Bill Gates backs ‘Salter Sink,’ an attempt to tame hurricanes
Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on January 4, 2010 at 8:13 amJust because I found this interesting …. From the Palm Beach Daily News:
“He is a philanthropist, a business magnate and one of the world’s richest men. Now, Bill Gates wants to put a stop to hurricanes, or at the very least, make them a bit weaker.
The founder of Microsoft is backing an idea to reduce the strength of hurricanes by cooling sea surface temperatures. In a 2008 patent filing, Gates and his friends have come up with an idea to use a fleet of vessels that could pull up colder water from the ocean depths.
Hurricanes use the warm sea surface waters as fuel for their powerful engines. The warmer the water, the more powerful the fuel and, assuming all things are equal in the atmosphere; the more mighty the hurricane.
If, on the other hand, a hurricane or tropical storm moves across cooler ocean water the storm is likely to weaken. Gates and Stephen Salter, an emeritus professor of engineering design at the University of Edinburgh, think they may have found a way to draw up the chilly water from the ocean depths. … “
Continue reading this story at the Palm Beach Daily News by clicking here.
Water and drought jokes: How dry is it?
Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on December 30, 2009 at 8:16 am
From Thirsty in Suburbia:
“[Thirsty in Suburbia is] taking it easy the last week of 2009 with reposts of some of our 2009 faves!
In case you missed it: In the thick of a blistering 2009 summer, we were inundated with news from far and wide of deep, devastating drought… so of course, that caused us to inquire, “Just HOW DRY is it?”
Drought Turning Texas Dry as Toast: Yesterday I saw this headline on MSNBC (via WaterSISWeb) so that’s my cue to dig up my collection of “It’s so dry…” jokes. … “
Nearby super-earth may be a waterworld
Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on December 22, 2009 at 2:45 pm
From Space.com (with a hit tip to the Water Sisweb!):
“A rocky and water-rich planet, not much heftier than our own, has been discovered so close to our solar system that astronomers one day may be able to study its atmosphere.
And though astronomers are pretty certain the water exists, they don’t know its state, with speculations ranging from liquid water to water ice and an exotic state called a superfluid.
The extrasolar planet, now named GJ 1214b, is about 40 light-years away. It orbits a red dwarf star. It is the only known “Super-Earth” exoplanet — worlds that have masses between Earth and Neptune — with a confirmed atmosphere.
“Astronomically speaking, this [planet] is on our block,” meaning it’s in our cosmic neighborhood, said study leader David Charbonneau of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics in Mass. “For perspective, our own TV signals have already passed beyond the distance of this star.” … “
Read more from Space.com by clicking here.
Couple’s water-saving invention uses fish feces
Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on December 18, 2009 at 8:08 amSuch an intriguing title, isn’t it? This, from San Diego’s channel 10:
“A San Diego couple said they have an invention that could help solve the state’s water woes and end world hunger, 10News reported.
Phyllis and Collie Davis’ Bay Ho back yard has a unique garden that has no soil. It has a little peat moss, and the only water required is in the heated tank that houses a secret ingredient — white fish tilapia.
The feces of the well-fed fish are sent into a pumping system that isolates the good nutrients. That nutrient-rich water is then pumped through the gravel bed several times a day. Seedlings with a bit of peat moss are rooted in the gravel. … “
Read more from San Diego’s channel 10 by clicking here.
Photo gallery: The most psychedelic lake on earth
Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on December 9, 2009 at 8:07 am
Check out this lake, which has got to be the world’s weirdest water body:
“The Spotted Lake near the city of Osoyoos in British Columbia, right at the Washington state border, is not the result of someone’s too vivid imagination but of the many different mineral deposits found in it: The lake is rich in calcium, sodium and magnesium sulphate (Epsom salts) and even silver and titanium. It is called Kliluk by the Okanagan Indians who have known of the lake’s therapeutic powers for generations.
The lake changes colour throughout the year and therefore is beautiful to look at in any season. But it is only in the summer from about June to mid September that the lake water level lowers due to evaporation and reveals the “walkways” and different pools, the lake’s “spots.” Osoyoos in fact means “narrowing of the waters” in the Okanagan language. … “
Egads! Gigantic 450 lb. jellyfish!
Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on December 8, 2009 at 7:52 am
From Environmental Graffiti, the “eeeww” story of the day! No, that’s not photoshop there… that’s a 450 lb. jellyfish!!!
“They came from the deep – swarms of giant jellyfish that can sink trawlers and strike fear into the hearts of fishermen. Growing to almost seven feet wide, weighing a sumo-sized 450lb (200kg), and armed with myriad stinging tentacles, Echizen kurage sound like the stuff of Japanese sci-fi, yet the threat they pose is as real as it gets. Since 2005, these slimy horrors have been wreaking havoc in the waters off the coast of Japan – and how to stop them is anyone’s guess.
Over recent summers, the gelatinous giants, known as Nomura’s Jellyfish in English, have mysteriously materialised in the Korean peninsula and Yellow Sea off China before drifting across the oceanic void to terrorise the people of Japan. These huge marauding armadas have caused devastation due to their habit of clogging up and destroying fishermen’s nets with their sheer bulk, or poisoning and besliming catches with their toxic tentacles, leaving the fish inedible and worthless. … “
Read more from Environmental Graffiti by clicking here.
