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bookmark_borderColorado Water Rights

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Colorado is one of the states with the most restrictive water rights. Similar to how mineral rights can be sold separately then the other property rights, water rights in Colorado are often owned by someone other than the property owner. This means it is illegal to even capture rain water. Colorado has it’s own government department devoted to water rights.

The Colorado Division of Water Resources strives to be a leader in the water community of Colorado and the western United States. This is accomplished by focusing on the following areas: people, water and stewardship. People, because we recognize that the business of water involves our employees and the public. Water, because the administration, safety and use of the State of Colorado’s water resources is something we are committed to and care deeply about. Stewardship, because we understand and accept our obligation to the taxpayers and ourselves, in using and protecting the resources in the most effective manner possible.

Our Mission is:

  • To provide competent and dependable distribution of water in accordance with statutes, decrees and interstate compacts.
  • To ensure public safety through safe dams and properly permitted and constructed water wells.
  • To maintain and provide accurate and timely information concerning water.
  • To promote stewardship of all human, fiscal and natural resources.
  • To serve the public through the generation of creative solutions to problems.
  • To help the public understand complex water issues.
  • To promote stability in the use of the state’s limited water resources.
  • To apply modern technology to its greatest advantage.

These Principle statements will guide our actions:

  • Treating each other and the public with dignity, respect, honesty and fairness.
  • Assuming personal responsibility for individual and organizational actions.
  • Fostering continuous improvement, innovative thought, learning and shared leadership.
  • Promoting an open and honest communication environment that builds trust, respect and loyalty among ourselves and the diverse community in which we live and work.
  • Recognizing our employees and the water community for the professional, competent services they provide.

bookmark_borderFranz Ferdinand

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Franz Ferdinand
Franz Ferdinand

Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria was assassinated on June 28, 1914. Franz Ferdinand was the heir presumptive to the Austro-Hungarian throne. His assassination started the chain of events that led to World War I.

His assassination in Sarajevo precipitated Austria-Hungary’s declaration of war against Serbia. This caused the Central Powers (including Germany and Austria-Hungary) and the Allies of World War I (countries allied with Serbia or Serbia’s allies) to declare war on each other, starting World War I.
— Wikipedia

World War I lasted until November 11, 1918. 9 million soldiers died in the war.

In 2002, a Scottish Indie band was formed that took the name Franz Ferdinand. “Mainly we just liked the way it sounded,” says Bob Hardy (bass guitar). “We liked the alliteration.” “He was an incredible figure as well,” continues Alex Kapranos (lead vocals). “His life, or at least the ending of it, was the catalyst for the complete transformation of the world and that is what we want our music to be. But I don’t want to over-intellectualize the name thing. Basically a name should just sound good … like music.” Paul Thomson (drums) offered, “I like the idea that, if we become popular, maybe the words Franz Ferdinand will make people think of the band instead of the historical figure”

bookmark_borderDolphin Intelligence

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Man has always assumed that he is more intelligent than dolphins because he has achieved so much — the wheel, New York, wars and so on — while all the dolphins had ever done was muck about in the water having a good time. But, conversely, the dolphins had always believed that they were far more intelligent than man — for precisely the same reasons.
— D. Adams, “Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy”

bookmark_borderPhilosophy: Murpys Law and Thomas Pynchon

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Murphy’s Law, that brash proletarian restatement of Godel’s Theorem.
— Thomas Pynchon, “Gravity’s Rainbow”

Gödel’s incompleteness theorems are two theorems of mathematical logic that establish inherent limitations of all but the most trivial axiomatic systems capable of doing arithmetic. The theorems, proven by Kurt Gödel in 1931, are important both in mathematical logic and in the philosophy of mathematics. The two results are widely, but not universally, interpreted as showing that Hilbert’s program to find a complete and consistent set of axioms for all mathematics is impossible, giving a negative answer to Hilbert’s second problem.

The first incompleteness theorem states that no consistent system of axioms whose theorems can be listed by an “effective procedure” (e.g., a computer program, but it could be any sort of algorithm) is capable of proving all truths about the relations of the natural numbers (arithmetic). For any such system, there will always be statements about the natural numbers that are true, but that are unprovable within the system. The second incompleteness theorem, an extension of the first, shows that such a system cannot demonstrate its own consistency.

bookmark_borderSwimming In Ice Cubes

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Air temperatures in the states and provinces around the Great Lakes suggest that meteorological summer has arrived. But the icy grip of winter is lingering in cool water temperatures and drifting chunks of ice. For nearly seven months, ice has been afloat somewhere on the Great Lakes, an ice season longer than anything in the satellite records and in anyone’s memory. In an average year, the lakes are ice free by late April or early May.

As recently as May 20, 2014, Lake Superior was still nearly 7 percent ice covered; on June 3, it was 1.3 percent. The ice was concentrated mostly in the far western and southern parts of the lake—even as air temperatures onshore approached 80 degrees Fahrenheit (27 degrees Celsius) on some days. In the second week of June, boaters, fishermen, and scientists were still capturing photos of ice chunks in the water, though the Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory officially declared the region to be effectively ice free for the sake of shipping interests.

