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About

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Member since 12/2006

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.

Events

Monday, 06 February 2023

Elaine J. Hanford's Bulletin Boards: 1) Geoscience; 2) Environmental Science; 3) Coastal Zone Management - 6 February 2023

Grad students! From @NSF - Pathways Program - @UNM and @WSUPullman! 

Welcome to Partnerships Along the Headwaters of the Americas for Young Scientists (Pathways) Program! As part of the National Science Foundation’s International Research Experience for Students, Washington State University and the University of New Mexico are hosting the Pathways program. We will be seeking MS and PhD students to conduct research as part of the Transect of the Americas in Central and South America (Argentina, Chile, Costa Rica, Ecuador, or Peru). A pre-application is due March 15, 2023. If you are invited to apply after the pre-application, the full application deadline will be due in July, 2023. Click here to start the pre-application.

6a00d8341bf80a53ef02b68525745a200d-800wi

Enjoy!

*****************************************************************************************

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

PDF: Download EJH_Bulletin_WW_Boards_6Feb2023

Word: Download EJH_Bulletin_WW_Boards_6Feb2023

Note: If a link does not work, try pasting the URL into your browser.

The articles displayed herein are selected by Dr. Elaine J. Hanford. I do not necessarily agree with the viewpoints expressed and the article descriptions that precede each link.

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Geoscience Bulletin Board - 6 February 2023 – compiled by Elaine J. Hanford

Punxsutawney Phil sees his shadow – 6 more weeks of winter! But sadly, in eastern Quebec, “Fred la marmotte” passed away

Exploring the link between geology & culture

USGS seeking public comment on helium supply risk – not on 2022 final list of critical minerals

Legacy uranium mill groundwater contaminant plume with Little Wind River in Wyoming

Effort to make 87Rb & 87Sr geochronology more cost accessible

Rock weathering occurs on geologic time scales – not the pace of human produced emissions

The impacts of Santa Ana winds

Highlighting 5 impact craters on Earth – Arizona, Mexico, South Africa, Australia & Germany

Gaming-based virtual field trips – whatever happened to real field geology?

Exploration update for Kabanga Jirani Nickel Project

Alert level raised around Lascar volcano in northern Chile – increased seismicity suggests possible eruption

Understanding rate-limiting factors for weathering of major rock types

Adding biogeochemistry & fisheries to models to forecast oceanic upwelling

Sequence of volcanic events for Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai eruption of January 2022

Possible consequences of El Niño returning in 2023

Explaining the strength amplification of seismic shaking in the Nenana Basin in Central Alaska

US EPA vetoed proposed Pebble copper & gold mine in SW Alaska to protect Bristol Bay & salmon fishery

Update:  Millennium Tower in San Francisco, California – hoping this time is the charm

India proposes stronger legislation to protect geological sites and fossils - infringing on science?

$60M infusion of ash to fund de-extinction of the woolly mammoth – still tweaking DNA

2nd session of Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC-2)  to begin in Paris in May 2023 to develop internationally legally binding instrument on full life cycle of plastic – will include marine pollution

On 40th anniversary UNCLOS and 50th anniversary of MARPOL – addressing vessel-source marine pollution

Desert Varnish on the geologic landscapes of Valencia County, California

Tucson, Arizona, Gem Show is considered the gemstone capital of the world

Paper:  Large-scale geological structures of the Egyptian Nubian Shield

Understanding relationships among glaciers, sea level temperatures & precipitation in Uganda

This was not a fossil but the remnants of a very recent beehive

Thoughts on Darwin and the Origin of the Species

Teaching The Rock Cycle – using eggshell geodes!

