WaterWired

Off To Oklahoma and OU's WaTER Center

Hitting the road once again tomorrow, this time to the University of Oklahoma's WaTER Center to visit with the excellent, inspiring  group of students and faculty there. 

It will be nice to see friend, colleague, hydrophilanthropist and WaTER Center Director Dr. David Sabatini once again. His colleagues Robert Knox, Randy Kolar and Bob Nairn are also top-drawer folks and nice, to boot. I consider them all friends.

Here is the abstract of my presentation, From Central America to the South Caucasus: Water Resources in Developing Countries:

Download Campana_abstract

Not bad - combining those two regions. Interesting.

Visits to the WaTER Center are always stimulating - and most enjoyable. And I'm now on the Center's external advisory board.

And I won't need a raincoat!

"When the Okies left Oklahoma and moved to California, it raised the IQ of both states. " -- Will Rogers

Taking a Break and Eschewing 'Woulda, Shoulda, Coulda...'

I'm in the middle of a pleasant task: reviewing graduate student applications for the Fall 2011 term.   It always takes me a while to get into this each year, but once I finally do, it's a real pleasant revelation. I can advise MS and PhD students in the following programs: geography, geology, water resources science, water resources engineering, and water resources policy and management. Talk about a child in a candy store!

I see a lot of remarkable students' applications come across my screen. Not only are they terribly bright and creative, but also an increasing number want to pursue hydrophilanthropy - making the world a better place by helping those less fortunate through water, sanitation, and hygiene (WaSH). Those are the students I want to engage. I consider myself very fortunate to encounter such talent and compassion. I only wish I could support and advise them all!

It's funny. When I first became interested in hydrophilanthropy in the mid-1990s, I started encountering students who were interested in the same thing. I wondered where they had been lo those many years. Then it dawned on me: they had been there all along, but it's just that I had not been looking for them.

I came to the same realization about my own late arrival to hydrophilanthropy. Initially I wondered why I had not started doing this earlier in my life. Again, the light bulb came on: the opportunities had presented themselves but I had not been ready for them (another duhhh....). That's when I stopped worrying about 'woulda, shoulda, coulda...' and so-called 'lost years'. The only lost years potentially lay ahead of me, not behind.    

Time now to return to 'work'. I can count my blessings later.

"The evil that is in the world almost always comes of ignorance, and good intentions may do as much harm as malevolence if they lack understanding." -- Albert Camus, The Plague (quote from a student's application statement)

How I REALLY Spent My Four Days in Paris

Last week I posted, How I Spent My Four Days in Paris, a somewhat tongue-in-cheek account of my time at the World Water Council's stakeholder consultation meeting in preparation for the Sixth World Water Forum.

AWRA Past President Ari Michelsen and I were there on behalf of AWRA as was Executive Vice President Ken Reid, who sits on the WWC's Board of Governors.

The blog post left the distinct impression that we sat around and designed some logos, which was not true - the logos had already been designed.

Sit around we did do, but in meetings, actually working.

Near the end of that post I did add that a lot had been accomplished in two days, but did not say what, and a few readers emailed to inquire about what had been done.

Here is the program: Download Programme2-en

This leaflet explains the process: Download 6th_World_Water_Forum_Leaflet

Not shown on the program is a three hour-meeting on Sunday to prepare those of us who were facilitating, moderating, or co-moderating stakeholder meetings:

Download Agenda_110116_2nd_SCM_Preparation_Moderators_v3

Michelsen and I were involved (he far more so) with Thematic Workshop 2.1, Balance Multiple Uses Through IWRM (Integrated Water Resources Management). Here is the document he prepared for the meeting:

Download IWRM_-_Meaning_Principles_SourcesList_-_Michelsen_2010_

Here is a list of all thematic workshoips:

Download Doc 4.1 List of Moderators andcomoderators for the thematic workshops 110111

There were 15 Thematic Workshops in all. Each one met in a conference room and proceeded to assess the targets for each workshop, identify additional groups to be involved as well as additional stakeholders. Actions were also identified.  We started with 12 targets in our group, which we whittled down to 10. Presumably, each one of these will be a session at 6WWF.

So where had all these targets and other items come from? An initial stakeholder consultation meeting held last June and months of conference calls and email exchanges shaped what we had in front of us. This meeting served to refine all that material through face-to-face exchanges.

After each Thematic Session group had commpleted its tasks, the results were written on large boards and left in the large hall for almost a day so people could go around and see what the other groups had done. Comments could be made  by using giant Post-It notes.

