The Wet Noodle

               

After exploring on drought, and ways to lessen the effects of drought, I have determined the effects of drought can be greatly diminished. I believe if people prepare for drought by planting drought resistant plants and grass, setting aside water for future use, and I think we should be looking at drought forecasting more instead of reacting to it the results would be astonishing. 

As I continue to research, I am not sure if Colorado residents are aware, care enough, or are willing to change our use of water. I still want to do more research on water laws and enforcement. I haven’t found opposing research on drought forecasting, can this actually be done it does sound like science fiction.  While I envision my argument essay, I’m still thinking about well, what better question can I ask to further and I am thinking about finding other credible resources which would be useful in supporting my argument.

Drought is a serious issue that impacts everyone all across the world, and yet is barely a blip on the radar screen.  It is not a problem that you can throw money at and make this just away.  No this is a difficult issue one that takes deep life altering change.  How about getting rid of your Blue Grass, and replacing it with little bluestem or Blue Grama that use less water.  Cutting the amount of water used for pools and other meaningless luxuries we might get a grip on this growing problem.  Right now I am in Phoenix there are all these houses big green lawns huge swimming pools it just seems irresponsible and reckless to me when I asked my Uncle he said you underestimate how water is here more people own boats here then do in Florida it is this way of thinking that should frighten you.

What is the Cost of Drought?

What is the Economic Cost of Drought?

I began searching for ways to lessen the effects of drought, and man oh man I hit the mother lode. I learned that the US government has a drought website that has a plethora of information. I learned that in 2005 the state was the 7^th highest consumers of water/day.   Drought causes many economic problems.  Drought leaves crops weaker and more susceptible to disease or infestation causing reduced yields or crop failure.  Wildfires are the most dangerous and one of the most expensive effect of drought both in dollars and in habitat loss.  Lack of water flows from drought cause hydroelectric dams to shutdown resulting in power shortage.  Municipal water shortages are major effect of drought causing water restrictions.  Fish and wildlife mortality due to lack of food, water and cover that occurs when drought persist. Drought affects many parts of the US economy.   The article continues to say that agriculture is the most sensitive to drought because of its high demand for water.  High temperatures cause an increase in energy demands, and the managing of reservoirs /hydroelectric facilities are increasingly more expensive the less water there is.  The article also brings up every year from 1896 to 1995 some part of the US there has been a drought and it has caused more losses than flooding and hurricanes.  Water Quality is worse during a drought causing cities and states to more extensively treat due to higher toxicity levels in smaller volumes water.  Drought forecasting is proactive response to counteract its effects. Preparedness is a better cheaper choice as it cost less to prepare than it does to pay for the recovery.  The Colorado ecosystem is still reeling from the last drought for example the Mountain Pine Beetle devastation. 
Questions:How can we lessen the problem effects of drought?
How can we improve the quantity and quality of water in Colorado?


What laws are in place or could be in place to limit the use of water in Colorado?

What is being done

Characterizing the Severity and Risk

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Jose Salas explains how mathematical equations are used to calculate whether or not there is a problem with drought in the article “Characterizing the Severity and Risk of Drought in the Poudre River, Colorado”.  These equations are used to figure out what water restrictions need to be in place to protect the water source on any given day.  The Colorado Big Thompson Project in the 1950’s brought more water into the Front Range area but the increase in population was too much for the amount of water brought in.  The main drought problem is that the population growth and the shift from agricultural use of the land to “municipal and industrial” is what caused a greater drought problem. The area that used to be primarily farmland and now is growing rapidly with more residential and industrial buildings.   The water flow in the Cache La Poudre River has been recorded as the lowest in the 2000-2002 droughts.  Since the water levels are so low, we need to find ways to preserve the water in the Rivers and reservoirs here in the Front Range to save the wildlife that depend on our water sources. 