Perspective:  Geothermal energy once again “gaining traction”

Broad zones of disseminated nickel-copper sulfides identified outside existing high-grade platinum group elements (PGE) reef system at Panton Project in Australia

Portland, Oregon, again postpones Willamette River Crossing project to respond to future Cascadia Subduction Zone earthquake - $38M spent so far – final estimated budget not announced

Massive ash clouds from major volcanic eruptions caused cooler weather intervals noted in old records

Reconstructing the history of massive lava flows by combining field observations with thermal modeling

Visualizing global fossil fuel production

New phylogenetic family tree for evolution of paleognath birds

Subsidence area in Joshimath is 15 km upstream of Tapovan-Vishnugad hydropower project

Deepest land trench lies beneath the Denman Glacier in Antarctica

Highly concentrated gold deposits discovered along Pliver River in NW Bosnia-Herzegovina

Simulation of Chicxulub mega-tsunami 66 myo (animation)

Frost quakes (cryoseisms) in the forecast for the Northeast and New England

Environmental Science Bulletin Board - 6 February 2023 – compiled by Elaine J. Hanford

The hypocrisy of preaching environmentalism while using emissions-spewing private jets

Massive governmental spending (i.e., subsidies) does not equate with “clean energy” success

Siemens Gamesa, massive “green energy” company, reports nearly $1B in losses from Oct-Dec – wants even more massive government subsidies – déjà vu:  Solyndra all over again

CDC reports less than 50% effectiveness from latest vaxx booster

Big surprise:  Covid drug inducing new virus mutations – akin to antibiotic resistance

Big Pharma has already made $billions – but now quadrupling price of vaxx which offers questionable protection but notes “weaker demand” –“obscene covid profits”

Looking for true origin & gain-of-function research, abuse, fraud, over-reach, draconian measures, coercion… during the pandemic – lots to find – good luck getting to the truth

FDA removes positive test requirement for Rx for Paxlovid and Lagevrio antivirals

Use of anti-depressants (e.g., Zoloft & Prozac & Lexapro) linked to increasing antibiotic resistance in E. coli

Massive metastudy shows masks don’t stop spread of covid – don’t hold your breath waiting for an apology

Western bumble bee is a very effective pollinator but is imperiled by pesticides – 57% species decline

It was not the “science” but politicized policy that needs to admit it was very wrong about covid

Rez dogs may pose threat

US Department of Interior issues 20-year moratorium on mining in Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness

Twenty-nine Palms Band of Mission Indians (TPBMI) will co-manage Joshua Tree National Park

Fort Mojave Indian Tribe pushes for protection for the Colorado River – “a living spirit”

Duke Energy 120-MV Jackpot Solar project in Twin Falls County, Idaho, now operational – how ugly is it?

US Army COE has massive backlog of projects but can produce a “free” cat calendar

Voyageurs National Park Wolf Project in Minnesota – what do wolves do during the summer?

Contemplating removal of Glen Canyon Dam & future of Lake Powell on the Colorado River

Will Ocmulgee Mounds National Historical Park finally be designated a National Park in the State of Georgia? – potentially one of 11 additional NPS sites

The “end” of the pandemic?  An end to vaxxing, fraud, and some socialist programs

Mexico proposed ban on import of genetically modified corn to be effective 2024

“Super meth” made and illegally transported to the US is causing uptick in overdose deaths

EzriCare Artificial Tears eyedrops linked to antibiotic resistant eye infections in at least 11 States – one death & 3 with permanent vision loss – other infections

Tentative agreement negotiated on water usage from drought-stricken Colorado River – not California

Lots of hype about CO2, but emissions of potent sulfur hexafluoride are 56% higher than EPA estimates

ASCE to address construction standards for solar photovoltaic industry

Ugly 700-acre $140M Cutlass Solar Farm Project competed in Fort Bend, Texas – to power only 20,000 homes

Biden administration expected to approve oil drilling permits for Willow Project for 5 sites in Alaska

Smuggling of illegal aliens and illicit drugs is big business at the US-Mexico Border

Bald eagles suffering lead poisoning from ingesting lead bullets in scavenged carcasses & entrails left behind by hunters

Policy banning low-cost appliances and policy on gas stoves and electric cooking equipment is waffling in the wind – not an outright ban, yet

Cost of Coastal GasLink project now escalating to $10.89B to complete 416-mile pipeline to LNB export terminal in British Columbia

Still waiting for salmon to return to coastal rivers after California storms flushed and scoured riverbeds

Visitor center tunnel opens at former Niagara River falls power station – reveals long history

