WaterWired

Listen Up! Dr. Gerald E. Galloway for Assistant Secretary of the Army, Civil Works

This suggestion to the Obama Administration might be viewed as the proverbial kiss of death, since so far I have struck out with Peter Gleick and Patricia Mulroy. But my mother told me good things come in threes.

So, with my mother's advice in mind, I urge the Obama Administration to appoint my colleague Dr. Gerald E. Galloway, Jr. as Assistant Secretary of the Army, Civil Works. This position oversees the civil functions of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE).

I don't take credit for thinking of this; I received a copy of a letter from the Association of State Floodplain Managers urging the Obama folks to appoint Gerry to this position. I had not thought of it simply because I am unfamiliar with the civilian hierarchy of the Army and the USACE. 

Download ASFPM_Asst_Secy_Army_Appt_1208

After I read the letter, I thought, "What a great idea!" I have known Gerry for about 9 years and currently serve with him on the AWRA Board of Directors. He is Past-President of the AWRA. Gerry has had almost as many careers as cats have lives: military man (38 years; retired as a brigadier general); government official; corporate officer; academic; public administrator; professional society leader; engineer; and geographer. I suspect I have left out a few.

Here is his abbreviated biography on the AWRA WWW site:

Gerry Galloway is Glenn L. Martin Institute Professor of Engineering, University of Maryland, College Park, and a Visiting Scholar at the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Institute for Water Resources. Prior to joining the Maryland faculty, he was Vice President for Geospatial Strategies, ES3 Sector of the Titan Corporation. A civil engineer, public administrator, and geographer, he also serves as a water resources and flood mitigation consultant to a variety of national and international government organizations. He has served as a Presidential appointee to the Mississippi River Commission and the American Heritage Rivers Advisory Committee and as Secretary of the U.S. Section of the Canada-U.S. International Joint Commission. In 1994, he was assigned to the White House to lead a committee in assessing the causes of the 1993 Mississippi River Flood. During a 38-year career in the military he served in various command and staff assignments in Germany, Southeast Asia and the United States, retiring in 1995 as a Brigadier General and Dean of the Academic Board at the U.S. Military Academy. In 2002 and 2005, he served as General Chairman of the American Water Resources Association National Water Policy Dialogues. He holds a Bachelor's degree from West Point, a Master's degree in Engineering from Princeton, a Master's in Public Administration from Penn State (Capitol Campus), a Master's in Military Art and Science from the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College and a Ph.D. from the University of North Carolina (Chapel Hill). He has been the recipient of the Association of State Flood Managers' Goddard-White Award, ASCE's Civil Government Engineer of the Year and Presidents' Awards, the SAME Academy of Fellows Golden Eagle Award, the Julian Hinds Award of the Environment and Water Resources Institute of ASCE and the U.S. Geological Survey's John Wesley Powell Award. In 2005 he was named an Honorary Diplomate by the American Academy of Water Resource Engineers. He is a member of the National Academy of Engineering. He is a registered professional engineer in New York.

Is that a bio or what?

Gerry is more than an engineer; he is widely respected among water resources professionals of diverse backgrounds because of his multidisciplinary perspectives. His counsel is sought by many. His energy level is that of someone much younger.

I do not worry one bit that his military background might compromise his ability to run the USACE's civil works. Gerry is man of integrity and character who speaks his mind. What I admire most about him is that he wants to do the "right thing", regardless of who or what thinks otherwise. 

This is one appointment where the Obama team could make a "slam dunk" (sorry, George), or "big splash" among WaterWonks.

And along with Pat and Pete, Gerry would form a potent water triumvirate.

“Skeptical scrutiny is the means, in both science and religion, by which deep insights can be winnowed from deep nonsense.” -- Carl Sagan

Water as a Human Right - How About Health?

Much has been made of the drive to make water, or access to it, a basic human right, something South Africa has already done.

We also know that clean water, sanitation, and health go hand-in-hand.

So how about a human right to health?

Medical anthropologist, physician, and co-founder of Partners In Health, Dr. Paul Farmer, makes an impassioned case for this right on This I Believe.

Here are the last two paragraphs:

I move uneasily between the obligation to intervene and the troubling knowledge that much of the work we do, praised as "humanitarian" or "charitable," does not always lead us closer to our goal. That goal is nothing less than the refashioning of our world into one in which no one starves, drinks impure water, lives in fear of the powerful and violent, or dies ill and unattended.

Of course such a world is a utopia, and most of us know that we live in a dystopia. But all of us carry somewhere within us the belief that moving away from dystopia moves us towards something better and more humane. I still believe this.