Drought Reconstruction in US

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In the article “Drought Reconstructions for the Continental United States” Edward Cook discusses how drought affects the amount and the quality of the water used between urban and rural areas. We need to make sure that the water we do have to use is safe. Using mathematical equations to measure the rings on trees to determine the patterns of drought over time and measure patterns of drought across the United States. The data of the tree rings show a strong statistical correlation between drought and the health of the tree because, how much water they are able to obtain determines the health of the tree. How susceptible the trees are to disease and pine beetle infestation is directly related to drought.  Weaker trees are less able to resist the beetles’ damage.  Also by recreating past droughts scientists and mathematicians might be able to find out how to lessen the effect of drought.

Questions
How do we use or misuse our water resources in CO?
What ways can we better monitor our water levels to ration our water?
What ways can we preserve or store more water?

What is it and what is wrong

Intro to Drought
I was looking for an answer to my question; what is drought, and I stumbled across this handout by J.D. Salas on that very topic. There is more aspects to drought than just no precipitation.  The basic definition of drought has been dumbed down so most people can understand.  Salas used this definition “drought is a persistent period of deficient precipitation resulting in extensive damage to crops, resulting in loss of yield.”  There are other definitions of drought that help further explain its complexities.  Four of the definitions of drought are: meteorological, hydrological, agricultural and socioeconomic.  The Meteorological drought is a prolonged period of uncharacteristically little to no precipitation that causes a scarcity of water unbalancing the hydrologic cycle.  Agricultural drought is an absence of precipitation that causes a negatively alters crop growth and range.  Hydrologic drought occurs when there is an extended time of lower than normal water in streams, reservoirs, aquifers, lakes and soils.   Socioeconomic drought looks at the supply and demand aspects of drought that impact society. 

 Drought 2002 in Colorado

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In the article "Drought 2002 in Colorado” by Pielke and associates, it discussed the cause of the water issues and what made them as bad as they are now. The article explained why water levels are so low and also explained what the dangers are with a severe drought,including fire danger and importantly water shortages.  In 1999 when the rainfall was less than normal and with higher temperatures in the year snowpack, precipitation, stream flow, and reservoir storage were affected by and made the drought worse.   We need to be conscious of the amount of water we consume and how we develop the land. 

Questions
What are underlying issues making drought problems worse?  what can we learn from previous droughts?

What can be done to lessen the effects of drought?

My main topic is what can be done to lessen the effects of drought.  To first understand this you have to ask, well what are the effects of drought? Next you have to ask why in the heck we should care, how does drought affect me?  Finally, what steps can we take to reduce the effects of drought? Water matters to everyone throughout history, people have been killed and wars have been fought for this precious resource.  We cannot live without water; we need it for drinking, farming, and sanitation.  In 2007 Atlanta almost ran out of water, and has been filing lawsuits over water for decades.  Fire danger and fire intensity are big reasons drought matters to us here in Colorado as well as other states. Look at the Hayman Fire in 2002, it was the largest and 2^nd most expensive fire in Colorado history and for example would not have been as intense if there was not severe drought conditions.  Drought also exacerbated the pine beetle problems which are wiping out large stands of Colorado forests, national forests, and international forests through leaving the trees more susceptible to pine beetle infestation.   

                How should I approach this question? Should my focus be a local (Colorado) approach, or should I consider the region as a whole?  What about researching national concerns with drought and its effects?  I can just make something up on Wikipedia and call it good right?  I figure EBSCO will be essential to my research since it is filled with scholarly journals and articles on my topic.  I also plan on looking into the US Forest Service and Colorado State Forest Service websites and possibly talking to a park ranger, or reading both agency’s publications to find out information pertaining to my topic. 

Ideas

age restrictions
          school entry
Why are kids born after September 1 held back?
          voting
Why is eighteen the voting age?
          driving
Why is there a minimum driving age and not a maximum age?
          sports
Why do most sports start after age of six?
          drinking
Why are you allowed to fight for your country at seventeen, but you cannot drink until twenty one?

The question that I want to know more about is the school age question. the most researchable question is probably the serving vs. drinking  question.


          
        

Hello There Eh

I am student who is currently studying things to improve my chance at landing my dream job.  You guest it a Zamboni Driver. I think it has to be the best job on the planet.