WaterWired

Thursday Trifecta - Groundwater Glee: 1) Pumping & Streamflow; 2) Classic USGS Papers; 3) Governance

Posting a lot of stuff on groundwater (one word!) this week. Here goes!

1) Understanding and Managing the Effects of Groundwater Pumping on Streamflow  

This USGS Fact Sheet packs a lot of information into a few pages. It even includes a number of misconceptions, such that:

Total development of groundwater resources from an aquifer is “sustainable” or “safe” when the overall rate of groundwater extraction does not exceed the long-term average rate of recharge to the aquifer.

Yes! See my post on the water budget myth.

Download Fs2013-3001 Here is the full report (thanks to Michael van der Valk).

Summary
Groundwater is a critical resource in the United States because it provides drinking water, irrigates crops, supports industry, and is a source of water for rivers, streams, lakes, and springs. Wells that pump water out of aquifers can reduce the amount of groundwater that flows into rivers and streams, which can have detrimental impacts on aquatic ecosystems and the availability of surface water. Estimation of rates, locations, and timing of streamflow depletion due to groundwater pumping is needed for water-resource managers and users throughout the United States, but the complexity of groundwater and surface-water systems and their interactions presents a major challenge. The understanding of streamflow depletion and evaluation of water-management practices have improved during recent years through the use of computer models that simulate aquifer conditions and the effects of pumping groundwater on streams.

2) Annotated List of Classic Pre-1980 USGS Groundwater Papers on Quantitative Groundwater-Flow Analysis 

Awesome stuff here! All the way back to Slichter (1899)!

3) Managing the Invisible – Understanding and Improving Groundwater Governance

This is an excellent report from the World Bank. If nothing else, read the Executive Summary, which is about the length of a chapter (12 pages). These words especially rang true:

Groundwater has failed to feature prominently in water policy dialogue at the local, national or global level. As a result, its governance has not kept pace with increasing demands and technological advances. Analysis of the World Bank portfolio shows that despite the sound analytical studies and available expertise, there has been a decline in the number of groundwater projects financed. Moreover, of those financed few included a component on groundwater governance.

Download Managing_the_Invisible 

I got this publication from the following page:

Benchmark meeting on groundwater governance marks road to World Water Day and UN International Year of Water Cooperation. This meeting will be held at The Hague, 19-21 March. I will write more on this later. Thanks to Michael van der Valk for alerting me to this event. Wish I could attend, but I will be at the Canadian Water Network meeting in Ottawa.

Enjoy!

"How much more analytical well hydraulics do we need when most every solution likely to be used was finished by 1970?" - Franklin W. Schwartz, Editor, Groundwater, from "Zombie-Science and Beyond" (editorial), 51(1):1  [Note: I agree, although I would push the date to about 1976; some good stuff came out between 1970-1976. But Frank's got it right!]

The Journal 'Ground Water' Joins the One-Word Club

When I received my January-February 2013 issue of Ground Water yesterday I noticed that the two words in the journal's title had merged into one. The same thing has happened to the other NGWA journal, now Groundwater Monitoring and Remediation.

The organization is still the National Ground Water Association (NGWA). But look at the close proximity of 'ground' to 'water' in the logo; sure looks like one word to me. It has been that way for years. We know what will happen eventually.

Why the change? I found this explanation on the NGWA WWW site:

The technical publications of the National Ground Water Association, Ground Water® and Ground Water Monitoring & Remediation®, will undergo slight title changes in 2013 as they adopt the one-word treatment of “groundwater.” 

Beginning with the first issues of 2013, the publication titles will read as Groundwater andGroundwater Monitoring & Remediation.

The change comes after confirming that the process will not affect those doing research, online tracking, or the status of the journals in the scientific community. 

Prior to the change, NGWA contacted Thomson Reuters and confirmed such a change would not affect indexing in its Thomson Reuters Web of Knowledge (formerly ISI Web of Knowledge) or disrupt issuing an impact factor/journal citation report. 

Similarly, the U.S. National Library of Medicine stated the change would not affect indexing in its PubMed database. 

Finally, the U.S. ISSN Center confirmed that because the proposed change is so minor that assigning new International Standard Serial Numbers — typically required for a publication name change — would not be necessary. 

The NGWA® Board of Directors voted to allow the one-word spelling to appear on the covers of the publications on April 17, 2012. 

This move to make the change on the covers follows the decision of the NGWA Board on June 12, 2009 to allow the one-word spelling in journal papers and other content inside the publications. 

Coincidentally, the U.S. Geological Survey switched to one-word usage for all of its publishing efforts on March 26, 2009. [Note: see my blog post on the USGS decision; also see my post on the 'one v. two' debate.]

Ground Water is a leading technical publication for groundwater hydrogeologists. Published six times a year, 2012 marked its 50th volume. 

Ground Water Monitoring & Remediation is a quarterly publication focusing on the field of groundwater monitoring and cleanup. It will enter its 33rd year in 2013.

“The title changes will be a seamless transition for the thousands of groundwater researchers and practitioners who rely and depend on our journals for content,” said Thad Plumley, NGWA’s director of publishing and knowledge products.

