On June 10, 2013, Dave White, DCDC co-director and Senior Sustainability Scientist with the Global Institute of Sustainability and an ASU contingent, had the unique opportunity to travel to Tec de Monterrey in Monterrey, Mexico to participate in an exchange program focused on sustainability education.

Dave presented the sustainability research, education, and community and institutional outreach efforts conducted by DCDC with an emphasis on two key aspects.

First, the ongoing research and stakeholder outreach project which involves faculty researchers from both ASU and Tec. This project, informally called the Water Innovation Consortium, involves stakeholder engagement, social science, hydrology, and integrated decision support and was funded by the two universities along with Inter-American Development Bank and FEMSA Foundation.

Second, Dave also met with colleagues from Tec taking the opportunity to learn about their approach to sustainability education with the aim of improving our related efforts at ASU.

Dave met with specific faculty partners including Dr. Jurgen Malknecht, Director, Water Center for Latin America and the Caribbean(CAALCA), Tec de Monterrey.

Additional information in Spanish from the Agencia Pernambucana de Aquas y Clima (APAC).

By Tony Perry, Los Angeles Times
May 28, 2013

SAN DIEGO — Officials in the seven states that depend on the drought-beset Colorado River expressed a cautious willingness Tuesday to join the federal government in a complex, possibly contentious effort to step up conservation.

At a meeting in San Diego, officials of the Department of the Interior and the Bureau of Reclamation announced the establishment of three inter-state committees to devise plans for conservation, possibly including water reuse, desalination, water banking and the sale of water from farms to cities.

“While the solutions won’t be easy for anyone involved, the consequences of failure are too dire to ignore,” said Patricia Mulroy, general manager of the Southern Nevada Water Authority.

The committees have been ordered to have their recommendations ready by year’s end — virtually lightning speed for water-sharing issues that regularly take years, often decades, to resolve, if they can be resolved at all.

One committee will be composed of major municipal and industrial water users, one of agricultural interests, and one will have representatives from environmental groups. Also, the federal government is pledging to work on conservation projects with 10 American Indian tribes that have rights to the Colorado River and its tributaries.

On one point, there appears to be no disagreement: The hour is late and shortages loom as demand threatens to outstrip supply. Last year was the fifth driest on record; this year is headed to be the fourth driest.

By Oct. 1, the river’s two reservoirs, Lake Mead and Lake Powell, could be at less than half of their capacity, according to the Bureau of Reclamation.

“The time for action is now,” said Jennifer Pitt, head of the Environmental Defense Fund’s Colorado River Project. “Communities that depend on the Colorado River — for water supply or as the foundation of a $26-billion recreation economy — cannot afford to wait.”

Continue reading at the Los Angeles Times.

via The New York Times
By MICHAEL WINES
Published: May 19, 2013

HASKELL COUNTY, Kan. — Forty-nine years ago, Ashley Yost’s grandfather sank a well deep into a half-mile square of rich Kansas farmland. He struck an artery of water so prodigious that he could pump 1,600 gallons to the surface every minute.¶ Last year, Mr. Yost was coaxing just 300 gallons from the earth, and pumping up sand in order to do it. By harvest time, the grit had robbed him of $20,000 worth of pumps and any hope of returning to the bumper harvests of years past.

“That’s prime land,” he said not long ago, gesturing from his pickup at the stubby remains of last year’s crop. “I’ve raised 294 bushels of corn an acre there before, with water and the Lord’s help.” Now, he said, “it’s over.”

The land, known as Section 35, sits atop the High Plains Aquifer, a waterlogged jumble of sand, clay and gravel that begins beneath Wyoming and South Dakota and stretches clear to the Texas Panhandle. The aquifer’s northern reaches still hold enough water in many places to last hundreds of years. But as one heads south, it is increasingly tapped out, drained by ever more intensive farming and, lately, by drought.

Vast stretches of Texas farmland lying over the aquifer no longer support irrigation. In west-central Kansas, up to a fifth of the irrigated farmland along a 100-mile swath of the aquifer has already gone dry. In many other places, there no longer is enough water to supply farmers’ peak needs during Kansas’ scorching summers.

And when the groundwater runs out, it is gone for good. Refilling the aquifer would require hundreds, if not thousands, of years of rains.

Continue reading at The New York Times.

An Underground Pool Drying Up

via The New York Times

Portions of the High Plains Aquifer are rapidly being depleted by farmers who are pumping too much water to irrigate their crops, particularly in the southern half in Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas. Levels have declined up to 242 feet in some areas, from predevelopment — before substantial groundwater irrigation began — to 2011.

Source: U.S. Geological Survey and The New York Times

Emily Allen, a two-time intern in DCDC’s Internship for Science-Practice Integration (ISPI) program, has won the Udall Scholarship for commitment to the environment.

Emily has aspirations of following the example of famed U.S. Congressman Morris K. Udall.

