tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38098980307019594072011-10-30T14:24:35.995+13:00Water cycle, meet media cycleDaniel Collinsnoreply@blogger.comBlogger691100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3809898030701959407.post-54202411247255497662009-10-09T20:19:00.001+13:002009-10-09T20:21:07.895+13:00

Joining the dots of P addiction and overdosing. Over at the new Crikey Creek.

Daniel Collinsnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3809898030701959407.post-38059485018189315242009-10-08T23:19:00.002+13:002009-10-08T23:33:53.633+13:00

The Science Media Centre has done a wonderful thing. They have created science blogging community over at Sciblogs.co.nz. Around 30 NZ bloggers are there, including myself.Crikey Creek's new home is: http://sciblogs.co.nz/crikey-creek/.Sciblogs is modelled after ScienceBlogs.com. It's hosted by the Science Media Centre, the arm of the Royal Society of New Zealand that focuses on science

Daniel Collinsnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3809898030701959407.post-27047916018519943282009-09-21T00:17:00.003+12:002009-09-23T07:58:33.833+12:00

After a prolonged sabbatical, we now return to regular programming with a condensed account of events that transpired in the last week or so.Bangladesh's first lifeguards are being trained by Australian counterparts. 17,000 children drown each year in the country, out of a total population of 133 million. Adding some perspective, perhaps 3,000 people (adults included) die each year from arsenic

Daniel Collinsnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3809898030701959407.post-15317216845497604242009-07-02T20:03:00.000+12:002009-07-02T20:04:30.520+12:00

Both earthquakes and heavy rainfall are typical triggers of landslides. But if you want to know when the hills are safe again, attach tracking sensors to the birds. The beak knows."GNS Science specialists carried out an examination of the Hipaua thermal area this morning.Eleven metal pins were placed in historically unstable parts of the hill yesterday to monitor for any signs of movement, and

Daniel Collinsnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3809898030701959407.post-14236190441667572832009-07-02T19:47:00.003+12:002009-07-02T21:25:03.016+12:00

If journalists covered hydrological science here in NZ, either insightfully or ineptly, I'd observe that. But since they don't (much), I am forced - forced, I tell you - to observe how they cover climate change.Now don't get me wrong. I will happily give kudos do those who cover science well. But I am also quite happy to point out when science is not covered well. My reasoning is not to merely

Daniel Collinsnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3809898030701959407.post-6891084280609072462009-07-02T17:48:00.002+12:002009-07-02T18:39:13.776+12:00

Halfdone has listed its June assessment of NZ blog rankings. Since I'm all about measurements being the basis of knowledge, I find it of some interest. But popularity or accidental web visits do not translate into successful communication, and that's what I care about in terms of blogging.In any case, this being a science blog, here's what I think are the ranked science or science journalism

Daniel Collinsnoreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3809898030701959407.post-86120610332751773982009-06-29T21:10:00.002+12:002009-06-29T21:16:33.358+12:00

Following on from the previous poll, which asked whether virtual water accounting helped consumers make sustainable choices (most said "yes"), I am now interested in your thoughts on the risks to trade - New Zealand trade.Again, share your thoughts in the comments, both Kiwis and internationals, farmers and others.

Daniel Collinsnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3809898030701959407.post-17851443322155479212009-06-29T20:53:00.003+12:002009-06-29T20:57:37.015+12:00

Science communication is tough. You need to know the science; you need to know how to communicate. What I think is an excellent recent example of both is Tapu Misa's column in the NZ Herald the other day, and on the diabolical topic of uncertainty no less."Contrary to popular perception, science doesn't always deal in 100 per cent certainty."And she continues..."It's easy to see why we

Daniel Collinsnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3809898030701959407.post-80080613532037349442009-06-28T20:43:00.001+12:002009-06-28T20:46:16.926+12:00

All models are wrong, but some are useful, as George Box so eloquently said. They are generally not created useful, however, but evolved through trail and error.Take as an example a recent story from UC-Boulder. Scientists there were comparing how a climate model staked up to real-world expectations, but were surprised when they get conflicting results - it didn't rain enough."If you don't get

Daniel Collinsnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3809898030701959407.post-91923473166291035402009-06-28T15:47:00.003+12:002009-06-28T17:44:59.474+12:00

The Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry (MAF) recently released a report on the opportunities and challenges facing NZ's meat sector over the next 15 years. They identified five mega-trends with distinct relevance to the sector: changing demographics and wealth; food, image and beliefs; globalisation; climate change; and increased pressure on the natural resource base.The Bull Pen, Homepaddock