Interesting to note that Dr. Bill Alley, who spearheaded the USGS's switch to the 'one-word' camp (groundwater), is now NGWA's Director of Science and Technology. I am not suggesting there is a connection between Bill's employment and the 'one word' decision.

For the hardy band of hard-core two-worders, NGWA's action is the beginning of the end.

Time to move on, folks.

"By such innovations are languages enriched, when the words are adopted by the multitude, and naturalized by custom." -- Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra, author of Don Quixote

Talk: 'Evolution of a Potable Water Partnership in Rural Honduras'

Here is a presentation I gave this afternoon at our GEM (Geography, Environmental Sciences, and Marine Resource Management) seminar:

Download GEMinar_29January2013_Campana

Enjoy!

”The road to help is paved with good intentions.” – Tracy Baker

Not Just Another Water Charity: HWB at CSPG in Calgary - 'Connecting Geologists to International Development'

Shill alert! I am on the Board of Directors of Hydrogeologists Without Borders (HWB).

Our new logo could be mistaken for a measuring spoon. It's the cross section of a hillslope, with the stream on the left and the water table sloping down to the stream. We could probably use a few groundwater flow lines.

On 25 January 2013 fellow HWB BoD member, friend, and colleague David Bethune of the University of Calgary gave a presentation to the Environment Division of the Canadian Society of Petroleum Geologists in Calgary.

Download HWB_CSPG_Presentation_Jan_2013

I know - you're thinking, 'Just what we need - another water charity drilling wells!' Nope. HWB is not that - we do not seek entry into the business of drilling water wells or constructing/managing water projects in developing regions. We want to supply hydrogeological expertise - so often lacking in water projects - to other groups and countries, both on short term (individual project) and long term (capacity building) bases.

Here is a summary of David's talk:

Abstract

A new non-profit organization, Hydrogeologists Without Borders, (HWB; www.hwbwater.org) has been created to connect the profession of hydrogeology to the international development community focused on assisting marginalized people of the world. Hydrogeology is a key component of development as groundwater has gradually become the most important source of water supply in most of the developing world. This trend is predicted in continue in the coming decades due to population pressures, the limitations of surface water-based supplies and climate change impacts.  HWB was registered as a Canadian Charity in 2010.  HWB’s mandate is to strengthen developing countries’ capacity in hydrogeology, as well as that of the many water organizations involved in water projects around the world.  The primary type of water projects undertaken by such agencies focus on water supply and sanitation (WATSAN) and such projects have suffered as they have not been based on sound hydrogeologic practices in activities such as the construction of water wells and latrines, or assessing the impacts of climate change and watershed management. Initial HWB efforts have employed a two-pronged approach based on1) supporting longer-term capacity development efforts and 2) addressing more immediate needs for hydrogeologic assistance.  HWB will focus on a strategic niche, not as the management lead for implementing water projects, but instead will provide a critical and underrepresented technical support role to ensure sound hydrogeology is incorporated into projects and development so that aid organizations, governments or others are strengthened in the ability to deliver water projects more effectively and with greater benefit.  HWB will support the development of new hydrogeology technologies that are appropriate for developing countries.  HWB also will help build hydrogeology capacity in developing countries through support to hydrogeology graduate programs, students and professors in developing countries.  This presentation will include HWB’s newly developed mandate and mission statement, and seeks partnerships with the Calgary geology community.

We are also on Facebook. Check out our Board of Directors and Technical Committee.

Read our Vision, Mission and Goals.

Vision: A world where groundwater is developed and sustainably managed for community water supplies.

MIssion: Hydrogeologists Without Borders builds capacity in emerging regions to provide safe, sustainable water supplies.

Interested? Contact HWB here. 

Among other things,we are looking for funding to support an Executive Director.

“What we have done for ourselves alone dies with us; what we have done for others and the world remains and is immortal.” - Albert Pike

Normative Science: When Scientists Become Stealth Policy Advocates

Friend and colleague Dr. Robert T. Lackey recently published an article on normative science in OSU's Terra Magazine. It's an excellent take on science and advocacy. 

He begins:

Scientific information is important in many policy debates in the Pacific Northwest (salmon; wildfire severity; human activities and climate; genetically modified organisms; water scarcity). Science is essential in such policy debates, but I am concerned that policy-biased science is increasingly common.

Science should be objective and based on the best information available. Too often, however, scientific information presented to the public and decision-makers is infused with hidden policy preferences. Such science is termed normative, and it is a corruption of the practice of good science. Normative science is defined as “information that is developed, presented or interpreted based on an assumed, usually unstated, preference for a particular policy choice.”

I won't continue here - you can go to the article, which also allows comments.

One of the comments was by friend and colleague Todd Jarvis who alluded to an article he wrote that was recently published in the Oregon Geologist Examiner.

Last May I posted a PDF of Bob's lecture on Is Science Biased Toward Natural?

Good stuff.

"Science is not value free, but it should be policy neutral." - Robert T. Lackey