Steve Fielding recently asked the Obama administration to reassure him on the science of man-made global warming. When the administration proved unhelpful, Mr. Fielding decided to vote against climate-change legislation. If you haven't heard of this politician, it's because he's a member of the Australian Senate. As the U.S. House of Representatives prepares to pass a climate-change bill, the Australian Parliament is preparing to kill its own country's carbon-emissions scheme. Why? A growing number of Australian politicians, scientists and citizens once again doubt the science of human-caused global warming, as do others in Europe, Japan, and the USA, according to WSJ columnist Kimberley Strassel.

This is a summary of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) National Water-Quality Assessment (NAWQA) Program study of water quality in carbonate aquifers of the United States. More than 1,000 wells and springs were analyzed for properties and contaminants including pH, major ions, nutrients, trace elements, radon, pesticides, and volatile organic compounds, in 12 carbonate aquifers in the United States.

The Santa Clara Valley Water District has a new Climate Change Portal page where interested users can follow the latest reports on climate change.We think it will be particularly useful for those in the water industry on the West Coast, like us.  Browse reports by date (newest first) or by topic (such as adaptation, water utilities guidance, sample climate action plans). Or do a keyword search to find just what you are looking for. Subscribe to the RSS feed in order to have links for the newest reports come to you.

The June 2009 H2OSU Newsletter is now online. Since it marks my last newsletter as IWW Director, I have plenty of suggestions about what to do about water in Oregon. Enjoy!

Videos and presentations from Oregon State University's Isotope Hydrology and Bio-Geochemistry Workshop are now online. It's best to view the videos with Internet Explorer.

Hot off the press, here is the newsletter of the U.S. National Committee of the International Association of Hydrogeologists.

Interesting story from Burlington, NC, where the city's stormwater manager wants to remove trees from the buffer zone to improve reservoir water quality.

Results of two new studies led by USGS scientists are available in a special issue of the journal Biogeochemistry, which highlights findings from a workshop sponsored by the National Science Foundation on new approaches to modeling denitrification—an ecologically important bacterial process that converts reactive nitrogen compounds to inert nitrogen gas.

The June 2009 issue of the free online journal Water Alternatives is now available. You might have to register for complete access.

Large dams - over 15 m tall or with a capacity over 3 million m3- total roughly 50,000 worldwide, not considering millions of smaller dams and reservoirs. Few rivers remain that have been untouched by some type of dam. Ten years after the creation of the World Commission on Dams, this special issue of Water Alternatives will look at the influence and the impact of the WCD on dam construction and the practice of various main actors: financiers, construction companies, bureaucracies, developers or the civil society. Abstracts are due 30 June 2009.

We are pleased to announce that the 2009 Isotope Hydrology and Biogeochemistry Workshop will be held at the LaSells Stewart Center at Oregon State University on 8-9 June, 2009. Click here for more information.Online registration closes 2 June.

Over at WaterWired I've posted a list of waterbloggers who also Twitter plus a list of over 70 water Twitters to get you started. Click here.

Friends, I had a long conversation late today with Brian Cash of the CA Resources Agency. I have in the past found him a trustworthy source of information. He gave me information and a perspective about the freeze and the unpaid invoices for conservation projects which is far more comprehensive than I had up to then received despite many phone conversation with people from across the spectrum of Agencies, Offices, Departments and Boards. His report had enough similarities to some others that fall into the less- than-ignorant category. In other words, his report was credible. I cannot judge whether it was accurate in all terms.

Read full article: 'Update on CA Bond Freeze and Impact to Conservation Projects' (6095 bytes more)

Two National Research Council committees have just produced publications of interest: 1) Toward a Sustainable and Secure Water Future: a Leadership Role for the USGS; and 2) Mapping the Zone: Improving Flood Map Accuracy.

The current issue of Southwest Hydrology deals with the all-important issue of hydrologic stationarity.

The May 2009 issue of H2OSU, the newsletter of the Institute for Water and Watersheds, is now available. Read about the water happenings at Oregon State University and elsewhere, as well! My penultimate column is included

Three common agricultural pesticides-carbaryl, carbofuran and methomyl-are jeopardizing the survival of salmon and steelhead in the Pacific Northwest.Federal biologists warn these pesticides can affect anadromous fishes'abilities to smell, swim, grow, and avoid predators, and ultimately will kill them in certain concentrations.The National Marine Fisheries Service is recommending restrictions and bans be placed on these pesticides' applications near salmon habitat.

It has often been said that the next resource wars will be fought not over oil but over water.This article from Seed Magazine features seven experts discussuing the issue.

Research shows music can influence how people respond to messages, influencing memory and recall, emotion, information processing, attitudes, and even behavior.  To explore how music can help prevent the spread of aquatic invasive species, UW Professor Bret Shaw worked with a group of singer/songwriters to produce these songs to help prevent the spread of aquatic invasive species in Wisconsin and beyond.

UNESCO's Institute of Water Education (IHE) in Delft, The Netherlands, is readvertising for the position of Rector. Applications are due 14 May 2009.

Many new and exciting adaptive management (AM) related developments have occurred since our first conference in Missoula, Montana. We look forward to reconvening here in Snowbird (29 June - 1 July, 2009) to continue our discussions on how we can best utilize AM to better manage our water resources. Visit here for more information.

Dr. Peter Gleick, President and co-founder of the Pacific Institute, has started a new blog. He will explore the threats and challenges to our freshwater resources and discuss available, viable solutions. You might want to check out Steve Gough's Riparian Rap blog.

I thought these two 'sandbox' models from Little River Research and Design would be of interest to this group. They use thermoplastic 'sediment' to better deal with hydraulic scaling.  Steve Gough, the owner of LRRD, also runs the Riparian Rap blog.

World Wildlife Fund ecologist John Matthews' blog.

Catch up on all the water news from Oregon State University with the H2OSU Newsletter from the Institute for Water and Watersheds.

Gabriel Eckstein of the Texas Tech University School of Law has started the International Water Law Project (IWLP) blog. Elizabeth Royte, author of Bottlemania and Garbage Land, has started the Waste, Water, Whatever blog.

Foreign Affairs has just posted its list on what to read on climate change. There is also a link to Ken Caldeira's video on 'Geoengineering Earth's Climate.'

Brown and Caldwell's Water News has a special climate change edition.

The Global Water Partnership, based in Stockholm, is seeking a chair for its Technical Committee. This is a 0.50 FTE position. View the ad and TOR here.

At the Fifth World Water Forum (5WWF) I co-convened a session (3.4.1) on A Hidden Resource: Sustainably Managing Groundwater for the Future. The presentations are postedhere.