Saturday, April 24, 2004

Even Car Talk is about Sewage these days On car talk this morning, they read a letter from a guy who tried to drive through a flooded street.  He stalled and his car got flooded with some raw sewage.  As they were consoling the guy on the air, I was thinking that no one questions why, when it floods, we get to take a big bath in our own feces.  It has to be some combination of the following: It has been happening since the beginning of time and people just accept it, as I should, and learn to appreciate the non-fecal days better.  It has been happening more recently because municipal stormwater systems have reached their capacity, but people view them as isolated incidents because they don't know any better. People don't like to talk about the larger picture because it might make their taxes go up. It has always been happening but people are more sensitive to it now because they know a little more about feces than they used to.  3:00:55 PM    comment []

	Wednesday, April 21, 2004

Desalinization Plants Planned Near Boston I once had an argument with my housemate when I lived in Boston about her view that water was never an issue in Boston. She was from California. I pointed out to her that they had to build the Quabbin Resevoir and flood 4 towns in western Massachusetts to supply water to Boston. Now I can point to planned desalinization plants in eastern Massachusetts. 9:41:05 AM    comment []

	Tuesday, April 20, 2004

The Water Element is not under control Why so much about water all of a sudden?  Those who have known me for a long time know I have an inherited tendency to lurch into new subjects with great energy from time to time and  water has been popping up a lot lately.  There are lots of interesting water-related issues to write about and I have a special blog category about water.  A recent two part NPR Morning edition story captures some of the issues that come into play. Way too huge of a subject:  Fishing to plumbing to sewage to mercury to bonding bills to drought.   9:16:53 AM    comment []

thirsty businesses look back to the rust belt Milwaukee has plenty of water, however, and that rust belt city is using low water and sewer rates to lure companies to set up shop there and keep the ones that are already there happy.  via an NPR Morning edition story 9:04:44 AM    comment []

	Monday, April 19, 2004

Nebraska Drought affects Grand Island Drinking Water Grand Island Nebraska is finding that nitrate levels in drinking water go up when the Platte river runs dry (as it probably will this year) .  Agricultural run-off contributes nitrates to ground water in rural areas.  The people of Grand Island have their well fields right in the zone where if there is enough water in the river, the river water presses the nitrate laden water back, but if there is not enough water, the nitrate laden water flows into the well field.  8:18:29 PM    comment []

Dr. Peter Gleick is an internationally recognized water expert, a "visionary" as a matter of fact. He will speak tomorrw about "A vision for water in the 21st century" at the Bell Museum auditorium reception and book signing:  4:30 pm   talk:  5:15 Free and open to public link: http://wrc.coafes.umn.edu/Gleick_flier_bl.pdf 6:54:11 PM    comment []

	Wednesday, April 14, 2004

Zen and the Art of Stupid Bullshit Plumbing I had one more day to fix the leak in the shower before the plumber is called in.  It should be a simple case of replace the washer and screw the stem back in.  But it is never that simple, is it?  After two trips to the hardware store and heating up the stem on the electric stove to get the pieces apart, I gave up for the night.   That plumber really has his work cut out for him now. 11:34:05 PM    comment []

	Tuesday, April 13, 2004

Denver is Running Dry Running Dry is an amazing 3 part story in the Rocky Mountain News about Denver's water problems and the billions of dollars it will take to sustain our civilization there.  I found it because the guy who did the graphics won a journalism award. The articles provide insight into the physics of wells, the price of ignorance, the power of developers and the cost of water.  Imagine buying a your dream home and finding out a month later that you have to pay $15,000 for a new well.  The article mentions a hotel in Denver that powered its elevator off of the water pressure in the newly discovered aquifers under Denver at the turn of the century.  That is true steampunk material. 11:03:36 PM    comment []

	Sunday, April 11, 2004

Seabrook, NH Seabrook, NH has some really troubling water problems.  Troubling for people with pools to fill and lawns to water, that is.  7,000 people must pay $6 million for water upgrades.  Cry me a river. 11:09:21 PM    comment []

	Wednesday, April 07, 2004

DNR Trout Stream Easement GIS Layer My cube neighbor is creating a database of all the easements owned by the state along trout streams.  It will soon be available in GIS format.  That is, you can download the data and make pictures like this, which is the new data layed over arial photos.  This particular selection is Lower Gavin Brook in Stockton, MN:  4:23:59 PM    comment []

	Friday, April 02, 2004

Trapping Turtles This is a turtle tag.  If you are a turtle seller or recreational turtle trapper, all of your traps require one.   The DNR sells about 50 turtle licenses each year.   Three people here have told me they taste like chicken.  If not prepared properly they can be very high in contaminants because their fatty tissues store contaminants from their scavenger diet.  To prepare a snapping turtle, you chop the head off and let it bleed out for 24 hours because the involuntary movements last that long.  If you don't hang them up while they are bleeding, they can crawl away without a head and get lost.  Turtle is a popular item on the menu of area restaurants west of St. Cloud.  I want to find out where I can try some.     11:13:33 PM    comment []

	Thursday, April 01, 2004

the bill is due When the budget worry beads come out, it is usually about medicare and social security, but another 500 pound gorilla is infrastructure needs, few more pressing and costly than water treatment.   It looks like Atlanta is going first: A federal judge's ruling that Atlanta's sewer system violates the Federal Clean Water Act prompts the city to begin replacing thousands of miles of sewer pipes. Replacing the pipes, many of which are nearly 100 years old, is expected to cost over $3 billion -- a price to be absorbed primarily by local citizens and businesses. Yow.  Listen to the All Things Considered piece. 9:10:17 AM    comment []

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