.<o:p></o:p></div>
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We are also excited to share with you several articles that
provide perspectives on water in our lives from the worlds of sports, arts,
culture and religion.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This month’s
sports section features the Summer Olympics, including a discussion with three
brothers who are all competitive divers, including one who participated in this
year’s Olympic trials, on the opportunities diving has created for them; as
well as a study from a leading research on biomechanics on how Michael Phelps’
speed was increased through his instinctive approach to use of his hands – a trick
that can be used by the casual swimmer as well!<o:p></o:p></div>
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Please let us know what you think of this first issue, like
and share our stories and videos, and send your ideas for future coverage!<o:p></o:p></div>WaterWonkshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03376564091457611595noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3234340211530949132.post-55627069818926647752012-08-08T13:51:00.002-07:002012-08-08T13:51:55.949-07:00SPORTS Divers focus on the future Olympics<br />
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By Astara March, Water Citizen staff writer</div>
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The Shinholser brothers - Colby, Logan, and TJ - have big
dreams about diving in Rio de Janeiro at the summer Olympics in 2016, and they
just might make it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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Logan participated in the Olympic trials this year but
didn't qualify for the team.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He expects
that to be different next time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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All three say that diving gives them a sense of being part
of something bigger than themselves and the thought of going to the Olympics to
represent their country makes things really exciting.</div>
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"It's funny, because it's a small sport compared to
swimming," Logan told Water Citizen. "Everyone knows everyone else
and is really nice, like a big family that helps each other all the time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Even at a high-pressure event, we all hang
out together.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It's not
testosterone-driven like swimming or wrestling."</div>
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Preparing for the Olympics by diving in college is a
time-honored path.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>All three brothers
trust their coaches to mold them into world-class competitors.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Logan's college had five people in the
Olympic trials this year.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He said you
qualify by participating in the finals of a national event, which in his case
was the NCAA championships in Los Angeles in 2011.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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The brothers followed their older sister Amanda into
gymnastics, realized it wasn't for them, and switched to diving.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Logan is an individual and synchronized
10-meter "tower" diver but his brothers are 3-meter springboard
specialists.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>TJ stuck to springboard
because the injury rate is lower.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>"The 10-meter divers hit the water going 35 mph," said
Logan.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>"The injury rate for tower
is really high.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It's easier to calm your
fears on springboard."<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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The beauty of the sport effectively hides its health
risks.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The brothers told Water Citizen
that those risks start with breathing the chlorine used by most places to
disinfect their public pools.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>UVA where
Colby goes to school has a chlorine system but Virginia Tech, Logan's school,
has an ultraviolet sterilization system that cuts down the chlorine exposure considerably.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So do all the pools used for Olympic events
in London.</div>
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The most significant risk comes from the impact of hitting
the water over and over again during training.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>"Water is hard when you hit it from high up," said Logan.
"Even if you do everything right, it hurts.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Springboard may send you up to 7 meters and
tower is 10 meters.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You have to grab
your hands so the impact falls on them and they make a little pocket in the
water for you to go through.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If you
don't, you take the impact on your head and can get a concussion."<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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Other divers Water Citizen interviewed talked about neck,
shoulder, and back injuries and commented on the kinesiotape you can see on the
Olympic divers to help them power through the pain.</div>
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Olympic venues are designed to both allow as many people as
possible to view the events and to make sure they are comfortable while doing
so.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>"The Olympic venue in London is
huge," said Logan.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>"There's a
diving well, then two 50-meter pools, then a warm-down pool.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That means it's not steamy like most pools
and the spectators are happy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It's so
big it's like diving outdoors with a roof over you."</div>
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Logan said that the swimming pools will have cooler water
than the diving well. "It's easier to swim in colder water," he told
Water Citizen, "but diving pools can be any temperature you like."</div>
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All three are aiming for the 2016 Olympics in Rio if their
coaches think they have a chance.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They
are currently college students juggling full schedules with the 20 hour per
week commitment of competitive diving.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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Colby and Logan are in engineering, which means diving in
the early morning and studying late into the night.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Colby also has ROTC to contend with.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>"I don't envy him at all," said
Logan, "but he'll figure it out.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>He's really good at time management."<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>TJ says he is more academic and less focused
on diving than his brothers and that's fine with him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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All three have the support of their family and their
teammates at their respective schools.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>We wish them the very best.</div>WaterWonkshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03376564091457611595noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3234340211530949132.post-42456919398073918442012-08-08T13:50:00.003-07:002012-08-08T13:50:56.917-07:00POLICY Codes and Standards and Statutes, Oh My! Understanding the Green Plumbing Code<br />
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The Federal Government has little direct involvement with
the construction of your home or other buildings, including decisions about the
water fixtures that require a lot of energy, or the fixtures (such as heating,
ventilation, and air conditioning or “HVAC” systems) that use a lot of
water.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These fixtures must be in
compliance with codes that are adopted on a local or state level.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></div>
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The federal involvement is typically limited to things like
research and development funding for more water efficient fixtures, and
programs such as EnergySTAR and WaterSense to guide purchasing decisions by
you, the consumer, or development of codes by professional organizations and
adoption of those codes by local and state goernemnts.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Federal agencies also adopt codes to oversee
their own activities, such as construction of federal buildings by the General
Services Administraiton or Department of Defense.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></div>
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After his testimony at a hearing the Senate Water and Power
Subcommittee on water and energy in buildings, Russ Chaney - Chief Executive
Officer of the International Associaiton of Plumbers and Mechanical Officials
(IAPMO) – spoke with Water Citizen on the difference between a standard and a
code, how codes are adopted and made legally binding, and where IAPMO’s new Green
Supplement fits in:<o:p></o:p></div>
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A standard usually contains performance criteria for a
product, whereas a code contains numerous performance standards.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Standards are embedded into a code.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A code becomes a legal requirement when it’s
adopted by a local jurisdiction - typically a state.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is not “legal” until it becomes adopted
and is implemented by statute or regulation by the adopting state. The federal
agencies don’t adopt codes nationally, although various federal agenices that
have some level of construction, such as the Departmetn of Defense and US Army
Corps of Engineers, will typically adopt one code or another for their own
needs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This approach is different from
most countries, which adopt codes on a national basis.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The US and Australia typically adopt codes on
a state-by-state basis. <o:p></o:p></div>
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The Uniform Plumbing Code is the only American National
Standard designated by ANSI for Plumbing Instiallation, adopted by about 50% US
states (as well as a number of other countries).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(ANSI doesn’t develop standards, but
“designates” standards developed by entities like IAPMO) <o:p></o:p></div>
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The Green Plumbing and Mehcanical Code Suppliment (for BOTH
Uniform Plumbing Code and Uniform Mechanical Code), we created this supplement
very quicly to address emerging green technologies, high efficiency air
conditioning units, low flow toilets and so forth, did not use ANSI process,
usually takes about 3 years.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For this
supplement, we wanted to expeditiously create advanced environmental
technologies.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>no different from base
code.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>with supplement, various states
have an advanced document, very high efficiency, water saving technologies, you
can adopt to supplement UPC and any other plumbing code you may use.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>because it contains those high efficiency,
amny states adopting supplement.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>a number
of states already adopted.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>WaterWonkshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03376564091457611595noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3234340211530949132.post-61531462950815559742012-08-08T13:48:00.002-07:002012-08-08T13:49:27.255-07:00POLICY 080412 Senate Hears Testimony on Water Efficiency in Buildings to Reduce Energy and Carbon<br />
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The Senate Energy and Natural Resoruces Committee has been
one of the most active committees to consider the connections between water and
energy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The committee is currently
considering the Water and Energy Bill <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">[get
proper title and status from josh/bill]</b>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>During a hearing called by Water and Power Subcommittee Chair Jeanne
Shaheen (D-NH), the subcommittee heard from a panel of experts focused on the
connection between water efficiency and reduction of energy and carbon within
residential and commercial buidligns, as well as in industrial facilties.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Water is an
“Essential Consideration” in High Performance Buildings<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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Henry Green, President of the National Insittute of Building
Sciences, stressed that, while the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007
(EISA) does not specify water in its definition of attributes of a high
performance building, water is “an essential consideration for many of these
attributes.” <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">LINK TO TESTIMONY</b><o:p></o:p></div>
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Said Green, “It is becoming increasingly obvious that water,
like energy, will serve as a fundamental focus of building related policies.”
