September 9, 2008

Statewide Water Roundtables - We (IWW, Institute for Natural Resources, Oregon Sea Grant Extension) are working with State Rep. Jackie Dingfelder, chair of the Oregon House Energy and the Environment Committee, to conduct a series of water roundtables throughout the state. These will be listening sessions, designed to provide information to the Oregon Water Resources Commission and others on what Oregonians are thinking about water, what they see as current and future problems, and any solutions they see. These meetings will commence in Bend on 25 September and then follow each Tuesday after that in Newport, Ontario, Medford, and Salem. We have information on these at http://water.oregonstate.edu/roundtables; you can also sign up for the Roundtable email list. The site will be updated as more material is generated. 

Community Ground Water Monitoring - The Oregon Water Resources Department, through Oregon Sea Grant, is funding an OSU intern, Abigail Brown, to develop an education and outreach program focusing on ground water resources and ground water level measurements in the Eola Hills Ground Water Limited Area just outside Salem. Abby, an incoming Water Resources Graduate Program Master’s student and owner of the Water For The Ages blog, will be equipping community members with the education and resources to measure water levels in their own wells. This program could serve as a template for other areas. For more information, contact Abby at brownal@wrd.state.or.us

ICIWaRM Cometh - ICIWaRM? Isn’t that the stuff you put on your aching muscles and sprains? Or a bad SciFi Channel movie with Judd Nelson and Pamela Anderson? Actually, you’re not even close. That’s the acronym for the International Center for Integrated Water Resources Management. It was created and funded in 2007 by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and is housed in the USACE’s Institute for Water Resources. Why I am mentioning this here? ICIWaRM should eventually become a UNESCO Category II Water Centre, and OSU is one of its five academic partners. The others are: the University of Arizona (lead); University of New Hampshire; Florida International University; and Colorado State University. Approval by UNESCO is expected in October 2009.
 
A Reader Writes: Are the Candidates Speaking Out on Water? - I just had a great question from a faithful blog reader: have the presidential candidates spoken out on water? Other than Sen. McCain’s “gaffe” about renegotiating the Colorado River Compact and Sen. Obama’s support for full funding of the Clean Water State Revolving Fund, I don’t know of any. I gave him some librarian’s advice (from my wife) and asked him to clue me in when he found something. I posited that perhaps the reaction to Gov. Bill Richardson’s “Wisconsin is awash in water” comment last year scared them off – well, Sen. Obama, at least.

If you do know of any specific “water statements” by Sen. McCain, Sen. Obama or their surrogates, please let me know, along with the source. Cindy McCain talking about the necessity for pure water for her business doesn’t count.   

What with drought and climate change in the news, water issues should attract the attention of both candidates. Certainly the water infrastructure issue merits discussion. Perhaps if Gov. Palin becomes Vice President Palin, we’ll get those “baggies” filled with Alaskan water to slake the thirst of Las Vegas and SoCal, sparing our abundant PNW water for other purposes.

For every question like the above I get a couple of comments that demand complete inattention from me. A reader recently noted that the low Great Lakes levels are due to the oil companies’ wells in the area, which presumably are sucking water from the lakes. I’ve heard about watered-down gasoline, but that observation takes the cake.

Buy Quebec’s Water? Mais oui! - Exporting water out-of-state or out-of-country is often controversial unless it is virtual water or you do it at night when no one’s awake. Our northern neighbors in Canada possess a huge amount of fresh water and are very sensitive when one suggests that maybe they should ship some of it south. Imagine the reaction of some Canadians when one of their own suggests selling some fresh water to the USA. A Montreal think tank has suggested that the Province of Quebec could realize an annual profit of about $6.5B by selling just 10% of its renewable fresh water for $0.65 per cubic meter. You can read more, and download the report, at WaterWired.

Podcasting - The USGS is now producing water podcasts. You can hear an interview with Bob Hirsch and his CUAHSI Reds Wolman lecture, among other things. Dave Herbert of the USGS Podcasting Team told me that the USGS has been doing this for over a year on a variety of topics at http://www.usgs.gov/podcasts/. Dr. Peter Black’s Water Drops can also be accessed online. Eric Eckl, of Water Words That Work, recently posted on ‘Everybody’s Podcasting – Is Anybody Listening? Eric reports that one survey suggests that only 4% of Internet users are regularly downloading and listening to/watching podcasts.