Farmer is a thoroughly remarkable man who is perhaps best known for his work in Haiti, the   poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. Tracy Kidder's book about Farmer and his mission, Mountains Beyond Mountains, is a must read for all you budding hydrophilanthropists. You'll shake your head in disbelief that one man could do so much.

Farmer now lives in Rwanda. The man just doesn't let up.

Thank heaven for that.

"Civil and political rights are critical, but not often the real problem for the destitute sick. My patients in Haiti can now vote but they can't get medical care or clean water. " -- Paul Farmer

"Beyond mountains there are mountains." -- Haitian proverb

Geoengineering: A Bad Idea Whose Time May Come?

Dr. Jeff Masters' WunderBlog reports on a session at the recent AGU meeting on geoengineering in which climate-change scientists discussed the risks and benefits of deliberately altering the Earth's climate. One measure of the concern scientists have about Earth's climate could be gauged by the standing-room only crowd of 200 that packed the presentation room. The eleven speakers laid out some radical and dangerous ideas. They uniformly cautioned that the uncertainties and dangers of implementing any of these schemes were high, but that geoengineering may be necessary if efforts to control greenhouse gases fail and the climate begins to undergo rapid and destructive changes.

Interesting premise: what if one or a few countries decided to geoengineer without "unanimous" (or at least "substantial") buy-in from the rest of the world? That could certainly lead to some interesting situations.

By the way, the title of the post is from Masters, not me; I added the question mark.

Some light reading for the holidays.

"We are upsetting the atmosphere upon which all life depends. In the late 80s when I began to take climate change seriously, we referred to global warming as a "slowmotion catastrophe", one we expected to kick in perhaps generations later. Instead, the signs of change have accelerated alarmingly." -- David Suzuki

Oregon Statewide Water Roundtables - Synthesis Report Available

 

The Oregon Statewide Water Roundtables, which I described earlier, have been completed and the synthesis report posted.

Along with the report and its appendices, there are several pdfs of PowerPoint presentations we have made to various groups. The one I recently gave in Hillsboro to the Oregon Environmental Quality Commission is the most comprehensive:

Download OEQC_Roundtables

Recall that the Roundtables were five meetings held across the state during Fall 2008 to receive input and advice from Oregonians to develop information to inform efforts to identify and communicate a vision describing where Oregon is, where it is going, and where it wants to be with respect to adpative, integrated, equitable, and sustainable water management. In brief: we listened to and reported Oregonians’ water concerns.

Our purpose was not to develop a plan or strategy - that will be the job of others - the Legislature, Governor's Office, Oregon Water Resources Commission, etc.

 Some representative issues identified by the stakeholders:

*Funding for water and wastewater infrastructure and management
*Regional integrated water planning with state framework
*Protection of existing water rights and uses
*Water quality, especially non-point, micro-contaminants, impacts of urbanization
*Water -  land use planning integration
*Climate change impacts
*Wetland, floodplain, and instream flow restoration
*Interstate water allocation/management

Key messages:

1. Need for integrated water management planning and implementation
2. One size does not fit all - regional solutions are needed to meet regional needs
3. Protection of exisitng water rights and uses
4. Public information and education about water and water management are needed
5. More support for State agencies involved with water

Some solutions offered:

1. Maximize available funds through agency coordination and streamlining of funding sources
2. Water conservation tax credits, like energy tax credits
3. Water reuse and recycling
4. Water markets, pricing, and incentives
5. Water storage and conservation
6. Measuring water flows and uses systematically
7. Local integrated water planning
8. Interstate compacts(s)

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The spreadsheet appendices contain a treasure trove of information from each of the five Roundtables. The lists above are just some samples. 

My impressions? Try these:

• Locals: ahead of state government and want more community- or regionally-based solutions, with support, not interference, from government
• Water rights, exempt wells [domestic/stock wells without water rights] are concerns
• Despite disagreements, stakeholders with disparate views generally got along very well
• I have reason to be optimistic about Oregon's water future

All in all, the Roundtables were very useful exercises.

It is now up to those in Salem to devise a process to develop a water plan/strategy/vision that will utilize the enthusiasm, interest, and expertise of the various and sundry stakeholders.

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“If you are planning for a year, sow rice; if you are planning for a decade, plant trees; if you are planning for a lifetime, educate people." -- Chinese proverb

Postmodern Hydrologic Cycle

We all know what the hydrologic cycle looks like, right? 

Well, take a look below.

Kate Ely, Umatilla Basin hydrologist extraordinaire for the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation, sent me a version of the hydrologic cycle she sketched and used in a presentation. 

I call it the 'Postmodern Hydrologic Cycle', or perhaps the 'T. Boone Pickens Hydrologic Cycle'.

Download Postmodern Hydrologic Cycle

Maude Barlow would no doubt vouch for Kate's interpretation.

This'll get framed and put on my wall.