The value of abandoned shipping containers

“Wyoming has no desire to establish infrastructure that will likely fail” – will not build EV charging stations as part of national charging network

GPS tracking of desert bighorn sheep reveals optimal locations for wildlife crossings

Messing around with forces beyond their ability to grasp – genetically engineered alligator-catfish spawned in lab

Maryland commits to hiring more people at MDE to address backlog of expired pollution control permits

Visualizing per capita consumption in the US of fuel and materials

Recognizing the many benefits of cinnamon:  unique flavor, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, anti-cancer properties, and boosts immune system

Ephemeral wetlands, even small isolated ones, are pollution-catchers

Study finds 246% increase in number of homes & structures destroyed by US wildfires – human fingerprints all over the cause – 76% over two decades caused by human-related ignitions

Diverting Mississippi River water to drought-impacted West while technically feasible is cost-prohibitive and politically not realistic – then consider the massive environmental ramifications

1.5-degree goal to combat “man-made global warming” is not plausible – need to change social behaviors

Need to better understand impacts of light pollution on migrating animals

“Not Deer” in Appalachia are intelligent shape shifters – sometimes they do the hunting

Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) plans to add more solar power

https://www.timesfreepress.com/news/2023/feb/02/tva-turns-to-the-sun-for-more-power-tfp/

Coastal Zone Management Bulletin Board - Compiled by Elaine J. Hanford 

Stream discharge & salinity in St Johns River channel in Jacksonville, Florida – deepened to accommodate shipping in Jacksonville Harbor

Ciba-Geigy Chemical Corp flushed toxic chemical into Toms River & Atlantic Ocean – cancer cluster

Marking 323 years since last major earthquake & tsunami along the Oregon Coast

US DOT announced $384.4M federal grant funding for expanding & improving US Ferry System

Predicting dramatic growth in LNG export capacity – why export when US fuel supplies are not adequate?

Mass die-off of crabs across Teesside and North Yorkshire, England – raises concerns about dredging

Call for “immediate moratorium” on offshore wind energy development to assess impacts on endangered & threatened whales

Sites of conservation interest identified in support of expansion of protected marine & coastal areas in Libya

Florida DEP will begin accepting applications for Hurricane Restoration Reimbursement Grant Program

Rapid evolution of Chesapeake Bay wetland plants

Artificial lights in coastal megacities in Japan outshine the moon most of the year & put marine species at risk

New Jersey beach town that “fixed” eroding dunes can proceed with lawsuit to recover $21M

Louisiana coastal authority secures $2B for 2-mile-long Mid-Barataria Sediment Diversion from Mississippi River to Plaquemines Parish

US F&WS awards nearly $19M for coastal wetlands for wildlife, coastal communities & recreation in 8 States

PiNC (Plumes in Nearshore Conditions) to use non-toxic pink dye & instrumentation to study coastal zone interaction at Torrey Pines State Beach in California

More dumb human activities:  TikToker dies after falling off coastal cliff in Puerto Rico while shooting videos

Aquidneck Land Trust4.91-acre coastal conservation property includes salt marsh & scrub-shrub habitat

US Army COE proposal includes construction of 12 seawall barriers to “protect” NYC

Update:  Harbor Bridge at Corpus Christi, Texas

Saltwater intrusion in San Franciso Bay area potentially threatens levees & seawalls

"Let us permit nature to have her way. She understands her business better than we do."- Michel de Montaigne 

Posted on Monday, 06 February 2023 at 11:46 AM in Blogs, Twitters, WWW sites, e-Newsletters, & Lists, Elaine Hanford's Bulletin Boards, Events, Readings, Journals, Videos, Films & Visuals | | Comments (0)

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Sunday, 05 February 2023

NAWAPA Comments Redux - Numbers 1 - 5

I have probably made more posts on NAWAPA than any other subject - the North American Water and Power Alliance. Here is my first NAWAPA post. 

Here's more information on NAWAPA.

Comments by various readers are below. Your comments are welcomed. Each comment is numbered. More may be coming.

