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Favorite Blogs

  • Authentically Wired
    Water and a lot more from Paul F. Miller.
  • AWRA
    The water resources blog of the American Water Resources Association.
  • Blue Marble Earth
    An articulate Earth scientist with an MS in Geography from Oregon State University, Courtney van Stolk explores the 'whys' of this fantastic planet.
  • California Water Blog
    A biologist, economist, engineer and geologist walk onto a bar…From the Center for Watershed Sciences at UC-Davis.
  • Campanastan
    That's 'Campana-stan', or 'Place of Campana', formerly 'Aquablog'. Michael Campana's personal blog, promulgating his Weltanschauung.
  • Chance of Rain
    Journalist Emily Green's take on water and related issues.
  • Dr. Anne Jefferson's Watershed Hydrology Lab
    Anne blogs from Kent State University on a variety of earth science topics.
  • Great Lakes Law
    Noah Hall's blog about - what else - all things wet and legal in the Great Lakes region!
  • International Water Law Project
    Gabriel Eckstein, Professor of Law at Texas A&M University School of Law, comments on international and transboundary water law and policy.
  • John Fleck
    Former science writer @ Albuquerque Journal and current director of the Water Resources Program at U of NM. Topics: Colorado River basin, Western USA water, more!
  • Legal Planet: Environmental Law and Policy
    From the UC-Berkeley and UCLA law schools, it highlights the latest legal and policy initiatives and examines their implications.
  • Maven's Notebook
    A water, science, and environmental policy blog by Chris Austin, aka 'Maven'. Focus is on California.
  • On The Public Record
    A 'low level civil servant who reads a lot of government reports writes about California water and related topics.
  • Wettit - the water reddit
    Water blog with tons of news items, other blogs, etc.
  • Texas Agriculture Law Blog
    Don't let the name fool you - there are lots of water issues in agriculture and Tiffany Dowell of Texas A&M University does a fabulous job with this important Internet resource. Give it a read - I do every day!
  • The Water Blog
    From the Portland, OR, Water Bureau.
  • The Way of Water
    Dr. Jennifer Veilleux records her fieldwork, research, and thoughts about water resources development and management, indigenous rights, ethics, and a host of other issues.
  • Thirsty in Suburbia
    Gayle Leonard documents things from the world of water that make us smile: particularly funny, amusing and weird items on bottled water, water towers, water marketing, recycling, the art-water nexus and working.
  • This Day in Water History
    Michael J. 'Mike' McGuire, engineer extraordinaire, NAE member, and author of 'The Chlorine Revolution', blogs about historical happenings in the fields of drinking water and wastewater keyed to calendar dates.
  • WaSH Resources
    New publications, web sites and multi-media on water, sanitation and hygiene (WaSH).
  • Waste, Water, Whatever
    Elizabeth Royte's ('Bottlemania', 'Garbage Land') notes on waste, water, whatever.
  • Water Matters
    News from the Columbia University Water Center.
  • Watershed Moments: Thoughts from the Hydrosphere
    From Sarah Boon - rediscovering her writing and editing roots after 13 years, primarily as an environmental scientist. Her writing centres around creative non-fiction, specifically memoir and nature writing. The landscapes of western Canada are her main inspiration.
  • WaterWired
    All things freshwater: news, comment, publications and analysis from hydrogeologist Michael E. Campana, Professor at Oregon State University and Technical Director of the AWRA.

« February 2019 | Main | April 2019 »

31 posts from March 2019

Monday, 11 March 2019

Elaine J. Hanford's Bulletin Boards: 1) Geoscience; 2) Environmental Science; 3) Coastal Zone Management - 11 March 2019

Hey! It's National Groundwater Awareness Week!
 
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From Elaine, who lives just north of Reno off US 395:
Storms still bringing yet more snow to the Sierra.....mostly rains here at the homestead so have temporarily put the snow shovels aside.  Some locales in the Sierra have received more than 600 Elaine2inches of snow so far this winter!!!  Crystal-clear view Sunday of Mt. Rose and Slide Mountain....blanketed in SNOW!
 
Even thinking forward to redoing the flower garden this Spring ... But then, it is only mid-March as the snowflakes reminded me yesterday!

I recall one Sierra Nevada winter - 1983, I believe - where the unofficial gage near Donner Summit registered over 800 inches!

Do you know of a colleague and/or student who would be interested in receiving  these Bulletin Board   listings? Please forward this to them. A quick email to Geosciences-BBoard@att.net with the word “subscribe” in the subject line and the email address will  be added to the  weekly distribution. 

Here are Elaine's BBs as Word/PDF documents:     

As PDF: Download Bulletin_Boards_11March2019

As Word: Download Bulletin_Boards_11March2019

The weekly water news is here.