Green noted that Americans use more water in the home than any other country
except Canada, and 40% of US energy is used in buildings. He recognized that
energy is required to get treated water to the home and bring wastewater from
the home, as well as for several water-related functions within the home.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Green raised concerns, however, that there is a lack of
comrpeehsnvie building water use data that is “vital to the continued
improvement of water mganamgenet in buidligns across the country” and that
“water use benchmark data by distinct building types do not exist.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Development of benchmark data leads to a
better understanding of water use intensity and opportuntieis for greater
efficiency, guiding development of codes and standards, policies, and
management approaces.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While EPA’s <br />
“WaterSense” program focuses on individual pieces of equipment, and only for a
few product types, Green suggested that a “WaterSense for Buildings” program be
developed, addressing not only plumbing fixtures, but also water use in cooling
towers and other high water use equipemtn in larger buidlings.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">New Guidance for
Water Efficient Fixtures from “Green Supplement” to Uniform Plumbing Code<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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Providing model codes that have been adopted globally for
plumbing, mechanical, swimming bpol, solar and radiant heating industries, the
International Association of Plumbers and Mechanical Officials (IAPMO) has been
working to address opportuntiies to <o:p></o:p></div>
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IAPMO Group<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Opportunities for
“Near Net Zero” Food Manufacturing Faciltiies<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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Bena noted that “improved resource se also makes good
business sense.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For example, six out of
10 of PepsiCo’s top-sourced raw materials are agricultureal.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We conduct agirlcutural operaitons in 30
countries.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For PepsiCo, maintaining a
sustainabme supply chain is paramount to minimizing risks for our business
operaitons.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></div>
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Bena testified that one example PepsiCo’s “Performance with
Purpose” initative has been the transformation of the Frito-Lay Casa Grande
snack food manufacturing facility to have a “near net zero” footprint, in which
they would “run the facility primarily on renewable energy sources and recycled
water while producing nearly zero waste.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>He noted that “we chose the Casa Grande, Araizona facility because of
its location, where sunlight is plentiful and water conservation is important,
and its size – big enough to be effective, yet small enough to be
mangeable.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Bena testified that 75% of
te water is recycled, there has been a 50% reduction in greenhouse gas
emissions, and an 80 percent reduction in the use of natural gas.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Bena noted that <o:p></o:p></div>WaterWonkshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03376564091457611595noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3234340211530949132.post-41114927313774737892012-08-07T20:47:00.001-07:002012-08-08T13:48:16.000-07:00SPORTS: Want to "Be Like Mike" in the Pool? Research Points to Fingers<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">By Karin Zeitvogel<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">As Michael Phelps' Olympic career
comes to a close - the greatest competitor in his sport, like his idol, <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b0AGiq9j_Ak" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">Michael Jordan</span></a> - is there anything other swimmers
do if they want to "be like Mike"? Duke University engineering
professor Adrian Bejan has one answer.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Researcher Points to Fingers for a
Faster Swim<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">W<span style="color: #333333; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">atch this <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G72NZOrAx5k&feature=youtu.be" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">video</span></a> of Michael Phelps
swimming, and you'll notice that his fingers are slightly spread as he slices
through the water.</span><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Phelps instinctively swims with forked hands. As published in a recent
study, Bejan found that s</span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">wimming with fingers apart can
result in <span style="color: #333333;">a whopping 53% increase in </span>total
force.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Rgpm24vyg9A/UCHpX0NFnVI/AAAAAAAAAIQ/3Zioh82wNuI/s1600/phelps_from_video.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="160" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Rgpm24vyg9A/UCHpX0NFnVI/AAAAAAAAAIQ/3Zioh82wNuI/s200/phelps_from_video.png" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">By spreading his fingers in the water, <br />
Phelps creates an "invisible web" <br />
that helps him swim faster</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">If the distance between the fingers
is just right – roughly half the diameter of each finger – it creates an
invisible web between digits, which gives the swimmer a boost in force and
faster speed in the water, Bejan said. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“The finger moves through the water
and a sheath of water essentially moves with it, creating a finger that looks
thicker than it really is. Think of it like honey stuck to a spoon,” he told
Water Citizen in a phone interview. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">
Greater force is the key to going faster in the water, and producing greater
force is the job of the hands, Bejan said. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“A faster swimmer is one who creates
a bigger wave above the water.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You need
force to lift yourself above the water, and you get that by having greater
downward force from your hands,” Bejan concluded. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">In essence, the bigger the hands,
the greater the force. And, “If you want a palm that is bigger, you want bigger
fingers,”Bejan said. Spreading them slightly in the water achieves that.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">
Phelps spreads his fingers instinctively but many coaches these days tell their
swimmers to do so. If a lot of people in the lap lanes at the local pool are
contemplating their hands, you know why.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Constructional Law Governs Swimmers
… and Anything Else That Moves<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The swimmers’ fingers principle is
based on the constructal law, devised by Bejan in 1996. Bejan published the
results of his story <span style="color: #333333;">in the June issue of the </span>Journal
of Theoretical Biology, Bejan and coauthor Sylvie Lorente of the University of
Toulouse in France.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Constructional law holds that
"anything that moves, from rivers to trucks to highways to swimmers and
runners, does so with morphing configurations that allow movement to be easier
and easier," said Bejan.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The results of the fingers study
show that a slight adjustment in body configuration<span style="color: #333333;">
can bring a “significant change in force,” Bejan said.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">He wondered if the
next swimming aid will be tiny wedges that sit between swimmers’ fingers to
hold them just the right distance apart.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Body Type and Family
Heritage Also Important Factors</span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Finger spread is just one of
Phelps’s secrets, of course. Phelps and other Olympic athletes owe much of
their success to body types, which are tied to their family heritage.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">His hands are said to be the size of
dinner plates even without the invisible inter-finger webbing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Like most champion swimmers, he’s tall, – 6
ft. 4 in. (1.93 meters).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Phelps also has
size 14 (Eur 47) feet, a 6 ft. 7 in. (2 meters) arm span, a long torso and
comparatively short legs. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">In 2008, Bejan used the constructal
law to predict the triumphs of “bigger, taller athletes” like Phelps at the
Beijing Olympics. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Two years later, Bejan, who’s
originally from Romania, teamed up with <span style="background: white;">Edward
Jones, an African American professor at Howard University in Washington, to use
the constructal law to explain why whites dominate in the pool and blacks of
West African origin, like Jamaica’s Usain Bolt, in sprint-distance track
events.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Consideration of
race and national origin as a predictor of athletic success has been a
controversial subject.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While the speed
with which an athlete moves through water or air is not impacted by color, the
athlete’s mass, and distribution of that mass, does make a difference.</span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">In the study completed by Bejan and
Jones, the researchers found that "the swimmer who makes the bigger wave
is the faster swimmer, and a longer torso makes a bigger wave. Europeans have a
three-percent longer torso than West Africans, which gives them a 1.5-percent
speed advantage in the pool." <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Individuals of West
African origin, meanwhile, have longer legs than people of European origin.
That puts their center of gravity – roughly speaking, the belly button – around
three centimeters (1.18 inches) higher than whites', said Bejan.</span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“Locomotion is essentially a continual
process of falling forward, and mass that falls from a higher altitude falls
faster,” he said.</span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Body Type, Forked Fingers, and the X Factor<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;">In the months up to the London Olympics,
Bejan says he had been inundated with emails and calls from people asking him to
predict who will climb to the highest step of podiums at the Games. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;">As predicted by science, many of the winning
Olympians were tall and svelte, and the swimmers probably spread their fingers
in the water, as Bejan predicted.</span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;">In the end, for many of the Olympic races,
the final determining factor was simply the sheer will to win. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;">Something to remember when you're racing friends in your own pool. And don't forget to spread your fingers!</span>WaterWonkshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03376564091457611595noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3234340211530949132.post-80257029221072108712012-08-07T19:31:00.002-07:002012-08-07T21:44:01.573-07:00TECH: Award-Winning Save-the-Rain App Reveals Potential for Rain Harvesting from RoofsBy Robert Thomason<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-4B8Iv0HbDp8/UCHsD0F9PDI/AAAAAAAAAIg/3apZ5UH1gjg/s1600/WestWingSavetheRain.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="120" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-4B8Iv0HbDp8/UCHsD0F9PDI/AAAAAAAAAIg/3apZ5UH1gjg/s200/WestWingSavetheRain.png" width="200" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Like all buildings, the White House has a roof. According to a new computer application (or "app") by a Canadia researcher, the White House roof could be used to harvest as much as <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">724,900 liters (191,498 gallons) of water, based on the
regional average of 1,110 mm of rain a year. </span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">Water Citizen calculates that this amount of harvested rain would water 1,271 rose bushes during the year, many more than are in the nearby
Rose Garden.</span></div>
<br />
Calculating the Potential for Rooftop Rain Harvesting By App<br />
<br />
Mark Laudon, a GIS specialist from British Columbia, has developed a computer application that will
help draw the rain harvesting footprint on any roof. This <a href="http://www.save-the-rain.com/" target="new">"Save-the-Rain"</a> app then estimates
not only how many liters of rainwater could be gathered, but provides details on
what can be done with that water.
<br />
<br />In June, 2012, the World Bank honored Laudon for his app in the annual <a href="http://data.worldbank.org/developers/app-competitions/apps-for-climate-winners" target="new">Apps for Climate</a>
competition. Scores of programmers submitted apps which visualize and
analyze World Bank climate data in accessible and innovative ways.
<br />
<br />Laudon's Save-the-Rain app was a result of another climate data related competition sponsored by his <a href="http://www.livesmartbc.ca/A4CA/" target="new">local government</a>,
Laudon said. <br />
<br />"They had a climate data catalog from which I was to
choose data to build an app with," he recounted. "I was driving to work
one day praying for an idea for an app and while passing through some
corn fields, the idea popped into my head.
<br />
<br />"I myself grew up in an area where our water was supplied by a creek.
In the summer, the creek would dry up, and, consequently, we had to buy
water via a water pump truck to make it through the summer. Kind of
ironic actually given the fact we lived in British Columbia's rain
forest."
<br />
<br />The apps drew heavily on annual precipitation records and on
accessibility to fresh water data, but Laudon's "Save-the-Rain" provided
the most practical, hands-on app for either a policy maker or a
practitioner who wants to convert rainwater runoff from a roof to a
beneficial resource for the folks living under a given roof.
<br />
<br />Laudon said that people from roofers to backyard gardners have contacted
him about using the app. A farmer in Kenya e-mailed him telling of
plans to build a 180,000-liter underground storage tank using the app to
help determine placement of the system.
<br />
<br />The app is simple to use. Type in an address or city, and an ariel
photograph from Google maps of the area appears. Zoom into the an
appropriately close level and click on the corners of the subject roof.
The app draws a polygon over the roof area.
<br />
<br />When you click on the "Finish" button, Save-the-Rain grabs the mean
annual rainfall, as reported by the World Bank in millimeters, and
calculates the liters of rain water expected to fall on that roof.
<br />
It then uses <a href="http://www.pacinst.org/" target="_blank">Pacific Institute</a> tables to estimate how useful that rainwater would be.
<br />
<br />
For example, harvesting rain from the five distinct roof areas of the
White House would yield almost 4.5 million liters of water in a year.
That would grow 7,662 kilograms of corn, 2,327 kg of soy, 2,892 kg of
rice and 6,140 kg of wheat or would provide almost a half million toilet
flushes a year.
<br />
<br />Sliding the map a few blocks east to examine the World Bank headquarters
(which has a roof more in the shape of a rectangle) the app estimates
that 2.9 million liters of water could be harvested, enough for 5,072 kg
of corn, 1,541 kg of soy beans and 329,670 toilet flushes.
<br />
<br />As shared in a <a href="http://youtu.be/whsZfq_K3ms" target="_blank">YouTube video</a>, comments on the Save-the-Rain App include Laudon has given a video explanation of his app on YouTube, and shares feedback from users aroudn the globe.<br />
<br />
Other award-winning Apps for Climate included:
<br />
<br />
<a href="http://globe-town.org/" target="new">Globe Town,</a> which
gives a table of migration data to and from a country, and has a menu of
data points such as withdrawals of freshwater, proportion of land that
is very low lying, average annual precipitation and average proportion
of people affected by droughts, floods and extreme temperatures.