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1) I am pleased to see that there are at least some positive comments re NAWAPA. I didn't know those positive views existed. All I have heard about NAWAPA is how horrible it is and how BAD for the environment it would be. But hardly ever a balanced view. If NAWAPA had been built when it was first proposed we would benefit from it today as it would have been completed in the 90s. One might criticise China in many areas but they would have pushed through such a project and made themselves more prosperous in the process.

2) What the hell is everyone going on about> There are literally hundreds of thousands of people living in towns and cities in the Rocky Mountain trench. You can't just evict and destroy/flood hundreds of thousands of peoples' homes, farms and history. America can build reservoirs on its own land. A lot of the water already flows down there anyway. Just build your reservoirs and dams south of the border.
3) North Americas depleted water resource extends from a criminal occupation of lands belonging to Americans, forcefully taken by Caucasians for Empire. This ongoing criminality makes efficient management of adjustment to unfortunate outcomes for all humans virtually impossible. Central and southern stable and saturated aquifers are now below 5,000 feet under surface (not able to provide surface uptake, desert lands without irrigation). Northern Shield has 70 years of water remaining at present consumption levels. When that goes, Empire goes. We are left with a 10,000 year wait for the aquifers to refill at historical intake levels... however, history no longer applies: its all been turned to desert. NAWAPA was never gone: Keystone is a crude piggyback of water channels. WAY 2 GO EMPIRE! Goodbye. Don't come back.
4) As a Canadian you wonder what the right thing to do is. Canada has the largest supply of water and we won't run out of it any time soon. We can help people and make money to support our system. It seems like a win-win situation to me although many would disagree.
5) My understanding of the NAWAPA plan isn't to suck Canada dry of its fresh water sources; instead much water would be diverted from Alaska. Yes there are ecological implications of building aqueducts throughout the continent. However, I'm betting that the ecological cost of the hydroelectric energy gained and overall water supply boost for all 3 countries involved would be much less harmful than the oil sands projects currently operating in Canada.
Enjoy!
 
"Ralph Parsons looked at the map of North America and said, ‘The water’s in the wrong spot. So how can we move the water to the right spot?’" - Virginia Grebbien

Posted on Sunday, 05 February 2023 at 08:13 PM in Conflict, Cooperation, Vulnerability & Security, Events, Pacific Northwest USA, Readings, Journals, Videos, Films & Visuals, Water Quantity & Availability, Western USA | | Comments (0)

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Saturday, 04 February 2023

CRS Insight Report: 'Responding to Drought in the Colorado River Basin - Federal and State Efforts'

This CRS Insight report (updated 1 February 2023) was written by Charles V. Stern: 'Responding to Drought in the Colorado River Basin: Federal and State Efforts'.

Download CRS_Insight_Reponding_Drought_CRB_Fed_State_1Feb2023

These CRS Insight Reports feature embedded URLs linking to external sites. The posting I do here does not have these URLs. I have pasted the entire document here. Click on the second line above to get the online version.

Introduction

The Colorado River Basin (Figure 1) covers more than 246,000 square miles in seven U.S. states and Mexico. Basin waters are managed and governed by multiple laws, court decisions, and other documents known collectively as the Law of the River. The Colorado River Compact of 1922 established a framework to apportion water supplies between the river’s Upper and Lower Basins (divided at Lee Ferry, AZ). Each basin was allocated 7.5 million acre-feet (MAF) annually under the compact; an additional 1.5 MAF in annual flows was made available to Mexico under a 1944 treaty. The Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation) plays a prominent role in basin water management due to the many federally authorized projects in the basin.

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The basin is in the midst of a long-term drought, during which consumptive use has significantly exceeded natural flows. This Insight discusses the hydrological status of the basin, as well as recent agreements and proposals to address the basin’s long-term water supply issues.

When federal and state governments originally approved the Colorado River Compact, it was assumed that river flows would average 16.4 MAF per year. Actual annual flows from 1906 to 2022 were approximately 14.6 MAF, and have dropped to 12.1 MAF per year since the basin’s drought began in 2000. Some studies have projected that these conditions will continue.