The regional groups - Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Americas - also met to discuss their agendas. Our Americas group is headed by Mexico and has identifed four key targets:

Water and sanitation
Water and adaptation to climate change
IWRM: enabling institutions, legislation and financial instruments
Water for food and energy (AWRA is the co-lead with U. Nebraska-Lincoln)

The entire process may seem confusing, I know, especially if you were not there. But I was quite surprised at how well things worked and how much was accomplished.

We'll see what happens next. 

One of my concerns is that groundwater will once again be given short shrift, as it was  in 5WWF. I want to ensure that this doesn't happen. As I walked around the other groups' boards, I did not see groundwater mentioned very much.  

Looks like my work is cut out for me.

As for my first day in Paris, which makes a total of four - I was studying the material and recovering from jet lag.

"A meeting moves at the speed of the slowest mind in the room. In other words, all but one participant will be bored, all but one mind underused.” - Dale Dauten

Is Europe Running Out of Water? Do Pigs Swim?

If the Czech Republic is a bellwether, then things might get tough and dry in the future.

Don't take my word for it - check out this story from IPS:

PRAGUE, Jan 22, 2011 (IPS) - Half of the Czech Republic’s population could face water shortages because of climate change, a top climate change expert has warned.

The country has become one of the driest in the EU, according to local media, and climatologists say the land, and crucial underground water supplies, are drying up.

Professor Michal Marek, head of the EU-funded CzechGlobe climate change research project, told IPS: "The Czech Republic is already seeing the effects of climate change in more frequent extreme weather events and changes in biodiversity.

"But possibly the most important change is in the increasing drying out of the landscape as drier periods get longer and are followed by bursts of intense rainfall which the dry soil cannot absorb. This has a very significant effect on underground water supplies."

Climatologists and meteorologists in central Europe have said that the region is seeing more and more extreme weather including long periods of dry and hot weather in the summer, severe flooding and bitter winter weather.

How about this:

A report in Czech media this week claimed that 50 percent of Czechs – the proportion of the population reliant on underground water supplies – were facing water shortages because of falling underground water levels.

Some hydrologists questioned the claim as being alarmist but Professor Marek told IPS: "I absolutely agree with this figure. It is completely realistic from my point of view, even though it would, of course, be a terrible situation.

"Problems with water supplies will only get worse and will be the single biggest problem posed by climate change to affect the Czech Republic in the future, worse than changes to biodiversity or anything else."

Ecological groups such as the Czech branch of Friends of the Earth, say that measures must be taken to ensure that water is not lost, such as reversing river courses which, over decades, have been artificially straightened and has left them less able to retain water.

Professor Marek added: "The solution is landscape planning to prevent water running off the land such as changing the use of land, agricultural practices and natural features that help retain water."

Doesn't sound too good. Read more here.

"To enter Europe, you must have a valid passport with a photograph of yourself in which you look like you are being booked on charges of soliciting sheep." -- Dave Barry

Red Lodge Clearinghouse: Enhancing Public Participation in Natural Resources Decision-Making

Sarah Bates, one of the best thinkers around on Western USA water policy and related issues, just sent me this. It goes beyond water.

Red Lodge Clearinghouse

Advancing citizen engagement in natural resources policy.

The newly redesigned Red Lodge Clearinghouse (RLCH) website makes participation in natural resources decision-making easier than ever before. 

All government agencies give the public an opportunity to comment on proposed rules and regulations, and these agencies are required to address those comments and consider them in the decision-making process.  The public comment process is a backbone of our democracy, and one that is too often neglected.  One look at the Federal Register reveals why; locating and deciphering opportunities for participation is a daunting task even fortrained legal professionals.

By tracking critical western resource issues through public hearing and comment processes, linking to relevant news and opinions, providing thorough but concise primers on applicable laws, and offering users a simple form by which to submit comments electronically to respective decision-making bodies, RLCH is a one-stop shop for interested citizens to learn, discuss, and participate in environmental policy decisions affecting western communities. 

True to its roots, the RLCH website is still home to one of the most extensive collections of collaboration resources on the web, which includes stories chronicling collaborative initiatives and lessons learned, the highly acclaimed Collaboration Handbook, a searchable database of funding sources, and much more.  However, the site is not just for collaborators anymore; it is full of additional tools useful for anyone wanting to learn more about how to impact natural resourcespolicy decisions.  Please click on by and leave a comment on our blog, check out some of the issues currently open for public comment, sign up for our newsletter, and let us know how we’re doing at [email protected]

Excellent resource; take a look and see what you think.

"Never ascribe to malice that which can adequately be explained by incompetence." -- Hanlon's razor