We've Moved!

Check out the GaugeCam Blog for more posts.

Erosion and Embankments

I found an article in the Cleveland Plain Dealer today.  They are attributing the decay of retaining walls to erosion caused by stormwater.  That may be completely accurate, but some of the images remind me of design concepts we are learning in my seepage and embankment class.  It does bring up an interesting question of where erosion and bank/wall failure intersect.

The article is here.

Reading list for Water, Biology and Ecology

A nice list of science and policy books here.

National Geographic's Water Issue

You can download the online edition of the Water Issue here.

You'll have to download and install zinio to check it out, but it is definitely worth it!

Water Pollution on Global Scale

From CNN:

U.N. report: Let's turn foul water from mass killer into global treasure

Stormwater Blogs

Stormwater - The Journal for Surface Water Quality Professionals

Here's the blog roll.

Thinking about onsite wastewater treatment...

Senior Project:

Phase I - Feasibility Study of Wastewater Treatment Options for a Day Camp

What happens to effluent once it reaches the drainfield?  Section 3.7 of this document provides insight.

Here's another interesting EPA document on the use of wetlands for wastewater treatment and wildlife habitat.

Food and Water

Off Topic: Self-publishing a book

Ever been interested in publishing a book about water resources? 

Here are some publishing resources:

Six Ways to Publish Your Own Book

Lulu.com - (includes eBook option)

Cafepress

Water Considered

National Public Radio's All Things Considered hosted Steven Solomon, who wrote "Water: The Epic Struggle for Wealth, Power, and Civilization".

Things to consider:

- 13 gallons of water per person, per day for bare necessities
- Some say water is the new oil, regarding power, etc
- Others say oil has been an anomoly and water is just reclaiming its rightful place

Here a link to the podcast.

Ethics, Corruption, and Water Lecture

Here is a lecture on ethics, corruption, and water from Oregon State. The guest lecturer, Vivienne Bennett wrote The Politics of Water: Urban Protest, Gender and Power in Monterrey, Mexico.

Test of New Camera Image Feed

Demonstration Flume

The North Carolina State University American Water Resources Association (AWRA) chapter would like to create a small teaching flume. Here is a demonstration flume that looks like it would be a lot of fun to operate. Newbury Hydraulics put this information together, including a construction blueprint at the end of the packet.

Clean Water Act - NY Times

Here's a New York Times editorial regarding the Clean Water Act. There is also a link to these investigative articles.

Water in the Courts

The Supreme Court is considering a case involving North Carolina and South Carolina. My Hydrology professor pointed this article out.

Threatened and Discontinued Stream Gauges

United States Geological Survey (USGS) has posted a listing of threatened and discontinued stream gauges here. Funding from partners has dried up in most of these situations, which I guess is not surprising.

Akron, OH Water Quality

I used to live in Akron, OH, so water quality there is interesting to me. Of course, Akron is located in the Cuyahoga Valley, home of the infamous Cuyahoga River!

The Akron Beacon Journal recently published a couple stories about water quality issues there:
Algae
Sediment

The sediment issue is particularly interesting because they are considering the removal of a dam and want to know what will eventually be transferred downstream.

Water and Energy Nexus

From a WRRI e-mail newsletter: Water & Energy Nexus: Renewable and Sustainable Options for Charlotte Mecklenburg Utilities Wastewater Treatment Plants

Since we experienced drought in North Carolina we've heard a lot about rain barrels and water conservation. Not long ago I was more involved in residential energy efficiency, so I attended several forums and panel discussions about green building and energy efficiency. What struck me was how little was mentioned about energy savings that occurs when we use less water. Or, how water use and ecological impact near power plants could be reduced by conserving energy.

The EPA has thought about it some. Here is their assessment.

University of Iowa, PIV

The University of Iowa has an impressive hydraulics laboratory.

Here is a 1/16th scale channel they used to test their Large Scale Particle Image Velocimetry system.

They have also created a tipping bucket rain gauge calibrator. The description of this calibration system is here.

Ground, Water, Stream, Gauge, Gage?

I bumped into the WaterWired blog today. I also bumped into this blog while trying to determine the correct spelling(s) of ground water. I'm still slightly uncertain.

The same thing happened earlier this year when I started reading about stream gauges. USGS seems to favor "gage", at least on this part of their website.