Jon Stewart on Climategate
Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on December 6, 2009 at 8:16 amFrom Jon Stewart’s The Daily Show: A story that Aquafornia has not been covering, but certainly you’ve heard of it. Here’s Jon Stewart’s take on it (hat tip to Water Wired):
Thirsty in Suburbia covers the Golden Poo Awards. Really.
Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on November 3, 2009 at 6:47 amHere’s one of those ‘odd posts’ I’ve been known to post, but hey, I think we can all use something a little humor to break up the day’s news, and who else but the clever Thirsty in Suburbia blog to provide that for us! Check this out:
“Toilet humor (humour) has moved out of the school yard and into the studios of some of the UK’s most creative animators. I thought I was good at the potty puns and chuckles, but the threshold has been raised to astounding heights with the winners of the short film “Golden Poo Awards” announced October 15th. In fact, it’s so over the top, I spent a few minutes pondering if it could be some sort of prank!
PooP Creative (really!) and The London International Animation Festival (LIAF) jointly promoted the competition to tackle the serious issues of sanitation and hygiene in an edgy, irreverent and humorous way. …”
Like how? Check out this video which won second place:
See the winning video & find out more from the Thirsty in Suburbia blog by clicking here.
Schwarzenegger’s veto message appears to have gone above and beyond
Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on October 28, 2009 at 11:04 pmThis one reminds me of the 70s stories about playing records backwards and hearing satanic lyrics…. but it’s being batted around the internet, and even though it’s not water-related, here goes…. From the Silicon Valley Mercury News:
“SACRAMENTO — Tell us, governor, how you really feel.
In what’s either a sly jab at a critic — or just an improbably “weird coincidence” — one of the scores of tart veto messages issued by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger this month apparently contained an extra-special statement of rejection.
As in, a certain four-letter curse word, followed by its familiar friend “you.”
The phrase leaps out when reading the first letter of each line in the printed veto message — apparently the only one like it in the batch sent out Oct. 11. The hidden acrostic, first spotted by the San Francisco Bay Guardian, has since been splayed across the Internet and even on cable television. (You can check it out at gov.ca.gov/pdf/press/2009bills/AB1176_Ammiano_Veto_Message.pdf.)
“It’s just a weird coincidence,” Aaron McLear, the governor’s spokesman, said Wednesday, doing his best to play it straight. “We do hundreds of vetoes every year, so something like this was bound to happen.” …”
Read more from the Silicon Valley Mercury News by clicking here. Then go play some Led Zeppelin backwards….
Fossilised skull of ’sea monster’ pliosaur found on Dorset coast: Ferocious prehistoric predator’s skull is 2.4 metres and could belong to creature measuring up to 16 metres in length
Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on October 27, 2009 at 12:41 pm
From the Guardian.co.uk (hat tip to the Chance of Rain blog!):
“The fossilised skull of a “sea monster”, which may be the largest of its type ever found, has been unearthed on the Dorset coast.
The skull from the ferocious prehistoric predator the pliosaur is 2.4 metres long and could belong to a creature measuring up to 16 metres in length from tip to tail and weighing up to 12 tonnes.
Pliosaurs were a form of plesiosaur, a group of giant aquatic reptiles that terrorised the ocean 150m years ago, around the same time that dinosaurs roamed the Earth.
They had short necks and huge, crocodile-like heads that contained immensely powerful jaws and a set of huge, razor-sharp teeth. …”
Read more from the Guardian.co.uk by clicking here.
Last minute Halloween costumes for the water obsessed
Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on October 26, 2009 at 6:39 am
From Thirsty in Suburbia:
“Halloween is this Saturday! You haven’t gotten your costume together yet, you say? Thinking you’re “too serious” to dress up at all? Here are some costume ideas that will show the world you’re thinking about water all the time, all day every day, holidays included. (It goes without saying that many of these hunks of polyester and foam do not come in “green” and are quite unsustainable.) …”
For Thirsty in Suburbia’s costume ideas, click here.
Monday’s top of the scroll is …
Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on September 21, 2009 at 7:54 amWould you believe it is actually a slow news day …? I can’t find any story of statewide interest today. There was, of course, plenty over the weekend. However, here’s a few interesting non-California stories.
From NPR:
“The construction of mobile floodgates aims to safeguard the 1,300-year-old island city of Venice. It’s an ambitious engineering project, but some scientists say it may not be sufficient to protect Venice from rising sea levels due to climate change.
Venice rose from mudflats in the middle of a lagoon which forms the largest wetland in the Mediterranean. One of the world’s most endangered cities, it has been subject to increasing flooding due to sinking land — but also to rising sea levels.
It’s known as “aqua alta” — high water — and it brings city life to a standstill for several hours. Big boats can’t go under low-hanging bridges, and water seeps into buildings through the sewage system. Venetians have not lived on the ground floor for decades. …”
Read more from NPR by clicking here.
From the Peninsula Daily (Washington):
“The giant Humboldt squid that invaded North Olympic Peninsula waters earlier this month apparently have taken to beaching themselves.
Observers in Clallam Bay and Sekiu say that hundreds of the large squid — which can grow to six-feet-long and weigh up to 70 pounds — have littered the beaches each morning since Wednesday.
“There had to be 100 of them laying all over the beach,” said Chris Mohr, owner of Van Riper’s Resort in Sekiu on Friday.