Never Too Late for a Water Plan
The editorial, ‘Never Too Late for a Water Plan in the Northwest’, recently appeared in the 5 September 2008 edition of the Capital Press. These are three of the more interesting paragraphs from the editorial:

Oregon is a latecomer in big picture water planning alongside neighbors California - which got started in the 1950s - and Idaho, which did its first plan in 1976. Both are currently updating existing plans, while Washington is in the third year of creating regional plans for Puget Sound drainages and the Columbia Basin. Oregon has done little interstate water planning, although the Columbia and Snake rivers are significant parts of its northern and eastern boundaries. It's not that Oregon is without water planning until now. The sometimes-controversial basin planning program of decades past gathered data on expected water production and use, giving a legal vehicle for policy-making as it related to a specific basin.

For Oregon, there's another challenge. The state has a bunch of water plans already that aren't creatures of the Oregon Water Resources Commission. One of the largest groups of plans, still emerging, is the Oregon Environmental Quality Commission's group of TMDLs - total maximum daily loads - for every stream that the state lists as violating state water-pollution standards. One of the most significant to fish is the Oregon Plan for Salmon and Watersheds crafted during the administration of former Gov. John Kitzhaber. To the Water Resource Commission's credit, provisions for threatened coho salmon were added to appropriate basin plans in 2006.

As part of laying the foundation for statewide water planning, the Oregon commission needs to reach out, both at the staff level and at the various citizen commissions that have a hand in water-related regulation. Perhaps a summit of regulators and shareholders could help the Water Resources Commission identify policies needed in the plan, and in the process enlist support for what will need to be a string of legislative appropriations over the years to get the job done.

You can read the entire editorial online.

Water planning is on Oregon’s radar screen. And it looks like the timing of our Statewide Water Roundtables is on target.

Till next month,

Michael

"Anyone who is popular is bound to be disliked." -- Yogi Berra

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Wild Salmon Center wants to direct money to healthy rivers (The Oregonian, 9/7/08) - Backed by former Gov. John Kitzhaber, the Portland-based Wild Salmon Center is helping push a "salmon stronghold" concept to complement the Endangered Species Act. The center wants Congress to create a multimillion-dollar fund to help the Pacific Coast's strongest wild salmon rivers brace for the future. …Three years ago, Robert Lackey, an Oregon State University professor and fisheries biologist at the EPA's Corvallis lab, helped recruit 33 salmon experts to write "Salmon 2100: The Future of Wild Pacific Salmon." The book began with a bang: Its editors, including Lackey, predicted that Oregon, Washington and Idaho's population would increase from about 12 million today to 65 million by 2100 if the growth of the past 50 years persists. To meet that challenge, some favored the stronghold approach along with protecting weak runs. Others suggested writing off weak runs, saying taxpayers would veto an all-out approach.

Candidates to Interview for Director of New OUS Climate Research Institute (OSU News Service, 8/29/08) – Four candidates seeking to become the first director of the new Oregon Climate Change Research Institute will visit Oregon State University during the next two months, beginning this Tuesday. The institute was established in 2007 by the Oregon Legislature to help the state better plan for and respond to issues relating to climate change. The new entity, an Oregon University System institute, will be administered by OSU – where it will be physically located – and its institutional partners within OUS.

New Map, Website Outlines Willamette River Water Issues (OSU News Service, 8/29/08) – A new, far more detailed Willamette River Water Quality map and website has been completed and updated for the first time in 11 years, providing access to a wealth of information about water issues in the river basin that is home to more than two out of every three Oregonians. The map and associated information was prepared by the Corvallis Environmental Center with support by the Institute for Water and Watersheds at Oregon State University. The website is http://water.oregonstate.edu/projects/willwq.htm.

OSU Recognized as One of America’s Top 25 ‘Green Colleges’ and Universities - (OSU News Service, 8/15/08) – Oregon State University’s leadership in environmentally responsible practices has earned it a spot in the Kaplan College Guide 2009’s list of America’s top 25 “green colleges,” officials with the popular annual publication have announced.