Daniel Collinsnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3809898030701959407.post-91583556940957412482009-06-25T20:15:00.003+12:002009-06-25T20:28:48.603+12:00

Following from this morning's post on the Mississippi, here's a video (8 minutes) on the Louisiana floodplain reforestation project that I mentioned.It doesn't actually show a levee breach, but does convey a lot of the thoughts surrounding the reversion of the landscape quite nicely:"I'd like for my descendants to see it reforested, revegetated and to produce wildlife as it did when I was a young

Daniel Collinsnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3809898030701959407.post-75350026920206082692009-06-25T08:28:00.005+12:002009-06-25T08:39:28.145+12:00

In his book, The Control of Nature, John McPhee wrote about how the US Army Corps of Engineers tamed the mighty Mississippi. And how people's lives are consumed at keeping it tamed. Levees were built, flow control structures installed, all for the sake of the economy. The Mississippi waters were threatening, and in fact still are, to leave the lower Mississippi channel and flow down a more

Daniel Collinsnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3809898030701959407.post-21471223235474535902009-06-24T19:25:00.001+12:002009-06-24T19:27:44.790+12:00

We are told time and time again that model projections of the climate this century include changes in rainfall, more droughts, and more floods. But we have to wonder if they can accurately predict these things if they can't even get this basic phenomenon right. There must be something fishy going on. And I blame the Japanese supercompueters.[H/T: Boing Boing]

Daniel Collinsnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3809898030701959407.post-71156939295491760312009-06-24T19:06:00.001+12:002009-06-24T19:07:40.905+12:00

One of my favourite images in hydrology - or ecohydrology - is the juxtaposition of a small stomate with the shrinking Aral Sea.Post-war Soviet Union planted a lot of cotton in the region, irrigating it with water that would have flowed into the sea. And as the cotton stomata proliferated and opened their micrometre-size apertures, the Aral sea dried up and closed its 1000 kilometre-size

Daniel Collinsnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3809898030701959407.post-50683810143608660402009-06-23T22:03:00.003+12:002009-06-23T22:13:06.225+12:00

When I was in Uganda last year I nearly went to Karamoja in the north east. I vetoed it on account of WFP trucks being shot at. Karamoja is chronically water-stressed, but has some mountainous terrain that is also paradoxically the origin of flood waters for downstream areas. From my vantage point a little to the south, and from discussions with Uganda Red Cross personnel, one solution was

Daniel Collinsnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3809898030701959407.post-38890705166687998422009-06-23T19:54:00.002+12:002009-06-23T19:59:06.992+12:00

There are a number of battle lines drawn in New Zealand's waterways, the most visible is the one between the Federated Farmers (an organisation that lobbies on behalf of member farmers) and Fish and Game (a statutory body that lobbies on behalf of recreational fishers). The two are adversaries because of the effects agriculture has in degrading waterways, and hence fish population.Essentially,

Daniel Collinsnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3809898030701959407.post-18494193961919356132009-06-22T21:55:00.002+12:002009-06-22T21:59:56.032+12:00

Back in March I postulated the existence of the coupled water-media cycle, as depicted in the above-right diagram. And thanks to an astute colleague, we now have proof!Media reports condenseThe Pasadena-Star News ran an opinion piece on June 13 in which it described opposing mentalities of water use in southern California.Coverage precipitates thinkingJournalist John Fleck picked up on a

Daniel Collinsnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3809898030701959407.post-17660993730840087352009-06-22T18:35:00.000+12:002009-06-22T18:36:10.977+12:00

A report just out, commissioned by MfE and produced by NIWA, describes the trends in water quality in NZ's waterways since 1989. (NZ Herald coverage.) Here are some key findings:There were strong increasing trends in four nutrients (total phosphorus, dissolved reactive phosphorus, oxidised nitrogen and total nitrogen). There are strong correlations between these trends and the percentage of

Daniel Collinsnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3809898030701959407.post-24484753581746734572009-06-22T07:49:00.001+12:002009-06-22T07:51:50.934+12:00

Here's a shout out to the editor of the NZ Hydrological Society's newsletter, Current, for publishing my reportage (reproduced below) on the cause of Canterbury's declining water table. It's good to see some aren't afraid to publish hard-hitting, controversial science."Christchurch, NZ - Environment Canterbury, the area's regional council, has concluded that the dropping aquifer levels in the

Daniel Collinsnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3809898030701959407.post-46616102939014689182009-06-21T20:38:00.003+12:002009-06-22T00:02:38.109+12:00

Does knowing a product's virtual water content help consumers make sustainability-based decisions?Look to the right and tell us what you think. I'm starting down a new path and would appreciate your thoughts.