The structural deficit between basin water supplies and demand has depleted storage in the basin’s two largest reservoirs—Lake Powell in the Upper Basin and Lake Mead in the Lower Basin—and threatens urban and agricultural water supplies for millions in the Southwest. Reclamation makes operational decisions for basin reservoirs in monthly 24-month studies, which project operational conditions for upcoming years (Figure 2, Figure 3).

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Mitigating Drought in the Colorado River Basin
Previous efforts to improve the basin’s water supply outlook included agreements in 2003, 2007, and 2019 (approved by Congress in P.L. 116-14). These agreements reduced Lower Basin deliveries based on Lake Mead storage levels, authorized additional water conservation efforts, and implemented a framework to coordinate Upper Basin operations to prevent losing hydropower generation at Glen Canyon Dam, among other things.

Despite these efforts, storage levels at both reservoirs have continued to fall, with Reclamation instituting Lower Basin delivery curtailments for Arizona and Nevada in 2021 and 2022. In the Upper Basin, Lake Powell fell below 3,525 feet in March 2022 for the first time since the late 1960s. To alleviate the potential for lost hydropower generation at Glen Canyon Dam at lower storage volumes, Reclamation made operational changes on Upper Basin reservoirs in 2021 and 2022.

Studies project that storage in both reservoirs may decrease further in the coming years. At a June 14, 2022, congressional hearing, Reclamation announced that states needed to conserve an additional 2 MAF to 4 MAF in 2023 and 2024 to protect storage volumes. Reclamation noted that if the target was not met with voluntary commitments, it was prepared to act unilaterally.

No major commitments were announced in response to the June request, and Reclamation did not implement new unilateral delivery curtailments. Instead, in October 2022 Reclamation announced its intent to study revised operational guidelines for 2023 and 2024. The alternatives under consideration include new “consensus-based” actions by the states to reduce demand, as well as unilateral delivery curtailments by the federal government.

In response to Reclamation’s announcement, on January 31, 2023, all basin states but California submitted to Reclamation a combined “Consensus Based Modeling Alternative” (CBMA). The CBMA assumes an additional 1.543 MAF per year in delivery reductions on Lower Basin contractors (largely through assessing evaporative losses on Lower Basin states). On the same day, California submitted its own proposal that would, among other things, reduce deliveries for Lower Basin contractors by 1.0 MAF per year. A primary difference between the two proposals is that the CBMA would distribute reductions based on consumptive use, whereas the California alternative would institute proportionally greater reductions on Arizona and Nevada to reflect California’s senior water rights under the Law of the River. To date, the Upper Basin states have declined to contribute a specific volume of cutbacks, instead laying out a five-point plan as the basis for their water conservation efforts. Reclamation’s analysis of short-term operational alternatives for river management is expected later this spring. Parallel to this process, Reclamation and stakeholders are also developing long-term (post-2026) basin operations.

Congress influences basin water management through authorizations and appropriations for Reclamation projects and activities. In addition to the 2019 authorization of the Drought Contingency Plans, Congress reauthorized “system conservation” efforts in the basin. Furthermore, recent regular and supplemental appropriations included funding for Colorado River water conservation efforts. In Section 50233 of P.L. 117-169, Congress provided $4.0 billion for drought mitigation in the West, with priority given to Colorado River Basin activities. Reclamation is using this funding to establish a Lower Basin Conservation and Efficiency Program to pay contractors to forgo deliveries of Colorado River Basin waters.

Enjoy!

“I tell you gentlemen you are piling up a heritage of conflict and litigation over water rights, for there is not enough water to supply the land." - John Wesley Powell (1893, addressing farmers and developers)

Posted on Saturday, 04 February 2023 at 07:52 PM in Climate Change, Climate & Meteorology, CRS, FMSO & GAO Reports, Events, Extremes: Droughts, Floods, etc., Policy, Planning, Governance, IWRM & Management, Water Quantity & Availability, Western USA | | Comments (1)

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Monday, 30 January 2023

Elaine J. Hanford's Bulletin Boards: 1) Geoscience; 2) Environmental Science; 3) Coastal Zone Management - 30 January 2023

Grad students! From @NSF - Pathways Program - @UNM and @WSUPullman! 