Geoscience Bulletin Board – 11 March 2019 – compiled by Elaine J. Hanford

$5M appropriation approved for research & design of new icebreaker for the Great Lakes

New evidence along Alaska-Aleutian megathrust for frequency of tsunamis

US mines produced estimated $82.2B in minerals in 2018

Green icebergs caused by iron-oxide minerals

Paleontological record reveals diversification following mass extinction event 250 myo

Deadly tornadoes leave swath of destruction across Alabama

NASA lab shows how ingredients for life could have formed deep in the ocean 4B years ago

Teeth of megalodon shark evolved over millions of years into “ultimate cutting tools”

Fossilized mammal remains digested by crocodiles in Cayman Islands identified as new species

New method for determining EQ hazards by measuring rate of energy buildup & comparison with energy released through fault creep and earthquakes

91 - 200 meter-wide Asteroid 2019 DN makes not-super-close pass of Earth (13 lunar distances away)

Dinosaur tracks at Valley Forge

Bringing water resources education to county schools in Appalachia

Will a digital unconformity be similar to a geologic unconformity?

“Geological Orrery” - Considering planetary motions and relationships to climatic history of Earth

Photo-essay:  How much snow has fallen in Crater Lake National Park this winter

Contemplating a potential major eruption at Yellowstone caldera

Louisville Zoo & Mega Cavern close after 3.4M EQ and discovery of a sinkhole

This fault line may have generated EQ that damaged the Colosseum in Rome

Kluane ice cave in the Yukon is no longer safe – may soon collapse

Laser imaging of shells reveal information for reconstruction of seasonal climate record

Is there an acceptable compromise between fracking and triggering small induced earthquakes?

Paper:  Holes in the Bottom of the Sea:  History, Revolutions & Future Opportunities

Earliest example of nest sharing discovered in 70 myo fossilized site

Magnetic field of Earth is not a stagnant entity – magnetic poles move and reverse

Ice-quakes are a regular occurrence on Antarctica

Rapid collapse of ice sheets unlikely to cause significant sea level rise

Hydrology embraces the balance of worldwide systems and local phenomena

Horseshoe crabs are not crabs - they are an arachnid species

Celebrating Lou Henry Hoover (1874- 1944; wife of Pres. Herbert Hoover) graduated from Stanford with BA in geology

Preserving archival cave in the Philippines – speleothems record climate history

Large low-shear-velocity provinces in deep mantle are not well understood

Why did ice ages get longer in duration beginning about 700,000 years ago?

Sea ice is pacemaker in abrupt climate change between 32,000 and 40,000 years ago

Volcanic dust in West Antarctic Ice Sheet suggests collapse during warm period about 130,000 years ago

Tracking changes in snowline to help predict melting of glacial ice

Dinosaurs thrived & appear to have been unaffected by long-term climate changes before asteroid strike

Putting ichthyosaurs in virtual water tanks to study how they swam

Sentinel-3 satellite will monitor ice in Antarctica

Flash floods in southern Afghanistan are destructive & deadly

Toward a better understanding of the global methane cycle

Geology Camp for budding astronauts

Encouraging Geo-tourism on Bonavista Peninsula in Newfoundland/Labrador, Canada

San Benito Geology:  Part 6 – Piece by Piece, How San Benito County Came To Be

Environmental Science Bulletin Board – 11 March 2019 – compiled by Elaine J. Hanford

African Swine fever – a hemorrhagic disease like Ebola – continues to spread - efforts to contain it

As Americans consume more stuff creating more waste – will we see the end of recycling?

Indoor chemical pollution in the home degrades fertility in both men and dogs

Measles – clusters of cases in the US – vaccine campaign in India – vaccine not linked to autism

Antibiotic resistance resulting from even low-level concentrations of pharmaceuticals from wastewater treatment plants

Perspective:  The world is not all that fragile and will likely not end in 12 years

CRS Report:  Management of the Colorado River – allocations, drought & Federal role

All that growth means more concrete – and much more impact on the global environment

Smallpox killed roughly 30% of those infected, more in newly exposed populations – Europeans weaponized disease against Native Americans – cowpox leads to Jenner’s vaccine

Vermont needs to prioritize to solve water problems

Lake Erie now has voter-approved Bill of Rights

US Army Corps of Engineers will once again study Buffalo Bayou & flooding issues

Australian dingo is unique species – not a breed of wild dog

Federal Biomass & Research Development Board releases Bioeconomy Initiative for implementation

Regional seminar “Caspian Sea – Sustainable Development and Management”

Plastics – tracking chemicals, recycling or incinerating

Bone marrow transplant may have “cured” this man of HIV

Nature Conservancy paid $14M for Shasta Big Springs Ranch – but eco project failed

Fracking in Pennsylvania linked to increased hospitalizations for skin, genital & urinary issues

Exposure to DDT before puberty linked to increased breast cancer risk 40 years later

New USGS Report & Map assess risk of once-per-century geomagnetic superstorm on NE US power grid

What happened to the people who survived the 79 AD eruption of Mount Vesuvius?

