Greetings!  

Below is the semi-monthly One World One Water Newsletter. Here you will find special features, event announcements, and OWOW Center updates. Do you have a special tidbit you think water lovers should know about? Share it here! Contact Nona for more information. 
Thank you and have a lovely day,
The OWOW Center
OWOW MSUDenver

August 2013

Water Studies Courses Fall 2013
 
 
ENV 190A Water EssentialsCRN 54886,TR 8-9:15am
ENV 190A Water EssentialsCRN 54107,TR 3:30-4:45pm
MGT 290A Intro to Water Law & Admin: Colorado & the WestCRN 53719,TR 9:30-10:45am
ENV 3400 Water ResourcesCRN 54412,TR 9:30-10:45am
Endowment to Benefit OWOW Center
By: Donna Fowler 
 

One member of the advisory council for MSU Denver's One World One Water Center for Urban Water Education and Stewardship (OWOW) is giving more than just his time.

 

Ken Wright and his wife, Ruth, have donated $15,000 to establish the Edward Krisor Endowed Urban Hydrology Fund. Wright's company, Wright Water Engineers, Inc., has contributed $5,000 to the fund as well. The founder of WWE, Wright is the chief financial officer and chief engineer.

 

The Krisor fund will support OWOW Center studies specific to urban hydrology, storm-runoff management and the creation of government institutions focused on developing and improving urban drainage design criteria and water management policy.

 

Wright chose to honor Krisor with the naming of the fund because of the attorney's work since 1970 in championing the cause of sound urban drainage practices in the Denver area. Krisor has been counsel and co-counsel for the Urban Drainage and Flood Control District and counsel for the Southeast Metro Stormwater Authority.

 

AHEC Receives Grant to Reduce Water Consumption 

By: Jon Bortles 

 

The Auraria Higher Education Center (AHEC) has roughly 150 acres of land located just west of the downtown Denver business district. Like most college campuses, much of this land is irrigated to support healthy trees, shrubs, sod, and other vegetation. Both well and potable water are used to meet this irrigation demand.

 

In the summer of 2012, an irrigation audit was performed by Denver Water technicians that outlined many tangible steps that the agency could take to reduce water consumption associated with the irrigation system. Perhaps most notably, the study recommended that the campus update obsolete irrigation controllers in order to automate the scheduling of the various zones across campus more efficiently. By using "smart" evapotranspiration (ET) technology in conjunction with a new controller, the campus had the opportunity to save a significant amount of water during warm summer months.

 

AHEC Sustainability Officer, Jon Bortles, applied for and received grant funding from the Governor's Pollution Prevention Advisory Board and the Auraria Sustainable Campus Program (SCP) to pursue Denver Water's recommendation. Specifically the project included the following components:

  • A new irrigation controller for the 9th Street Historic Park - one of the larger water consuming areas on campus due to its lush and aesthetically pleasing landscaping.
  • The installation of a new weather station that reports evapotranspiration (ET) conditions such as humidity, wind, rain, and temperature. 
  • A new hydrometer (flow meter) for the 9th Street Historic Park irrigation system that would report water consumption to the central irrigation controls. 
  • Implementing new software that utilizes the ET data, hydrometer readings, and pre-programmed settings to schedule irrigation as efficiently as possible. The software also reports any problems that have been identified during runtime - alerting technicians of potential problems such as a broken line.

The 9th Street Historic Park was chosen as the "pilot" area of the campus due to its irrigation intensity. Data acquired from this specific controller will be used as a "case study" for other state agencies and institutions of higher education. However, the weather station and software that has been purchased can be utilized across all irrigation controllers that are remotely connected to AHEC's central irrigation computer. This means that the water savings potential expands much further than just 9th Street - it stands to save water campus-wide to the tune of 8.6 million gallons of water per year once all controllers are connected to the ET software. 

 

See more about Auraria Campus sustainability

OWOW Highlight of the Month: Christie Jaeger
 
Christie Jaeger is one of many OWOW minor students. She came from the wet Pacific Northwest, with an appetite for environmental issues, to the arid West. Here, issues of water scarcity are becoming more salient with every passing season. As a psychology major and an OWOW Water Studies minor, Christie is both understanding human perceptions of water sustainability and in motivating conservation behaviors. Currently, Christie is working to compile and administer a survey to measure these perceptions of students on Auraria Campus. The OWOW Center has provided her with the opportunity to apply the skills she has learned in her major department to the world of water. In her free time, Christie enjoys swimming, yoga, and anything that takes her outside. 

Attention OWOWers: Scholarship Opportunity!

 

The OWOW Center is now accepting scholarship applications! To qualify, students must have declared the Water Studies minor, be enrolled in one or more water studies courses, and/or be registered for an approved elective. If interested, please complete the OWOW Scholarship Application and return it via email by the end of September 2013 to the One World One Water Center. 

 

Please don't hesitate to contact Tom or Nona with any questions regarding the Water Studies Minor or the OWOW Scholarship.

OWOW at History Colorado
One World One Water Center for Urban Water Education and Stewardship

Tom Cech, Director
tcech@msudenver.edu

Nona Shipman, Outreach and Recruitment Manager
303-352-7400
nshipman@msudenver.edu


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