Throughout his decades-long career of representing Arizona, Udall – a lawyer and environmentalist- worked on legislation to expand the national park system, protect the environment and effectively manage natural resources. He also was a driving force for legislation, called the Central Arizona Project (CAP), which brought Colorado River water to the parched Arizona desert.

While Udall supported the project, which routed river water through Arizona and into Phoenix and Tucson, he was concerned about its environmental impact. This dilemma became a significant challenge of Udall’s work on the CAP.

Allen, a sustainability and English major and student in Barrett, The Honors College, has been named a 2013 Udall Scholar by the Morris K. Udall and Stewart L. Udall Foundation. She will receive a $5,000 scholarship to use toward tuition for her senior year at Arizona State University.

She was among 488 candidates nominated by 230 colleges and universities. Fifty recipients from 43 colleges and universities were chosen for this year’s scholarship. Udall Scholars are selected on the basis of commitment to careers in the environment, Native American health care or tribal public policy; leadership potential; academic achievement; and record of public service.

“My career goal is to work with local governments in the state of Arizona to protect fragile water resources from the pressures of overuse and rapid urban development. I plan to accomplish this goal as an attorney with a water law specialty, either in a private firm or a local municipality,” Allen stated on her scholarship application.

“I will learn from Morris Udall’s challenge in office and defend water resources against unreasonable urban uses. I will be the additional support that city officials need to protect and property manage water resources,” she added.

Allen said she is honored and humbled to have won the scholarship.

“It is an incredible honor to have the opportunity to engage further with the Udall Foundation and to be able to learn more about environmental leadership through their network,” she said.

“I also feel humbled because so many people helped me to earn this award. My application was based on my experience with the School of Sustainability, the Barrett Honors College, and the Decision Center for a Desert City. The exceptional mentorship available to me through those three entities not only helped me to develop my credentials for the scholarship, but they also provided me with critical support in the scholarship application process,” she added.

Emily’s work in DCDC’s ISPI program has included working in 2011 at the City of Mesa with mentor Mark Holmes, P.G. on Uncovering Barriers and Motivations in Groundwater Management Collaboration and GIS-Based Delineation of Prime Groundwater Recharge Areas in the East Salt River Sub-basin and her current internship with the City of Phoenix working with mentor Doug Frost.

Allen will attend a conference of Udall Scholars August 7-11 in Tucson where they will receive their awards and meet policymakers and community leaders in environmental fields, tribal health care, and governance.

By Henry Fountain on April 15, 2013 via The New York Times

CUCAPÁ EL MAYOR, Mexico — Germán Muñoz looked out at the river before him and talked about the days when dolphins swam here, 60 miles from the sea.

“The wave made noise like a train,” he said, describing the tides that would roll up the Colorado River from the Gulf of California and then a mile or so up this tributary, past his family’s land. “There would be all kinds of fish jumping, very happy. And then the dolphins would come, chasing the fish.”

That was in the 1950s, when the Colorado still flowed regularly to the gulf — as it had for tens of thousands of years, washing sand and silt down from the Rocky Mountains to form a vast and fertile delta. In the last half-century, thanks to dams that throttled the Colorado and diverted its water to fuel the rise of the American West, the river has effectively ended at the Mexican border. The Colorado delta, once a lush network of freshwater and marine wetlands and meandering river channels and a haven for fish, migrating birds and other wildlife, is largely a parched wasteland.

Mr. Muñoz last saw a dolphin as a teenager in 1963, the year the last of the big Colorado dams, the Glen Canyon, began impounding water 700 miles upstream. “The river doesn’t come here anymore,” he said.

But after decades of dismay in Mexico over the state of the delta, there is reason for some optimism. An amendment to a seven-decades-old treaty between the United States and Mexico, called Minute 319, will send water down the river once again and support efforts to restore native habitat and attract local and migratory wildlife.

Continue reading at The New York Times.

via Denver Post on March 27, 2013

On Monday, Denver returns to a low-water lifestyle that many haven’t experienced in more than a decade.

The Denver Board of Water Commissioners on Wednesday declared a Stage 2 drought, with mandatory restrictions on lawn irrigation, hotel laundry, car washing and other nonessential uses.

Residents may water lawns only twice weekly. Restaurants can serve water to customers only when asked. Lodging establishments can wash sheets for long-term guests no more frequently than every four days, unless the customer makes a request.

Cars may be washed only by using a bucket or a hand-held hose equipped with an automatic shut-off nozzle. Fleet and commercial vehicles may be washed only once a week.

Water-watchers say this drought is worse than in 2002, the last time Stage 2 restrictions were enacted.

Read more: Denver Water approves mandatory watering restrictions because of drought – The Denver Post

via NASA Images Image of the Day

The Colorado Plateau spans northern Arizona, southern Utah, northwestern New Mexico, and southwestern Colorado. This physiographic province is well known for its striking landscapes and broad vistas—an impression that is enhanced by the view from the orbital perspective of the International Space Station. This astronaut photograph highlights part of the Utah-Arizona border region of the Plateau, and includes several prominent landforms.