Using drones to help count koalas in Australia – algorithm processes infrared readings

Northern spotted owls are declining in numbers in the Pacific Northwest

Exploring 450 years of forest fire history in Alaska

First measurement of “human footprint” on Antarctica

Biologists at University of Utah experimentally trigger adaptive radiation in host-specific parasite species

Took the death of 21 horses before they admitted “something is drastically wrong” & closed Santa Anita

Three river otters stolen from Animal Edventures Sanctuary in North Carolina

 

Approval given for construction of $680M natural gas pipeline from Oklahoma to the Gulf Coast

US Army Corps of Engineers intends to issue crucial permit for proposed Rosemont Mine in Arizona

$300M more to be thrown into $2.75B Fargo-Moorhead flood diversion project

USDA & FDA formal agreement to regulate cell-cultured food products from livestock & poultry

PG&E does not want to pay claims for California wildfires – files bankruptcy – wants to pay $235M bonuses as worker “incentives”

Discovering how to save the rarest fish on Earth – the Devils Hole pupfish

San Bernardino County, California, bans non-CORE renewable energy projects on 1M+ acres private land

Can NYC management of wastewater & waste provide lessons for China?

“Superbloom” set to arrive across Southern California

Computer modeling in Vancouver, Canada, will assess EQ risk based on soil type & building damage

https://theprovince.com/news/local-news/vancouver-moving-ahead-with-plans-to-reduce-earthquake-risk-in-private-buildings/wcm/e0275924-c64b-47d7-b604-215bf8f9cb41

Coastal Zone Management Bulletin Board – 11 March 2019 – compiled by Elaine J. Hanford

Storm driven waves surge over lighthouse on Malta (video)

• https://www.msn.com/en-us/video/viral/big-waves-surge-over-lighthouse/vi-BBUntrC

Brine discharge impacts from the Carlsbad Desalination Plant in southern California

• Paper: https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4441/11/2/208/htm

Antibiotic-resistant bacteria found in marine life in Puget Sound – looking at cause & prevalence

• https://www.hakaimagazine.com/news/antibiotic-resistant-bacteria-are-turning-up-in-pugetsound-marine-life/

Temporary oceanfront setback rule appears to be working in North Carolina

• https://www.coastalreview.org/2019/03/living-shoreline-permitting-made-easier/

• https://www.coastalreview.org/2019/03/temporary-oceanfront-setback-rule-in-works/

NRDC releases Best Management Practices for Right Whales during offshore energy projects

• https://www.nrdc.org/experts/francine-kershaw/how-offshore-wind-developers-can-protectright-whales

• BMP: https://www.nrdc.org/sites/default/files/best-management-practices-north-atlantic-rightwhales-during-offshore-wind-energy-construction-operations-along-us-east-coast-20190301.pdf

Hawaii will continue to consider potential impacts & response to possible rise in sea level

• http://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/2019/03/05/sea-level-rise-threatens-coastal-communitieshawaii-state-struggles-find-solutions/

Pew Charitable Trust efforts to protect & restore oyster and seagrass habitats

• https://www.pewtrusts.org/en/research-and-analysis/articles/2019/03/05/pew-launchesefforts-to-protect-restore-oyster-and-seagrass-habitats

Audubon of Western Everglades notes lower shorebird count this year on Marco’s Beaches

• https://www.coastalbreezenews.com/articles/shorebird-count-lower-this-year-on-marcosbeaches/

NCCF in final stage of restoring North River Wetlands Preserve as part of larger Coastal Plain restoration

• https://www.coastalreview.org/2019/03/north-river-preserve-temporarily-closed/

Perspective: Keep college graduates in New England to further develop offshore energy

• http://www.lowellsun.com/opinion/ci_32489885/keep-our-graduates-here-build-robustoffshore-wind

5 ways marine life affects life on land

• https://news.globallandscapesforum.org/32886/5-ways-that-life-underwater-affects-life-onland/

Conflict over marine & coastal resources as commercial land development encroaches

• https://www.bangkokpost.com/news/special-reports/1637870/keeping-the-seafoodsupermarket-above-water

Collaborative study of tar balls along Orange Beach in Alabama

• https://www.obawebsite.com/oba-news/2019/orange-beach-to-help-fund-alabama-auburntar-ball-study

Algae responsible for toxic red tides in Florida survive in both high and low CO2 concentrations

• https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2019-03/fsu-rtr030419.php

Interview with Dr. Catherine Courtney addressing climate change coastal impacts

• https://www.marketwatch.com/press-release/expert-interview-with-dr-catherine-courtneymarine
environmental-science-expert-2019-03-04

Using Google Earth to map mangroves in the Galapagos

• https://sciencetrends.com/using-google-earth-to-map-the-distribution-of-mangroves-in-thegalapagos/

Sand dredged by US Army Corps of Engineers from Waukegan Harbor used along Evanston shoreline