OSU research funding grows by $25 million (AP, The Oregonian, The Gazette Times, others, 8/13/08) - Oregon State University has boosted its research funding by $25 million over the last fiscal year. The increase to more than $231 million in external research funding was an 11 percent increase from the previous year and continued an upward trend over the past five years. The OSU College of Science had the most growth, with contracts and grants increasing to $20.7 million, up $5.6 million from the previous year.

Time for Oregon to cash in Columbia water? Either the Northwest sells or the thirsty Southwest starts moving here; so now what? (The Oregonian, 8/10/08) - When parched Southwest states recently considered ways they might bring more water to the overtaxed Colorado River, they imagined snaking a fiberglass straw up the Pacific coast and sipping from the Columbia River. That's probably a pipe dream, but it's also a recurring vision the drenched Northwest might not want to laugh off forever. When desert cities -- enduring record drought -- reach the breaking point, water will have to come from somewhere. And water in the West is largely a zero-sum game: For someone to get it, someone else will have to give it up. Article includes quotes by Michael Campana, IWW Director.

Hydrogeologists Tap into Demand for an Irreplaceable Resource (Science Careers, 8/8/08) - When hydrogeologists talk about their field, one word keeps coming up: "recession-proof." While geologists in the energy and mineral industries face roller-coaster hiring-and-firing cycles, those who study the movement and chemistry of water seeping through rocks and sediment find demand for their expertise almost as steady as the flow of groundwater itself. "I can't think of any unemployed hydrogeologists," says Roy Haggerty , an associate professor of hydrogeology at Oregon State University , Corvallis. It's easy to see why. Water is essential, irreplaceable, and, as populations and economies grow, increasingly in demand and endangered.

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Sarah Sheldrick is an OSU graduate student who is making a splash with her documentary films about Oregon water issues. This past year she worked on two films: a 30-minute feature on critical groundwater issues in the Umatilla Basin called Water Before Anything and a seven-minute video tour of the Southern Willamette Valley Groundwater Management Area. The IWW supported the development of both films.

Sarah has been working on the films as she completes an M.A. in Arts of Communication and English. She believes that having an understanding of the complexity and science of water issues is only as powerful as the ability to communicate that information with the world. Sarah makes the case that, "the power of storytelling and the medium of film is an asset that the water community should tap". Sarah's love of storytelling began in the theater, she earned her B.A. at OSU in Theatre Arts and she has been involved with many OSU productions.

Water Before Anything tells the story of the Umatilla County Critical Groundwater Solutions Taskforce, a volunteer group that has been working to enhance and protect groundwater in the Umatilla Basin. The group has just completed a 2050 Plan and needed a way to share their message with their neighbors and the community. Sarah spent the last year working on a film that would do that. She says, "I loved working on the project. The story is amazing example for everyone who deals with conflict and water, and the power water can have to bring people together." Sarah has just released a four minute trailer for the film that will debute in January 2009.

The video tour of the Southern Willamette Valley Groundwater Management Area (GWMA) is a Web-accessible tool that links the GWMA community to the outreach efforts of the Department of Environmental Quality, the lead organization working to improve groundwater conditions in the area. The video tour is supplementary to the work of Paris Edwards, a graduate student in the OSU Water Resources Policy and Management Program. She is researching local knowledge and perceptions of groundwater conditions within the GWMA community.

For more information contact Sarah Sheldrick at s.sheldrick@gmail.com.

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IWW Director works on Exempt Groundwater - IWW Director Michael Campana is one of the participants in the Exempt Groundwater Well Policy Consensus Work Group organized by Representative Jackie Dingfelder and facilitated by the Oregon Consensus Program at Portland State University.  Exempt groundwater issues have become at topic of concern across the western United States as summarized by Trout Unlimited.

IWW Director works with the Water Working Group of the Oregon Business Council - IWW Director Michael Campana is a member of this group, which is developing a white paper on a water vision for Oregon that will, among other things, highlight the interplay among and integration of water, energy, transportation, and land use policies. The paper will also identify near-term (1-10 years) and long-term (10-40+ years) action items.

