WATER E-NEWS

 Vol. 5 Issue 5

October 2006

Delaware Water Resources Center (DWRC) http://ag.udel.edu/dwrc/

UD Water Resources Agency (WRA)              http://www.wr.udel.edu/

 

This month’s issue, at http://ag.udel.edu/dwrc/newsletters/oct06.htm:

I.  DWRC Sponsored Events and News;

II.  Other Upcoming Water Resources Events;

III.  Job Openings;

IV. Featured Article: David Legates on DEOS 

I.  DWRC SPONSORED EVENTS AND NEWS

October 10, 2006: "Flood, Drought -- Where's the Balance?" Free event in Red Clay Creek lecture series (see Nov. 8 for second lecture).  Ashland Nature Center, 7 pm.  Contact: Delaware Nature Society's Ginger North, ginger@delawarenaturesociety.org , (302) 239 - 2334 x 100. 

October 16, 2006: Sixth Annual Delaware Statewide Water Forum.  Theme: "The Delaware : Challenges and Opportunities Affecting a Working and Environmental River".  7:30 a.m. - 3:00 p.m.  University of Delaware Clayton Hall Conference Center, Newark, DE. For brochure, agenda, registration information, directions: http://www.wr.udel.edu/publicservice/WaterForum2006/WaterForum06Home.html.

November 8, 2006: "The Way to a Healthy Watershed." Second free event in Red Clay Creek lecture series.  Ashland Nature Center, 7 pm.  For more information, contact Delaware Nature Society's Ginger North, ginger@delawarenaturesociety.org (302) 239 - 2334 x 100.

Eight winners announced among 61 contestants for 2006 National Institutes for Water Resources (NIWR) / U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) National Competitive Grants.  See http://water.usgs.gov/wrri/06grants/national/national_index.html for abstracts of the 2006 winning projects:

1.  “Evaluating Alternatives for Watershed-Scale Design of BMPs”.  Federal Funds: $90,948 (2 years)

2.  “Application of Wireless and Sensor Technologies for Urban Water Quality Management.”  Federal Funds: $149,176 (2 years)

3.  “Validation, Calibration, and Improvement of Remote Sensing ET Algorithms in Mountainous Regions.”  Federal Funds: $74,795 (2 years)

4.  “Collaborative Research on In Situ Denitrification and Glyphosate Transformation in Ground Water:  NAWQA Eastern Iowa Basins Study Unit.”  Federal Funds: $91,988 (3 years)

5.  “An Econometric Investigation of Urban Water Demand in the U.S.”   Federal Funds: $103,683 (2 years)

6. “Microtopography Effects on Vegetative and Biogeochemical Patterns in Created Wetlands: A Comparative Study to Provide Guidance for Wetland Creation and Restoration.”  Federal Funds: $58,115 (2 years).

7.  “West-Wide Drought Forecasting System: A Scientific Foundation for NIDIS.”   Federal Funds: $250,000 (3 years)

8.  “Identifying High-Infiltration and Groundwater Recharge Areas.”  Federal Funds: $90,952 (2 years)

The 2007 RFP for this program, which has historically offered nearly $1 million in federal funds annually, is expected to be available in December with a late February 2007 application deadline.  Proposals involving substantial collaboration between the USGS and university scientists are encouraged.  Any investigator at a U.S. institution of higher learning is eligible to request up to $250,000 in federal funds for projects of 1 to 3 years in duration.  Successful applicants must match each federal grant dollar with one dollar from non-federal sources.  The RFP will be announced at http://water.usgs.gov/wrri/news.html.  Questions?  Local contact is DWRC director Tom Sims, jtsims@udel.edu, (302) 831 – 6757.