• https://evanstonnow.com/story/government/bill-smith/2019-03-08/81453/waukegan-harborsand-to-shore-up-evanston-shoreline

US BOEM pausing review process for application to conduct seismic O&G surveys in the Atlantic

• https://www.argusmedia.com/en/news/1862484-us-pauses-work-on-one-seismic-permit-inatlantic

Coastal shipping in China begins to suffer from over-capacity

• https://www.freightwaves.com/news/maritime/port-report-china-shipping-glut-grows

Consideration given to building second super-tanker berth at Ingleside, Texas, crude export terminal

• https://www.marinelink.com/news/moda-midstream-eyes-second-tx-vlcc-berth-463711

As sea-level rises, coastal wetlands harbor more carbon in soil

• https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/03/190306131401.htm

Radio host on : 'Professor, what is an algorithm?' Professor: 'An algorithm is named for Al Gore, who, as everybody knows, invented the Internet."

Posted on Monday, 11 March 2019 at 01:14 PM in Blogs, Twitters, WWW sites, e-Newsletters, & Lists, Elaine Hanford's Bulletin Boards, Readings, Journals, Videos, Films & Visuals | | Comments (2)

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Sunday, 10 March 2019

CRS Report: 'Evolution of the Meaning of "Waters of the United States” in the Clean Water Act' (Updated 5 March 2019)

Stephen P. Mulligan has updated this CRS report originally written by Claudia Copeland: Evolution of the Meaning of “Waters of the United States” in the Clean Water Act.

Get your thinking cap on! Plenty of information.

Download CRS_Evolution_WOTUS_CWA_5March2019

Summary
For more than forty-five years, all three branches of government have struggled with how to interpret the meaning of “waters of the United States” in the Clean Water Act. In a shift from early water pollution legislation, the 1972 amendments to the Federal Water Pollution Control Act, which came to be known as the Clean Water Act, eliminated the requirement that federally regulated waters must be capable of being used by vessels in interstate commerce. Rather than use traditional navigability tests, the 1972 amendments redefined “navigable waters” for purposes of the Clean Water Act’s jurisdiction to include “the waters of the United States, including the territorial seas.” Disputes over the proper meaning of that phrase have been ongoing since that change.

CWA1

 

Federal authority to regulate waters within the United States primarily derives from the Commerce Clause, and accordingly, federal laws and regulations concerning waters of the United States cannot cover matters which exceed that constitutional source of authority. During the first two decades after the passage of the Clean Water Act, courts generally interpreted the act as having a wide jurisdictional reach. In recent decades, however, the Supreme Court has emphasized that “the grant of authority to Congress under the Commerce Clause, though broad, is not unlimited.” This modern Commerce Clause jurisprudence has informed federal courts’ approach to interpreting which “waters” are subject to the Clean Water Act. At the same time, the Supreme Court has not always provided clear rules for determining whether a particular waterbody is a water of the United States. In its most recent case on the issue, Rapanos v. United States, the High Court issued a fractured 4-1-4 decision with no majority opinion providing a rationale for how to evaluate jurisdictional disputes.

CWA1a

Some courts and commentators disagree on how the scope of federal jurisdictional waters changed over time as a result of interpretative approaches taken by the agencies responsible for administering the Clean Water Act—the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S Army Corps of Engineers (Corps). This debate resurfaced during the Obama Administration when the Corps and EPA issued a rule, known as the Clean Water Rule, which substantially redefined “waters of the United States” in the agencies’ regulations for the first time in more than two decades. While some argued that the Clean Water Rule constituted a large-scale expansion of federal jurisdiction, others asserted that the agencies construed the term in a narrower fashion than in prior regulations.

CWA2c

 

A vocal critic of the Clean Water Rule, President Trump shifted the executive branch’s policy toward the meaning of “waters of the United States.” In February 2017, President Trump issued an executive order directing EPA and the Corps to review and revise or rescind the Clean Water Rule. The agencies currently are in the process of carrying out the executive order, and they unveiled proposed regulations redefining “waters of the United States” in December 2018. As in nearly all prior attempts to define this phrase, observers disagree on whether the latest proposed definition correctly calibrates the scope of federal jurisdiction to regulate water pollution.

CWAmap

Skipping to the...

Conclusion
The debate over the jurisdictional reach of the Clean Water Act implicates complex and overlapping concerns of environmental protection, statutory interpretation, federalism, and constitutional law. While judicial interpretations of “waters of the United States” generally have followed broader trends in understanding the scope the Commerce Clause,267 the Supreme Court’s inability to identify a unified rationale in Rapanos has caused significant confusion and debate over the outer reaches of the Clean Water Act in the following years.268 Both the Obama Administration (in the Clean Water Rule) and the Trump Administration (in its rescind and revise process) have sought to provide clarity by promulgating new definitions of “waters of the United States” in EPA and the Corps’ regulations.269 But both Administrations’ efforts have faced criticism and legal challenges from certain stakeholders, creating a fragmented legal landscape for the 116th Congress in which “waters of the United States” means different things in different parts of the nation.270 Because the “waters of the United States” debate hinges on the meaning of a statutory term, Congress could provide greater clarity and uniformity by amending the Clean Water Act to define its jurisdictional scope more clearly, but legislative proposals thus far have not been enacted.