<br />
<br />
<a href="http://data-story.org/" target="new">Data-Story.org</a> allows
users to generate maps, bar charts, column charts or pie charts of World
Bank indicators such as freshwater withdrawals (either in cubic meters
or as a percentage of internal resources), investment in water and
sanitation with private participation and other World Bank climate data.WaterWonkshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03376564091457611595noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3234340211530949132.post-30807242331577903882012-08-07T17:04:00.000-07:002012-08-07T17:57:10.782-07:00SPORTS: Materials for Diver Story<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-CmKUplMYwpU/UCG1V_oDWJI/AAAAAAAAAHE/Q5_Bg6fVSjo/s1600/IMG-20120728-00025.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-CmKUplMYwpU/UCG1V_oDWJI/AAAAAAAAAHE/Q5_Bg6fVSjo/s200/IMG-20120728-00025.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
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Left to Right: Colby, Logan, and TJ (Thomas) Shinholser</div>
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Their father, Steve Shinholser</div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">VA Tech's news site on the 5 Hokie divers who went to
this year's trials.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="http://www2.vteffect.com/news/2012/jun/14/virginia-tech-divers-prepare-olympic-trials-ar-1988644/"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">http://www2.vteffect.com/news/2012/jun/14/virginia-tech-divers-prepare-olympic-trials-ar-1988644/</span></a><o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">A story from Pool & Spa News on the London
Aquatics Center. (I have no problem with linking our readers to other online
news - and would encourage it). </span><span style="font-family: Calibri;">I wasn't clear whether Logan actually went to Worlds and
swam at the London Aquatics Center, from the way he described it, although I
suspect not.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="http://www.poolspanews.com/2012/051/051olympics.html"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">http://www.poolspanews.com/2012/051/051olympics.html</span></a><o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Here's a relevant youtube from 10m divers on Team USA on
what it feels like to dive & hit the water at that speed.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8aclOqDvOTc"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8aclOqDvOTc</span></a><o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">A couple UNC students have webpages on the physics of
diving.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="http://www.unc.edu/~lahol/"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">http://www.unc.edu/~lahol/</span></a><o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="http://www.unc.edu/~fuhlicia/diving.html"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">http://www.unc.edu/~fuhlicia/diving.html</span></a><o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I didn't find any youtube videos on the physics of
diving, although I did find "the Physics of a Cannonball" (kind of a
commercial for Pentair Pools): <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Less about physics but at least more about the Olympics
(and cute) - the USA swimmers (don't know if divers are there) made a music
video:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>WaterWonkshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03376564091457611595noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3234340211530949132.post-9833639057116228862012-08-06T14:38:00.002-07:002012-08-08T13:31:23.665-07:00ABOUT US: About Water Citizen<br />
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WaterCitizen.com is a Web magazine that tells the undertold
stories about water and its affect on the world, society and you. It not only
uses the best practices of online journalism to explain succinctly the politics
and science of water, but also looks how people are affected by it in their
homes and daily lives.</div>
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The topics range from the personal health aspects of water
to how cities fund their water systems to the national and international<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>of water and power,<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>WaterCitizen provides stories, videos and
graphics of the place of water in the world.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Here is how we do it.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Business –<o:p></o:p></div>
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This is a look at how businesses use and process water to
add value to their products and services.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Technology –<o:p></o:p></div>
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A layman’s look at the latest inventions that find, move or
improve water.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Policy-<o:p></o:p></div>
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Clear explanations of the legislation, regulations and legal
battles over water.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It also includes a
forum for public discourse among the many stakeholders in the public’s use of
water.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Community-<o:p></o:p></div>
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How people band together around and use water, either as
individuals interacting with society and culture, or groups in community
activities.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Water & You-<o:p></o:p></div>
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Up-close and personal looks at what water means to people
and how they manifest that meaning.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Other sections will include Sports, Spirituality and
Culture.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Who we are:<o:p></o:p></div>
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The publisher of WaterCitizen.com is Cat Shrier, a PhD in
policy <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>and a Professional Geologist specializing
in water issues.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Other contributors include Robert Thomason, a former
Washington Post journalist and publisher of GlobalResourcesNews.com, Karin
Zeitvogel, a former AFP correspondent and a graduate student in sports
journalism, Sian Mughan, an American University graduate student providing editorial assistance.<o:p></o:p></div>WaterWonkshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03376564091457611595noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3234340211530949132.post-60731977724062348522012-08-06T13:59:00.000-07:002012-08-07T16:49:31.900-07:00SPORTS: Fingers Key to Speed in the Water<br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: Cambria;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">by Karin Zeitvogel<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dydXP7OABOMoVV8-Ib5nVYUegK_8oQ-V9FZR8EtA9VTKfe1EB9PumiS-GH_UY2kDvPAgUwROZJCYGQrztA_aQ' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
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W<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 24px; font-weight: bold;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">atch a <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G72NZOrAx5k&feature=youtu.be" target="_blank">video</a> of Michael Phelps swimming, and you'll notice that his fingers are slightly spread as he slices through the water.</span></span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 24px; font-weight: bold;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Phelps swims with forked hands, and a U.S. researcher is urging all swimmers to do the same if they want to go faster. </span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">Swimming with fingers apart can result in </span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">a whopping
53% increase in </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">total
force says Duke University engineering professor Adrian Bejan.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">In a study </span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">published in the June issue
of the </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">Journal
of Theoretical Biology, Bejan and coauthor Sylvie Lorente of the University of
Toulouse in France said that spreading the fingers the right distance apart
creates an invisible web between them, which boosts the force of the stroke and
increases speed in the water. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The right
distance is roughly half the diameter of each finger.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">“The finger moves through the water and a sheath
of water essentially moves with it, creating a finger that looks thicker than
it really is. Think of it like honey stuck to a spoon,” he told Water Citizen
in a phone interview. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">“A faster swimmer is one who creates a bigger wave above
the water.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You need force to lift
yourself above the water, and you get that by having greater downward force
from your hands,” Bejan concluded.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Phelps
spreads his fingers instinctively.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">Of course, this is just one of Phelps’s secrets.
His hands are said to be the size of dinner plates even without invisible finger
webbing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He is also tall (6'4"),
has a two-meter arm span, a long torso, and comparatively short legs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>All these attributes help him move through
the water faster than most people. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">Bejan based his swimming finger principle on a law
he devised in 1996, which says that anything that moves - be it rivers, trucks
on highways, swimmers, or runners - does so with morphing configurations that help
movement become easier and easier.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.5pt;">The researcher was inundated with
calls and e-mails in the run-up to the London Olympics asking him to predict who
would climb to the highest step of the podium at the Games. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He replied that taller people would have the
advantage, as would swimmers who spread their fingers in the water, but he was
unable to say more.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Now he wonders if human
ingenuity will come to the rescue and the next swimming aid will be tiny wedges
that fit between a swimmer's fingers to hold them just the right distance
apart. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">The results of the fingers study show that
adjusting body configuration</span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;"> just a little can bring a “significant<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>change in force,” Bejan said, wondering if
the next swimming aid will be tiny wedges that sit between swimmers’ fingers to
hold them just the right distance apart, to help the swimmer go faster.</span></div>WaterWonkshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03376564091457611595noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3234340211530949132.post-18000489415772658052012-08-06T13:29:00.000-07:002012-08-06T13:30:19.779-07:00CULTURE: Water Supply for the Nation's Capital: A HistoryDC Historian Nelson Rimensnyder sat down with Water Citizen News and provided us with some of the history of drinking water in the District of Columbia. A transcript of the video follows.<br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><em>My name is Nelson Rimensnyder and I came to Washington in
1970 to work for the Congressional Research Service [at the Library of
Congress], and I was there for about six months when they got a call from
Charles Diggs, Representative from Michigan, who was about to become Chairman
on the Committee of the District of Columbia. He wanted to talk to the DC
government expert, someone at the Library who had done work on the history of
the government of the District of Columbia and what kind of governments they
had because the committee would be considering some sort of a major
reorganization and the creation of a Home Rule, locally-elected government in
the District of Columbia, the first such government in 100 years. <o:p></o:p></em></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><em>As part of that research I was asked to look into the
water system of the city, how it developed, who was in charge of it, because
that was one of the considerations of the reorganization. Should the water
delivery system be transferred to the newly elected local government and not be
a separate entity under the Corps of Engineers, which it had been since 1874?<o:p></o:p></em></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><em>I found out that right after the Civil War Congress was
quite concerned about having a potable water system in the city because typhoid
fever had been a major problem during the war with the troops in the city. A
major development one that one of Lincoln's sons died because of the unpotable
water that was even piped into the White House. Most of the water was coming
from springs and wells that had become polluted over the years. <o:p></o:p></em></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><em>So in 1874 Congress put the Corps of Engineers in charge
of developing a system. They created a three-member commissioner government,
two members appointed appointed by the President and the third would be a
general officer of the Corps of Engineers, who would be in charge of all of the
infrastructure in the City of Washington and the District of Columbia. That was
the beginning of the development of Washington's water system.<o:p></o:p></em></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><em>One of the first major projects was building a major
conduit along what is now MacArthur Boulevard, which for many years was known
as Conduit Road; developing reservoirs and the McMillan filtration plant, where
water was filtered through sand and gravel and purified. Over the years other
technologies, of course, have taken over.<o:p></o:p></em></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><em>Later on, about 15 years ago, a regional water authority
was established. It was actually taken out of the District government, which
was in charge of the actual billing and the setting of water rates - all that
was transferred to a regional body. Under the old system the revenue from the
water authority was paid into the General Fund of the District of Columbia. So
the mayor and the city council could tap into those funds and use them for
other purposes and not just have them dedicated to the maintenance and the
improvements of the water system.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></em></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><em>Over the period of about 10 years Congress mandated that
$50 million a year be set aside in a fund to upgrade the system; to essentially
look into separating the water runoff system from the sewerage pipe system,
which were one system, and look to developing a dual system so that when there
were large storms and there was a lot of runoff,, that all the sewage would not
have to be released into the Potomac. There was a major problem with the
pollution of the Potomac River and there still is today.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That was typical when these systems were
developed after the Civil War. It was not only the City of Washington, but most
cities did not develop a dual system. The water runoff and the sewerage was all
on one system.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That is a decision that
local governments and water systems have to make; whether to develop a dual
system or have large tunnels and store some of the run-off during these storms.<o:p></o:p></em></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><em>Unfortunately, the half a billion dollars that eventually
was built up in this fund was diverted by the District of Columbia City Council
and the Mayor and the other projects. So that money is no longer available. Now
we are going to have build up a fund to fund some of these projects and updating
the system through increased water rates.<o:p></o:p></em></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><em>So that’s my basic connection with the water system of
the city and how I was involved.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m
still interested, of course, as a citizen.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I’m not involved in the policy making.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>There is talk now about how to do this, maybe not developing a whole new
system, diverting some of the rainwater runoff into the groundwater and not
having it run off, using green roofs and all that technology. Those are some of
the ideas that are coming into place for that. So, that’s my basic knowledge of
the water history of the District of Columbia.<o:p></o:p></em></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"> Nelson Rimensnyder is a DC historian, preservationist, District voting rights activist, and candidate for DC Shadow Senate 2012.</span>WaterWonkshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03376564091457611595noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3234340211530949132.post-80635110138186490982012-08-06T13:00:00.002-07:002012-08-06T13:26:52.188-07:00WATER & YOU: Are Ponds Your Path to Peace?<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The day after 9/11, with the skies cleared of planes, Steve
Shinholser sat with a client on a patio next to the first pond he had ever
constructed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>With everyone going "kinda whacky
in the head and reevaluating life,” this pond, with a beautiful waterfall and
birds chirping, this respite created such a calming feeling that Shinholser
made a commitment to learn to build ponds, beginning a new career building
ponds and waterfalls.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Shinholser came to pond building after a lifetime in water –
literally.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A competitive diver as a
student at University of Maryland, Shinholser began working as a lifeguard, as
a way to have access to pools where he could practice his dives.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Eventually, he built a company to manage more
than 500 hotels, apartments, and community pools, with more than 3000 lifeguards
(mostly teenagers), before starting his pond-building career, founding Premier
Ponds.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Calibri;">For most of his clients, Shinholser works on ponds that have
been installed by the owner or by landscapers who are not pond
specialists.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Calibri;">With slow housing markets
continuing across the country, homeowners are recognizing that they will be
staying in their current homes for a long time – and see ponds as a way to turn
those homes into a sanctuary.</span><br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-a74MqeeO9QY/UCAjkgTVbbI/AAAAAAAAAFM/4lVDxm2zUEA/s1600/IMG-20120728-00029.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-a74MqeeO9QY/UCAjkgTVbbI/AAAAAAAAAFM/4lVDxm2zUEA/s200/IMG-20120728-00029.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-0QSQi8tbJ78/UCAc5GeQgbI/AAAAAAAAAE8/cr3Y2INOkCs/s1600/jarfountains.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><br /></a><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-0QSQi8tbJ78/UCAc5GeQgbI/AAAAAAAAAE8/cr3Y2INOkCs/s1600/jarfountains.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;">x</a><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Each year, Shinholser and his clients hold a “Parade of
Ponds” – a self-guided tour in which owners open their Pond Tours – sometimes
referred to as a “Parade of Ponds” have become popular across the country,
often hosted by pond builders and landscaping companies, with tickets supporting
local charities.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The 2012 Parade of
Ponds hosted by Shinholser’s company, Premier Ponds, included 24 Maryland homes
in a self-guided tour.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Tour proceeds
have been donated to a local organization supporting the homeless, called
Shepherds Table (</span><a href="http://www.shepherdstable.org/"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">www.shepherdstable.org</span></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;">);
over the past 3 years, $4500 in donations have been raised through this event.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Calibri;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Calibri;">Homeowners participating in the tour include Henrietta
Hyatt-Knorr, who had originally constructed her own pond, later hiring
Shinholser to help her when the pond became more than she could manage.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Calibri;">After she introduced water willow to her pond
(an invasive plant species that killed off her other plants), she asked
Shinholser to come back to rebuild the pond, adding a second pond connected with
a waterfall.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Calibri;">She has raised Koi in the
ponds, which also has attracted salamanders, tree frogs, a bull frog and other wildlife.