The Colorado River, dammed to form Lake Powell in 1963, crosses from east to west (which is left to right here because the astronaut was looking south; north is towards the bottom of the image). The confluence of the Colorado and San Juan Rivers is also visible. Sunglint—sunlight reflected off a water surface back towards the observer—provides a silvery, mirror-like sheen to some areas of the water surfaces.

The geologic uplift of the Colorado Plateau led to rapid downcutting of rivers into the flat sedimentary bedrock, leaving spectacular erosional landforms. One such feature, The Rincon, preserves evidence of a former meander bend of the Colorado River.

The story of the American West is a story of water, and of our Herculean efforts to capture and spread that water across an arid landscape.

As our western cities continue to grow, however, we need to find ways to curb our thirst. In this mini-documentary, ASU researchers talk about the West’s water history, our current situation, and some social and technological options for the future.

Written, produced and edited by Kirk Davis for ASU Research.

ASU Research – ASU is delivering research breakthroughs and achieving discovery in a broad range of strategic research areas designed to address everything from next generation health diagnostic exams and cancer vaccines to reliable and efficient alternative fuels.

The Worth of Water from ASU Research on Vimeo.

Environment and Water: Decision-support Tools for Managing Ecosystem Services in Arizona

Humans benefit from a multitude of resources and services that are supplied by ecosystems.

ASU’s Global Institute of Sustainability is undertaking research on the contribution of Arizona’s ecosystems to sustainable economic growth, job creation, and human wellbeing in Arizona.

Ecosystem services being studied include water quality and quantity, erosion control, fire regulation, recreation and tourism, grazing, and disease regulation. The discussion will highlight the new and innovative scientific methods being developed to assess ecosystem services and how potential changes in land use would affect the present and future delivery and value of these ecosystem services.

Please join us at DCDC to discuss this ground breaking research.

Panelists

Ann Kinzig
Professor, School of Life Sciences
Co-Director, ecoServices Group
Chief Research Strategist, Global Institute of Sustainability

Charles Perrings
Professor of Environmental Economics
Co-Director, ecoServices Group
School of Life Sciences

When

Wednesday, March 6, 2013, 12:00-1:30 p.m.
Lunch will be served. Please RSVP to: Sarah.Jones.2@asu.edu

Location

Decision Center for a Desert City, 21 East 6th Street, Suite 126B, Tempe [Map]

Intel’s WaterMatch research partnership with CH2M Hill and DCDC is highlighted in the following article.

via Green Biz by Aaron Tilley

For the past year, Intel has been doing its part to help make the perfect match. That is, in matching wastewater makers with wastewater users for the WaterMatch project.

Intel’s director of global citizenship, Gary Niekerk, describes the project as functioning potentially like an online dating site. But instead of having an interested couple meet up and seeing where things go, wastewater makers like agriculture or power companies could hook up with wastewater users like industrial facilities or treatment plants.

But obviously, making this dream happen is going to be a lot more complicated than getting two budding lovers together for coffee.

And so far, progress has been slow. Although the site has received plenty of hits from all over the world, said Niekerk, there has yet to be any documented successful matches.

The biggest problem is that getting data on wastewater treatment plants is incredibly hard. There is no national database for treatment facilities so gathering this kind of information requires laborious searches and calls to each individual plant.

Nevertheless, the wastewater project has made strides since Intel got involved a year ago. Niekerk said he became interested in the project after meeting with Jan Dell, vice president at consultant and construction firm CH2M Hill, which developed the project. But Niekerk noticed when he entered Tempe, Ariz., the location where he lived, nothing came up. The map was practically empty.

So Intel decided to fund a grant for Arizona State University for students to do the grunt work of populating the map, starting with Arizona. There are now almost 200 of these sites listed on the map for Arizona.

Next, students at ASU are moving on to Mexico with funding from CH2M Hill. The project is also trying to draw other university students from around the world to help fill in more gaps.

And next month the project is bringing together leading water experts in the Colorado River basin to discuss the tool and how it might be improved.

Intel’s interest in this project stems from its own efforts to improve water sustainability in the company’s operations. Since 1998 Intel has invested $100 million in internal projects to make its water usage more sustainable in its manufacturing operations. The company has saved more than 40 billion gallons of water through its water reuse and efficiency measures.

“We have been thinking as a company about what we can do to increase water sustainability, especially in the places we operate,” said Niekerk.

In the company’s Arizona facilities, for example, it uses 2.6 million gallons of reclaimed water per day in its manufacturing process in things like scrubbers and cooling towers.

“This is a worldwide opportunity,” said Niekerk. “If you talk to water experts, increasing water reuse is an important way to increase water sustainability, because we’re not finding any new water.”