Welcome to Partnerships Along the Headwaters of the Americas for Young Scientists (Pathways) Program! As part of the National Science Foundation’s International Research Experience for Students, Washington State University and the University of New Mexico are hosting the Pathways program. We will be seeking MS and PhD students to conduct research as part of the Transect of the Americas in Central and South America (Argentina, Chile, Costa Rica, Ecuador, or Peru). A pre-application is due March 15, 2023. If you are invited to apply after the pre-application, the full application deadline will be due in July, 2023. Click here to start the pre-application.

6a00d8341bf80a53ef02af148e3fef200c-800wi

Enjoy!

*****************************************************************************************

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

PDF: Download EJH_Bulletin_WW_30Jam2023Boards

Word: Download EJH_Bulletin_WW_30Jam2023Boards

Note: If a link does not work, try pasting the URL into your browser.

The articles displayed herein are selected by Dr. Elaine J. Hanford. I do not necessarily agree with the viewpoints expressed and the article descriptions that precede each link.

******************************************************************************************

Geoscience Bulletin Board - 30 January 2023 – compiled by Elaine J. Hanford

Preview of Punxsutawney Phil’s forecast

Is the core of the Earth spin changing direction? – multi-decadal periodicity?

NOAA says 82% chance that La Niña will fade to ENSO Neutral by springtime

Federal Government tags $400M to seismically retrofit Golden Gate Bridge – final cost if finished on schedule?

Confirming a meteorite find

Honoring memory of Jesse Earl Hyde – contributed to geology of Hocking Hills & Black Hand Sandstone

The Eye of the Sahara

7 geologic formations in Eastern Montana

Drought remains when considering groundwater resources in Sonoma Valley, California

Learning about Cumberlandite – known for its magnetic properties

The age of Earth

Newberry volcano in Oregon designated as “very high threat”

Kolumbo volcano near Santorini is only temporarily dormant but has magma rising

Majuba Hill Copper drilled longest intercept of copper mineralization at Nevada porphyry project

The geology of the Iron Range in Minnesota

Fatality in underground accident at Nevada Gold Mines in Elko

Sand – ubiquitous and used for just about everything – a strategic resource

Fate of carbon on the seafloor

Visualizing the new era of gold mining

Late Cretaceous theropod diversity in Magalianes-Austral Basin in Patagonia

Balaenognathus maeuseri - Jurassic filter-feeding Pterosaur had more than 480 teeth

Formation of the Bering Land Bridge during last Ice Age

Separation of Fiji & Vanuatu tied to Samoan Sea Mounts

315 myo calamites stem fossil found in coal mine in Raleigh County, West Virginia

Wyoming State Geological Survey publishes 1:24000 geologic map of Phantom Lake Quadrangle

Malefica deckerti – Late Cretaceous duck-billed hadrosaurid discovered in Texas

OnDemand topographic maps officially join USGS National Map Offerings

Ice-entombed dead black mosses reveal 3 distinct phases of glacial advance in northern Antarctica Peninsula over past 1,500-year interval

Toward improved understanding of the Latest Permian Mass Extinction (LPME) event based on distribution of volcanogenic mercury

Mississippi Opal may become the official state gemstone

Geology of San Lorenzo Canyon in Socorro County, New Mexico

Massive Marysvale gravity slide complex in Utah

Volcanic tsunamis

Is this oarfish a precursor to a major earthquake?

Earthquake Origin Myths

Iceberg Cowboys wrangle purest water on Earth

Environmental Science Bulletin Board - 30 January 2023 – compiled by Elaine J. Hanford

The West will remain in the throes of the 23-year megadrought – California water demand will increase

Greece expanding Border Wall to prevent illegal immigration and traffickers – wants EU support

FDA list of DO NOT USE hand sanitizers now numbers 378 – most made in Mexico & some in China & US

Recurring storms caused flooding & landslides in California – how much money will State demand from Federal government to “fix” things since they were not properly prepared?