TRUMP1

Enjoy!

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

Posted on Sunday, 10 March 2019 at 08:56 AM in CRS, FMSO & GAO Reports, Readings, Journals, Videos, Films & Visuals, WaSH, Water Quality, Health & Ecosystems | | Comments (0)

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Saturday, 09 March 2019

Pubs from the National Judicial College: 1) 'Hydrologic Modeling Bench Book' 2) 'Water Science in the Courtroom'

The following publications are from the National Judicial College's Dividing the Waters (DTW) program. There are more publications but these two are freely available and caught my eye because of their science/engineering focus. Adjudicating Groundwater is another useful topic but it is not freely downloadable from the NJC website (unless you are a judge).

Thanks to Lara B. Fowler for informing me of these pubs.  When I worked in Reno I must have woalked pat the NJC building on the UNR campus a thousand times without ever checking it out.  

The blurbs are from the NJC website.

1) Hydrologic Modeling Bench Book

The bench book describes the kinds of water cases in which hydrologic models often appear, Dtw-benchbook-coverexplains why the use of these models is often essential and how the models are constructed (including their data requirements), and reviews various means, both technical and legal, of assessing the models’ quality. The benchbook also reviews some of the literature on model building and testing, describes proposed guidelines on a number of the features of model construction and testing, and presents techniques for case management in the context of handling complex models. Finally, by way of illustration it recaps four cases in which models played a central role: the Arkansas River Compact altercation (Kansas v. Colorado); the Republican River Compact dispute (Kansas v. Nebraska and Colorado); a case from South Platte (In the Matter of the Ap­plication for Water rights of Park County Sportsmen’s Ranch, et al. v. Colorado State Engineer); and a case from the Rio Grande (Rules Governing New Withdrawals of Ground Water in Water Division 3).

Download DTW_Hydrologic_Modeling_Benchbook

2) Water Science in the Courtroom

This publication reflects the new Dividing the Waters Board of Advisors’ first project to advise the Program. The Board of Advisors includes leading water law attorneys from across the country who advocate for Dividing the Waters within the water law community and advise the Program on issues identified by the Conveners. After a spirited discussion at its first meeting, the Board developed this set of recommendations on judicial management of water case science, use of scientific tools, and application of scientific uncertainty in judgments. It also recommended that Dividing the Waters continue its programs on science, focused on the fundamentals, judicial practice, and the questions judges need to ask scientists.

Download DTW-Water-Science-in-the-Courtroom-2013

Enjoy!

"Do you want to make a point or do you want to make a difference?" - on

Posted on Saturday, 09 March 2019 at 11:37 AM in Books and Reviews, Law & Economics, Water Quantity & Availability | | Comments (0)

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Friday, 08 March 2019

TGIF! Weekly Water News Summary 2 - 8 March 2019

Friend, AWRA President and Stantec Executive Facilitator Lisa Beutler paid a visit to Corvallis today and gave an enlightening talk to our GEM Seminar audience today.

What the Heck is Going on Here?

Abstract
Climate change, changes in demographics and land use, and social stratification continue to drive IMG_0790 a need for new natural resource management approaches.  Yet the challenges of asking a community to make changes in how things are done, or forging an agreement among multiple parties are often large.  While academics and managers may have a strong understanding of what “should” occur, stakeholders may have entirely different ideas or even be working from a completely different set of facts. During this session we will consider how to reassess a situation to better understand the community and decision making environment to determine what the heck is actually going on.  We will then discuss how the results of the assessment can be used to formulate change, project approaches, and community relations.  This will include considering how a failure to address these factors increases project management risks. Case studies across several natural resource disciplines will be provided to illustrate concepts.

Her PDF: Download Beutler_What_Heck_8March2019

Enjoy!

***********************************************************************************************************************
Scroll down to 'Positions Open' and 'Previous Weeks' Positions Open' to see the jobs. All my individual job Tweets are archived at #JobWaWi. Previous weekly summaries are archived at:  #WaWiNews or click here.

Top Thirty (More or Less)
From : Buzz Newsletter 8 March 2019. The Latest Earth and Space Science News!

Paper: 'Natural Variability Has Slowed the Decline inWestern U.S. Snowpack Since the 1980s'

By in : Climate Point 7 March 2019. This Week: Humans are real animals, coal ash is everywhere and turtles arrive and more!

