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December 19, 2007
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Welcome
to the newsletter about all things water in Montana!
MONTANA
WATER NEWS will come your way via email every month
with fresh news about meetings and water topics that we hope
is of interest to you. If you do not want to receive this
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| Holiday Greetings! |
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All of us at the Montana Water Center wish you a safe and happy holiday season. Thank you for working with us this past year. Your energy and insight help keep our state vibrant with that essential ingredient we all need – water!
 Think Snow!
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| Winter Watery Reading Recommendations |
| As a break from the norm, this month’s feature highlights some excellent books with a watery theme. Most likely every adult Montanan has read or at least skimmed some edition of the Journals of Lewis and Clark, and perhaps that other quintessential account of Western river exploration, John Wesley Powell’s Exploration of the Colorado River and its Canyons. We’ve also read novels where a river trip is a weighty metaphor – for life, ethical choices, empire building – you name it. Huckleberry Finn, Heart of Darkness, Moby Dick and other pillars of English literature fall into this category. Below we offer recommendations for a grab-bag of less-ponderous water books, for your holiday giving or enjoyment.
Paddling Montana. 1999; revised/expanded edition due May 2008. Hank and Carol Fischer. Paddling and fishing information, land ownership and maps for 32 Montana rivers.
National Geographic Society: Still Waters White Waters - Exploring America's Rivers & Lakes. 1977. This classic features two canoeist who travel waters from the Yukon to the Everglades and some of the local lore and personalities they encounter along the way.
Water Storage: Tanks, Cisterns, Aquifers and Ponds. 2005. Art Ludwig. See also Ludwig’s 2006 paperback Create an Oasis with Greywater. Detailed plans and recommendations for making the most of water and wastewater on your home place.
The World’s Water 2006-2007. 2006. Peter Gleick and colleagues. This is the authoritative atlas of water resources worldwide, issued every other year. The author is a past recipient of a McArthur Foundation “genius grant.”
When the Rivers Run Dry: Water – the Defining Crisis of the Twenty-First Century. 2006. Fred Pearce. An up-to-date call to arms to people of all nations, to begin using their water resources more prudently or face irreversible loss and damage.
Floating on the Missouri: 100 Years after Lewis and Clark. Various editions. J. Willard Schultz. These wonderful vignettes were originally published in the early 20th century. They recount a Missouri River float by Schultz and his Blackfeet wife in the first decade of the century, and Blackfeet culture and doings at that time.
Discover a Watershed. Various dates. Project WET International, Bozeman. These teaching and learning guides for middle and high school classes cover the Missouri, Rio Grande, Colorado and Everglades watersheds.
Paddle-to-the-Sea. 1999; originally published in 1941. Holling C. Holling. The tale of a carved canoe and paddler traveling from southwestern Ontario to the Atlantic Ocean; wonderful drawings and a fascinating geography lesson about the Great Lakes/Saint Lawrence watershed.
Minn of the Mississippi. 2001; originally published in 1951. Holling C. Holling. The geography of the Mississippi, as experienced by a turtle hatched in its Minnesota headwaters and floating to the mouth of the river. It is one of those “children's” books that is completely engaging for adults, too.
The Montana Watercourse circulates materials from its Water Literature Trunk on demand. These range from picture books for young children, to reference works, to teacher resources. See http://www.mtwatercourse.org/Educators/trunks.htm#literature
to peruse the list of holdings. |
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| Water Quality Monitoring |
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The Montana Watershed Coordination Council’s Water Quality Monitoring Work Group is available to assist with water sampling strategies, water quality monitoring plans, and interpretation of water quality data to watershed groups, conservation districts and other entities involved in monitoring water resources. Interested entities should contact Taylor Greenup at TGreenup@mt.gov or (406) 444-3527.
The next work group meeting is February 21, 2008 in Helena. For groups desiring assistance at the February meeting, please contact Taylor by January 18. To learn more about the Water Quality Monitoring Work Group, visit them at http://mwcc.montana.edu/about/workgroups/wkgroup_details.asp?wkgroupID=22. |
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| Conservation Innovation Grants |
The Natural Resources Conservation Service recently announced its RFP for Conservation Innovation Grants (CIG). These grants support projects that stimulate development and adoption of innovative approaches to leveraging federal investment in environmental enhancement and protection in conjunction with agricultural production. CIG projects are expected to lead to the transfer of conservation technologies, management systems, and innovative approaches (such as market-based systems) into NRCS technical manuals or guides, or to the private sector. Application deadline is February 20, 2008. More info is available at http://a257.g.akamaitech.net/7/257/2422/01jan20071800/
edocket.access.gpo.gov/2007/E7-24411.htm.