“It was like a graveyard out there.” …”
More from the Peninsula Daily by clicking here.
Jumbo squid invade San Diego shores, spook divers
Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on July 17, 2009 at 6:29 amFrom the Associated Press:
Thousands of jumbo flying squid — aggressive 5-foot-long sea monsters with razor-sharp beaks and toothy tentacles — have invaded the shallow waters off San Diego, spooking scuba divers and washing up dead on tourist-packed beaches.
The carnivorous calamari, which can grow up to 100 pounds, came up from the depths last week and swarms of them roughed up unsuspecting divers. Some divers report tentacles enveloping their masks and yanking at their cameras and gear.
Veteran divers are staying out of the water, while others are venturing in to view the creatures up close, and are getting quite the experience:
On a recent night, Magill [a diver] watched in awe as a dozen squid with doleful, expressive eyes circled her group, tapping and patting the divers and gently bumping them before dashing away. One especially large squid suspended itself motionless in the water about three feet away and peered at her closely, its eyes rolling, before it vanished into the black. A shimmering incandescence rippled along its body, almost as if it were communicating through its skin.
But the next night, things were different: A large squid surprised Magill by hitting her from behind and grabbing at her with its arms, pulling her sideways in the water. The powerful creature ripped her buoyancy hose away from her chest and knocked away her light. When Magill recovered, she didn’t know which direction was up and at first couldn’t find the hose to help her rise to the surface. The squid was gone. “I just kicked like crazy. The first thing you think of is, ‘Oh my gosh, I don’t know if I’m going to survive this. If that squid wanted to hurt me, it would have,” she said.
Other divers have reported squid pulling at their masks and gear and roughing them up.
More from the Associated Press by clicking here.
There’s goo in them thar Alaskan waters
Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on July 17, 2009 at 6:20 amFrom Inside Bay Area:
Something big and strange is floating through the Chukchi Sea off the Alaska coast.
Hunters from Wainwright, Alaska, first started noticing the stuff early last week. It’s thick and dark and “gooey” and is drifting for miles in the cold Arctic waters, according to Gordon Brower with the North Slope Borough’s Planning and Community Services Department. Brower and other borough officials, joined by the U.S. Coast Guard, flew out to Wainwright, on Alaska’s north coast, to investigate. The agencies found “globs” of the stuff floating miles offshore Friday and collected samples for testing.
Later, Brower said, the North Slope team in a borough helicopter spotted a long strand of the stuff and followed it for about 15 miles, shooting video from the air. The next day the floating substance arrived offshore from Barrow, about 90 miles east of Wainwright, and borough officials went out in boats, collected more samples and sent them off for testing too.
Nobody knows for sure what the gunk is, but Petty Officer 1st Class Terry Hasenauer says the Coast Guard is sure what it is not. “It’s certainly biological,” Hasenauer said. “It’s definitely not an oil product of any kind. It has no characteristics of an oil, or a hazardous substance, for that matter. It’s definitely, by the smell and the makeup of it, it’s some sort of naturally occurring organic or otherwise marine organism.”
Read more from Inside Bay Area by clicking here.
Giant squid wash up on La Jolla Beach after earthquake (with video!)
Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on July 13, 2009 at 8:55 amFrom NBC Bay Area:
The quake was felt all over the county, which isn’t uncommon in San Diego — but what happened just minutes later was a little fishy. “We just got here about 15 minutes ago and Lilly, what did you see on the beach?” John Feher asked his little daughter. “Squid, squid, squid, squid, squid.” she replied.
Dozens of dazed Humboldt squid that were about three to four feet long and weighed close to 40 pounds were flapping around on La Jolla Shores beach.
“It’s like their equilibrium is all messed up and they don’t know what they’re doing and they can’t back out there,” Bill Baumann said. “It was like they got — I don’t know — all shook up.”
It didn’t take long for the seagulls to swoop in and start feeding on the squid, so beachgoers ran to the rescue and tried frantically to save them by throwing them back in the water. That proved to be a difficult task for several reasons — they were extremely heavy, very slippery, and when the good Samaritans did manage to get them back them in water, the squid didn’t know where to go and kept washing back up.
“Some people were saying it was the earthquake this morning that caused them to get disoriented but who knows? Feher said.
More from NBC Bay Area by clicking here. And if you liked that weird animal story, how about this from NPR: Birds’ Survival Relies On World’s Largest Crab Orgy
The alligator gar is one ugly fish, with few friends but new fans
Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on June 30, 2009 at 6:32 am
Check out that picture of the ’sadly misunderstood’ fish as you read this story from the Wall Street Journal:
The sadly misunderstood alligator gar, reviled for its frighteningly huge and prehistoric appearance and rows of razor-sharp teeth, has been hunted for centuries. Fishermen despise the gar because they believe the fish devour prized bass and crappie. Swimmers and boaters fear the gar’s alligator-shaped jaws could take a chunk out of them in the water.
But in recent times, alligator gar have experienced a kind of trash-to-trophy renaissance as sportsmen discovered the thrill of hunting the beasts, which can weigh up to 300 pounds and reach 8 feet in length. Gar hunting, with rod-and-reel as well as crossbow, has spawned a booming market for guides who charge as much as $750 a day to lead their clients deep into the muddy backwaters of Texas where the monster fish thrive.
