Mississippi River MODIS Today Images

For more MODIS Today Images

False color images from MODIS Today show the expansion of the Mississippi River into the flood plains.  Or as some have called it before, 'the python swallowing the pig'. 

Compare April 5, 2011 with May 4, 2011 to get a feel for how much the river has grown in the last month.

Current USGS River Gage levels, Mississippi Swells with Spring Rains

Here are the current USGS river gage levels, the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers are converging with 1 million cubic feet per second per river.  http://www.belowthesurface.org/researchtools.php

 

They have blown up the levees in one region near Cairo, to protect the city.

 

http://youtu.be/WbrjRKB586s

Circle of Blue: Water Visualization

This is a good visualization of some vital statistics for water usage and availability from some students at Harvard.  They recently won the Water Visualization Challenge sponsored by Visualizing.org and the Circle of Blue.

 

http://www.josephbergen.com/viz/water/

 

SDCWA postpones capital projects

San Diego Metropolitan

Water Authority Postpones $150 Million in Capital Projects

March 28, 2011

The San Diego County Water Authority has postponed a total of $150 million in capital projects in response to lowered short-term water demand forecasts. Last week, the board deferred three projects totaling $68 million until at least July 2014, which followed on the heels of another 11 project deferrals that were made in January. The deferrals are projected to reduce wholesale rate increases from capital projects by $17 to $22 per acre-foot during the deferral period.

Last week’s action deferred construction of a flow regulatory structure, a pipeline and a control valve facility. The board said critical water reliability projects, including the San Vicente Dam Raise, are still moving forward.

The Water Authority plans to evaluate some of the deferred projects to reassess their need, scope and timing.

According to the Water Authority, water use in the region has decreased 20 percent since 2007 due to a combination of factors, including the economy, cooler and wetter conditions over the last 18 months, public response to both voluntary conservation and mandatory water use restrictions and increases in water rates. Current projections indicate water demand will increase gradually over time, though not as much or as quickly as prior estimates expected, the Water Authority said.

Other steps the Water Authority is taking include: reducing Water Authority staff by 12 percent from fiscal year 2008 levels; cutting $6 million from the current two-year operating budget by eliminating, reducing or deferring a range of programs, services, outreach and other costs; and reducing the current budget by an additional $1.4 million by not filling vacant positions and deferring equipment replacement purchases

Rachel Maddow video: The more spills change, the more they stay the same

The more spills change, the more they stay the same

Rachel Maddow shares NBC News reports on from 1979 on the Ixtoc I oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico and the near mirror impotence and ineptitude in addressing the spill.

 http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26315908/vp/37368377#37368377