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| New Web Site Relevant to the Water Census |
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There is a new Water Census website from USGS that describes the Great Lakes Basin Water Availability and Use pilot project. This web site at http://water.usgs.gov/wateravailability/greatlakes includes links to all reports the pilot project has produced to date. The pilot study should show the utility of working at regional scales to answer such questions as: How much water do we have now? How is water being used? How is water availability changing? How much water can we expect to have in the future?
Several additional products are planned for the site before the project ends in FY 2009. |
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| Wetlands Assessment Workshop in Rapid City |
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The 3rd regional meeting of the Western Wetlands Monitoring and Assessment Workgroup is April 29 - May 1, 2008 in Rapid City, SD. Organized by EPA Region VIII and representatives of EPA Region VIII states and tribes, this workshop is a follow-up to previous wetland workshops held in Denver in 2005 and Rapid City in 2004. The goal of this workshop is to assist states and tribes with new programs or existing programs that monitor and assess wetlands of the Rocky Mountains and High Plains.
For more information, contact Mike Ell, North Dakota Department of Health at (701) 328-5214, mell@nd.gov or Jill Minter, U.S. EPA Region 8 at (303) 312-6084, jill.minter@epa.gov. For registration assistance, contact Ruth Danielson, International Water Institute, at (701) 231-5266 ruth.danielson@ndsu.edu. |
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| AWRA Riparian Conference Call for Abstracts Open |
| The 2008 AWRA Summer Specialty Conference, titled Riparian Ecosystems & Buffers:
Working at the Water's Edge, will be held at the Founder's Inn & Spa in Virginia Beach, VA from June 30 - July 2, 2008. The abstract submittal deadline is February 4, 2008. For more information, visit http://www.awra.org/meetings/Virginia_Beach2008/exhibits.html |
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| Culvert Design Workshop |
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The Idaho Chapter of the American Fisheries Society is sponsoring a culvert design workshop February 5, 2008 in Post Falls Idaho. The $75 registration fee includes a lunch and coffee and snacks at breaks. The Red Lion in Post Falls has rooms available at government rates. Visit their website at www.redlion.com/templins or call (208) 773-1611. Register for the conference online at http://www.Idahoafs.org. |
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| Montana Department of Environmental Quality Non-point Source Water Quality Specialist |
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This DEQ position implements the State’s Nonpoint Source Management Program through assistance to Conservation Districts, local watershed groups, other agencies and individuals. The position focuses on the technical aspects of the implementation of TMDLs/water quality plans/TMDLs. Duties include: research, assessment of pollutant loads and sources, GIS applications, technical writing, written and oral communication with local stakeholders, 319 contract development and administration. Duties may involve projects throughout the state. The application deadline is January 4, 2008. Visit the website at http://www.deq.state.mt.us/NowHiring.asp for more information. |
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| Online Maps |
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The U.S. Geological Survey has launched the new USGS Map Locator and Downloader, a web tool designed to deliver topographic maps easier and faster than ever before. It is accessible in the USGS Store at http://store.usgs.gov. Users can select any topo map in the US, download it to a computer, then print it on any size of paper that is desired.. |
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| Do
you have more news?
The Montana Water Center News welcomes your stories about water and water issues that face Montana. If you have a short story you would like to see published in this newsletter, please send your information to water@montana.edu. |
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Take
special note of upcoming national and local water meetings
on the Events
Calendar at MONTANA WATER. |
 Legislative Water Policy Committee, Hamilton, January 15 - 16, 2008 [INFO] |
Texas Aquaculture Association, El Campo, TX, January 16 - 18, 2008 [INFO] |
8th National Conference on Science, Policy & the Environment: Climate Change - Science & Solutions, Washington, DC, January 16 - 18, 2008 [INFO] |
| Membrane Technology 2008, Atlanta, GA, January 27 - 30, 2008 [INFO] |
Minnesota Wetland Conference, St. Paul, MN, January 30, 2008 [INFO] |
5th EverythingAboutWater EXPO 2008, Mumbai, Maharashtraa, India, January 31 - February 2, 2008 [INFO] |
Montana Wetland Council, Helena, January 31, 2008 [INFO] |
Cultivate Montana Agriculture Industry Career Fair, Bozeman, February 6, 2008 [INFO] |
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