Daniel Collinsnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3809898030701959407.post-40573420759609054392009-06-21T13:44:00.003+12:002009-06-21T13:55:55.142+12:00

Two farms in Canterbury co-owned by the Federated Farmers dairy vice-chairman, Willy Leferink, have been charged for breaching the Resource Management Act. Specifically, for allowing effluent to pond, risking contamination of the groundwater. It should be noted, however, that the violation was due to a former staff member, not Leferink himself. Leferink commended Environment Canterbury for "doing

Daniel Collinsnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3809898030701959407.post-88336109161389781442009-06-21T11:24:00.002+12:002009-06-21T15:28:03.662+12:00

In the words of Rafael Bras:"Life is complicated, but if you give me enough degrees of freedom, I'm going to give you a simple answer, and for that matter a fairly universal answer."In his valedictory lecture at MIT, March 30, Rafael Bras, one of the world's leading hydrologists, and my former PhD adviser, shares his knowledge and enthusiasm about hydrology and its role in shaping the world

Daniel Collinsnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3809898030701959407.post-4754076495513518752009-06-21T00:01:00.006+12:002009-06-21T10:02:38.014+12:00

So, how do us Kiwi science bloggers represent? Not so well. By far the greatest portion of Kiwi blogging bandwidth is taken up by politics - partisan politics. That's understandable. Anyone can get fired up about politics, with their local nuances, while science is more universal. Halfdone colour-codes the politicos to illustrate. Chicken or the Egg has a listing of science blogs, while Open

Daniel Collinsnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3809898030701959407.post-31392058806132079982009-06-13T19:41:00.003+12:002009-06-13T20:19:35.494+12:00

It's pretty common among the hydroblogs to criticise bottled water. More water is used to produce the bottle than is contained in the bottle... their production and provision consumes heaps of energy...And here's another reason: they produce more rubbish. Do not fear Venecians, the mayor is on the case.(For completeness, though, bottled water does have its positive sides, and I'm not talking

Daniel Collinsnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3809898030701959407.post-12019641348709499532009-06-13T19:17:00.001+12:002009-06-13T19:18:44.205+12:00

Philip Duncan, the NZ Herald's weather analyst, informs us that weather forecasting is not an exact science. In the common sense of "exact science", no it's not. But being surprised by the statement made me wonder: What *is* an exact science? Can a science be "exact"? And where on earth did the idiom come from?Well, I can't think of any exact sciences, in the sense that they are devoid of

Daniel Collinsnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3809898030701959407.post-68365280794548286842009-05-02T23:14:00.002+12:002009-05-02T23:22:34.740+12:00

In February 2008 Charles Vest, the president of the US National Academy of Engineering (and, eh hem, former president of MIT), unveiled the Academy's Grand Challenges in Engineering. 14 challenges facing society that require an engineering solution (at least in part).The purpose of listing the challenges was to highlight the importance of engineering in improving societal well-being, as well as

Daniel Collinsnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3809898030701959407.post-43747377085488955552009-05-01T23:37:00.004+12:002009-05-02T07:01:18.019+12:00

WaterSISWEB is a funny beast. It's not a blog, but people post water-related items to it, and then upmod them (alas, downmodding is not possible). One recent post was of a map. The description claimed it was of average precipitation in mm/day. Take a look at it for yourself. How the heck can this be average precipitation?! (What's more, how can so many people vote for such an obvious dud?)The

Daniel Collinsnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3809898030701959407.post-80544094968437557382009-05-01T22:08:00.004+12:002009-05-01T22:23:28.709+12:00

When I was in grad school, I was involved in a bunch of organisations. The one I invested most in, and got the most from, was Student Pugwash. MIT had a plethora of groups to choose from, but when I sampled them Pugwash resonated the most. It's goal: to foster understanding of the social ramifications of science and to advocate social responsibility. I even got my name in Science because of it (

Daniel Collinsnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3809898030701959407.post-61281610050952616942009-04-30T23:47:00.002+12:002009-04-30T23:51:51.818+12:00

