H₂OSU is available at http://water.oregonstate.edu/newsletter/.
November 8, 2006

Water in the News

With torrential rains and flooding this week, water is on everyone minds. Here are few links to news summaries and real time data sources for the hydrophile in all of us!

• Rain and flood coverage in the Oregonian with a focus on flooding in Tillamook County - "The National Weather Service reported 13.2 inches of rain Monday in a gauge at Lees Camp along the Wilson River, for a total of 26 inches in five days at the Coast Range hamlet. "If this 13-plus inches is verified," said state climatologist George Taylor, "it would be the largest one-day total of rain ever recorded in Oregon." See also their Photo Gallery.
• Rain and flood coverage in the Seattle Times with a focus on flooding in Western Washington - "Between Thursday and Tuesday, 7.57 inches of rain fell at Sea-Tac Airport, breaking a five-day record of 6.69 set in 1979, according to the Weather Service."
• USGS WaterWatch table of recent flood and high flow conditions for Oregon (provisional streamflow data). This table shows the provisional peak flow recorded at each Oregon gaging station in the last week and shows how that flow ranks among the other peak flows recorded at that site. Most notable is the Wilson River near Tillamook, where the peak flow on Monday was greater than any flow recorded in the gage's 75 year history.
• River forecasts and data for the PNW from the National Weather Service.
• Links to provisional data for weather and streamflow in the Andrews Experimental Forest.

Michael's Musings

This column is a feature in each issue of the IWW Newsletter. Through it I hope to inform, amuse, and attempt to satisfy my “frustrated writer” syndrome. Be forewarned: given my generation and connection to the 1960s, these reports may have stream-of-consciousness tendencies.

Water is taking on even more significance at OSU. A few weeks ago I received an email from Michael Henthorne, Director of the MU, and Leah McCullough, OSU Campus Minister, Westminster House, about having an OSU Water Conference. The date has been established already – February 20, 2007. The idea is to bring the many facets of water (or a limited subset) to the OSU community. We had our first planning meeting on November 6 and kicked around some ideas – mainly: 1) the target audience; 2) how broad the scope should be; and 3) what the learning outcomes should be. We also discussed having a “hook” of some sort. Our next meeting will be the Monday or Tuesday before Thanksgiving and Michael asked us to bring four more people to that meeting (Mary Santelmann was also at the initial meeting, so the two of us will likely be cajoling eight of you to come along to our next meeting). Please let me know if you have any suggestions.

Dr. Richard Meganck visited OSU on November 6-7. Rich is an OSU PhD grad and was on the faculty of OSU’s College of Forestry in the mid-1970s before embarking on an international career. He now heads UNESCO’s Institute for Water Education in The Netherlands, which provides post-graduate education for water professionals. It is the largest such institution in the world and an accredited university. It is part of the UN system, but receives no money from the UN; Rich has to raise the entire $32 million budget each year. We discussed possible collaboration, Rich’s possible affiliation with OSU upon his retirement in two years, and the proposed designation of OSU as a UN Category II center of excellence, one of only 17 in the world. Stay tuned.

I also had a productive visit to NOAA’s Northwest Fisheries Science Center in Seattle on November 3 to investigate potential collaborations. Their scientists are doing some fascinating work and their Environmental Conservation, Fish Ecology, and Conservation Biology divisions are doing some work closely related to the interests of IWW faculty. We plan to have a mini-workshop in January 2007 (?), likely in Portland, to highlight areas of collaboration.

I am headed to Redding, CA, November 7-8-9 for the Klamath Basin Watershed Conference (okay, even I know Redding is not in the Klamath Basin). I am curious to see what transpires. About 250 stakeholders are expected. Should be quite interesting.

Till next month, Michael

Upcoming Events

Wednesday, November 15 4:00 p.m., 102 Owen Hall. The Politics of Hot Water: The Dying of the World’s Largest Mineral Hot Springs (OSU Fall Water Resources Seminar). Speaker: Dr. Peter Huntoon, Consultant, Boulder City, NV.

Wednesday, November 22 4:00 p.m., 102 Owen Hall. Cadillac Desert – Video of the Classic Book on Water Politics in the Western United States (OSU Fall Water Resources Seminar).

Tuesday, December 5 - Thursday, December 7, Great Falls, Montana. 2006 Watershed Symposium. Symposium speakers include Ed Marston, publisher emeritus of the High Country News, and Dr. Harry Fritz, Chair of the History Department at the University of Montana. Noted authorities on natural resources, conservation, economics, and changing demographics provide valuable information for anyone interested in understanding the changes occurring in Montana and the Interior West. Held at Great Falls, Montana.

Link to a calendar of other related events...

Funding Opportunities

IWW-USGS 2007 Small Grants - Up to $30K grants available for faculty and, new this year, up to $10K grants available for graduate students. Projects should emphasize long-term water and watershed management issues. Proposals are due November 14.

NSF Hydrologic Sciences - HS focuses on the flow of water and transport processes within streams, soils, and aquifers. Particular attention is given to spatial and temporal heterogeneity of fluxes and storages of water and chemicals over a wide range of scales, to geolimnology and to interfaces with the landscape, microbial communities, and coastal areas. Studies may also deal with processes in aqueous geochemistry and with the physical, chemical, and biological processes within water bodies. Study of these processes requires expertise from many basic sciences and mathematics, and proposals often require joint review with related programs. Proposals are due December 1.

Uncertainty Analyses of Models in Integrated Environmental Assessments - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), as part of its Science to Achieve Results (STAR) program, is seeking applications proposing interdisciplinary research in the formal treatment of uncertainty when models are used to conduct integrated environmental assessments. Integrated assessments use findings, data, and methods across different disciplines to generate information about a particular issue. NCER is interested in research that explores two types of uncertainties: (1) uncertainties within the models themselves, i.e. within their underlying data and hypotheses; and (2) uncertainties that arise during decision-making, as stakeholders discuss the weight of scientific evidence embodied within these models.Proposals are due December 13.