OSU faculty participate in Benton County Water Project - IWW Director Michael Campana serves on the Steering and Executive Committees of the Benton County Water Project. IWW Adjunct Professor Richard Heggen, along with Professors John Bolte and Marshall English with the Department of Biological and Ecological Engineering are also serving on the Technical Team. Since September 2007 Benton County has been working to establish a path forward to form a countywide water quantity and quality assessment. This community-based effort will be a first step to ensure a sustainable water supply for Benton County and Willamette Basin citizens, their livelihoods, and their environment through time. Read an editorial about the project in the Corvallis Gazette-Times.

IWW and the Fifth World Water Forum - IWW Director Michael Campana has been designated co-coordinator of Topic 3.4 Managing and Protecting Surface, Ground, Soil, and Rainwater. The Forum, convened every three years, will be held in Istanbul, Turkey, 16-22 March 2009. Its theme will be Bridging Divides for Water.
 
IWW Discusses the Grape/Groundwater Nexus at the Oregon Wine Center - IWW Associate Director Todd Jarvis met with the Oregon Wine Board and provided an overview of Oregon’s water challenges and discussed the water use survey conducted by the Oregon Winegrowers Association. On the basis of their internal survey, groundwater serves as the principal water supply for most wine growers. Todd will also present and answer questions regarding groundwater resources in Oregon and the western US at the September, 2008 Oregon Winegrowers Association Board meeting in Ashland.

IWW Gets WET - IWW Associate Director Todd Jarvis unveiled the Water Evaluation Team (WET) concept initially developed by John Selker of the Department of Biological and Ecological Engineering as a means for IWW to expand OSU’s service to Oregonians. WET fills a unique niche in water resources planning and analysis by having a panel of academic experts review a water resources problem from a multi-perspective, service-oriented approach in an unbiased and timely manner.  Todd used the WET process to evaluate the concept of energy generation using micro-turbines connected to a spring system owned by private landowners near Mill City.  The landowners have a long relationship with OSU through multiple generations attending and earning degrees from OSU dating back to the 1930s and with family members currently enrolled as graduate students.  IWW is developing a scope of work to further develop this emerging field bridging the energy-water nexus, which will be designed for a M.S. graduate student in the Water Resources Graduate Program.

Luckiamute Watershed Council Taps IWW for Water and Culinary Skills - IWW Associate Director Todd Jarvis was appointed as the liaison for Water Resources for the Luckiamute Watershed Council and to cook at their annual BBQ.  Everyone is invited to the Fourth Annual Luckiamute River and Ash Creek Watershed Council Celebration at Ritner Creek Bridge located along the Kings Valley Highway near Pedee on September 13, 2008 from Noon to 5 pm for Music, Silent Auction, Raffle, Prizes, BBQ and Refreshments.

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Upcoming Abstract Deadlines:

• Wednesday, September 10 - American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting, December 15-19, San Francisco, CA. Student travel grant applications also due September 10. These grants target students who have not previously attended an AGU annual meeting before. Preference will be given to eligible students who are either undergraduates, in the first year of a Master's degree program, or nearing completion of their doctoral program.
• Wednesday, September 17. World Environmental & Water Resources Congress, May 17-21, 2009, Kansas City, MO.
• Friday, October 3. Rethinking Protected Areas in a Changing World (Sponsored by the George Wright Society), March 2-6, 2009, Portland, Oregon.
• Friday, October 3. National Ground Water Association, Ground Water Summit, April 19-23, Tucson, Arizona.

Come help out with water activities at the 6th Annual Kids Day for Conservation! Help Mark Taratoot, Water Resources Specialist with Corvallis Public Works, with several water demonstrations at this event put on by local natural resource agencies and companies. The event is free and provides hands-on activities that help kids learn to conserve natural resources. The event will be held Saturday, September 20 10:00-4:00 p.m., Benton County Fairgrounds, Corvallis. Contact Mark for more information: Mark.Taratoot@ci.corvallis.or.us.

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Friday, September 12, 11:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m., 115 Richardson Hall. Current Topics in Geomorphology and Ecology (Speaker: Futoshi Nakamura, Hokkaido University). Fisheries and Wildlife special informal presentation and discussion. Professor Nakamura spent 2 years in Corvallis in the early 1990s conducting research in forest and stream ecology and geomorphology. Since then he has worked hard to build bridges between the ecology and engineering communities working on rivers in Japan and elsewhere. FMI: Stan Gregory.