In the rural South, the prospect of bagging a trophy gator gar inspires a special brand of enthusiasm. “I don’t consider myself a redneck, but sometimes I do redneck stuff,” says Mark Malfa, a gar guide in central Texas.
Paula Boudra, an athletic 32-year-old, drove nearly six hours from Sheridan, Ark., one night earlier this month for the chance to kill her first alligator gar with a crossbow. Armed with stainless-steel, prong-tipped arrows that can pierce the gar’s thick scales, her guides, Sam Lovell and Steve Barclay, steered their flat-bottom boat into the brambly creeks of East Texas’s Trinity River.
Read more from the Wall Street Journal by clicking here.
Dead Sea peril: sinkholes swallow up the unwary
Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on June 23, 2009 at 7:52 am
A story for the Weird and Wacky category from the Associated Press:
EIN GEDI, Israel (AP) — Eli Raz was peering into a narrow hole in the Dead Sea shore when the earth opened up and swallowed him. Fearing he would never be found alive, he scribbled his will on an old postcard.
After 14 hours a search party pulled him from the 10-meter-(30 foot-) deep hole unhurt, and five years later the 69-year-old geologist is working to save others from a similar fate, leading an effort to map the sinkholes that are spreading on the banks of the fabled saltwater lake.
These underground craters can open up in an instant, sucking in whatever lies above and leaving the surrounding area looking like an earthquake zone.
The phenomenon, Raz said, stems from a dire water shortage, compounded in recent years by tourism and chemical industries as well as a growing population. “This is the most remarkable evidence of the brutal interference of humans in the Dead Sea,” he said.
Read more from the Associated Press by clicking here.
Like water for money – The Phillips machine uses water to predict the economy … really!
Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on June 5, 2009 at 2:48 pmFrom the New York Times:
Two weeks ago, while visiting Cambridge University, I arranged to have lunch with my friend Allan McRobie. He’s a professor of engineering, so it seemed a bit strange that he kept insisting we meet at the department of applied economics. “There’s something there you’ve really got to see,” he said in his Liverpudlian lilt. “It’s utterly fab. Just brilliant. The Phillips machine — it uses water to predict the economy.”
Skeptical but willing to go along with the gag, I met him at the appointed place. He led me inside and stopped at the receptionist’s window. “We’re here to see the machine,” he said. She nodded and handed him a key. We made our way through a maze of corridors to the Meade Room, where the machine is housed.
You can find out how it’s done in this interesting article from the New York Times by clicking here. You can even see a video of the machine in action by clicking here.
Hat tip to the Sisweb!
Weekend humor: Invasive species you REALLY need to be worried about!
Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on April 11, 2009 at 9:15 amTalk about invasive species!
| The Daily Show With Jon Stewart | M – Th 11p / 10c | |||
| Florida Pythons on the Loose | ||||
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And you were worried about quagga mussels…..!
Hat tip to the EnvJournal, a new web/blogsite I came across which follows issues related to the Truckee River system (the east side of Lake Tahoe, Reno area) – they’ve got an interesting mix of articles and videos, like this one on zebra mussels, or this presentation on calculating your water footprint.
What to do with a dead whale? Santa Cruz wants to know
Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on April 3, 2009 at 9:08 amThe headline just begs for this, I’m sorry…! First, the story from the Contra Costa Times:
It’s tempting to call it a whale of a problem. After a dead California gray whale washed back to shore Wednesday evening, just hours after wharf workers towed it about a mile out to sea, away from the wharf, city officials and marine mammal experts Thursday again began plotting a return to sea for the pungent yearling.
Marine biologists said there is no obvious sign of trauma on the 25-foot whale and they are not sure why the young female died. California gray whales are close to shore at this time of year, as they migrate from their winter home in the warm waters off Mexico to summer feeding grounds surrounding Alaska.
Thursday, the plan was to use the buoyancy of an early Friday high tide to tow the whale at least 10 miles offshore, said Dan Buecher, the city’s wharf supervisor.
The tricky part will be the surf conditions in the rocky cove just west of Its Beach where the whale washed up, he said.
Later Thursday, when high surf predictions began rolling in, a back-up plan was hatched — to use a tow truck to haul the whale up the cliff to a low-boy trailer, and drive it out to the city landfill, Buecher said. “It’s an evolving plan,” he said. “It’s looking like the land way is safer, but we won’t know until we are there.”
Read more from the Contra Costa Times by clicking here.
Okay, now for the fun…. I can’t believe I get to pull this one out again, but hey, the headline did ask for this, you have to admit. What to do with a dead whale? Here’s what’s NOT to do in this video classic:
More April Fool’s fun
Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on April 2, 2009 at 5:18 am
Yesterday, power was out at Aquafornia headquarters for most of the day, so I missed these other fun articles for April Fool’s Day. From The Bright Green Blog:
In an unprecedented move Wednesday, the Norwegian Nobel Committee rescinded the Peace Prize it awarded in 2007 to former US vice president Al Gore and the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, amid overwhelming evidence that global warming is an elaborate hoax cooked up by Mr. Gore.
A press release from the committee quotes a chagrined Rajendra Pachauri, the UN climate panel’s chair, who claims that he was the victim of a “cunning deception spanning decades”:
“I am deeply ashamed for having unwittingly perpetuated such a massive fraud on the governments of the world,” said Mr. Pachauri.