Says Hyatt-Knorr, “It’s just heaven – it really is.”</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Dave Maury, from Silver Spring, Maryland, is another
participant in the Parade of Ponds.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He
has a “pondless waterfall,” which is a pond in which the water lands on rocks,
rather than a pool, and is then recirculated.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>His pond falls roughly 45 feet in a series of 6 falls.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Maury notes that he moved the air conditioner
on his house so that the noise would not disturb his enjoyment of the falls.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">While people sometimes ask whether ponds are wasting water –
especially in drier climates – Shinholser states that the ponds use less water
than watering a lawn of the same size.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Water in the ponds is captured and recirculated, with new water added
only for “makeup” of water lost from evaporation.</span></div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Z4iSK128uGA/UCAj06vbLWI/AAAAAAAAAFc/Pdh4H6_rMME/s1600/IMG-20120728-00032.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Z4iSK128uGA/UCAj06vbLWI/AAAAAAAAAFc/Pdh4H6_rMME/s200/IMG-20120728-00032.jpg" width="200" /></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;">So what would it take for you to start your own water
feature?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Calibri;">Shinholser noted that you can start with a simple vase with bubbling water for around $3500, up to a pond and waterfall all the plants, fish, lights.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Calibri;">He said a typical pond and waterfall starts around $8500, which Shinholser says means you “can have paradise in your back yard for the price of a mediocre used car."</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Calibri;">To get started with the practicalities, Shinholser recommends that you should have a sense of how to work with the natural surroundings and how much maintenance the pond would need.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Some basic questions you would need to ask include things like how much space you have and what features you want to include. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">For instance, Shinholser states the typical pond is 10 feet by 15 feet and has a depth of 2 feet. </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Calibri;">Want fish? Shinholser provides a formula within his </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Calibri;"><a href="http://www.premierpond.com/premier-pond-faqs.html" target="_blank">set of frequently-asked questions</a></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Calibri;">to help estimate how many the pond could accommodate; for example, the typical pond would hold about 24 fish that average 6 inches in length.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Calibri;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The larger consideration, however, is how to ensure you have a pond system with as little maintenance as possible "All we do is build ecosystems so that mother nature does all the heavy lifting you you do next to nothing,” he said.</span><br />
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-YLki0yT_L1w/UCAj_CnE2KI/AAAAAAAAAF0/KB3j7Fuz6kQ/s1600/jarfountains.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-YLki0yT_L1w/UCAj_CnE2KI/AAAAAAAAAF0/KB3j7Fuz6kQ/s200/jarfountains.jpg" width="200" /></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><o:p></o:p></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Calibri;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"></span></span><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Calibri;">The approach Sinholser takes to this replication is part of the <a href="http://www.aquascapeinc.com/" target="_blank">Aquascape</a> pond system method, in which he is certified. Aquascape is an Illinois-based company established in 1990 that provides equipment and training ponds, rainwater harvesting and related products. Aquascape also provides pond equipment and training videos available direct to the homeowners, including a "<a href="http://www.aquascapeinc.com/video.php" target="_blank">how-to video</a>" on installing a "Patio Pond" - a complete self-contained pond system.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Calibri;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Calibri;">Whether you go with a smaller fountain or larger ponds and waterfalls, having your own water features to come home to can provide a welcome retreat from the hustle and bustle of day-to-day life. Says Shinholser, </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Calibri;">“When people come home from their crazy world to their side yard or back yard, filled with these sights and sounds, watching the movement of fish, creating such a relaxing, calming feeling, it really creates a lifestyle second to none.”</span></div>WaterWonkshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03376564091457611595noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3234340211530949132.post-11120807291132352832012-08-06T09:19:00.000-07:002012-08-07T16:52:40.845-07:00POLICY: Jeffrey Sachs Sees Water as Key to Community Development and Solution to Conflict<span style="font-family: Calibri;">At a meeting of the Citizens’ Climate Lobby and RESULTS,
Columbia Professor Jeffrey Sachs, author of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The
End of Poverty</i>, spoke on how essential water is to life and community
development, and the lack of water as the root of hunger and conflicts around
the world.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<br /><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">TRANSCRIPT:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We need to do things that really reflect the
lives of the community and that means a few things at a minimum to provide the
base of that.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Water is pertinent in this
regard.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Of course, water is life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is not only recognized in every culture
and society, but we know biologically, it’s true that, within a space of two or
three days for each of us, so safe drinking water absolutely is vital.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But as you are aware, about 70% of the water
use of humanity is for agriculture.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When
water fails for the crops, that’s also devastating.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>it’s not like dying of thirst, but ultimately
it is ultimately dying of disease or acute under-nutrition in some horrible
famine, and the water issue, I have found to be the toughest in all of the
development challenges I see.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Because you
can bring in new crops or you can bring in business or you can get microfinance,
but transporting water is hard, and managing water is hard, and storing water
can even be expensive. of course, there are many specific techniques, but if
you look at the drylands of the world, that don’t have any of the irrigation available,
either they have oil under the ground so that they have some other way to “get
by” – let’s put it that way – or they have diamonds under the ground, so they
have some other way to “get by,” or they’re impoverished. and so a lot of the
poorest places in the world are places like Niger and Chad and Mali and Ethiopia
and northern Kenya, northern Uganda, Somalia, Yemen, Afghanistan, and so forth.
and I keep saying to the policymakers, look at the map! That’s where the
conflicts are!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Don’t misunderstand this thing!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You keep calling it Islamic extremism or
something else.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These are hungry
people!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And they’re hungry because there’s
not enough water. And their crops are dying and their livestock are dying and
their climates are becoming even drier.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And
it’s hard to get the politicians to understand this, by the way.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So we end up with drone missiles, rather than
bore wells.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Which is crazy, because a
drone missile is going to solve no problem in this world, and a bore well just
might.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>WaterWonkshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03376564091457611595noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3234340211530949132.post-6777139957763248642012-08-06T08:50:00.000-07:002012-08-07T16:22:00.666-07:00CULTURE: The Rev. Melana Nelson-Amaker Contemplates the Transformative Nature of WaterThe Rev. Melana Nelson-Amaker, after services celebrating the Transfiguration, spoke with Water Citizen about the role water has played in her spiritual path and her theology.<br />
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A deepened sensitivity to water as she travelled in lands where it was scarce...<br />
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... especially when access to water can be restricted.<br />
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Water's cleansing and transforming role in ancient Israel.<br />
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On learning of the floods and droughts in the world, Rev. Nelson-Amaker prays for a rebalancing of water.</div>
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The calming of the waters as a powerful story from the New Testament.</div>
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</div>WaterWonkshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03376564091457611595noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3234340211530949132.post-39441133747916436972012-08-06T07:15:00.000-07:002012-08-06T08:30:21.767-07:00CULTURE: Interview with Global Thirst Author WennerstenEnvironmental historian Jack Wennersten, author of the new book <u><a href="http://www.globalthirst.org/" target="_blank">Global Thirst</a></u> (2012 Schiffer Press), talked with Water Citizen News about his work on the history of water, pressing issues facing water resources around the world, approaches to managing water quantity and quality that have been used over the history of civilization, and what challenges are facing us today.<br />
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WatCitSay: There are many books being published on water
now. What do you think of the trend?<o:p></o:p></div>
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WatCitSay: What does your book add to the offerings?<o:p></o:p></div>
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WatCitSay: Tell us about your work as an environmental
historian.<o:p></o:p><br />
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WatCitSay: You deal extensively with dams and irrigation in “Global
Thirst.” Why this emphasis?<o:p></o:p><br />
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WatCitSay: Your book also goes into sanitation more than
most books on water do. Why?<o:p></o:p><br />
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WatCitSay: What other books have you written?<o:p></o:p></div>
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WatCitSay: Are you active in local or regional water
organizations? Why should citizens, and not just scientists, serve with
organizations responsible for water?<o:p></o:p></div>
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WatCitSay: How does your book help people develop
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WatCitSay: How did your writing shift from regional subjects
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<br />WaterWonkshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03376564091457611595noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3234340211530949132.post-8153595389056015512012-08-03T15:18:00.000-07:002012-08-06T09:58:41.510-07:00ARTS: Combining Biology and Ceramics to Share the Stories of the OceansBy Robert Thomason<br />
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Ceramic sculpture of coral rises, row by row, 15 feet high
in the lobby of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Brown
figures depicting the effect of algae on coral dominate the top right, near the mezzanine level. But radiating out from that corner are ceramic figures of a more
healthy color, each with its distinctive look, all forming a brilliant bouquet.<o:p></o:p><br />
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This wall installation, "Our Changing Seas" by
artist Courtney Mattison, uses its own technique and art to parallel its
natural subject.<o:p></o:p></div>
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For Mattison, a recent graduate of Brown University, the
work is not only a major work for a new and emerging artist, but also the
culmination of a lifelong study of marine life.<o:p></o:p></div>
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"I have been mesmerized by the bizarre forms, colors,
and behaviors of coral reef organisms since my first exposure to them as a
child," she said. "I am fortunate to have had the opportunity to
augment my academic background in marine ecology and ceramic sculpture by
exploring many different coral reef regions including Hawaii, the British
Virgin Islands and Thailand, and doing fieldwork along the Great Barrier
Reef."<o:p></o:p></div>
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Coral, which extracts calcium carbonate from sea water to
form the delicate and graceful structures that protect the living creatures
within, are habitat for 25% of marine life and protect the coasts of more than
100 countries.<o:p></o:p></div>
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"The flamboyant features of corals, anemones, crinoids
and other reef-dwelling invertebrates particularly inspire my work because of
the paradox that these faceless plant-like creatures are actually complex
animals," she contineud.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Mattison points out that the ceramic material she uses to
represent the coral also contains calcium carbonate.<o:p></o:p></div>
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"Not only does the chemical structure of my work mimic
that of a natural reef, but brittle ceramic anemone tentacles and coral
branches break easily if improperly handled, similar to the delicate bodies of
living reef organisms," Mattison stated.<o:p></o:p></div>
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The artist, a native of San Francisco and now working in
Providence, Rhode Island, studied both biology and fine art at Skidmore
College, and in 2011 received a masters in environmental studies from Brown
University in Rhode Island.<o:p></o:p></div>
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In her view, a long-ignored common ground between art and
science and the coming together of the two fields are themselves inspiring.<o:p></o:p></div>
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"Biologists and artists have much in common, but rarely
collaborate," she said. "Art and science are increasingly joining
forces, more now than in the past because of their shared creativity and the
critical importance of conveying accurate messages to the public about the
natural world."<o:p></o:p></div>
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In preparation for Our Changing Seas, Mattison interviewed
scientists, artists and marine professional about their thoughts on the
interface of art and science. She also cited a recent World Resources Institute
study entitled Reefs at Risk as a guide for understanding the threats to these
building blocks of trhe marine ecosystem.<o:p></o:p></div>
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"In my conversations with marine researchers and
professionals, I discovered a trend in their responses regarding the three
major threats to coral reefs: carbon dioxide emissions, which cause climate
change and ocean acidification, overfishing, and land-based sources of
pollution," Mattison said. "These three threats are incorporated into
the design of Our Changing Seas with CO2 emissions represented by the bleached
section and overfishing and pollution represented by the slimy green algae that
smothers reefs affected by too many nutrients and a lack of herbivorous fish
and urchins."<o:p></o:p></div>
<div>
</div>
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Mattison has created a website to accompany this work, "<a href="http://ourchangingseas.org/">OurChangingSeas.org</a>," on which she provides samples of the insights she received from three groups of interview subjects, including maring researchers, artists, and other marine professionals. Some examples of the input she received:<br />
<ul>
<li>Michael Kowalski, Chairman and CEO of Tiffany's & Co., who thinks art may be "an important allied way of experiencing a coral reef" in which people don't visit the reefs in person, often causing damage to the reefs.</li>
<li><div class="graphic_textbox_layout_style_default">
<div class="paragraph_style" style="padding-top: 0pt;">
Paul Miller (aka DJ
Spooky), President & Founder of Vanuatu Pacifica Foundation & Tanna Center for the
Arts and a Musician who says, "I think you need to pull people into a story ... seducing people into ideas that might be more complex than they're willing to
digest"</div>
</div>
</li>
<li>and researcher Rich Mooi, Chairman of the Department ofInvertebrate Zoology
& Geology of the California Academy of
Sciences, who states "It’s not just about the beauty, it's about the message behind the beauty, and
losing the beauty of nature. I'm not just talking about gorgeous colors and
shapes and the breeze going through your hair and the smells. I'm talking about
the </li>
</ul>
<div>
Reflecting on her interchanges with professionals working in different disciplines, Mattison stressed that "One major trend in all three groups' responses was
that "doom and gloom" messages are ineffective and I should focus on
representing the threats while suggesting tangible solutions and expressing
hope for the future.</div>
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Mattison is now embarked on a new project called "<a href="http://www.courtneymattison.com/Courtney_Mattison/Hope_Spots.html" target="_blank">Hope Spots</a>," inspired by scientist Dr.