Only GNS could come up with this idea ;)"Scientists are considering the feasibility of boring a tunnel through the Southern Alps to take West Coast water to farms on the Canterbury plains."I have no doubt it would be technically feasible. Economically and socially? I don't know. But it sure does rain a lot on the West Coast. I reckon they should consider moving the Alps to the east coast so

Daniel Collinsnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3809898030701959407.post-22795678880966672692009-04-30T23:14:00.002+12:002009-04-30T23:28:25.384+12:00

The ultimate frisbee season starts up again in the US. Here are some Cr!key Creek-approved team names, for y'all to use in my absence.Water HammerSecchi DiskZone of DepressionHuck's LawPS. I actually do have a frisbee disk that can be used to measure water clarity, from when I played with a bunch of zoologists and limnologists.

Daniel Collinsnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3809898030701959407.post-80952608477228130732009-04-16T23:32:00.001+12:002009-04-16T23:36:05.184+12:00

Contemporary lawns are both status symbols and sporting venues. They evolved from grazed pastures to become the largest irrigated American crop by area. In places, they are the dominant user of urban water (not counting virtual water).How might we rethink our lawns? In the interest of colour, habitat and water conservation, a Los Angeles graphic design team has this approach:More at WorldChanging.

Daniel Collinsnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3809898030701959407.post-86721114858867873142009-04-14T22:13:00.004+12:002009-04-14T22:18:30.138+12:00

The pick-up line worked. "Thieving dwarves cause supernovae".Damn dwarves.The BBC article's about research explaining (or more technically, offering an explanation for) a particular type of astrophysical phenomenon - a Type Ia supernova.But Cr!key Creek isn't an astrophysics blog. It's a water/science blog. What caught my eye was a quote from one of the researchers:"Before this investigation,

Daniel Collinsnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3809898030701959407.post-16589417504372344732009-04-10T02:08:00.002+12:002009-04-10T02:12:16.657+12:00

I'm off mountain biking the Queen Charlotte Track. If you need to sate your online thirst, here are some diverse reads.Green roofs. Some benefits: improved habitat, reduced heating/cooling costs, reduced runoff, looks cool. Some costs: no standard designs and hence more expensive than they need to be. I'm a fan, but want more technical appraisals.Drought and dams in Uganda. I was in Uganda last

Daniel Collinsnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3809898030701959407.post-25165511823955324402009-04-09T23:43:00.004+12:002009-04-09T23:51:59.508+12:00

The NZ Climate Change Centre is hosting a conference on adaptation in Wellington, May 20-21: Climate Change Adaptation: Managing the Unavoidable.Chris Field and Roger Jones will be there. I will be there. Will you be there?If it has a weakness, it is its weighting towards the science and not the business. But NZ's a bit behind on the adaptation front so the meeting's certainly a good thing.

Daniel Collinsnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3809898030701959407.post-27035680378765182862009-04-05T12:11:00.006+12:002009-04-05T14:02:02.531+12:00

The Central Plains Water Scheme has received a major setback, as I learn via a paper copy (yes, paper!) of the Christchurch Press yesterday. The setback? The abstraction-storage-irrigation scheme probably won't include the storage it wanted.The CPW is an abstraction, storage and irrigation scheme proposed by the Central Plains Water Trust to irrigate 60,000 hectares of land between the

Daniel Collinsnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3809898030701959407.post-7992108801993903012009-04-03T18:32:00.002+13:002009-04-03T18:37:42.327+13:00

"No model solves all problems. And most models, like most oracles and many experts, provide only imperfect answers."Draper A.J., Jenkins M.W., Kirby K.W., Lund J.R. and Howitt R.E. 2003. Economic-engineering optimization for California Water Management. J. Water Res. Plan. Man., 129(3):155-164. [Abstract] [PDF]

Daniel Collinsnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3809898030701959407.post-62897646564782511712009-04-02T08:03:00.002+13:002009-04-02T08:20:38.973+13:00

Some foolishness around the blogosphere:Home water use: Thirsty in SuburbiaU.S. Army Crops of Engineers FARTing around: WaterWiredWater running up hill: Boating BusinessClimate change is bunk: RealClimateAnd of course, global approaches to water shortages: Cr!key Creek

Daniel Collinsnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3809898030701959407.post-78182016723555281292009-04-01T21:52:00.009+13:002009-04-02T18:15:16.336+13:00