“It turns out that all that data from satellites and radiosondes, surface temperature readings, borehole analysis, measurements of rising sea levels, melting glaciers and permafrost, phenological data, and proxy reconstructions of paleoclimatic conditions were all fabricated out of thin air by my former friend, Al Gore. Now that I think about it, I suppose that we should have instituting some sort of peer-review process before publishing such alarming conclusions. Once again, I’m very sorry.”
After revoking the 2007 prize from Gore and the IPCC, the Nobel committee retroactively awarded it to the more than 31,000 people who signed the Oregon Petition – an appeal challenging the notion that there exists a scientific consensus regarding global warming – “for their efforts to pursue pure, objective science that is free from the influence of any special interest group.”
And from Dan Bacher at IndyBay.org:
In an epic conversion like that of Saint Paul of Tarsus, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger this morning apologized to the public for his role in the destruction of California’s fish populations during a hastily assembled press conference at the State Capitol in Sacramento. Central Valley chinook salmon, steelhead, green sturgeon, delta smelt, longfin smelt and other fish populations are in an unprecedented state of collapse, due to massive water exports out of the California Delta and declining water quality – and Schwarzenegger vowed to do everything in his power to reverse the decline.
“I greatly apologize to recreational anglers, commercial fishermen, California Indian Tribes, environmentalists and the public for the damage that my administration’s policies have caused to California fish populations,” said Schwarzenegger, with tears streaming down his face. “Starting today, I will begin a new initiative to make the restoration of California’s rivers, the Delta and coastal waters the number one priority of this administration.”
He announced a number of immediate measures that will go in effect today. These include:
• imposing a ban on suction dredge mining on California rivers until new restrictions are developed by the DFG
• instructing the Central Valley Regional Water Control Board to adopt tough new water quality standards for agricultural dischargers
• setting up a meeting with President Obama and Warren Buffett, owner of the PacifiCorp’s dams, to immediately begin dam removal on the Klamath River.
• rescinding the layoff notices of 98 Department of Fish and Game wardens and cadets
In a stunning break with his previous positions, Schwarzenegger said that his plan to construct a peripheral canal around the Delta and Temperance Flat and Sites reservoirs was ill advised and “wrong.”
Read more from IndyBay.org by clicking here.
Army Corps of Engineers unleashes FART
Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on April 1, 2009 at 7:38 amBreaking news from Water Wired:
In an April 1, 2009 New Orleans press conference, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers New Orleans District Supervisor Col. R.P. ‘Pat’ McGroin announced a mammoth engineering project – the world’s largest – that would completely straighten, widen, and concrete-line the Mississippi River between New Orleans and Baton Rouge. The project, formally titled FART – Fix America’s River Transportation – has been sought by petrochemical and shipping companies for years, whose many facilities line that reach of the river.
“Let’s clear the air: FART is real, red-blooded, kick-butt, take-no-prisoners American engineering at its best,” McGroin said. “It’ll make Boston’s Big Dig look like moving sand in a cat box. Heck, we may even find more bodies than they did! Maybe Hoffa’s there!” McGroin stated that the project would “dwarf any previous engineering project” and give many Corps employees “something to do for the next 16 years.”
The FART project, estimated to cost $600B and to be completed by 2025, will completely straighten, widen, and line 130 river-miles and shorten the distance between New Orleans and Baton Rouge by 35 miles. It will permit supertankers not even on the drawing boards to sail effortlessly up and down the river. These tankers will be over one kilometer long and carry up to 8 times the fluid volume than current ones.
“FART will make my job a helluva lot easier,” said J.R. ‘Craw’ Dattie, long-time river pilot who hailed the project. “That reach of river has more curves than Britney Spears and is even more treacherous,” stated Dattie.
Read more from Water Wired by clicking here.
Massive water discovery ends California drought
Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on April 1, 2009 at 7:36 amBreaking news from A Verdant Life:
April 1, 2009 – Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and the California Department of Water Resources (DWR) today lifted the state’s year-long drought emergency order on the news that an enormous water reservoir has been discovered along California’s western border.
Although the exact size of the aquifer has yet to be determined, reports indicate it may be hundreds of miles across and more than 10,000 feet deep, billions of gallons in total. “We are delighted to say, the drought is over,” Schwarzenegger proclaimed at a beachfront press conference, a gleaming drinking glass on his podium. “This discovery will provide enough water for every man, woman, child, farmer, rancher, business, school and park in our great state to live the California lifestyle without ever again worrying whether there is enough water to waste.”
California’s $36 billion agriculture industry applauded the announcement. “Our crops, orchards and ranches have been in decline for well over a decade now,” said Andrew Simon of the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA). “This [discovery] means we will be able to get back to our business of feeding the world.”
Indeed, the state’s farmers may be able to not only regain lost ground, but even expand into new markets: low lending rates, coupled with property foreclosures throughout the state, are fueling a new era of agricultural expansion as farmers buy entire subdivisions and convert them to arable land. “We’re processing a record number of loan applications,” said banker Toiya Dobrov, whose clientele includes family farms throughout the Central Valley. “Water is going to be the new gold.”
Read more from A Verdant Life by clicking here.
Monterey Bay sea otter finds video camera, turns tables on photographer
Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on February 20, 2009 at 6:29 am
And now for something lighthearted from the San Jose Mercury News:
Wildlife photographer Enrique Aguirre makes a point of visiting Monterey Bay once a month to capture images of herons, seals and sea otters.