By in : Bill would shine a light on New Mexico's water situation

'Thirsty Planet' in : Water: Climate change & population growth are making the world’s water woes more urgent

Books, Films, and Reviews
Third edition of Willis D. Weight's 800-pqge tome from : 'Practical Hydrogeology: Principles And Field Applications'

Bottled Water, Beer, Drinking Water/TapWater, and Flint Water Crisis

Bullshit and Crap Detection
From : White House Panel Will Study Whether Climate Change Is a National Security Threat. It Includes a Climate Denialist.

California
From : on 'Water Supply Reliability Estimation: An Overview'

From Where does CA's water come from? And how does it get delivered? Find out here:

From : Video: 4 minutes on the San Joaquin Valley's water challenges  

By on : The Delta .. a complicated place best explained by pictures. Check it out here:

From Plan eNews 6 March 2019: Flood Forum~Water Challenges~Fix a Leak~Conservation Showcase~Urban Landscapes~Reclamation Funding

Canada
The National Conference 26-31 May 2019: Tours, Information, and Early Bird Registration Deadline is 1 April.

From : Manitoba flood forecast warns of major Red River flooding, potential ice jams (tnx )

Climate, Climate Change, and Meteorology
From : How Did We Miss This? An Upper Atmospheric Discovery Named STEVE

By in : Climate Point 7 March 2019. This Week: Humans are real animals, coal ash is everywhere and turtles arrive and more!

Conferences,Webinars, Workshops and Calls for Abstracts/Paper
Joint conference: and Chinese Academy of Sciences: 'Water Security: New Technologies, Strategies, Policies and Institutions', Beijing, 16-18 September 2019. Abstracs due: 18 March.

The 2019 Summer Conference Call for Abstracts is Out due 10 March! 'Improving Water Infrastructure through Resilient Adaptation' 16-19 June, Casino Resort, Sparks, NV   

Conflict, Cooperation, and Security

Disasters: Droughts, Floods, Wildfires and More
In : Texas considers tougher flood disclosure rules for home sellers via

In : Missed deadline: 's Brenda Burman moves to governors on Colorado River drought plan

Daily Water Newsletters
California Water Daily
The Daily 8 Mar 2019 News, Information, Jobs & More!

The Daily 7 Mar 2019 News, Information, Jobs & More!

Florida Water Daily
The Daily 8 March 2019. News,Info, Jobs,RFPs & More!

Northeast Water Daily
The Daily 8 March 2019

Pacific Northwest Water Daily
The Daily 8 March 2019 News,Info,Jobs

Texas Water Daily
The Daily 8 March 2019. TX News, Info, Jobs & More

The Daily 7 March 2019. TX News, Info, Jobs & More

Education, Events, and Opportunities
From This Day in Water History 8 March. 1919: Sprinkling Filter Flies

From This Day in Water History 7 March. 1912: Milwaukee Sewerage Design

From This Day in Water History 6 March. 1913: Irrigation for Babylon

From This Day in Water History 5 March. 1914: East Jersey Water Company Taken Over by New Jersey

From This Day in Water History 4 March. 1877: Birth of Garrett A. Morgan; 1875: British Public Health Act Debated.

From This Day in Water History 3 March. 1906: Birth of Robert E. Hungate, Grandfather of Anaerobic Microbiology; 1879: U.S. Geological Survey Established; 1899: Rivers and Harbors Act Passed by Congress

From This Day in Water History 2 March. 1866: Birth of George C. Whipple

8 March 3PM GEM Seminar: of & President asks: 'What in the Heck is Going on Here?' Climate change, demographics, land use & ocial stratification drive a need for new natural resource management approaches.


E-Newsletters and E-Newspapers
From Friday Notes - 1 March 2019. The Importance of Groundwater - Presentations focused on key findings from new CAST paper and More!

The Newsletter 8 March 2019: Great Canadian science blogging and 's cartoons!

From Top Water Stories 25 February - 1 March 2019


Ethics, Gender, Indigenous People, Rights
In : Gila River Indian Community moves ahead with Colorado River drought plan after clash with lawmaker via

In Thanks to Ohio voters, Lake Erie just won the same legal rights as people

In : Gov. focuses on water, environment during State of the State address

Groundwater and Hydrogeology
From Friday Notes - 1 March 2019. The Importance of Groundwater - Presentations focused on key findings from new CAST paper and More!

Hydrofracking, Shale Gas, and Energy
By in : Permian Oil Boom Uncorks Multibillion-Dollar Water Play

In : Academics propose U.S.-Mexico ‘energy-water corridor’

NE Water

Personal, People, Interviews, and Quotes
8 March 3PM GEM Seminar: of & President asks: 'What in the Heck is Going on Here?' Climate change, demographics, land use & ocial stratification drive a need for new natural resource management approaches.