Sylvia Earle's call for the public to pay special attention to 18 or the
world's most challenged marine environments.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Meanwhile, Mattison is glad that "Our Changing Seas" has
been selected by AAAS as a lobby installation and that it had previously been
displayed in the DC headquarters of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration (NOAA) and looks forward to other exhibitions of the
sculpture. <o:p></o:p></div>
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"I hope that by highlighting the major threats to coral
reefs - climate change and ocean acidification, overfishing, and land-based
sources of pollution - along with the fragile beauty of a healthy reef, Our
Changing Seas leaves viewers with a deeper sense of curiosity about our oceans,
a broader understanding of the threats reefs face, and a stronger sense of
urgency to protect and restore them before it's too late," she said.<o:p></o:p></div>WaterWonkshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03376564091457611595noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3234340211530949132.post-24778665622333257892012-08-03T15:15:00.000-07:002012-08-03T15:15:05.012-07:00ARTS: An Interview with the Artist: Courtney Mattison Talks with Water Citizen About Our Changing SeasArtist Courtney Mattison spoke with Water Citizen about Our Changing Seas and her interests in combining her background in biology and art to address ocean issues.<br />
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<i>WatCit: What interested you in this particular
aspect of marine life for this piece? "Our Changing Seas" is a major
work at any stage of a career, especially at the beginning, so it would be
interesting to know the particular inspirations for coral. Were there other
ideas that you compared it to in the initial stages, or was there something
about coral, either from the biological or aesthetic point of view, that called
to you from the start?</i><o:p></o:p></div>
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Mattison: I have been mesmerized by the bizarre
forms, colors, and behaviors of coral reef organisms since my first exposure to
them as a child. I am fortunate to have had the opportunity to augment my
academic background in marine ecology and ceramic sculpture by exploring many
different coral reef regions including Hawaii, the British Virgin Islands and
Thailand, and doing fieldwork along the Great Barrier Reef. When I first began
sculpting marine flora and fauna in high school, I did so as a way to better
understand their anatomy and interactions. The flamboyant features of corals,
anemones, crinoids and other reef-dwelling invertebrates particularly inspire
my work because of the paradox that these faceless plant-like creatures are
actually complex animals. As I became increasingly immersed in coral reef
biology and had a chance to document ecological changes in coral reefs in the
field, I realized what trouble reefs are in and what a tragedy it would be to
lose these incredible ecosystems. This discovery was what led me to begin using
my art to share the bizarrely beautiful nature of coral reefs and their
ecological importance with the public. It is my hope that my work will inspire
enough people to care about protecting reefs that it will catalyze a public and
political movement to save reefs while we still can. Our Changing Seas is my
first major work towards this goal and is intended as both an educational tool
and a work of fine art with a confrontational yet hopeful message.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Side note: The large scale of this piece was a result of my
desire to create a high impact installation with guidance from a few of my
artist friends and colleagues including my professors and classmates at the
Rhode Island School of Design (where I took classes while at Brown). They
suggested that I "go bigger" and create an installation that would
transform the space and challenge viewers to think and explore for themselves.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<i>WatCit: Could you tell us a little about whom you worked with?
You mentioned in the pamphlet and elsewhere that you interviewed scientists and
others. How did that research process go for you? What were the main points
from those conversations that really informed your work as it went along?</i><o:p></o:p></div>
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Mattison: Our Changing Seas was the culmination of my master's
thesis in Environmental Studies at Brown University with coursework at the
Rhode Island School of Design. When beginning my program, I knew that I wanted
to combine my interests in marine conservation biology and ceramic sculpture to
create a major work of art, but I also wanted input from the experts. My
advisors encouraged me to interview top marine researchers, artists inspired by
nature, and other environmental leaders such as advocates and policy
professionals to learn their opinions about the potential for art to inspire
coral reef conservation. I used trends in their responses to inform the design
of Our Changing Seas.<o:p></o:p><br />
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<br /></div>
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In my conversations with marine researchers and professionals,
I discovered a trend in their responses regarding the three major threats to
coral reefs: carbon dioxide emissions (which cause climate change and ocean
acidification), overfishing, and land-based sources of pollution. These three
threats are incorporated into the design of Our Changing Seas with CO2
emissions represented by the bleached section and overfishing and pollution
represented by the slimy green algae that smothers reefs affected by too many
nutrients and a lack of herbivorous fish and urchins.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
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<br /></div>
<br />
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While all three interview groups agreed that art has the
potential to inspire people to care more about reefs, artists tended to be the
least optimistic that art could lead to actual stewardship. One major trend in
all three groups' responses was that "doom and gloom" messages are
ineffective and I should focus on representing the threats while suggesting
tangible solutions and expressing hope for the future. Quotes from my interview
participants displayed on the website that accompanies Our Changing Seas are
intended to help in this regard (See <a href="http://www.ourchangingseas.org/"><span style="color: blue;">www.ourchangingseas.org</span></a>).<o:p></o:p></div>
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<i>WatCit: When I looked at the sculpture in the lobby I was
particularly struck by the way light played upon it. What creative decisions
did you make regarding light as a visual element of "Our Changing
Seas?" Sunlight filtering through the water (or sometimes being
blocked) can have a significant impact on marine life. Was that part of the
message you were trying to get across?</i><o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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Mattison: I definitely considered the way light plays upon the reef
landscape through the water. I wanted to create an environment that made
viewers feel as if they were flying over a coral reef the way scuba divers feel
as they drift along. I tried to highlight each of the three sections with light
so that viewers could consider the significance of each separately and as a
whole while discovering new details among the crevices and shadows.<o:p></o:p></div>
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What have been some of the reactions to the sculpture?
Between the bleaching of the coral, trade in threatened species and other
encroachments reefs and coral are under serious threat. How do you hope
that your sculpture will address the problem and have any conservationists
pointed to it as part of their efforts? <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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I hope that by highlighting the major threats to coral reefs
- climate change and ocean acidification, overfishing, and land-based sources
of pollution - along with the fragile beauty of a healthy reef, Our Changing
Seas leaves viewers with a deeper sense of curiosity about our oceans, a
broader understanding of the threats reefs face, and a stronger sense of
urgency to protect and restore them before it's too late.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
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<br /></div>
<br />
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It's interesting to hear people's responses to Our Changing
Seas. Some people just can't believe that anyone would make a sculpture that
huge and it makes me happy when they realize that I worked so hard to create it
because reefs are just THAT important! I have been especially pleased with
responses from marine policy professionals and scientists who already have the
background knowledge to quickly understand the message of the piece, recognize
its transition from healthy to degraded, and explain it to others. Dr. Jane
Lubchenco - Undersecretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere and NOAA
Administrator - has been an outstanding proponent for the piece and I am
honored to have her encouragement. In fact, we made a video about Our Changing
Seas while the piece was at the U.S. Department of Commerce last year. (See: <a href="https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=226731507384655"><span style="color: blue;">https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=226731507384655</span></a>).<o:p></o:p></div>
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<i>WatCit: Could you tell us a little more about your other
works? I've seen your c.v. and have visited "Artists for Reefs
Gallery," but would like to ask what would you point out about your
other pieces.</i><o:p></o:p></div>
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Mattison: I have been creating marine-inspired sculpture for the
past ten years or so, but Our Changing Seas is certainly my largest work to
date. My most recent project (directly following Our Changing Seas) is entitled
Hope Spots: Bringing into view our oceans' most vital ecosystems. It is based
on Dr. Sylvia Earle's wish for the public to use all means at their disposal to
ignite a movement to protect and restore 18 of the world's most ecologically
important habitats - what she calls "Hope Spots." (See more: <a href="http://www.courtneymattison.com/Courtney_Mattison/Hope_Spots.html"><span style="color: blue;">http://www.courtneymattison.com/Courtney_Mattison/Hope_Spots.html</span></a>).
