Water Definitions March 26, 2009

Among the many environmental challenges the world faces today are issues relating to water quality and quantity. Information on many of these water issues is available to the public through various resources. However, the water industry (like so many others) uses its own jargon, which may be confusing to the layman (ie most of us!). Nevertheless, we need to be educated about water in order to know how to deal with all kinds of water-related problems because this precious resource is central to any vision of sustainability. Below is a beginning list of common terminology and definitions associated with water resources to get you started:

• Brackish Water = Generally, water containing dissolved minerals in amounts that exceed normally acceptable standards for municipal, domestic, and irrigation uses. It has considerably less saline than sea water.
• Blue Water = Water in the open sea
• Freshwater = Desirable water for drinking and many industrial uses. It must have a salinity of less than 0.5% (parts per thousand) dissolved salts or anything less than 1 milligram per liter of dissolved solids of any type.
• Green water = The rainfall that infiltrates and remains in the soil is the largest freshwater resource and the basis for rain-fed agriculture.
• Grey water = (gray water) Wastewater from washing machines, showers, bathtubs, hand washing, lavatories, and sinks that are not used for disposal of chemicals or chemical-biological ingredients.
• Groundwater = Water that is part of the saturated zone of a defined aquifer. It moves slowly from places with high elevation and pressure to places of low elevation and pressure, such as rivers and lakes.
• Hydrologic cycle = The circuit of water movement from the atmosphere to the earth and return to the atmosphere through various stages or processes such as precipitation, interception, runoff, infiltration, percolation, storage, evaporation, and transportation.
• Non-point sources = Diffuse water pollution sources that are generally carried off by storm water without a specific point or origin, such as by agriculture or atmospheric disposal.
• 
• Point Sources = A stationary and identifiable location where pollutants are discharged, such as a pipeline or factory
• Potable water = Water is safe for human consumption.
• Run-off = The part of precipitation water the runs off the land into streams or other surface water.
• Storm water = The flow of water that results from precipitation and which occurs immediately following rainfall or as a result of snowmelt.
• Surface water = A source of drinking water and remains naturally exposed to the atmosphere such as rivers, lakes, and reservoirs.
• Wastewater = The spent or used water from a home, community, farm, or industry that contains dissolved or suspended matter.
• Watershed = An area that contributes water to a specified surface water drainage system because of a topographic slope, such as a stream or river.

Plight of the Placeless March 20, 2009

At a recent event I listened to noted environmentalist Wendell Berry, Bill McKibben, and Terry Tempest Williams and was struck by their mature sense of place. Their sense of place went beyond sentimental attachments, of which there were plenty. It was a commitment to environmental protection and restoration, economic reliance on their community members, and the heritage and health of their communities. As a child of the suburbs, this stood in stark contrast to my lack of place. But if these environmentalists have taught me anything, it is that loyalty to one’s place is a prerequisite for a healthy community.

Most of us are familiar with the markings of suburbia. Generally speaking, they lack a town center; if there is one it consists of the typical strip mall. Food comes from the grocery store, imported from South America or California. Anything else bought comes from even further away. As bedroom communities, they sponsor commutes that are commonly over an hour, disconnecting home from work. This story is played out all over the U.S., not just in the DC suburbs of Maryland and Virginia. The suburb I live in is no different than any other suburb; it is, in effect, placeless. It is our latest version of the American Dream, built on noble intentions. And while Americans love their suburbs, a new vision is needed. For sustainability is the story of limits – of scale and interdependent relationships.

If for no other reason, making the suburbs more sustainable is necessary for this simple fact: they aren’t going anywhere. As David Brooks notes about a new Pew Research Center study, Americans still want suburban living. Transforming the suburb into a healthy community will require intelligent planning and intentional individual action.

Creating a sense of place will take planning measures that reduce the use of cars and concentrate development. Most notably, it reduces greenhouse gases and gives a sense of neighborliness. Increasing public transit use in the suburbs is an essential step towards doing this. Regardless of the pros and cons of the proposed Purple Line (a suburban metro line in the northern portion of the Metro system) in the Washington DC metro area, for example, this type of thinking is what will transform our suburbs into distinct communities. Transit-oriented-development (TOD) is another planning strategy which concentrates mixed-use areas around transit, such as around a metro stop. It could be significant for creating town centers, and all their benefits, in and around suburban neighborhoods.

While citizen participation is an essential part of the planning process, there are individual actions which can create the relationships that characterize place-based living and healthy communities. One of the most important ways is to buy local food (see the blog posts ‘A Healthy DC part 1’ and ‘part 2‘). This builds relationships with producers in your foodshed, creating the space for improving the environmental, nutritional, and economic quality of the land and people involved in this food chain. Another economic approach, patronizing local, independent business, is vital for a thriving community identity which is absent in big box stores. These local, independent businesses are often run with more care, which equates into more quality for their customers. Beyond informed shopping, getting involved in a local environmental group goes a long way in learning the natural history and ecology of a place, as well as providing a way to get outdoors. It provides the opportunity to personally be involved in environmental factors that affect you, such as the water, air, and soil quality of your home.