But on Feb. 3, the San Francisco-based freelancer found himself on the other end of the lens — with an otter apparently looking at the photographers through a video camera viewfinder.
Aguirre was on Capt. Yohn Gideon’s Elkhorn Slough Safari boat with several other professional photographers when the group spotted an otter in the distance. Gideon steered closer as Aguirre framed the shot. Then, Aguirre noticed something odd.
“I was like, did I actually see an otter with a video camera or was I hallucinating?” he said.
Read more from the San Jose Mercury News by clicking here.
Everything’s in season for squid along Pacific Coast
Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on December 7, 2008 at 7:37 amHere’s the “ew-yuck” story for your weekend:
Out of Half Moon Bay, 100 miles out to sea, the ocean surface erupted for a half mile in a froth of white water and tentacles. “The squid were eating a school of fish,” said commercial fisherman Bob Longstreth. “I’ve seen them out there. Serious predators.”
In another episode, a gang of Humboldt squid had circled the boat New Salmon Queen from Emeryville. The squid were in full attack, with the anglers aboard hooking up on every drop. Capt. Craig Shimukuzu got out his video camera to film the action and as he pressed the record button, the ocean “blew up” – a pod of 10 killer whales came to the surface in a feeding frenzy of their own, slashing the squid to bits with their teeth.
The Humboldt squid are one of the fastest growing creatures, gaining 100 lbs. in a year and growing up to six feet long. And they are voracious eaters:
The chain of amazing episodes reported by those on the sea tells you this: They eat everything in their paths.
One night, for instance, when the lights were left on aboard the commercial boat Promise, the glow on the night sea attracted needlefish, anchovies and sardines around the boat. That’s when the Humboldt squid showed up and attacked, Longstreth said. By morning, 800 pounds of squid were stuck to the side of the boat and the skipper had to gaff them one-by-one to get them off.
On the Huli Cat, in the middle of a similar frenzy, Mattusch found what he thought was a two-headed squid. On close inspection, however, he saw “one had actually eaten the body of another, and only the head was sticking out.”
Read more from the San Francisco Chronicle by clicking here.
Voters flush George W. Bush Sewage Plant proposition, ruin backers’ plans for double-entendre-laden victory speech
Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on November 5, 2008 at 5:34 amFrom SF Weekly, bad news for backers of San Francisco’s Proposition R last night:
Gathered in front of a sculpture of Abraham Lincoln conveniently sitting, yet leaning forward – not unlike someone in the midst of utilizing the toilet – backers of a proposition to rename a Parkside sewage plant after President George W. Bush waited out a cold night.
While Barack Obama stormed to victory and re-defined the term “blue state,” there was no joy in sewageville. When all the dust – we’ll assume it was dust – settled, they’d lost by roughly a 70-30 ratio.
This came as a blow to Bob Katz, who flew in all the way from Florida to be here for what he assumed would be the Proposition R victory party. Katz had been telling anyone who’d listen how a sewage plant should be named after the president for years, so when he found out such a plan was in the works in San Francisco, he enthusiastically lent his support.
Brian McConnell and Michael Jacinto, the proposition’s co-authors, weren’t ready to retrace their steps yet. But Jacinto noted that the Public Utility Commission’s oft-repeated estimate of $50,000 in city money to accommodate the name change was “pulled out of their posterior,” while both men were surprised at the Guardian and others rationalizing that christening a sewage plant after the president would be disrespectful to its employees – after all, the SEIU Local 1021, the sewage workers’ union, endorsed their proposition.
Proposition R was soundly defeated, with 69% voting no, 31% voting yes. More from SF Weekly by clicking here.
How S.F. may, uh, honor ‘W’: Measure would rename city’s sewage plant
Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on November 2, 2008 at 7:49 amFrom the San Jose Mercury News:
Lincoln has a tunnel. Washington a monument. Even Hoover has a dam.
What about George W. Bush?
In San Francisco, “W” may soon stand for “wastewater.” On Tuesday, voters will consider commemorating the 43rd president’s legacy in a less than exalted way: renaming the city’s Oceanside Water Pollution Control Plant as the George W. Bush Sewage Plant.
In a city where only 9 percent of voters are registered Republicans, organizers of the tongue-in-cheek idea had little trouble gathering 12,000 signatures to put Proposition R on the ballot.
“People were lining up to sign it,” said Brian McConnell, a phone systems designer who hatched the idea last year in a Mission District bar with friends. “One way to look at a sewage plant is in terms of its contents — what we got stuck with — the Iraq war, a $10 trillion debt and a huge mess that needs to be cleaned up.”
The measure needs only a simple majority to pass.
In a brand of civics you won’t see as part of festivities in say, Lubbock, Texas, the Yes on R news conference at City Hall on Election Night will be hosted by a drag queen named “Peaches Christ.”
If Proposition R passes, it will cost the city approximately $50,000 to redo the signage and stationary. I’ll let you know how the proposition fares on election day. Read more from the San Jose Mercury News by clicking here.