One third of the proceeds from the sale of this work benefits the Sylvia Earle
Alliance / Mission Blue and their Hope Spots initiative.<o:p></o:p></div>WaterWonkshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03376564091457611595noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3234340211530949132.post-3804452111826079422012-08-02T18:58:00.003-07:002012-08-07T16:55:19.930-07:00SPORTS: Researchers Point to Fingers as Key to Speed in the Water<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">by Karin Zeitvogel</span>
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Watch a <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G72NZOrAx5k&feature=youtu.be" target="_blank">video</a> of Michael Phelps swimming, and you'll notice that his fingers are slightly spread as he slices through the water.</span><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dxinlxIh_pGBxpeLnc6M59OzlAtpPgP-Vux8z4fGh_TEB-ANuaXaWjlxcUC_3-ytXcG81is5A3u7DDF-_QAaA' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Phelps swims with forked hands, and a U.S. researcher is
urging all swimmers to do the same if they want to go faster. </span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Swimming with fingers apart can result in </span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">a whopping
53 percent increase in </span><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">total
force, says Duke University engineering professor Adrian Bejan in a study </span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">published
in June in the </span><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Journal
of Theoretical Biology.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">If the distance between the fingers is just
right – roughly half the diameter of each finger – it creates an invisible web
between digits, which gives the swimmer a boost in force and faster speed in
the water, Bejan said. </span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">“The finger moves through the water and a sheath
of water essentially moves with it, creating a finger that looks thicker than
it really is. Think of it like honey stuck to a spoon,” he told Water Citizen
in a phone interview.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Greater force is the key to going faster in the
water, and producing greater force is the job of the hands, Bejan said. </span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">“A faster swimmer is one who looks like a bigger
wave above the water, and you get bigger above the water by having the force to
lift yourself above the water, which you do by having greater downward force,”
from your hands, he said.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">In essence, the bigger the hands, the greater
the force. And, “If you want a palm that is bigger, you want bigger fingers,”
Bejan said. Spreading them slightly in the water achieves that.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Phelps spreads his fingers instinctively but many
coaches these days tell their swimmers to do so. If a lot of people in the lap
lanes at the local pool are contemplating their hands, you know why.</span></div>
<h2>
<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: normal;">The swimmers’ fingers principle is based on the constructal law,
devised by Bejan in 1996. Constructal law holds that </span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">“anything that moves, from rivers to trucks
on highways to swimmers and runners, does so with morphing configurations that
allow movement to be easier and easier,” Bejan said.</span><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: normal;"></span></h2>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">The results of the fingers study show that a
slight adjustment in body configuration</span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"> can bring a “significant change
in force,” Bejan said, wondering if the next swimming aid will be tiny wedges
that sit between swimmers’ fingers to hold them just the right distance apart.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Finger spread is just one of Phelps’s secrets,
of course. His hands are said to be the size of dinner plates even without the
invisible inter-finger webbing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He also
has other attributes that make him the record-breaking swimmer that he is:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>he’s tall, – 6 ft. 4 in. (1.93 meters) -- has
size 14 (Eur 47) feet, a 6 ft. 7 in. (2 meters) arm span, a long torso and
comparatively short legs. </span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">In 2008, Bejan used the constructal law to predict the
triumphs of “bigger, taller athletes” like Phelps at the Beijing Olympics. Two
years later, Bejan, who’s originally from Romania, teamed up with </span><span style="background: white; font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Edward Jones, an African American professor at Howard
University in Washington, to use the constructal law to explain why whites
dominate in the pool and blacks of West African origin, like Jamaica’s Usain
Bolt, in sprint-distance track events.</span><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 18.2pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">In that study, Bejan
found that "the swimmer who makes the bigger wave is the faster swimmer,
and a longer torso makes a bigger wave. Europeans have a three-percent longer
torso than West Africans, which gives them a 1.5-percent speed advantage in the
pool." </span></div>
<div style="background: white; line-height: 18.2pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="background: white; line-height: 18.2pt;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Individuals of West African origin,
meanwhile, have longer legs than people of European origin. That puts their<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>center of gravity – roughly speaking, the
belly button – around three centimeters (1.18 inches) higher than whites', said
Bejan.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">“Locomotion is essentially a
continual process of falling forward, and mass that falls from a higher
altitude falls faster,” he said.</span><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"> <br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
</span></div>
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<br /></div>WaterWonkshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03376564091457611595noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3234340211530949132.post-2029489713950139302012-08-02T16:26:00.001-07:002012-08-02T17:06:16.155-07:00CULTURE: Environmental Historian Wennersten Weighs In With New Book on Global Thirst<br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Leading environmental historian John Wennersten has
published new water book called “Global Thirst,” published by <a href="http://www.schifferbooks.com/newschiffer/book_template.php?isbn=9780764339738" target="_blank">SchifferBooks</a>.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Water has been a hot topic recently among authors and book
publishers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Many books addressing have been
written by journalists and academics who focus on a wide range of issues.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Dr. Wennersten’s interest in water dates back
to the 1970s, when he began writing about Chesapeake Bay Oystermen.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>An essay Wennersten published on this topic
led to a request that he write a book, which became <u>The Oyster Wars of
Chesapeake Bay</u> (1981).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Other books
followed with a focus on water and its relationship with the people living in
DC, Virginia, and Maryland area, including <u>Maryland’s Eastern Shore: A
Journey in Time and Place </u>(1992); <u>The Chesapeake: An Environmental
Biography </u>(2000); <u>Anacostia: The Death and Life of An American River</u>
(2008 – co-authored by Robert I Cottom).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">With one of his sons moving overseas, and looking back at
his own experiences living abroad, Wennersten has recently turned his attention
to more global issues, related both to water and people.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Prior to global thirst, he published a book, </span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Leaving-America-The-Expatriate-Generation/dp/0313345066/ref=la_B001JRZZEE_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1343936679&sr=1-3#reader_0313345066"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">Leaving
America: The New Expatriate Generation</span></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;">, on the increase in Americans moving
abroad. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Wennersten recognizes that a
portion of this expatriate phenomenon has been tied to the growing awareness by
Americans of the interconnectedness of resources and need for Americans to be involved
in developing and implementing solutions to water challenges by Americans who
see themselves as “global citizens.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">In Global Thirst, Wennersten discusses the role water has
played in society throughout history, and how societies around the world have
approached the management and protection of water.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He explores some of the key current stresses
on water, and some solutions for sustainability – solutions that require
planning and work, recognizing that “<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">hope
is not a strategy</i>.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Some of the topics this book explores:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">-</span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Water’s role in culture, spirituality and
religion, mythology and human speculation of the origins of life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><br />
</span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><br /><span style="font-family: Calibri;">
“Rivers appear frequently in the world’s sacred traditions as symbols of divine
influence and life’s interdependence. They evoke an image of
spiritual-intellectual energies cascading through the manifold planes of cosmic
and intellectual life.”<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
</span></i><o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">-</span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Water conflicts around the world, including
fights over contaminated boundary waters (using California and Tijuana, Mexico
as an example), conflicts within countries over control of waters between upper
and lower classes; the “specter of water terrorism,” and how water issues have been
the underlying basis for armed conflicts, highlighting the example of the
Jordan River, shared by Israel, Jordan, and Palestine.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">-</span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Issues of water pollution and scarcity in
regions throughout the United States and India<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">-</span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri;">The critical role of sanitation systems – the collection
and treatment of wastewater - for public health and life; the emergence of
bathrooms as shrines to comfort and sanitation” in developed countries such as
the United States and Japan; and the recognition of the role of wastewater as
water supply for downstream communities. </span><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><br />
<br />
“Thirst is a driving biological force that causes millions of people to drink
contaminated water.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Everyday, tens of
thousands of people die of water-related illnesses that are directly related to
contaminated water.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>in the West, our
basic confidence in the safety of our water blinds us to the harsher realities in
other parts of the world. … It’s particularly ironic that these disease
conditions persist in our era when technology has done so much in the world to
eradicate disease.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Most of these
maladies in the water can be easily removed by simple water treatments.”</i><br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">-</span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Privatization of water, the emergence of the
bottled water industry and “vanishing” of public drinking water fountains.<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">-</span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri;">The problems of “dying rivers” around the world,
such as the Po River in Italy, the Yangtze River in China; the Mondavi River in
India; the Volga River in Russia; and the Murray River in Australia.<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">-</span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri;">The impacts of global climate change and sea
level rise, and the role of humans in creating water catastrophes. <br />
<br />
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">“Carelessness and failure to plan have
been the biggest enemies in the face of natural weather events.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Our water catastrophe (the complete global scarcity
of water) will not be a product of Mother Nature – it will be human-made.”<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Wennersten sat down with Water Citizen News to talk about
his book, water history and his own history, and the pressing issues of global
thirst.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Water Citizen’s interview with Wennersten
is available here.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>WaterWonkshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03376564091457611595noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3234340211530949132.post-16731697759059993202012-08-02T14:35:00.003-07:002012-08-02T14:41:04.164-07:00TECH: Smart Farmers Use Smart Phones For Smart Water<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">America’s
farmers and ranchers are using advanced scientific technologies to decrease
their water use and water quality impacts while increasing efficiency and
productivity to “feed the world.” <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">An “Explosion” of New Technology in Agriculture</span></b><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">“When it
comes to technology and mobile devices, we’re seeing an explosion out there,”
said <a href="http://www.fb.org/" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">American Farm Bureau
Federation’s</span></a> Dan Parrish. Parrish notes that these technologies have proven
to be critical to “help farmers to in terms of making sure we use the right
amount of fertilizer at the right time. We’re seeing all sorts of mobile,
on-the-go technology that improve our productivity, improve our efficiency and
… reduce our environmental footprint.” <o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Remote Sensing for Central Management of Irrigation Systems</span></b><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-VaB5nbRGek0/UBq6DPp5gNI/AAAAAAAAAD0/IUD9vCk2ohs/s1600/WestUS3WatDistricts.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="115" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-VaB5nbRGek0/UBq6DPp5gNI/AAAAAAAAAD0/IUD9vCk2ohs/s200/WestUS3WatDistricts.gif" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Wade Noble,
President of the <a href="http://www.nwra.org/" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">National Water
Resources Association (NWRA),</span></a> has similarly seen an increase in the use of
mobile devices by farmers and ranchers to receive real-time information on
water use and make adjustments in the field. Tractors are run using global
positioning systems (GPS). Remote sensing technology is used throughout modern
farm operations to determine how much the land needs to be plowed, how seeds
need to be planted and how water is applied to the land through irrigation. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<u1:p></u1:p>
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<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Noble is a
water lawyer representing several irrigation districts around Yuma, Arizona.
