The sustainability networking group 2degrees (http://www.2degreesnetwork.com/) has just announced two webinars relating to water management.
On Monday, November 28, Ruth Matthews, Director of the Water Footprint Network, will present "The Future of Water Footprinting: New Global Data." She will share new research by the Network and share case studies of how to use footprinting to drive action that reduces the impact of water use. For those who have not seen it, I recommend having a look at the Network's most recent analysis of global water scarcity, which incorporates the timing of water use as a driver of impact. Even water rich regions experience scarcity when timing is considered. That report is available here. (~7MB pdf) I suspect Ruth will cover this analysis in her session.
Two days later, on Wednesday, November 30, a panel including Marcus Norton (CDP), Will Sarni (Deloitte) and Michael Glade (Molson Coors) will explore the results of the Carbon Disclosure Project's (CDP's) water use disclosure effort.
(Design by Sana Sandler / Courtesy Argonne National Laboratory.)
Our third webinar highlighted two projects from Carol Miller and Jeff Edstrom who are exploring the growing connection between water and energy.
Carol Miller is leading a team to develop software that will allow municipal water systems to reduce air pollution and other water use impacts. Water system operators must provide enough water to maintain pressure in the face of daily fluctuating demands. The team is designing algorithms that automatically direct pumps to operate at times when the electric power grid is supplied by the cleanest available sources of energy, avoiding times when it is supplied by more polluting sources. The team is developing and testing this technology in southeast Michigan. The intent is to provide the products to all basin utilities free of charge.
Jeff Edstrom is leading a team that is shifting the “less water use is better, more water use is worse” sentiment that drives many water conservation efforts, exploring how water conservation can be used more practically in restoration plans. The team is showing how reducing the impacts of withdrawals, discharges, and corresponding chemical usage and power usage can alleviate environmental problems more effectively than simply calling for reduced use. The team is creating assessment tools, including a tool to estimate carbon reductions associated with water conservation, to identify water conservation benefits that allow practitioners to focus on actions that produce better ecological results.
Click here to view the webinar. Due to technical difficulties Carol Miller’s presentation was re-recorded and is available here.
An example of resource consumption placed in a socially comparative context. (courtesy Oberlin College)
This second webinar in our series showcased projects from John Petersen and Jon Bartholic, who are using technology, including innovative web-based systems, to change behavior and motivate individuals to be better environmental stewards. With their teams they are testing how information technology can drive Great Lakes restoration.
Click here to view the webinar from January 26, 2011.
Jon Bartholic is leading a team that is developing ways to use social media and mapping technology to drive individuals and neighborhoods to take conservation actions that matter for the Great Lakes. By encouraging friendly competition among neighbors, NECO accelerates installations of rain barrels, rain gardens, porous pavement, and many other green practices that add up to significant improvements in not just local, but larger Great Lakes watersheds.
How do people change their water and electricity consumption when they see the impacts of their use in real time? What makes them use less? How can peer pressure, impact information and friendly competition change behavior? How can that information be systematically collected, analyzed and provided to the user at the time of resource use? A team led by John Petersen is exploring what kind of feedback mechanisms lead to behavior change and reduce environmental impacts.
An aerial schematic of the Great Ships Initiative land-based, ballast treatment system testing facility. (courtesy Northeast-Midwest Institute)
We kicked off our first webinar series with two presentations from leading experts on invasive species. David Lodge and Allegra Cangelosi discussed how new genetic tools can be used to better protect the Great Lakes region against invasive species. These tools have been employed in high-profile situations and are shaping decision-making in the region.
Click here to view the webinar from December 15, 2010.
David Lodge is professor of biological sciences at the University of Notre Dame. He is a preeminent authority of invasive species biology. With a grant from the Great Lakes Protection Fund, Lodge and his team are investigating global shipping patterns and developing new genetic probes that can be used to detect invasive species from high risk ports.
(See our Resource Room post with a video on invasive species in the Great Lakes with an interview with David Lodge (from the American Museum of Natural History).
Allegra Cangelosi is President of the Northeast-Midwest Institute. In addition to many other roles, Ms. Cangelosi was Principal Investigator of the Great Ships Initiative, a collaboration whose objective is to end the problem of ship-mediated invasive species in the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Seaway System. Ms. Cangelosi has helped pioneer the area of ballast treatment technology development and testing. With funding from the Great Lakes Protection Fund, Ms. Cangelosi is leading a team to develop new genetic tools to detect microorganisms that threaten the health and resilience of the Great Lakes.
The Great Lakes Protection Fund is a private, nonprofit corporation formed in 1989 by the Governors of the Great Lakes states. It is a permanent environmental endowment that supports collaborative actions to improve the health of the Great Lakes ecosystem.
To date, the Fund has made 243 grants and program related investments representing more than $62.6 million to support the creative work of collaborative teams that test new ideas, take risks, and share what they learn.