Hawke's Bay had a fair drought this summer. One town, I can't remember which, had to truck in potable water because the water table dropped below the municipal supply well(s). Hawke's Bay is typically dry (with great red wines), and is forecast to become dryer still as New Zealand experiences a greater portion of westerlies as our climate changes - westerlies don't bring much water to the bay

Daniel Collinsnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3809898030701959407.post-56637178716850348792009-04-01T00:03:00.004+13:002009-04-01T21:08:40.445+13:00

I've probably already inundated you enough with posts on droughts, but with water scarcity in the news again, it's time to see how people around the world really do cope with them.Albuquerque, NM, USA - Executives at the local TV station, KRQE, have banned all gatherings around the company's water coolers. They cited a study by Pew Research that found that talking near water makes you thirstier

Daniel Collinsnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3809898030701959407.post-27691040363131748312009-03-30T23:01:00.001+13:002009-03-30T23:03:54.848+13:00

Following the NYT's recent article on Freeman Dyson, I followed one of his threads which is close to my heart: planting trees to mitigate climate change. The thread was to his 1977 paper "Can we control the carbon dioxide in the atmosphere?"In this 1977 paper, Dyson wrote that an "emergency plant-growing program would provide the necessary short-term response to hold the CO2 at bay while the

Daniel Collinsnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3809898030701959407.post-6485752956913346172009-03-28T00:06:00.002+13:002009-03-28T00:09:35.448+13:00

Gayle Leonard has provided us with a meta-word cloud of the World Water Day transboundary posts. Now I will offer my synthesis of the discussions.First up, I was pleased that we got as international a coverage of bloggers and topics as we did. There aren't so many out there who touch on water, and there is certainly an uneven representation of regions in the blogging and hydroblogging communities

Daniel Collinsnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3809898030701959407.post-16815983960353236492009-03-26T22:24:00.003+13:002009-03-27T08:13:19.002+13:00

I wanted Cr!key Creek's banner to be a bit more loquacious. So I added a few thousand words.1. Lake Superior, USAThe largest of the North American Great Lakes, the second largest freshwater lake in the world by area, and the third by volume. The first people came to Lake Superior after the last glaciation, 10,000 years back. The Ojibwe have inhabited the region for 5,000 years, and call the lake

Daniel Collinsnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3809898030701959407.post-30143917450573627032009-03-26T08:40:00.002+13:002009-03-27T21:45:02.479+13:00

John Fleck continues the transboundary water theme today with coverage of an essay by Wendy Barnaby in last week's Nature (free now, paywall soon).Barnaby argues that transboundary water scarcity will not lead to water wars. Conflicts maybe, but not armed. Rather, countries will "solve their water shortages through trade and international agreements." And she has observations to support this:"

Daniel Collinsnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3809898030701959407.post-64742486550383812642009-03-25T22:42:00.002+13:002009-03-25T22:49:55.299+13:00

This is good news.For those who don't know, UNDP is the United Nations Development Program. Oh... I mean, Helen Clark is the previous Prime Minister of NZ, and a very good one at that. She will serve the UNDP well.

Daniel Collinsnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3809898030701959407.post-66758258647664724992009-03-25T19:41:00.003+13:002009-03-25T21:43:23.820+13:00

Preparing for a new post I fortuitously came across the following text. It is interesting because of its date: 1675 in English, 1674 in the original French."But if there should be any countries where no rain at all should fall, that will not hinder the running of rivers there, because they may have their sources in other countries where it rains, as the Nile in Egypt, where it rains not."The

Daniel Collinsnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3809898030701959407.post-48479001630374486472009-03-25T00:03:00.003+13:002009-03-25T00:08:19.401+13:00

Courtesy of xkcd.

Daniel Collinsnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3809898030701959407.post-58117182180184772682009-03-24T22:07:00.002+13:002009-03-24T23:29:31.662+13:00

Cr!key Creek has been going for three weeks, and I am always wondering what I should write about. Sure, there are things close to my heart, but too many for the time available. So here's your chance. Help me out. Which themes would you like to read more about? And as always, the comments are yours.