Despite drought & declining Colorado River water & reservoirs – Southern Nevada Water Authority approved $70M for projects with about half going to pipelines to bolster economic development in North Las Vegas

CDC still looking at potential stroke risk from Pfizer bi-valent vaxx especially for older adults

WHO concerned about 300+ deaths in children from toxic chemical contaminants in OTC cough syrups

FDA contemplating asking folks to get vaxxed every year – twice a year for some

US military to investigate link between nuclear missile solo work and cases of blood cancer

Wasteful California Rail Projects – estimated $45 Billion

AstraZeneca Evusheld antibody therapy for covid no longer authorized in the US

Louisiana expects to lose $564M in gas tax revenues due to EVs with $15B backlog in road & bridge projects

Giant wind turbines are falling over

Twin Pines Minerals moving forward with plan to operate just outside Okefenokee Swamp & protected wildlife refuge – Georgia EPD released draft plan since US Army COE relinquished oversight – seeking public comment

Final 1.3-mile leg to get Caltrain to downtown San Francisco cost now estimated at $6.7 Billion

The good news is:  Plant-based (fake) meat sales fell significantly in 2022 – have you ever tried to eat that stuff?

US Army COE has been dredging Mississippi River 24/7 for 6 months – did not solve the drought crisis

Plans to build largest renewable hydrogen production facility in drought-stricken California –

E-bikes cause fatal fires – solution?  Build a fireproof storage room – what about fixing the e-bikes?

Dolphins are returning to Bronx River – former “open sewer”

Road & logging restrictions reinstated in the Tongass National Forest in Alaska

FDA proposes new targets to limit lead in baby food to reduce exposure to lead by children

Fate & transport of pharmaceutical drugs after they exit your body – contaminants of emerging concern (CECs) – pharmaceutical pollution

Oregon legislation would ban sale of kangaroo parts – k-leather

Ohio bans sale of Callery Pear Trees

Sources of winter smog in Utah – industrial halogen emissions in Great Salt Lake Basin – temperature inversions

Experimental HIV vaccine fails in late clinical trial – mosaic immunogens were not effective

BLM increased reward of $25,000 for info on shooting deaths of 5 wild horses in Jake’s Valley in Nov 2021

The power grid is woefully inadequate even if all those wind & solar projects are built

El Paso, Texas, cannot cope with the escalating influx of illegals, but is planning a Downtown Deck Plaza – 2,300 feet in length at an as yet undisclosed estimated cost though already spent $1M for design study

Mexican gray wolf “Ashe” captured in New Mexico to be shipped to Mexico to allow wild breeding

Incorporating Indigenous knowledge into modern agriculture

Texas Railroad Commission issues permits for Paxton project in Piney Woods O&G waste disposal site

California receives $29.4M for winter storm damage from US DOT – just a “down payment”

California is not prepared for a potential mega-flood

Proposed rail line connecting Hartford, Connecticut, and Boston, Massachusetts estimated to cost $135M

Cause of January 2022 collapse of Fern Hollow Bridge near Pittsburgh has not yet been determined

Fear-mongering!!! – predicting catastrophic mutating cyber event in 2 years (i.e., 2025) – like Y2K all over again

Coastal Zone Management Bulletin Board - 30 January 2023 – compiled by Elaine J. Hanford

US COAST Guard seizes illegal red snapper catch from Mexican fisherman near South Padre Island, Texas

US Coast Guard outlines how to spot & report retaliation

Woman survives huge wave on North Shore of Oahu by clinging to a hammock

Central California Coast elephant seal population doing well despite being hard hit by coastal storm

US Coast Guard finds “rustic” raft abandoned by illegal migrants

Sinkhole opening up at Cape Kiwanda in Oregon

US Coast Guard phased out legacy CGPortal intranet sites

US Coast Guard airlifts possible stroke victim from Royal Caribbean cruise ship near Galveston, Texas

US Coast Guard reports monitoring Russian “spy” ship off the coast of Hawaiian Islands

OCEARCH Global Shark Tracker pings 12-foot great white shark off the coast of Florida

At least $22.4 Billion in infrastructure demanded to meet 30 GW offshore wind goal by 2030 – not realistic

Visualizing the costs of shipping

Ongoing battle against flooding in Venice, Italy

PFAS forever chemicals used in toxic toilet paper have been found in pod of orcas in British Columbia

Should radioactive water stored at Fukushima be released to the marine exclusion zone?