 

II.  OTHER UPCOMING WATER RESOURCES EVENTS

 

October 11-12, 2006: 2006 Delmarva Wetlands Conference, Dover, DE.  Theme: "Integrating Wetland Restoration and Protection onto the Landscape".  Goal: To bring together managers and scientists to share ideas and formulate pathways for restoring and protecting wetland resources on the Delmarva Peninsula through integration of existing programs, development and implementation of conservation strategies, and focused education and outreach efforts. Conference Format: Day 1 - several concurrent sessions of talks in the morning will highlight ongoing efforts in Delmarva to restore and protect wetlands. In the afternoon, breakout groups will be facilitated to identify gaps in existing efforts, explore opportunities for integration and collaboration, and formulate ideas for expanding/improving ongoing projects Day 2 - several field trips and/or workshops will be offered to provide hands-on experience in restoration, monitoring and outreach approaches. Questions, call Amy Jacobs or Mark Biddle at: 302-739-9939.

 

October 26, 2006: Free Nonpoint Source Water Pollution Workshop for Newark residents, 6-8 pm, Newark Municipal Building City Council Chambers, 220 Elkton Road, Newark.  Topics: Watersheds, the Delaware Estuary, nonpoint source pollution, video.  Presented by the Partnership for the Delaware Estuary.  Register by contacting Kelley Dinsmore (302) 366 – 7040 by Fri. Oct. 20.  Free native plants to first 30 attendees; refreshments for all.

 

Delaware Section, American Water Resources Association (DE AWRA) events:  http://www.deawra.org/Meetings/meetings.php 

December 12, 2006:  Annual meeting, 5:30 – 8:30 pm, Iron Hill Restaurant, Main Street, Newark, DE.  DE-AWRA giveaways; test your Delaware water resources knowledge, with prizes to the winning team.  If you’d like to attend, please contact: Martha Corrozi, mcorrozi@udel.edu.

 

III. WATER RESOURCES JOB OPENINGS:

 

Chesapeake Bay Foundation – Save the Bay MD Land Use Planner:  For details on this Salisbury, MD-based, newly-created position supporting land use planning efforts on Maryland’s Eastern Shore and legislative initiatives at the state level, visit: http://www.cbf.org/site/News2?page=NewsArticle&id=20892  For more information on CBF please visit www.cbf.org.  To apply, please send resume, cover letter and salary history by Oct. 20, 2006 to:  Human Resources/mlup, Chesapeake Bay Foundation, 6 Herndon Avenue, Annapolis, MD 21403 or via email to: Cbf_employment@cbf.org

 

Ground-Water Modeler:   The Delaware Geological Survey (DGS) at the University of Delaware (UD) seeks a talented scientist to conduct basic and applied research and public service projects in ground-water modeling to support efforts to determine the occurrence, availability, quantity, and quality of ground water in Delaware.  Full-time 12-month position:  expertise in numerical modeling of ground-water flow and a solid background in geology/hydrogeology required.  M.S. degree, Ph.D. preferred, in geology, hydrology, or a related discipline and a minimum of three years of  related experience required.   For complete posting, visit http://www.udel.edu/udjobs/current/p-2698.html .  Applications are due by Oct. 31, 2006 to Peter McLaughlin, Chair, Modeler Search Committee, Delaware Geological Survey, DGS Building, University of Delaware, Newark, DE 19716 (ppmclau@udel.edu).  

 

IV.  FEATURE: The Delaware Environmental Observing System (DEOS)

David Legates, Contributor 

[Email: legates@udel.edu   Phone: (302) 831 - 4920  Web: http://www.deos.udel.edu  and http://www.udel.edu/Geography/faculty.html]

 

The Delaware Environmental Observing System (DEOS) is a real-time system dedicated to monitoring environmental conditions across the State of Delaware, the near-shore coastal waters and the Delaware Bay, and adjacent regions in Maryland, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey.  Although DEOS is designed, in part, to be a source for real-time and archived environmental data, it specifically serves as a tool for decision makers involved in emergency management, natural resource monitoring, agriculture, transportation, and other activities throughout the State of Delaware and the Delmarva Peninsula.  It is a cooperative venture supported by a number of state and federal agencies and many of its visualization and analysis tools are designed to be adaptable outside Delmarva.  Through the combined efforts of the State of Delaware, the Delaware Emergency Management Agency (DEMA), the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control (DNREC), and the University of Delaware (UD), DEOS has now secured long-term support that will keep us going to accomplish our mission.

