The week that was, 11/22-28/2009
Posted on | November 29, 2009 | No Comments
Hourly images were taken by the UK Met Office (originally the Meteorological Office) of record rainfall over Cumbria between November 18-20. On November 23, the Met Office issued a report with radar images, an analysis chart and rainfall totals. To read it, click on the image.
“We cannot have our grandchildren, or great-grandchildren, looking back and saying, ‘Why on earth did they build here? What possessed them to do so?'” — British Labour Member of Parliament Nia Griffith, “We have to stop building on our flood plains, warns MP,” South Wales Evening Post, November 26, 2009
“The reality is that floods are going to keep happening.” –– “Experts say the torrents cannot be prevented,” Times of London, November 22, 2009
… one emergency worker said it was like “an Irish Hurricane Katrina,” — “Electricity Supply Board was warned dams could not cope with flood,” Irish Independent, November 23, 2009
“We’re not saying we’re ready to pull that trigger, but we certainly have done some additional legal work in that area.” — Bert Brantley, spokesman for Georgia Governor Sonny Perdue, on the option of moving the state boundary north so it could tap into the Tennessee River, “Georgia task force: 2012 too soon to find new water,” AP / Gainesville Sun, November 24, 2009
It’s time to get all the energy, all the best minds, all the effort on salmon recovery out of the courtroom and into the river where it belongs. — “Judge should say yes to Columbia salmon plan,” the Oregonian editorial board, November 25, 2009
“If someone says, ‘Why would the city want to put more strain on water users, and make it more difficult to use water?’ Well … from a budgetary perspective, people use more (water) and we get more money.” — Salina, Kansas City Manager Jason Gage, “City discusses water conservation,” Salina Journal, November 24, 2009
Click here to keep reading The week that was
Thank you for reading
Posted on | November 24, 2009 | 5 Comments
Chance of Rain will begin posting again with “The week that was” on Sunday, November 29th.
Concrete for coral
Posted on | November 23, 2009 | No Comments
Stocking an underwater museum in a Mexican national park off Cancun amuses people but benefits fish. BBC News 
reports that sculptures such as the one pictured left will be followed by hundreds more in a conservation effort to save imperiled coral reefs. From the article: “The sculptures will be made of PH-neutral concrete, which, it is hoped, will attract algae and marine life and give the local ecosystem a boost. According to the park’s director Jaime Gonzalez, one of the aims is to reduce the pressure on the natural habitat in other areas of the park by luring tourists away from existing coral reef, which has suffered damage from hurricanes and human activity.”
To keep reading, click here.
Thanks to Thirsty in Suburbia for spotting the article. Its editor Gayle Leonard says that she follows water in art precisely because she agrees with British conservationist Paul Jepson, who is quoted in the BBC piece saying, “Conservationists need to find different ways of engaging with the world. Artists should get involved in environmental matters so it is not just scientists trying to get the message out there.”
Tags: BBC > chance of rain > Emily Green > Thirsty in Suburbia > water art
Southwest Hydrology: the conservation issue
Posted on | November 23, 2009 | No Comments
FITTINGLY, Thanksgiving brings a feast for those on a water diet. The new issue of Southwest Hydrology looks at all manner of conservation issues, including how to approach industrial and residential use, seemingly unstoppable population growth in a dry region, the ever-tricky business of standardization of measures, how to design savings programs and affordability. To download a free copy, click here. Via WaterWired.
Permanent water conservation
Posted on | November 22, 2009 | 11 Comments
California did it. This month, the Legislature passed a package of bills that includes a statewide urban water conservation goal of 20% by 2020. We have confronted the kind of conservation that will be needed to secure the water supply of Los Angeles, and the state, in the face of population growth and climate change. Or have we? It all depends on where you put the goal posts.
To keep reading today’s op-ed in the Los Angeles Times on permanent water conservation, click here.
Correction: In citing projected population growth by 2020 for Southern California in this article, I quoted predictions as high as 43%. That was incorrect. The correct figure for Southern California as forecast in 1998 by the California Department of Housing and Community Development is 13.8% and for state-wide growth 48.3%. I greatly regret the error. Please see the comment string for more discussion of the statistics in the article.
Tags: chance of rain > Emily Green > Los Angeles Department of Water and Power > Los Angeles Times
North American Native Plant Societies
After the lawn
Garden blogs