PNW Water

In : Oregon pot tax could help resource agencies via

In : Zapping ‘fatbergs’ creates increased energy and fertilizer. via


Policy, Planning, Law, Governance, Economics, IWRM, and Management
Article by Fred Phillips in : 3 bills finally give NM a current water plan cc:

In : Future of the Montana Water Court is unclear via

In Yakima water plan heads for Trump's desk

From Texas Ag Law Blog Weekly Round Up - 8 March 2019

Former Oregon State Senator Jackie Dingfelder, PhD, will speak at our GEM seminar 1 March, 3 PM, Burt 193: 'Wicked Water Problems: Can Network Governance Deliver? Integrated Water Management Case Studies from New Zealand and Oregon, USA'

Positions Open  
Josh's Water Jobs and More! 5 March 2019

Check out jobs @ 's Water Resources Graduate Program 

Check out !  

For the latest  Employment opportunities visit  

Amazing resource! Follow  and visit his website:  

Check out   jobs!  

Positions:  - Various locations and types: enviro science, geology, engineering, restoration, etc. 

Positions:  - Various positions across the USA. Updated regularly.  

Current Positions:  (New York City & environs) - Various. 

Positions (many):  - Various locations and duties.  

Previous Weeks' Positions Open    
Josh's Water Jobs and More! 26 February 2019

Josh's Water Jobs and More! - 19 February 2019

It's 's Water Jobs - Updated 13 February 2019

Josh's Water Jobs and More! 5 February 2019 - Updated: 6 February

Previous Weekly Water Summaries - Go To #WaWiNews
TGIF! Weekly Water News Summary 2-8 March 2019

TGIF! Weekly Water News Summary 23 February - 1 March 2019

TGIF! Weekly Water News Summary 16 - 22 February 2019

GIF! Weekly Water News Summary 9 - 15 February 2019

TGIF! Weekly Water News Summary 2 - 8 February 2019

TGIF! Weekly Water News Summary 26 January - 1 February 2019

TGIF! Weekly Water News Summary 19 - 25 January 2019

TGIF! Weekly Water News Summary 12 - 18 January 2019

TGIF! Weekly Water News Summary 5 - 11 January 2019

TGIF! Weekly Water News Summary 29 December 2018 - 4 January 2019

TGIF! Weekly Water News Summary 22 - 28 December 2018

TGIF! Weekly Water News Summary 15 - 21 December 2018

Reports, Publications, and Journals

Science, Medicine, Health, and Technology
From : How Did We Miss This? An Upper Atmospheric Discovery Named STEVE

From : Buzz Newsletter 8 March 2019. The Latest Earth and Space Science News!

Streams, Wetlands, Dams, Lakes, and Ecosystems
From : Study finds Okanagan Lake a ‘surprising source of carbon dioxide’


Texas   #txwater
In : Texas considers tougher flood disclosure rules for home sellers via

Webinar by 13 March, 1 PM ET: 'Texas' Edwards Aquifer Dispute: How a Water Market Resolved a Collision Between ESA, Groundwater Law, & Private Property Rights'

The February 2019 Newsletter 8th Annual Texas Groundwater Summit 20-22 August 2019, San Antonio, TX

From Texas Ag Law Blog Weekly Round Up - 8 March 2019


Visuals, Audios, and Infographics
From : Don’t let February be the place where your go to die! Here’s a fun infographic to keep you motivated to live your best and greenest life  

Video, Publication and More from : 'Aquifer Depletion and Potential Impacts on Long-Term Irrigated Agricultural Productivity'

Water/Land Quality and Contamination
From : New web tool for exploring levels and sources of dissolved solids in US streams


Water Supply, Quantity, Reuse, Conservation, Infrastructure
In : Conservation paves Las Vegas Valley’s path to water sustainability

In : Time for change on intermittent water supply:

WTF?
In Thanks to Ohio voters, Lake Erie just won the same legal rights as people

"We traded you to a local community college in exchange for a future draft pick." -

Posted on Friday, 08 March 2019 at 10:05 PM in Blogs, Twitters, WWW sites, e-Newsletters, & Lists, Readings, Journals, Videos, Films & Visuals, Tweets Galore It's Friday!, World Water | | Comments (0)

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Thursday, 07 March 2019

CRS Report: 'Terrorism and Security Issues Facing the Water Infrastructure Sector'; Weaponizing Groundwater Redux, More!

Claudia Copeland wrote this CRS report almost nine years ago (15 December 2010): Terrorism and Security Issues Facing the Water Infrastructure Sector.

I am surprised that this report has (apparently) not been updated; a search did not produce anything with a title similar to this one.  

Download CRS_Terrorism_Water_Infrastructure_15Dec2010

Summary
Damage to or destruction of the nation’s water supply and water quality infrastructure by terrorist attack or natural disaster could disrupt the delivery of vital human services in this country, threatening public health and the environment, or possibly causing loss of life. Interest in such problems has increased greatly since the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in the United States.