Among these are the Wellton-Mohawk Irrigation and Drainage District, which uses
“a lot of remote sensing and management through SCADA systems, primarily
managing canals and laterals that water can be delivered.” SCADA systems
(“Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition”) are systems in which data is
collected at remote locations and sent to a central computer, from which
management and control decisions are made. SCADA systems have been found to be
as valuable for irrigation systems as they have been for municipal water
supplies.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<u1:p></u1:p>
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><br />
For Wellton-Mohawk, Noble notes that this remote data has sometimes been tied
to automated operation of the “gates” – which can be opened to allow water to
flow from the main canals to “laterals” to allow irrigation of specific areas
of land – or that data can be communicated directly to district or state agency
personnel in the field (“ditch riders”). “What they will use is their smart
phones to be able to pick up on what the information is, so they can contact
directly the locations where the information is being … transmitted to, so that
they can read what we read on our desktops on their smartphones.”</span><br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dweKjAP4qn6lLk2M5r3_z4BEMgqIcSWApUUgfd0PgIAE7suvOry7hcraY2XikIOCnWuSgm1XYr367_0EgdXwQ' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Old Water Districts Acquiring New Technology</span></b><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">While mobile
technologies are often associated with young urban professionals, many older
rural districts are adding new capabilities to get real-time data remotely to
guide their decisions about water use. One such district is the <a href="http://pvacd.com/" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">Pecos Valley Artesian Conservancy
District</span></a>, which relies primarily on groundwater use from wells to supply
the farming communities in the area near Roswell, New Mexico. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<u1:p></u1:p>
<br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Bill
Netherlin, President of the District, stated that his district has requested
proposals from contractors to install online and mobile technologies so that
district members can make decisions about well pumping and irrigation. Said
Netherlin, "With the new system in place, the producer will be able to look
at his water use at any minute, online, and will have a good handle on how
water is being used at any time throughout the valley."<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<u1:p></u1:p>
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<br />
<div style="line-height: 18pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Reading the
Roots to Determine Irrigation Needs</span></b><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Over in
another Yuma – in the Eastern Plains of Colorado, overlying the Ogallala
Aquifer – the <a href="http://www.yumaconservation.org/Enter%20Yuma%20Conservation%20District/" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">Yuma Conservation District</span></a> has started a pilot project with
farmers to install meters for remote sensing of irrigation and fertilizer
needs.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">“Farmers have
advanced moisture meters in the soil to measure moisture and nutrient
distribution down at root zone. [The meter] sends information to your phone or
a computer. We couple that with advanced irrigation systems, which you can also
do off your phone.”<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">As part of
the district's <a href="http://www.yumaconservation.org/Enter%20Yuma%20Conservation%20District/pix/Matching_Grant.htm" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">Water and Energy Conservation Incentives Program</span></a>, metered
probes and advanced irrigation panels have been installed on "center
pivot" irrigation systems through a cost-share program for area producers,
with matching funds provided by the Colorado Department of Agriculture’s State
Conservation Board. </span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Participants in this program also provide the
district with their irrigation and energy usage data, posted anonymously on the
online Regional Efficient Agriculture Communication Hub (REACH) database, so
that the district can calculate whether the savings in energy and water offsets
the cost to purchase the equipment. The district found the initial results in
2010 to be "better than anticipated," with more than 402,900 kilowatt
hours (KWH) of electricity saved on irrigation circles - an average of 204 KWH
per circle - and 671.5 acre feet of water was also conserved - an average of
51.65 acre feet per circle.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<br />
<br />
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Reducing Agriculture’s "Environmental Footprint" and
"Feed the World"</span></b><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Digital and
mobile technology has been a key component in the reduction of agriculture’s
“environmental footprint” while increasing efficient production of food and
fiber, which has become all the more important in the face of a growing global
population and demands for consumer goods. The American Farm Bureau Federation
has found that, between 1980 and today, America grows 87% more grain on 5%
fewer acres. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Said Parrish,
“Agriculture’s environmental footprint overall is reduced at a time when our
population has increased. the troubling aspect of that is that is, over the
next 40 years, we’re going to have to produce more food and fiber in this world
than we’ve produced to date, and we’re going to have to do that in the most
scientifically developed process possible, because if we don’t people are going
to go hungry.”<o:p></o:p></span>WaterWonkshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03376564091457611595noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3234340211530949132.post-50355887583906708202012-08-01T12:42:00.000-07:002012-08-08T13:35:41.711-07:00ABOUT US: PUBLISHERS NOTE: Water Isn't SexyWater isn't sexy.<br />
<br />
That's what I'm told, often by newspaper reporter and publishers as explanation for why they cannot cover water stories.<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-eU0G3wweG64/UBfyGCQKaQI/AAAAAAAAAC8/N7wzF92-EaQ/s1600/Burt_Lancaster_and_Deborah_Kerr_in_From_Here_to_Eternity_trailer.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="148" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-eU0G3wweG64/UBfyGCQKaQI/AAAAAAAAAC8/N7wzF92-EaQ/s200/Burt_Lancaster_and_Deborah_Kerr_in_From_Here_to_Eternity_trailer.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"> From Here to Eternity (1953)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
I find this excuse a little hard to swallow, considering the water-based movie scenes in films like From Here to Eternity (1953), several of the Bond movies (with non-royal Bond girls), <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O4pRK7OLDxo" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Flashdance</a> (1983) ... or any of the movies listed on the Reelz "<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w2ypECTEaY4" target="_blank">Top Ten Wet, Wild, and Sexy Movie Scenes</a>" (NOTE: some of these are a bit racy - you might want to watch this from your home computer and view at your own risk). <br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-NxWTw4IN84E/UBf8P10vVDI/AAAAAAAAADM/NnPfxXj-HVk/s1600/flashdancephoto.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="132" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-NxWTw4IN84E/UBf8P10vVDI/AAAAAAAAADM/NnPfxXj-HVk/s200/flashdancephoto.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Flashdance (1983)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
People connect with water on many levels and for many reasons, not all of which are sexually-based. Brad Paisley has a hit song called "<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1AHnQtY1bg4" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Water</a>" in which he talks about the many experiences that led to his "lifelong love affair with water" - experiences ranging from splashing in the pool in his back yard, to daring his friends to jump from the rope into the river, to Spring Break wet t-shirt contents at Daytona Beach (and somehow, we're back at sex again ...).<br />
<br />
Especially with this summer's heat, Paisley's lyrics remind us that "all we need, this time of year, is a pair of shades and an ice cold beer, and a place to sit, somewhere near the water."<br />
<br />
Can you relate?<br />
<br />
It is true that we are created with a high percentage of our body mass consisting of water. Beyond that scientific factoid, though, water shapes our lives. Water shapes our communities. Water shapes our culture. Water shapes our economy. Water shapes our country. Water shapes our world. As is stated in the <a href="http://www.colorado.gov/dpa/doit/archives/cap/murals.htm" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Thomas Ferril poem written on the walls of the Colorado state capitol</a>, we all live in "a land where life is written in Water."<br />
<br />
So why can't we communicate about water in a way that is both well-informed and informative, that is both interesting and engaging, and even "sexy"?<br />
<br />
In my 20 years of working in water resources planning and policy, I have never seen a greater level of awareness of and interest in water by the general public. When people found out the name of the consulting practice I started a few years back - Watercat Consulting - they often didn't ask me what I did, but instead told me "Water is important!."<br />
<br />
The exact nature of that "importance" of water varies from person to person - whether they take it to mean issues of scarcity in drought-prone regions, and the impacts of climate change on water supplies, or the protection and restoration of aquatic habitat and areas of cultural and social <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">significance</span>, or the role of water technology in our economy and as a critical component for manufacturing.<br />
<br />
People would tell me they didn't know anything about water ... and then proceed to tell me everything they do know about water - facts and "factoids" they have learned from mainstream news, from neighbors, from films and reality shows. Clearly, there is a thirst not only for water, but also for water information, provided by a trustworthy and well-informed source, presented in a way that the average citizen can understand.<br />
<br />
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Unfortunately, the latest stories about
water are provided by professional and "trade" journals and academic
publications, or presented at water conferences (people who work in water tend
to have a lot of conferences). These stories are typically neither presented
for a mainstream audience, nor are there extensive efforts to distribute these
stories to a broader public. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">We spend billions of dollars each year on
water-related research and projects, and yet somehow never seem to have money
to cover the costs of telling people what we found or what it means and why it
is important – except when there is a need to communicate with the public to
gain support for a project, a policy, or a permit.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Where water stories are covered by
the mainstream press, they are often covered by people with little background
in water, who not only may not know the science or legal background of water
issues, but also the history and the intricate relationships that form between
the many different players (the "stakeholders") in the water arena. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Specialty journalism (science journalism or
agricultural journalism, usually covered in “niche” publications, is an exception
to this tendency, other than Tuesday’s Science Section of the New York
Times). Another exception is “crisis”
and “advocacy” journalism – which has its place and plays an important role in
society, but isn’t quite the place to find objective coverage from a “free,
independent press.”</span></div>
<br />
Water Citizen hopes to fill the gap that now exists in the availability of stories on water that are widely accessible, engaging, well-written and well-informed ... and maybe even a little bit sexy.<br />
<br />
As water lawyer Bob Lynch explains, this can be a real challenge - but I think we're up for it! (Get ready to say "Thank You,
Bob!").`<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dxHiR6txfQBDzKCocwYsWpqt-Z37-LkI-WAj5K-xL8tPDX9nrF8bUV3ZJDtfKx7hO1BONPF0h1mhKvpAwmBnw' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
<br />
<br />
In order to succeed in meeting this challenge, we need you to be a part of Water Citizen. Please stay with us for the months ahead, as we roll out our "Preview Editions" each month and "find our voice" and learning to make the most of the opportunities to create an interactive space through online multimedia journalism. Look for opportunities where YOU can get involved through comments, "Water Citizen Journalism," contributions of stories and other support (including our upcoming Kickstarter campaign!). There will be opportunities for you to "Declare Your Water Citizenship" and to become a Water Citizen Ambassador for your office, school, or neighborhood. If you're ready "do your little turn on the catwalk," you can submit your own "I'm a Water Citizen video" - our ongoing tribute to the members of the Water Community.<br />
<br />
What could be more sexy than that?<br />
<br />
Seriously, though, you are an important part of this journey. Thanks for being a part of Water Citizen News!WaterWonkshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03376564091457611595noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3234340211530949132.post-57281382884231791362012-08-01T12:40:00.000-07:002012-08-06T12:28:11.396-07:00BUSINESS: Water is Big Business for Small Business<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;">As water
utilities across the country work towards improving their water infrastructure,
growing small businesses are finding opportunities to build their portfolio of
experience on high-profile projects that help to increase sustainability.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Water Infrastructure Projects Underway
to Address Environmental Issues</span></b><span style="font-size: 12pt;"></span></div>
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<span style="color: windowtext; font-size: 12pt; text-decoration: none;"></span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-5jOnFcuXe9o/UBmE52FD3VI/AAAAAAAAADk/4XLzHyxm5Ks/s1600/hawkinsgeorges.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-5jOnFcuXe9o/UBmE52FD3VI/AAAAAAAAADk/4XLzHyxm5Ks/s200/hawkinsgeorges.jpg" width="116" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">DC Water General Manager<br />
George Hawkins oversees the<br />
development of the <br />
Clean Rivers Project <br />
(Photo: DC Water)</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-size: 12pt;">Water and
wastewater utilities throughout the United States have been undertaking major
infrastructure projects to repair older systems, comply with environmental
regulations, ensure services can be provided to growing and shifting
populations, and adapt to changing climate conditions. In a frequently
cited 2009 report by the </span><a href="http://www.infrastructurereportcard.org/" target="_blank"><span style="color: windowtext; font-size: 12pt;">American Society of Civil Engineers</span></a><span style="font-size: 12pt;">,
the nation’s water systems and wastewater systems were both awarded grades of
‘D-‘ – a grade that DC Water General Manager George Hawkins describes as the
grade a professor gives when he or she “wants to give the student an F but
doesn’t want to do the ‘F’ paperwork.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;">DC Water – which
distributes drinking water and provides wastewater treatment services to the
Nation's Capital - has embarked upon a </span><a href="http://www.dcwater.com/about/cip/default.cfm" target="_blank"><span style="color: windowtext; font-size: 12pt;">Capital Improvement Program</span></a><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> that includes
several major infrastructure projects, with estimated expenditures over the next 10 years of $3.8 billion Among these project is the<b> </b>Clean
Rivers<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"> </b>Project, which is DC Water's
ongoing program to reduce combined sewer overflows ("CSOs") into the
waterways in the District (the Anacostia and Potomac Rivers and Rock Creek).