Daniel Collinsnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3809898030701959407.post-11076245017093880312009-03-23T01:51:00.006+13:002009-03-23T17:22:11.009+13:00

March 22: World Water Day. Transboundary waters. There has been more coverage of World Water Day lately to shake a dousing rod at. And true to form, the international blogging community has delivered the goods. From the US of A to the DMZ, here’s a round-up of the synchroblogging activity on transboundary waters. (More added as they become available.)John Fleck, from NM, USA, began by sharing the

Daniel Collinsnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3809898030701959407.post-31907304695699673552009-03-23T00:51:00.002+13:002009-03-23T00:56:02.040+13:00

In a world of 195 or so countries, by one count there are 263 international river basins, and at least 273 international aquifers. Over 400 international agreements have been drafted at one point in time to address these shared water resources, over 200 in the last 60 years. During the same period, there have been 37 reported cases of conflict over transboundary waters according to the UN.A tour

Daniel Collinsnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3809898030701959407.post-9483655105820979272009-03-18T23:26:00.003+13:002009-03-18T23:34:16.723+13:00

What is the main cause of water shortages in your area?Lack of rain or snow: 7Lack of infrastructure: 0Lack of potable water: 0Too damn hot: 1Too damn cold: 0Too much water use: 9What water shortage?: 7I don't think this poll is going to make it into Nature. Sample size aside, the results are as biased as a Yankees fan at Fenway. All of the answers are quite viable for some regions in the world,

Daniel Collinsnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3809898030701959407.post-11316148408019971822009-03-18T09:46:00.002+13:002009-03-18T09:49:13.340+13:00

Don't forget, it's World Water Day on the 22nd. The theme: transboundary waters. If you're a blogger, how about writing something on topic and letting me know (crikeycreek/gmail/com) so I can announce them all in one place!

Daniel Collinsnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3809898030701959407.post-64484611842477065012009-03-17T22:29:00.003+13:002009-03-17T23:33:21.610+13:00

(Because I seemed to have climbed on board the water shortage and drought bandwagon again, I am reposting an entry from my previous blog. I would frame things a little differently these days, but the basics are the same.)Insufficient Water to Meet NeedsOctober 6, 2006This is how Kelly Redmond, climatologist at the Desert Research Institute, described drought in his 2002 BAMS commentary, The

Daniel Collinsnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3809898030701959407.post-6253667881632296122009-03-17T01:44:00.005+13:002009-03-17T02:11:54.510+13:00

The Stockholm International Water Institute just released a report outlining a conceptual framework for managing transboundary water resources.The framework is termed the 'Transboundary Water Opportunities Analysis' or 'TWO Analysis'. It emphasises the development of win-win solutions to shared water resource problems. "We developed the TWO framework for practical application by water sector

Daniel Collinsnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3809898030701959407.post-78184224085990511082009-03-17T00:28:00.002+13:002009-03-17T01:42:54.568+13:00

Here is a completely random list of recent news and opinion articles that attribute water shortages to one thing or another.Victoria, Australia: "Figures released by Melbourne Water on Friday showed consumption soared as residents battled the heat, averaging out at 207 litres per person per day. That's well above the Government's target of 155 litres per person per day."Varanasi, India: "Damage

Daniel Collinsnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3809898030701959407.post-77999904655840626832009-03-17T00:08:00.002+13:002009-03-17T00:16:49.224+13:00

What does it say when the entirety of Wikipedia's entry on "water shortage" is the following three lines?"Water shortage may refer to:• Drought, natural condition• Water crisis, social situation"

Daniel Collinsnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3809898030701959407.post-57726136889682904002009-03-16T00:16:00.000+13:002009-03-16T00:17:42.377+13:00

Forget cloud seeding. Just put a satellite in space and the rains will start falling, the rivers start flowing.That is one lesson we could learn from a recent article from the NYT. The article describes how a river in the Atacama Desert, Chile, began to flow again once satellite monitoring was started by the regional water authority. The Loa River began to flow again in 2008, giving water to the

Daniel Collinsnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3809898030701959407.post-30028683330790699112009-03-13T18:47:00.004+13:002009-03-13T18:53:49.537+13:00

Okay. This doesn't have a whole lot to do with water, save a possible connection to Muddy Waters.[HT: Boing Boing]

Daniel Collinsnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3809898030701959407.post-46127785762149998822009-03-11T05:39:00.002+13:002009-03-11T05:51:21.412+13:00

The Lorax's new tale:"Contrary to the story’s implied message [of The Lorax], living in cities is green, while living surrounded by forests is brown."[snip]"In almost every metropolitan area, we found the central city residents emitted less carbon than the suburban counterparts."This begs the questions: Which is more efficient in terms of water use, city living, suburban, or rural? And what are

Daniel Collinsnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3809898030701959407.post-15690733418723762512009-03-10T21:43:00.003+13:002009-03-10T21:46:50.906+13:00

New poll to the right: What is the main cause of water shortages in your area? You know what to do. If you don't like the options, comment.