Saturday, September 13. Water 1st • Beer 2nd – Portland. Benefit to support Water 1st - an organization whose mission is to serve families in the poorest communities in the world as they implement community-managed projects that integrate water supply, sanitation, and health education. RSVP by September 5. Location: BridgePort Brewing Company in Portland, Oregon. Cost: $30/person.

Tuesday, September 16 11:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m, Portland, Oregon. Lunch and Learn: Climate Change and Water Resources Planning. Presented by the PNWS - AWWA Water Resources Committee. The two Lunch and Learn sessions will focus on the products and services available to help water resource managers cope with a changing climate. Presentation 1: Framework For Integrating Climate Change Information with Water Resource Planning with Philip Pasteris and Presentation 2: New Water Supply Forecasting Technology and Products Available from the Internet to Help Manage Water Resources on a Daily Basis with Tom Pagano. Cost: $10.

Thursday, September 18 10:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.,Room 124-A of the Water Resources Building (725 Summer St., NE, Salem, OR). Final Stakeholder Meeting for The Oregon Water Supply Conservation Initiative, Phase I. A project team of Oregon Water Resources Department staff and consultants has developed a water demand forecasting tool and an inventory of potential water conservation opportunities statewide. Presenters will discuss the results of a baseline demand forecast, and will lead a discussion about additional scenarios and next steps that build upon this work. The Peer Review Team consisted of: Lorna Stickel (Portland Water Bureau); Bill McFarland (USGS); and IWW Director Michael E. Campana. Please RSVP to Brandi Elmer, brandi.m.elmer@wrd.state.or.us.

September 25, 30, October 7, 14, 21. Statewide Water Roundtables. These free and open events are listening sessions designed to inform the Oregon Water Resources Commission as it develops a strategic water plan for Oregon. The roundtables have been convened by the OSU Institute for Water and Watersheds, Oregon Sea Grant Extension, OUS Institute for Natural Resources and the Oregon House Committee on Energy and the Environment. The public forums will include brief overviews of Oregon’s current water situation followed by facilitated discussions. Join the roundtable email list for updates.

Wednesdays, starting October 1, 4-5:30 p.m., 102 Owen Hall, OSU. OSU Fall Water Resources Seminar Series. The theme is: When Water Does Run Uphill: The Economics and Politics of Water in the 21st Century. Students can register for credit. FMI: Todd Jarvis, 737-4032.

Monday, October 13 - Tuesday, October 14, CH2MHill Alumni Center, OSU, Corvallis. Assessing the Response of Streams to Contemporary Forest Practices: A Conference on Paired Watershed Studies. The purpose of this conference is to report on the state-of-the-science of the environmental effectiveness of contemporary forest practices. The conference will feature reports on preliminary results, current status, and future directions for the three WRC paired watershed studies. Also, results will be presented from similar research from throughout the Pacific Northwest. The early registration deadline is Sept 16.

Monday, October 13 - Wednesday, October 15, Portland, OR. Sociotechnological Aspects of Nonrenewable Ground Water Resources: Half-Empty, Hall-Full, Top-Down, Bottom-Up, and Some Paths Forward (International Conference on Nonrenewable Ground Water Resources). The National Ground Water Association, in association with the Institute for Water and Watersheds, The World Bank, and the International Hydrological Programme of UNESCO, will host an international conference on nonrenewable ground water. There will be presentations on all aspects of nonrenewable ground water: legal, social, economic, scientific/engineering, institutional, policy, and management. Register by September 15 for a discount.

Friday, October 24, Memorial Union Ballroom, OSU. Fall Fundraising Banquet for OSU chapter of Engineers Without Borders. The banquet will feature a Latin American theme. Details will be available at the WWW site, http://groups.engr.oregonstate.edu/ewb/, where you can also read about the chapter's Las Mercedes-El Naranjito project in El Salvador.

Read about more upcoming events on the IWW's calendar.