Work has already begun on the Anacostia Tunnel System, a 13-mile system that
will reduce flooding and capture stormwater from Northeast and Southeast
Washington.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<i><span style="font-size: 12pt;">What are Combined Sewer Overflows?</span></i><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> In several older cities, sewer
pipes that capture stormwater (e.g. runoff from streets) and sewer pipes that
carry wastewater (e.g. from buildings) used to be combined into a single piping
system, carrying “combined sewer” water to the wastewater treatment
plant. During heavy rains, if the combined sewer pipes become full,
excess water overflows to outfalls that release water directly to the river -
untreated. At the time these combined sewer overflow systems were
built, the stormwater was thought to provide enough dilution of wastewater to
reduce the risks to public health and the environment. However, water
utilities and drinking water protection agencies are recognizing the risks
associated with combined sewer overflow, and are working to replace these
systems with separate piping systems for stormwater and wastewater. DC
currently has outfalls for combined sewer overflows in Rock Creek and the
Potomac and Anacostia Rivers. Through the projects to be developed under
the Clean Rivers Project, 98% of these wet weather overflows will be captured
and diverted to the Blue Plains Wastewater Treatment Plant, located at the
confluence of the Anacostia and Potomac Rivers downstream (south) of the
District. DC Water created a </span><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Ug1hravb9Q&feature=plcp" target="_blank"><span style="color: windowtext; font-size: 12pt;">children’s video</span></a><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> that helps to
illustrate its efforts to keep stormwater clean and separate from sewage. </span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">DC Water Requiring Contractors to Team
with Local Firms</span></b><span style="font-size: 12pt;"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;">As the DC Water Board
and staff work to identify contractors to complete these major projects, they
are conscientious about the need to ensure that these projects employ local
firms, both for initial installation and ongoing maintenance. DC Water's
Procurement Office has set targets not only for minority-owned, women-owned,
and veteran-owned small businesses, but also for locally-owned businesses, as
well as an overall target for DC residents to work on these
projects. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<br /><span style="font-size: 12pt;">The DC Water
Board has also stressed the importance of contracting local firms more
generally, and creating jobs in the community. As reported by DC Water’s
General Manager to the DC Water Board, the Clean Rivers Project Contracts are
being constructed in phases, with the contractors constantly monitored and
evaluated to ensure compliance with fair hiring practices and subcontract local
firms. Compliance with subcontracting requirements is a factor in
determining which contractors are selected for later phases of the project. </span></div>
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</div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">DC Government Sees Opportunities for
Small Businesses to “Build Capacity”</span></b><span style="font-size: 12pt;"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;">The opportunities
for local small businesses presented by the Clean Rivers Project and other DC
Water CIP activities has been met with enthusiasm by the DC Department of Small
and Local Business Development. This agency’s director, Harold Pettigrew,
expressed optimism in the opportunities from water projects in DC for local
small businesses to “build capacity” for local businesses, providing an
opportunity to gain not just revenues, but also project experience. </span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;">During a recent
conference for </span><a href="http://www.wipp.org/" target="_blank"><span style="color: windowtext; font-size: 12pt;">Women Impacting Public Policy</span></a><span style="font-size: 12pt;">,
an organization of women business owners, DC Department of Small and Local
Business Development Director Harold Pettigrew identified opportunities on
water-related projects through DC Water and the Mayor’s “Sustainable DC”
initiatives. Pettigrew’s agency works with small businesses to provide them
with the tools and knowledge to be able to team with larger firms on projects, and
collaborates with DC Water to ensure substantial involvement by small local
businesses.</span></div>
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<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dz5q97fTEsWgVNfGoPH11763xoOVxf8J1ov978ipe-db9Ii7mATwcqJvicuiq52B8u51kSga50h9kwjXz40Uw' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"></span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">How Going Green Helps Small Businesses
on Water Projects</span></b><span style="font-size: 12pt;"></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;">While DC Water is
working toward fulfilling its commitment to employing locally-owned businesses
and employing DC residents on these infrastructure projects, there are some
challenges associated with the type of work involved. In order to drill
underground tunnels that are more than 20 feet high, DC Water must hire
specialized contractors from other parts of the country, who often
"import" their own trained staff for the duration of the project, and
then leave.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;">In addition, DC
Water has most of its water and wastewater systems buried underground - out of
sight and out of mind, as is typical of most municipal water systems.
These mammoth pipe systems are designed to require little ongoing maintenance
(which would require digging down to the pipes), but large upfront costs to
install. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;">DC Water is
exploring opportunities to integrate less construction-intensive “green
infrastructure” methods for addressing the city’s stormwater quality
issues. According to DC Water’s April 2012 Biannual Report, these green
infrastructure methods “would mean taking up hard, impervious surfaces and
replacing them with grass and vegetation, through planting trees, making green
roofs, and creating bioswales and rain gardens and other forms of low impact
development.” There has been widespread support within the District for
greater use of green infrastructure or “low impact design” (LID). The
American Society of Landscape Architects CEO Nancy Somerville spoke about DC's
opportunities to use green infrastructure for stormwater in a </span><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=92FCCFmHuz8" target="_blank"><span style="color: windowtext; font-size: 12pt;">video</span></a><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> produced by Aaron Rockett.</span></div>
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<br /><span style="font-size: 12pt;">While the heavy
construction for the Clean Rivers Project pipeline will require more
specialized work by out-of-town companies, LID components of the project can be
performed by more local firms. These green infrastructure projects also
will provide continuous job opportunities for local firms due to ongoing
maintenance requirements. At a lunch for the DC area chapter of the
American Society of Civil Engineers, DC Water’s George Hawkins expressed his
excitement about the local job opportunities created by the LID features that
would be included in the Clean Rivers Project. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;">Under the current consent decree with the EPA, DC Water can only use the pipeline approach as part of the Clean Rivers Project. DC Water is currently appealing the EPA in order to pilot and evaluate a green infrastructure program, to see whether this approach would capture sufficient stormwater to include as part of the project. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;">“Bioswales and
green infrastructure would cost $700 million for installation PLUS permanent maintenance
costs, providing lots of local jobs. We
would also have a $100 million trust fund for that maintenance, which also will
create local jobs. In addition, we would
have incentive funds for private owners to match for any green roofs private
owners install. You can see outcome that
would provide enormous change [for local green contractors],” said Hawkins.</span></div>
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<br /> </div>WaterWonkshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03376564091457611595noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3234340211530949132.post-2886911785723199082012-08-01T12:31:00.001-07:002012-08-02T17:07:36.757-07:00POLICY: Coalition Building Key to Nation’s First Disposable Bag Fee<br />
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<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=3234340211530949132" name="OLE_LINK1"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"></span></b></a></div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-qLccuwUkV6k/UBmEA6DCRwI/AAAAAAAAADc/VHMvo-5se6w/s1600/savetheriver_skipthebag.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-qLccuwUkV6k/UBmEA6DCRwI/AAAAAAAAADc/VHMvo-5se6w/s200/savetheriver_skipthebag.jpg" width="200" /></a><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK1;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">In
January, 2010, Washington, DC, became the first major municipality in the
country to implement a fee on disposable plastic and paper bags, using those
revenues to create the Anacostia River Cleanup Fund.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As reported by </span></span><a href="http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/washington-dc-charge-disposable-bag-fee/story?id=9456761"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK1;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">ABC News</span></span><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK1;"></span></a><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK1;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">, other localities have tried to pass
legislation banning plastic bags outright, while some have addressed the issue
of plastic bags – and the impact of “floatable” waste on the amount of trash
found in rivers -<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>by requiring the
installation of recycling bins at stores that provide bags. In DC, however,
policymakers took a more collaborative approach, and focused efforts on
cleaning the river, rather than banning the bags.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK1;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">During
an Anacostia Workshop held in June, 2009, shortly after the bill was passed, DC
City Councilman Tommy Wells – the author of DC’s bag fee bill – shared his
story on how this coalition of stores and environmentalists came together to
move forward this legislation.</span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK1;"></span><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK1;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Today, I
want to talk through how we won this bill.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I hope this story will be instructional for other initiatives around the
regional and across the country.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As a
City Council member, I wanted to do something for the environment.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The grocery and bottling industry had
defeated the “bottle bill” in a way were we could not bring up another bottle
bill ever again.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This put a damper on
other initiatives.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I wanted to ensure
that my next effort would not only win, but not lose and put a similar cloud
over other environmental legislation.</span></i></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK1;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">I decided to go after plastic
bags.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I looked at bills across the
country, such as the one in Seattle.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
also looked at what is in the Anacostia River in terms of trash.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Instead of meeting with the environmental
community, I brought in the business community, including the Government
Relations Director for Giant.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Giant had
been central to defeating the bottle bill.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Giant’s Government Relations Director then chaired the nonprofit
“Environment America.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I wanted to talk
to him as a champion for the environment.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span></span></i></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK1;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">We looked at the costs of plastic
bags.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Plastic bags cost 2 cents each for
stores, while paper bags cost 5 cents, so stores had had to fight bans on
plastic bags, would have hurt their businesses.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>When we looked at paper versus plastic, the way we looked at it was the cost
to business.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If these businesses had
from scratch, would they would not give out free bags, and instead should have
passed those costs to the consumer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At
this point, giving free bags is a tradition.....<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We also brought in safety considerations,
which were raised by Harris Teeter.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If we
could come up with bill that was neutral to them, they would stay on sidelines.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></i></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK1;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">We went with a 5 cent fee for ALL
bags, paper AND plastic, and would return 1 cent per bag to the stores for all
bags.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We then lined up friends and
partners.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We had the Surfriders on
board.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We did petitions at grocery
stores.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>How we framed it was NOT as a
bag bill but as an Anacostia Cleanup Bill.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>If we had a forum on bill, the opposition would have to talk about why they
were not cleaning up the Anacostia.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Instead,
the opposition framed the bill as a tax on the poor.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So, we brought in stores like Costco that
already charge for bags so they can keep cost of bags down.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We went to poor neighborhoods and senior
centers, and gave out reusable bags and showed films on the Anacostia.</span></i></span><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK1;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We also went to Annapolis to propose a bill at
the same time [in the Maryland Legislature] to dilute lobbyists’ efforts.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>[With this approach, we have] Styrofoam, plastic
bottles, other things to go after.</span></i></span><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK1;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"></span></i></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK1;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">ED
NOTE: During the first month the Bag Fee was in effect, stores reported 50-80%
decreases in bag demand and nearly $150,000 in revenues collected for the Fund.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For more information on how the Anacostia
River Clean Up and Protection Fund has been used, see XXX. </span></span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"></span></div>WaterWonkshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03376564091457611595noreply@blogger.com0