Daniel Collinsnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3809898030701959407.post-17003058462925865772009-03-10T20:57:00.002+13:002009-03-10T20:59:45.730+13:00

This pretty much encapsulates two things that happened tonight.

Daniel Collinsnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3809898030701959407.post-64241196027482199922009-03-10T00:33:00.002+13:002009-03-10T00:36:08.944+13:00

Two events have recently highlighted the benefit of open access science journals. The first is the publication in Science (ironically not open access) of a study of citations of open and closed access articles. One of their conclusions: if it's open access, it'll be cited more often. (Blog Around the Clock has more if you're interested.) The second was the George Will climate change nonsense

Daniel Collinsnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3809898030701959407.post-53478090482771108902009-03-07T03:29:00.004+13:002009-03-07T04:22:02.046+13:00

World Water Day is March 22. This year the theme is transboundary water.There are hundreds of water basins and aquifers that straddle our political boundaries, at both international and national levels. Neighbours stick their own straws into the same glass. This has historically led to both conflict and cooperation."Over the last 60 years there have been more than 200 international water

Daniel Collinsnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3809898030701959407.post-73746973040480017472009-03-07T00:54:00.006+13:002009-03-07T01:10:55.634+13:00

When I was doing the grocery shopping one day, back in Madison, WI, I made an amazing discovery. Right across from the beer, and round the corner from the dried fruit and wine, I saw the iconic image of New Zealand's Mitre Peak - a mountain that pops out of Milford Sound, a fjord in the south west of the country that receives 6813 mm of rainfall a year.The discovery was that this image was

Daniel Collinsnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3809898030701959407.post-37394246876724334492009-03-06T00:04:00.008+13:002009-03-10T22:08:41.498+13:00

One of the challenges I face as a scientist is communicating science to non-scientists. (Let's assume that communicating it to fellow scientists is a piece of cake, which it isn't by any means.) After all, the main motivation for me doing science is that I help produce knowledge that is useful to the general population in some way, sooner or later.Uncertainty is one of those things where I see

Daniel Collinsnoreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3809898030701959407.post-76489279452300393042009-03-05T08:15:00.003+13:002009-03-05T08:27:14.712+13:00

What John Fleck refers to as "one of climate change's most important equations", just happens to be one of hydrology's most important equations too - probably the most.In the previous post I showed annual data sets of rainfall and temperature for the whole of Australia. In the last seven years, rainfall has been a little low, but temperature has been really high - and attributed to climate change

Daniel Collinsnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3809898030701959407.post-3919886612833126212009-03-04T23:47:00.010+13:002009-03-05T00:44:03.794+13:00

While the Yanks are preoccupied with the drought in California, on the other side of the ditch, Australia has been withering in its own Big Dry for several years. It's received a lot of press, being blamed for farmer suicides and market tumbles, as well as playing a hand in the recent bush fires. It's serious stuff.It's been called the worst drought in 100 years. Even a 1000. But not just because

Daniel Collinsnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3809898030701959407.post-35190606856201556992009-03-04T08:11:00.002+13:002009-03-04T08:15:50.584+13:00

Apparently some people are having problems leaving comments. I know, I'm one of them! I disabled word verification, which is a known bug at the moment, but my comments still disappear into the aether. I'm working on it.

Daniel Collinsnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3809898030701959407.post-74448827666522984812009-03-03T23:00:00.006+13:002009-03-03T23:10:44.061+13:00

A running theme here at Cr!key Creek will be highly rigourous polls that will:(a) test your knowledge of water resources,(b) provide entertainment when I don't have anything better to write,(c) serve as a segue into a new discussion, (d) provide data for an article in Nature, or(e) achieve some combination of the above.The first of these polls, located conveniently several centimetres to the

Daniel Collinsnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3809898030701959407.post-24980059355677975212009-03-02T22:07:00.005+13:002009-03-03T01:44:15.683+13:00

Hydrologists and journalists have a lot in common. Both report on watershed events. Both deal with highly polarised subject matter. And if election day ends in an instant runoff, we'll be there. Watching. Reporting.If you look at the media cycle, depicted accurately below, is it any wonder hydrology and journalism are so tightly coupled?Here at Cr!key Creek, we'll bring you those news stories you

Daniel Collinsnoreply@blogger.com7