Simply put, getting involved in your place makes you more aware of the details. Appreciating the details engenders care. We are encouraged to be mobile, zealous partakers of the globalized world – inundated with possibilities of where to shop, where to eat, and where to have fun. This is all well and good, but not at the environmental, economic, and social expense of our place.

The Forgotten Farmers March 13, 2009

We are now used to hearing about the greening of the economy. In principle, we would imagine green collar jobs would include local organic farmers, sustainable loggers, and others working closely with the land along with its cadre of workers in the green building and development, renewable energy, and transportation fields. But recently, these latter categories are dominating our sense of green collar jobs. They are the beneficiaries of venture investment and government subsidies. These are laudatory efforts, but we put ourselves and the planet in peril when we forget those who supply our basic needs in an ecological way.

This bifurcation in the green economy movement between technologists and land workers is both obvious and easily overlooked. Krupp and Horn’s “Earth: The Sequel” enumerates the millions of dollars Silicon Valley is pouring into its new favorite industry – renewable energy. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (the stimulus bill) provides billions of dollars for renewable energy investment, rail and mass transit projects, weatherizing homes, and other energy and infrastructure projects. Meanwhile, farmers are losing their land or forced to become as industrialized as possible. Not surprisingly, the tailspin of rural communities, beginning decades before our current economic troubles, has not ceased. Indeed, many local organic farmers must find a niche or produce value-added products in order to survive.

We urban and suburban folks hear very little about who is investing in and helping those who work closely with the land. The fact is renewable energy has more market potential than tomatoes. Venture capitalists will never throw money at small organic farmers. Fine, but if we have learned nothing else, it is that normal market principles are not so compatible with healthy, local, organic food. Even if we are on our way to recognizing this, our attention to the glamour of technologists and large investments reinforces our tendency to overlook the essential services and land-based knowledge of country folks.

Renewable energy technology is undoubtedly essential, but most would agree food is important too. And since growing food will always be around, making it as sustainable as possible is also important. This is not just because we need to eat, but also because farms and forests are an intersection of many of our environmental problems. It is in these locales that we can begin to restore ecosystems. This should matter to anyone who is concerned about environmental degradation, thriving rural areas, and human health. Industrial organic agriculture, for all its merits, still falls short of our vision for a healthy and sustainable food supply. But local organic farmers improve soil, water, and air quality. They promote wildlife and ecosystem integrity, which is responsible for invaluable ecosystem services that we depend on. They help create and maintain local economies and communities. They provide scenic and recreational opportunities.

With benefits such as these, those who work close to the land deserve more of our attention and resources. There are economic and non-economic ways of correcting the focus of the green economy movement. Economically, we can use our buying power. It sounds sentimental to patronize sustainable agriculture and forestry. But the point is that we can choose the economics of care, which is healthier for everyone and everything involved, over the economics of growth. This would give much needed clout to the forgotten farmers. Beyond economics, there are conservation and planning measures that we, as citizens, can take to preserve our rural lands and promote healthy farming. The American Farmland Trust is a national non-profit dedicated to this cause, and in the DCmetro area, we have the Piedmont Environmental Council. There are also state conservation programs and county planning boards which need citizen response. By getting involved in these ways we can avoid the risk, so often taken in the past, to overlook the humble and irreplaceable sectors of our economy.

World Water Day: March 22nd March 6, 2009

March 22nd marks the international annual observance of World Water Day as designated by the United Nations General Assembly through the adoption of resolution A/RES/47/193. The observance of World Water Day came in the wake of the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) in Rio de Janeiro to adhere to the recommendations contained in Chapter 18 of Agenda 21. The recommendations invited States to dedicate the Day in a national context to promote awareness and activities related to the development and sustainability of freshwater resources.

The theme for the 2009 World Water Day focuses on trans-boundary waters lead by the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE), and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).

Events across the globe are taking place to celebrate World Water Day this year, including:

• Canada: the Center for Affordable Water and Sanitation Technology will be having a “Wavemaker Celebration” to recognize water as a precious resource.
• Greece: a conference on New Technologies in Water Management hosted by the Balkan Environment Center, in cooperation with the Region of Central Macedonia, the Region of Eastern Macedonia and Thrace, the European Space Agency, the Municipality of Lagadas, the Municipality of Echedoros, the National Center for Environment and Sustainable Development (ΕΚΠΑΑ), the Inten-Synergy (NGO).
• Mexico: a united campaign for water.
• Singapore: an artistic and humanitarian concert series that aims to raise funds for supplying potable water production modules to selected rural areas in Vietnam through the Vietnam Potable Water Project (VPWP).
• South Africa: an International Conference and Exhibition on Water in the Environment. The conference will address the many challenges of water resources management to many countries in the region, especially those with limited resources. There will be a discussion for ways to improve water technologies and continue to transfer the results of R&D to real applications.
• United Kingdom: a Water of Life Half Marathon to help raise money for the African Medical and Research Foundation on World Water Day.
• United States: various celebrations across the nations, especially walks. In DC, www.waterforpeopledc.org; in California, www.marchforwater.com ; in Ohio, www.uuakron.org

There are numerous other events and activities. To find out if there is an event in your area, visit World Water Day website.