Remember, reflect, rename: an editorial in support of San Francisco’s Proposition R
Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on October 27, 2008 at 6:10 amFrom the San Francisco Chronicle, this editorial in support of Proposition R:
Proposition R, which would rename the Oceanside Water Pollution Control Plant the George W. Bush Sewage Plant, may seem like a joke. However, the intent is to democratize the memorial process by remembering the outgoing administration in an appropriate manner, by insuring that the first public monument named after the 43rd president is not an airport, highway or school. The accomplishments of the Bush administration are numerous, from legalizing torture, to invading the wrong country, to the abandonment of New Orleans, to the near collapse of the world financial system. Incompetence so breathtaking in scope must be remembered so it does not happen again.
Renaming the sewage plant after George W. Bush will memorialize his administration in the proper historical context. And the city comptroller said fiscal impact is negligible.
Read more of this editorial from the San Francisco Chronicle by clicking here.
Tracy Press: “Carbona Weather Oracle” forecasts a rainy winter, while a state water expert predicts a peripheral canal
Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on October 18, 2008 at 6:28 amFrom the Tracy Press:
Often-expressed fears that we are in for another dry winter don’t alarm Paul Rinauro, the venerable “Carbona Weather Oracle.” Despite those predictions, Paul says we are in for a wetter-than-average rainy season as he charts his annual rainfall predictions from his room in the New Hope Convalescent Hospital.
His rainfall bottom line: a seasonal total of 13 to 14 inches, some two inches above our seasonal norm of 11.5 inches. In predicting heavier-than-normal rainfall, Paul is hoping to make a comeback from last season, when he also predicted more rain than usual.
Paul uses “carefully guarded methods and help from his son Larry” to make his predictions, which include the actual dates storms will arrive. According to Paul, the first storm will arrive October 24 through 26th, with the last storm of the season April 17 to 21. Twenty one storms in all! Check your winter travel plans against Paul’s storm calendar from the Tracy Press by clicking here.
But wait, there’s more! In this same article, Frances (no last name given) of the San Luis and Delta Mendota Water Authority predicts the peripheral canal will be built: And Californians shouldn’t expect to vote on a bond issue to finance construction of the long-debated peripheral canal, she said. Agencies receiving water from the federal Central Valley Project and the California Water Project will join together to finance the canal project themselves through the sale of bonds, Frances said. That alliance will include irrigation and water districts in the San Joaquin Valley, the Silicon Valley and Southern California water agencies, led by the huge Metropolitan Water District.
Stunned Utah resident billed for 1.4 million gallons of water
Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on September 29, 2008 at 8:45 amFrom Fox News (via the Sisweb):
A Utah homeowner was billed for 1.4 million gallons of water for part of last winter, and even though Rick Baur disputes it, he paid the bill. “I was blown away,” said Baur, an Ogden resident who made good on the $9,700 bill in August. “It’s enough to buy a used car.”
That much water, the Standard-Examiner calculated, is enough to fill a swimming pool at Ben Lomond High School seven times — or a typical home pool 70 times.
The bill was for Dec. 19 to April 4, typically when residential water consumption is at its lowest of the year.
Baur said he irrigates only about a third of his 2-acre parcel and could never use that much water in any season. What’s more, he and his wife didn’t use any water at home from mid-December to early January because they were vacationing in the Virgin Islands.
“Something strange is going on,” said Craig Frisbee, the city’s water utility manager, who said he might issue Baur a hardship credit but nonetheless defended the billing. “When water goes through a meter, they (customers) are obligated to pay for that.”
More from Fox News by clicking here.
A little humor for your Monday: Preemptive memorial honors future victims of the imminent Folsom Dam disaster
Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on September 8, 2008 at 12:00 pmA little humor for your Monday …. From the Onion, via the water sisweb, enjoy this video, which covers the opening of a preemptive memorial to honor the future victims of the imminent Folsom dam disaster:
Preemptive Memorial Honors Future Victims Of Imminent Dam Disaster
Stuff in Sacramento River is algae, not human waste
Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on August 27, 2008 at 11:54 amFrom the Chico Enterprise-Record:
Like some kind of April Fool’s joke in August, nature had the last laugh with Glenn County and state officials who momentarily worried Tuesday that the stuff floating down the Sacramento River might be human waste — at least two miles of it.
Though it turned out to be a form of algae that State Park Ranger Tim Davis said indeed does look like feces. Officials initially took the call as a health hazard, accentuated by the annual Labor Day float is just days away.
Still, for all the worry, the situation also elicited a round of chuckles and puns from more than one person before the reality was clarified.
As Davis recounted, it all began around 2 p.m. when a fisherman reported seeing a “clumpy brown material” that looked like waste in the water near the boat ramp at Irvine Finch River Access, south of the Highway 32 Sacramento River bridge. The fisherman — who is a river guide — also reported what appeared to be toilet paper, was stuck to and dried on the bottom of his boat.
Though Davis said he was fairly certain the stuff was not human waste, he gingerly went ahead and physically checked the clumps out, just to be sure. “It felt like algae, but it certainly looks like the material it was thought to be,” Davis said with a hint of laughter in his voice.
More from Chico’s Enterprise-Record by clicking here.
Pass the sunscreen, the tomatoes are burning
Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on July 28, 2008 at 11:25 pmFrom the San Jose Mercury News:
SPF 45 for produce?
Just like people damage their skin in the sun, fruits and vegetables can also get nasty burns. That’s why farmers are increasingly applying sunscreen to their crops to prevent skin blistering, heat stress and blemishes.