 

The DEOS Environmental Monitoring and Observing Network (DEMON) combines several environmental data networks.  These include weather stations installed and maintained by DEOS as well as USGS and DGS stream and tide gage data, ocean and near-shore buoy data from NOAA’s National Data Buoy Center, and weather station networks from UD’s Research and Education Center in Georgetown (UD’s College of Agriculture and Natural Resources), the National Weather Service (NWS), Delaware’s National Estuarine Research Reserve, Delaware Department of Transportation’s road weather sensors, the Delaware Solid Waste Authority, and Christiana Care.  DEOS has installed fourteen weather stations around the region (4 in New Castle County, 2 in Kent County, 5 in Sussex County, 1 in Cecil County, and 2 in Chester County) and there are plans to install five to seven more stations along the Delaware Coast and seven more stations in Chester County, MD (in cooperation with Chester County EMS) in the next year.  Weather data are received every five minutes from most data networks (for a total of 22 stations in the five counties) and stream and tide data are received with a fifteen minute resolution.  Observations include both meteorological (e.g., air temperature, atmospheric pressure, humidity, precipitation, soil moisture and temperature, solar radiation, and wind vector) and hydrological variables (e.g., streamflow, tidal heights, wave height and period).  Information on air and water quality as well as well levels will be incorporated soon.  A significant effort is currently directed toward providing quality control and assurance (QA/QC) and preventive maintenance.

 

The DEOS Integrated Visualization and Analysis System (DIVAS) will integrate surface weather observations with NWS WSR-88D radar precipitation estimates using ESRI’s ArcGIS 9 Server.  DIVAS will provide estimates of meteorological and environmental variables over a high spatial resolution grid which can be input to a variety of agricultural or other numerical models or viewed over the Internet. This application is quite innovative and both Kentucky and Virginia are currently using the prototype DIVAS system to monitor drought and other environmental conditions across their respective states.  DEOS Analysis Systems (DAS) will provide easy access to data stored in an Oracle database, allowing informed decision making for a variety of environmentally sensitive applications.  In particular, the DIVAS system can notify emergency management or other state or local personnel of developing conditions, such as high streamflow or tide levels, heavy rainfall (measured by gage or estimated by radar), or extreme heat or cold stress (apparent temperature or wind chill).  Such notification is made on a selective basis so that decision makers are only notified of conditions in their area.  Data are provided in real-time to a number of state and federal agencies, including the National Weather Service.

 

However, DEOS provides more than data acquisition and dissemination.  To date, DEOS has proven useful in a number of environmental applications.  During the passage of tropical storms, nor’easters, or heavy snowfall, DEOS staff works with DEMA to provide up-to-date information on developing weather events.  DEMA also uses DEOS data to assist with developing emergency management situations, such as toxic spills, hazardous chemical releases, and flash flooding events.  DNREC regularly uses DEOS data to provide information for pesticide management, mosquito control, and to schedule controlled burns of invasive plant species along the coast.  The Delaware Solid Waste Authority and the Southeastern Chester County Refuse Authority have used the data to assist with refuse disposal activities.  DEOS also is working with the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources faculty to assist with evapotranspiration modeling.  Thus, we are striving to make DEOS the highest resolution, most comprehensive state or regional environmental monitoring network available anywhere.  You can find us on the Internet at http://www.deos.udel.edu  – please drop by and let us know how we can better serve you!

 

Figure 1:  DEOS coverage area and example of stations available for New Castle and Sussex Counties in Delaware.

 

Figure 2:  Radar-derived precipitation estimates for Delmarva from April 21 to April 24, 2006 using the DIVAS Geographic Information System.

Welcome new subscribers!  Contributions, comments and questions are always appreciated.  To unsubscribe, reply with "Unsubscribe Water E-News” in the subject line.  Water E-News serves citizens interested in topics on Delaware water resources and is published by the Delaware Water Resources Center, University of Delaware.  Our address: 113 Townsend Hall, Newark, DE 19716-2103. Phone: (302) 831-2698; fax: (302) 831-6758; Web: http://ag.udel.edu/dwrc/  Dr. Tom Sims, Director, email jtsims@udel.edu; Amy Boyd, Program Coordinator, email aboyd@udel.edu.