The Operational Land Imager (OLI) on the Landsat 8 satellite captured the top image on May 23, 2014, the start of Memorial Day weekend (and unofficial start of summer in the United States). The second image was acquired on June 8, 2014. Both show Lake Superior near Chequamegon Bay, Wisconsin, about 60 miles east of Duluth, Minnesota. The bay lies near the western end of Lake Superior, which is bounded by the American states of Wisconsin, Michigan, and Minnesota and by Canada’s Ontario Province. Turn on the image comparison tool to see the changes in ice cover and river sediment outflow over two weeks.

The residual ice in June is not necessarily a surprise given the record-setting cold weather and extensive ice cover this winter. The Weather Channel reported that temperatures in nearby Marquette, Wisconsin, stayed below freezing for a record 75 days in the midst of winter. Lake Superior was still 64 percent ice-covered in mid-April 2014. And water temperatures in Lake Superior were still in the 30s (0 to 5 Celsius) as of June 10, 2014.

Nonetheless, the icy waters made for some interesting summer fishing and sunbathing scenes.

Lake Superior Summer Iice
Lake Superior Summer Iice

bookmark_borderClimate Change and the Presidental Action Plan

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The President’s Plan to Cut Carbon Pollution in America

Reducing Carbon Pollution from Power Plants

Power plants are the largest major source of emissions in the U.S., together accounting for roughly one-third of all domestic greenhouse gas pollution.

PROGRESS:

In September 2013, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced proposed carbon pollution standards for new power plants.

PROGRESS:

The EPA has met with more than 300 stakeholder groups from across the country to gather information on standards for existing power plants. In June 2014, the EPA issued proposed carbon pollution standards for existing power plants.

Continuing the momentum for the future:

 

Accelerating Clean Energy Leadership

During the President’s first term, the United States more than doubled generation of electricity from wind and solar energy.

PROGRESS:

Since President Obama took office, the U.S. increased solar generation by more than ten-fold and tripled electricity production from wind power.

PROGRESS:

The Department of the Interior (DOI) announced permitting the 50th utility-scale renewable energy project on public lands. The projects could support more than 20,000 jobs and generate enough electricity to power 4.8 million homes.

PROGRESS:

In May 2014, the DOE’s Solar Instructor Training Network announced it will support training programs at community colleges across the country that will assist 50,000 workers to enter the solar industry by 2020.

PROGRESS:

In May 2014, President Obama announced more than 300 commitments private and public sector commitments to create jobs and cut carbon pollution by advancing solar deployment and energy efficiency — representing enough energy to power nearly 130,000 homes.

Continuing the momentum for the future:

Building a 21st Century Clean Energy Infrastructure

Heavy-duty vehicles (commercial trucks, vans, and buses) are currently the second largest source of greenhouse gas pollution within the transportation sector.

PROGRESS:

In January 2014, President Obama signed a Presidential Memorandum establishing the federal government’s first Quadrennial Energy Review (QER) process, with an initial focus on our nation’s energy infrastructure.

PROGRESS:

In February 2014, President Obama directed EPA and DOT to develop and issue the next phase of heavy-duty vehicle fuel efficiency and greenhouse gas standards by March 2016.

PROGRESS:

In 2011, the Administration finalized fuel economy standards for Model Year 2014-2018 for heavy-duty trucks, buses, and vans. This will reduce greenhouse gas emissions by about 270 million metric tons and save 530 million barrels of oil.

PROGRESS:

The Administration has already established the toughest fuel economy standards for passenger vehicles in U.S. history. These standards require an average performance equivalent of 54.5 miles per gallon by 2025.

Continuing the momentum for the future:

Cutting energy waste in homes, businesses, and factories

Energy efficiency is one of the clearest and most cost-effective opportunities to save families money, make our businesses more competitive, and reduce greenhouse gas pollution.

PROGRESS:

Since June, 75 new partners have joined the President’s Better Buildings Challenge. More than 190 organizations, together representing over 3 billion square feet of building space, have now committed to energy savings.

PROGRESS:

In President Obama’s first term, DOE and HUD completed efficiency upgrades in nearly two million homes, saving many families more than $400 on their heating and cooling bills in the first year alone.

PROGRESS:

In December 2013, the Department of Agriculture announced it will provide up to $250 million to help businesses and residential customers in rural areas cut their energy bills through energy efficiency and renewable energy use.

PROGRESS:

Since June, DOE has issued nine proposed and seven final energy conservation standards for appliances and equipment. If finalized and combined with rules already issued, the energy savings will help cut consumers’ electricity bills by hundreds of billions of dollars.

Continuing the momentum for the future:

Reducing other greenhouse gas emissions

Emissions of hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) — which are potent greehouse gases — are expected to double by 2020 and nearly triple by 2030 in the U.S.

PROGRESS:

Since 1990, methane emissions have decreased by 11% in part through partnerships with industry.

PROGRESS:

In March 2014, the Administration released a Strategy to Reduce Methane Emissions from landfills, coal mining, agriculture, and oil and gas systems through voluntary actions and common-sense standards.

Continuing the momentum for the future:

Federal leadership

Since 2008, federal agencies have reduced greenhouse gas pollution by more than 17 percent — the equivalent of permanently taking 1.8 million cars off the road.

PROGRESS:

Expanded energy performance contracts from $2 billion to $4 billion to provide energy efficiency upgrades for Federal buildings, at no net cost to the taxpayer.

PROGRESS:

On December 5, President Obama signed a Presidential Memorandum directing the federal government to buy at least 20% of its electricity from renewable sources by 2020.