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September 29, 2008. 2008 Fulbright Program for U.S. Students. The U.S. Student Fulbright Program operates in more than 140 countries worldwide; grants are available in all fields of study. You can apply if you are a graduating senior; hold a B.S./B.A. degree; or are a master's or doctoral degree candidate and are thinking of studying, teaching or conducting research abroad. Contact Marit Legler OSU Fulbright Advisor for more information.

October 6, 2008. K. Patricia Cross Future Leaders Award, which honors graduate students who (1) show exemplary promise as future leaders of higher education, (2) whose work reflects a strong emphasis on teaching and learning, and (3) who demonstrate a commitment to developing academic and civic responsibility in themselves and others. Awards provide financial support for graduate students to attend AAC&U’s 2009 Annual Meeting – "Ready or Not: Global Challenges, College Learning, and America's Promise" – which will be held January 21-24, 2009, in Seattle, Washington. 

October 15 (and March 15). Sigma Xi, Research Grants for Undergraduate and Graduate Students. Sigma Xi, a scientific organization, offers grants-in-aid to fund research in science and engineering disciplines. Grant amounts range from $100 to $1,000 (with an average award of $600).

November 3-12 (depending on discipline). NSF Graduate Research Fellowships. Consider applying for one of these prestigious fellowships! They provide three years of support for graduate study leading to research-based master’s or doctoral degrees and are intended for students who are in the early stages of their graduate study. OSU Water Resources students have received these in the past!

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9 October 2008. NOAA Climate Program Office - Sectoral Applications Research Program (Letters of intent (not required) due: 11 August 2008).

Description: This program is designed to catalyze and support interdisciplinary applied research, outreach and education activities that enhance the capacity of key socio-economic sectors and systems to respond to and plan for climate variability and change through the use of climate information and related decision support resources. Three priority areas for 2009: Coastal Resource Management and Planning, Water Resource Management, and Drought Management and Planning.
Funding Details: It is anticipated that awards will be up to three years in length and cost between $50,000 and $200,000 per year.

 

13 October 2008. OSU General Research Fund (GRF).

Description: The intent of the GRF is to enable OSU faculty to carry out scholarly, creative work that should lead to the pursuit of other funding sources, or promote the development of scholarly activities. Projects funded through the GRF could include: pilot research, emergency funding, emerging research opportunities, new research field or new research field for investigator, developing research laboratories, or centrally-shared research resources.
Funding Details: Maximum award is $10,000.

20 October 2008. Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board Grants for Restoration/Acquisition; Technical Assistance; Monitoring; Outreach/Education.

Description: OWEB encourages projects that foster interagency cooperation, include other sources of funding, provide for local stakeholder involvement, include youth and volunteers and promote learning about watershed concepts.

18 November 2008. NSF Dynamics of Coupled Natural and Human Systems (CNH).

Description: This competition promotes quantitative, interdisciplinary analyses of relevant human and natural system processes and complex interactions among human and natural systems at diverse scales. Projects usually have three components: an integrated, quantitative systems-level method of inquiry, an education component, and a global perspective.
Funding Details: Grants are for up to $1.5M.

14 November 2008. IWW-USGS Water Resources Grants.

Description: Through the federal Water Resources Research Act (Program 104(B)), the OSU Institute for Water and Watersheds receives federal matching funds to support water resources research and education activities in the Oregon. All faculty at Oregon universities and colleges are eligible to apply. In recent years, IWW has supplemented the USGS funds with additional funding from the OSU Water and Watersheds Initiative. Priority will be given to proposals that examine issues related to long-term water and watershed management, although creative proposals on other topics are highly encouraged.
Funding Details: Up to $30,000. All projects require a 2:1 match of non-federal funds.This match can be made in multiple ways including “forgiven overhead” (on both the USGS and matching funds) since no overhead is provided to the faculty’s institution.

A list of additional water-related external funding opportunities is available on the IWW Web site.

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H₂OSU is a periodic e-mail news briefing provided by the Institute for Water and Watersheds. It is distributed through the OSU Hydro Email lists and the Oregon Water List (http://water.oregonstate.edu/news/email_lists.htm) and the Web. Questions, comments and ideas for news briefs may be sent to the IWW at iww@oregonstate.edu. More news from the IWW is available at http://water.oregonstate.edu/news/index.htm.