Across the country, water infrastructure systems extend over vast areas, and ownership and
operation responsibility are both public and private, but are overwhelmingly non-federal. Since 
the attacks, federal dam operators and local water and wastewater utilities have been under
heightened security conditions and are evaluating security plans and measures. There are no
federal standards or agreed-upon industry practices within the water infrastructure sector to
govern readiness, response to security incidents, and recovery. Efforts to develop protocols and
tools are ongoing since the 9/11 terrorist attacks. This report presents an overview of this large
and diverse sector, describes security-related actions by the government and private sector since
9/11, and discusses additional policy issues and responses, including congressional interest.

Policymakers have been considering a number of initiatives, including enhanced physical
security, better communication and coordination, and research. A key issue is how additional
protections and resources directed at public and private sector priorities will be funded. In
response, Congress has provided $923 million in appropriations for security at water
infrastructure facilities (to assess and protect federal facilities and support security assessment
and risk reduction activities by non-federal facilities) and passed a bill requiring drinking water
utilities to conduct security vulnerability assessments (P.L. 107-188). When Congress created the
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in 2002 (P.L. 107-297), it gave DHS responsibilities to
coordinate information to secure the nation’s critical infrastructure, including the water sector.
Under Homeland Security Presidential Directive-7, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
is the lead federal agency for protecting drinking water and wastewater utility systems.

TERROR1

 

Recent congressional interest has focused on two legislative issues: (1) security of wastewater
utilities, and (2) whether to include water utilities in chemical plant security regulations
implemented by DHS. In the 109th Congress, a Senate committee approved legislation to
encourage wastewater treatment works to conduct vulnerability assessments and develop site
security plans. Similar legislation was introduced in the 111th Congress (H.R. 2883). Congress
also turned attention to legislation to extend DHS’s Chemical Facilities Anti-Terrorism Standards
and, as part of that debate, whether to preserve an existing exemption for water utilities from
chemical facility standards or to include them in the scope of DHS security rules. The House
passed H.R. 2868 in November 2009, with a provision to require water utilities to use safer
chemicals and technology, but the Senate did not act on that bill or a companion Senate measure,
S. 3598.

Here is an excellent 2006 article by Peter Gleick on Water and Terrorism:

Download GleickWaterTerrorism06

Not sure what prompted me to ferret out this CRS report but I do harbor an interest in terrorist attacks on water infrastructure or the use of water as an agent of terrorism (see this post from 7 January 2007, my second WaterWired post. There does not seem to be much written on the weaponization of groundwater. Here is something I wrote in 2005 that can be found in the aforementioned post:

  Download Weaponization_and_Groundwater_4282005

Here is what I wrote 12 years ago:

Most of the concern for water terrorism has rightly emphasized the protection of water intakes and other entry points into water distribution systems and the development of emergency supplies and response procedures.  The contamination of reservoirs is generally considered difficult because of the large volumes of water involved and the resulting significant dilution.

But what about the intentional introduction of a chemical, biological, or radiological (CBR) agent into an aquifer, so as to cause a large number of deaths?  At first, this appears so ridiculous as to promote immediate dismissal of the concept.  If the contamination of a reservoir or storage tank with a lethal dose of a CBR agent is difficult to accomplish, then what about aquifers, whose water volumes are often measured in cubic kilometers?  But it may be possible that a biotoxin might prove more appropriate to contaminate an aquifer than a chemical or radiological agent.

Here are some of the questions that I think are important:

  • Which aquifer types would a terrorist seek to contaminate?
  • Which aquifers in the USA (and the world) have recharge areas that are well-known and accessible?
  • Which aquifers have short travel times from recharge areas to supply wells?
  • Which aquifers provide little opportunity for a toxin to disperse, sorb, react, or degrade? 
  • Which aquifers have relatively low storage volumes between recharge areas and supply wells?
  • Which (bio)toxins might be suitable for terrorist acts directed at aquifers?

In terms of vulnerability, certain types of aquifers come to mind - karst, fractured rock, and volcanic rock aquifers.

I have attached a pdf [see above] of a brief article I wrote a few years ago that was published in Ground Water News and Views, a newsletter of the National Ground Water Association. At the time some criticized me for broaching this topic, lest I give some people ideas. If that's the case, we should probably not discuss anything unpleasant, since there may be some "copycats" out there. I like to think that if more people had thought about commercial airliners being used as weapons of mass destruction we might have avoided 9/11.

I recall talking to an NGWA colleague who attended a meeting held in Atlanta shortly after 9/11. The meeting revolved around the safety of water supplies in the age of terrorism. He heard not one word about groundwater - either as an agent of terrorism or as a supply in cases where surface water supplies were compromised.

Lest you think I am giving ideas to terrorists, keep in mind that this material has been around for 12 years.

Time to rethink things.

Enjoy. Or not.

"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing." - attributed to Edmund Burke

Posted on Thursday, 07 March 2019 at 06:43 AM in Conflict, Cooperation, Vulnerability & Security, CRS, FMSO & GAO Reports, Wastewater, Stormwater & Infrastructure | | Comments (1)

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