Sunspots on a Granny Smith apple can mean the difference between the lowest price for juice or the more lucrative fresh fruit market. As for nuts, last year buyers paid on average 3-cents a pound more for sunscreen-protected nuts than untreated ones, said grower Ed Lagrutta as stood in the bed of his Chevy Silverado inspecting a San Joaquin Valley walnut grove in its second year of sunscreen tests. With yields topping 2,000 pounds an acre, it adds up, he said.
“With the costs of production going up, growers are looking to increase their margins wherever they can,” said Lagrutta, an adviser for Western Farm Services who farms 20 acres and runs tests on hundreds more.
Climate change and drought in Australia and California’s Central Valley have meant challenging growing conditions for farmers that are affecting the quality, yields and price of produce. Sunscreens alleviate at least one worry for farmers, who lose money with each fruit or vegetable that develops sun damage.
“I spend a lot of time studying drought,” said Eric Wood, Ph.D., a professor of civil and environmental engineering at Princeton University and an expert on hydrology and climate change. “Under climate change, heat stress will become a bigger issue for plants, especially when it creates new heat-released disease. Corn under stress is reflected in smaller ears and lower yields.”
Whenever I see an intriguing headline, I am always hoping for a water connection, because this blog proudly stays on topic, and thankfully, here it is:
Tests show its immediate impact is increasing yields by diminishing stress and heat-related defects, but officials at Purfresh in Fremont hope the product also can play a role in water and energy conservation by increasing a plant’s water efficiency.
“We are where Silicon Valley meets the Central Valley,” said Purfresh chief executive David Cope, who left information technology after 25 years for what he describes as “clean technology.”
“We’re using technology to address food and water availability, which affects consumer prices,” he said.
The company has gained attention for its ozone sanitation system for water, produce packing and cold storage stabilization.Bu t it was its new sunscreen Purshade that lured 20 U.S. and international farm product researchers and advisers to a walnut grove near Visalia, Calif., last week. The product also is being tested on tomatoes, grapes, kiwis and lychees in Australia, said Kerrie Mackay, who works for a company that sells crop protection products in Queensland, which she says is in 140-year drought.
More on this story from the San Jose Mercury News by clicking here.
Pictured: The floating cities that could one day house climate change refugees
Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on July 6, 2008 at 7:24 am
From the U.K.’s Mail on Sunday:
At first glance, they look like a couple of giant inflatable garden chairs that have washed out to sea. But they are, apparently, the ultimate solution to rapidly rising sea levels. This computer-generated image shows two floating cities, each with enough room for 50,000 inhabitants.
Based on the design of a lilypad, they could be used as a permanent refuge for those whose homes have been covered in water. Major cities including London, New York and Tokyo are seen as being at huge risk from oceans which could rise by as much as 3ft by the end of this century.
This solution, by the award-winning Belgian architect Vincent Callebaut, is designed to be a new place to live for those whose homelands have been wiped out.
The ‘Lilypad City’ would float around the world as an independent and fully self-sustainable home. With a lake at its centre to collect and purify rainwater, it would be accessed by three separate marinas and feature artificial mountains to offer the inhabitants a change of scenery from the seascape. Power for the central accommodation hub is provided through a series of renewable energy sources including solar panels on the mountain sides, wind turbines and a power station to harness the energy of the waves.
Mr Callebaut said: ‘The design of the city is inspired by the shape of the great Amazonia Victoria Regia lilypad. Some countries spend billions of pounds working on making their beaches and dams bigger and stronger. But the lilypad project is actually a long-term solution to the problem of the water rising.’
Read more from the U.K.’s Mail on Sunday by clicking here. (Hat tip to the Sisweb for this one!)
The Delta’s strangest yard sale
Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on June 30, 2008 at 6:37 amFrom Stockton’s Record:
Herman Miller, the storied old man who lived on his floating laboratory, teaching bacteria to eat toxic sludge until famously evicted by the feds, called Friday. Though this paper gives Miller an ink truck of coverage, we’d never met. Nevertheless, the peppery old river rat asked me to publicize his yard sale.
“You can’t believe it,” Miller said of his items. “Everything I’ve collected over 40 years. Very large boat hardware. Stuff nobody wants but me.”
Miller directed me to the site of an old creosote plant on the south bank of the Deep Water Channel, a place of Dickensian industrial grit. Near that spot a year ago, Miller tied up his barge, the Merit, grew anaerobic bacteria in vacuum tanks and encouraged the little beasties to eat pollution, his scheme to get rich.
I found him in a weedy waterfront field. He is 83, spry, diminutive, white-bearded. He was also begrimed after hauling all his stuff out of storage and arraying it in the field. “I was just counting anchors,” Miller greeted me. “I think I have six anchors. Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha.”
Also lots of laboratory equipment. “Everybody thinks I’m an old bastard who lives on the river,” Miller said. “I’m a UOP graduate, an engineer and a scientist.”
It was a lousy day, hot, muggy, the air filled with infernal smoke from distant fires. A perfect day to visit a Superfund site. That’s what the feds declared the creosote-soaked property; why they evicted Miller, after a long-drawn-out battle; why he’s selling off his cumulus.
“They told me, well, move your stuff,” Miller recounted, leading me around. “So I’m trying to sell anything for anything I can get for it.”
Of Miller’s belongings, half have an Ace Hardware usefulness, and half are too obscure to fly off the shelves – unless there’s a mad scientist convention in town.
Read the rest of this story from Stockton’s Record by clicking here.
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