Herbert Hoover Dike Project around Lake Okeechobee declared complete after 18 years & cost of $1.5 billion

NOAA announced petition against crabbing in Alaskan coastal waters has failed – critical habitat

Another new scheme to respond to coastal erosion

Biggest marine plastic spill (record 1,680 metric tons of plastic pellets) on coast of Sri Lanka

Port of Long Beach plans 400-acre offshore wind turbine assembly terminal

"Million long for immortality who don't know what to do with themselves on a rainy Sunday afternoon." - Susan Ertz 

Posted on Monday, 30 January 2023 at 12:30 PM in Blogs, Twitters, WWW sites, e-Newsletters, & Lists, Elaine Hanford's Bulletin Boards, Events, Readings, Journals, Videos, Films & Visuals | | Comments (0)

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Saturday, 28 January 2023

Lake Abert Online Symposium - Recording Available!

Below the video is the info I posted on 19 January 2023. The symposium was sponsored by Oregon State University and the Oregon Lakes Association.

Link to video: https://youtu.be/r3jbwvaS8hk (c. 3:23:00 long)

Embedded. Click on the lower right to expand. 

Screen Shot 2023-01-28 at 2.50.19 PM

Colloquium program

1:00 Theo Dreher, OSU & OLA: Introduction

1:10 Ron Larson, OLA, formerly US-FWS: An Introduction to the Recent Ecology, Hydrology and Conservation Status of Lake Abert

1:30 Susan Haig, OSU, formerly USGS: Bird dependency on Lake Abert and nearby wetlands

1:50 Stan & Nathan Senner, formerly National Audubon & Univ. Massachusetts: Saline lakes and the birds that depend on them in the Pacific Flyway

2:10 David Herbst, UC-Santa Barbara: Invertebrate productivity in hypersaline lakes 2:10-2:30 Break and/or Discussion

2:40 Larry O’Neill, OSU & Oregon State Climatologist: Climate predictions for SE Oregon and future scenarios for the Chewaucan Watershed

3:00 Erica Fleishman, OSU & Oregon Climate Change Research Institute: Ecological responses to climate change in the northwestern Great Basin

3:20 Adam Hudson, USGS, Denver: Paleoclimate effects on tui chub populations and lake levels in the Chewaucan basin for the past 15,000 years

3:40 Discussion

Theo Dreher

Emeritus Professor of Microbiology
President, Oregon Lakes Association
226 Nash Hall
Oregon State University
541-231-9883

I am glad to see the above being presented. I have been interested in Lake Abert and its 'partners' whose fate appears to be desiccation - a natural outcome due to the drying of the climate in the Interior West.  
 
Here are links to some of my blog posts on the topic. Each contains more links.  
 
Lake Abert's Desiccation: Natural or Not? Why Not Find Out?  7/20/2014
 
Paper: 'Recent Desiccation of Western Great Basin Saline Lakes: Lessons from Lake Abert, Oregon, USA'    6/22/2016
 
Here is an article by my colleague Dr. Elaine J. Hanford, published in Water Resources IMPACT, March-April 2022, Pluvial Lakes of the Great Basin. 
 
Download Water Resources IMPACT March:April 2022
 
 
Screen Shot 2023-01-19 at 7.24.51 PM

Enjoy!
 
"The more requests you say yes to, the more you get! The first request you say no to, you get punished severely on your annual review!" - @ass_deans
 

Posted on Saturday, 28 January 2023 at 02:38 PM in Blogs, Twitters, WWW sites, e-Newsletters, & Lists, Climate Change, Climate & Meteorology, Conflict, Cooperation, Vulnerability & Security, Conservation, Recycling & Reuse, Education, Events, Extremes: Droughts, Floods, etc., Readings, Journals, Videos, Films & Visuals, Water Quantity & Availability, Western USA | | Comments (0)

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