National Water resource Census

The 21st Century brings a fresh set of water resource challenges. Water shortage and use variance have become more commonplace in many areas of the United States – even in standard water years – for irrigation of crops, for growing cities and communities, for energy production, and for the environment and class protected under the law. Much has changed since the last overall assessment of water resources for the Nation was published by the Water Resources Council in 1978.

It is time for a comprehensive examination of using what we have cultured during the past thirty years and with up-to-date capabilities. In response to a request from Congress, the USGS released a report in 2002 entitled, Concepts for National Assessment of Water Availability and Use, Circular 1223. The circular outlines a broad framework by which a national estimation could take place and advocates using 21 water availability in the United StatesWater Resources Regions for the study units.

In 2005, USGS embarked on a pilot study of water availability in the Great Lakes Basin. The pilot focuses on accepting the dynamics of the water resources in the basin in terms of the flows and yields of both ground and surface water and demonstrates the importance of water-use data to quantifying water availability.

Haryana promoting use of solar water heating systems

CHANDIGARH: In a bid to save energy, the Haryana Renewable Energy Development Agency (Hareda) has so far installed as many as 1,412 solar heating systems in the State resulting in a saving on 18.13 million kilowatt of electricity annually.

"Solar water heating technology has emerged as a cost effective and environment friendly option for water heating applications all over the world," State's power and renewable energy minister, Mahendra Partap Singh said.

He said that installation of 1,000 solar water heating systems of 100 litre capacity each could save one megawatt of power and at the same time mitigate the problems posed by global warming.

"A 100 litre solar water heating system could avoid emission of 1.5 tonnes carbon dioxide annually," he claimed.

Singh pointed out that given the utility of solar water heating systems, the state government had made the use of this system mandatory in industries, where hot water is required for processing including hospitals and nursing homes, hotels, jail barracks, canteens, housing complexes set up by the Group Housing Societies or Housing Boards.

To promote the installation of solar water heating systems in the state, a number of incentives were being given by the State Government that included rebate in the electricity bills.


Article source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com

Water on the Moon Established by NASA Crashes

There's water on the moon—and a "significant amount" of it, too, members of NASA's recent moon-crash mission, LCROSS, announced today.

In October, NASA crashed a two-ton rocket and the SUV-size LCROSS (Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite) into the enduringly shadowed crater Cabeus on the moon's South Pole.

The crashes were part of an effort to kick up proof of water on the moon (picture).

(Read more on the LCROSS mission's moon target.)

Despite disappointing many amateur astronomers on Earth, who had been expecting to see a giant plume of lunar dust and ice crystals, the moon-water mission was a success, NASA says. (See NASA 'Moon Bombing' a Hit, But LCROSS Impact Invisible?")

The LCROSS team took the known near-infrared light signature of water and compared it to the impact spectra LCROSS near-infrared recorded after the probe had sent its spent rocket crashing into the moon.

A spectrometer helps identify the composition of materials by examining which wavelengths of light they emit or absorb.

"We got good fits" for the data graphs, said Anthony Colaprete, LCROSS's principal investigator, at today's press discussion at the NASA Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, California.

For more information http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/LCROSS/main/prelim_water_results.html

Quality of Water from Domestic Wells in the United States

This study from the National Water-Quality Assessment (NAWQA) Program of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) assesses water-quality conditions for about 2,100 domestic wells across the United States. As many as 219 properties and contaminants, including pH, major ions, nutrients, trace elements, radon, pesticides, and volatile organic compounds, were measured. Fecal indicator bacteria and additional radionuclides were analyzed for a smaller number of wells. The large number of contaminants assessed and the broad geographic coverage of the present study provides a foundation for an improved understanding of the quality of water from the major aquifers tapped by domestic supply wells in the United States.


The results of this study are described in two USGS publications, including an overview of the study findings (Circular 1332) and a detailed technical report on data sources, analyses, and results (Scientific Investigations Report 2008-5227). Both publications can be downloaded in PDF format from the NAWQA website (see below). Also available in PDF format are two related articles in the Water Well Journal of the National Ground Water Association, which briefly summarize USGS study findings and general information on domestic well maintenance, siting, and testing.