Waterbirds

Waterbirds is a term given to birds that live in and around water environments. Theses birds are often classified into categories of wading birds, seabirds, waterfowl, and shorebirds. Clean water environments are critical to the health of these birds.  A group called the Waterbird Society is an international scientific, not-for-profit organization dedicated to the study and conservation of waterbirds. This society was created to establish better communication and coordination between the growing number of people studying and monitoring aquatic birds, and to contribute to the protection and management of stressed populations or habitats of these species.

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Washed Away
Litter tossed out the window or dumped in fields often finds its way into the water cycle through storm sewers,rivers, creeks or washes. In the desert, discarded trash often sits in a dry wash (biome) until a monsoon causes flash flooding and redeposits the litter in a new spot.

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Umbrella Bags

As El Nino hits land in California, umbrellas are getting a fair amount of use. As a result, umbrella bags are popping up in store entrance ways. These plastic bags are designed to keep the floors dry and slip free However, as a disposable plastic they add to the growing landfills.

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West Cliff

"Pinch Me. I can't believe I live list close to the ocean."

This image was submitted by Tracy E. from Santa Cruz.

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 Cowlake

The Upper Cow Lake and Lower Cow Lake are located in Malheur County in Southeast Oregon, approximately 15 miles west-northwest of Jordon Valley. These are flat, playa lakes, that were formed when the Jordon Craters lava flow blocked stream flows. The area contains large areas of open water and emergent vegetation. This cluster of lakes and marshes regularly has several thousand waterfowl and over 100 shorebirds in season

This image was submitted to the blog by Marie M.

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The Grapevine

The Grapevine that starts at the mouth of Grapevine Canyon, immediately south of the community, and ascends the canyon to the Tejon Pass in the Tehachapi Mountains via Interstate 5. The village and grade are named, not for the once-winding road known as the Grapevine that used to climb the steep mountain canyon, but for the canyon it passed through with its wild grapes that still grow along the original road. 

" El Nino has arrived and touched the mountain tips with snow!!"

This was submitted by Jamie S from California.

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When it Rains, it Hails...

Last weeks storm that hit Southern California,  dropped over 2 feet of snow on Big Bear Lake. However, most of the torrential downpour was not put to use and simply washed into the ocean. As the state is entering the 5th year of severe drought plans are being finally put into action to try to collect and store this precious resource."The State Water Resources  plans to allocate $200 million for such projects. And Los Angeles plans to capture 20 billion more gallons than the 10 billon it collects during normal years." In fact, the city of Los Angeles has gutted a 16foot wide street median and replaced it with 111acres of vegetation that collects enough water to fill 27 olympic sized pools.

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Water for Less

"Fresh clear water for less" This water machine at a Cheveron gas station in central California offers 1 free gallon of water after the purchase of 4 gallons of water. Water machines of this sort have become progressively common through out the drought stricken areas.

This image was submitted from Bakersfield, CA.

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Cowlake

Dino Water

Are we drinking the same water that the dinosaurs drink?

Short answer, YES. 

Professor Ken Carslaw from the University of Leeds explains the old water phenomena as follows,

 "Water is recycled through the water cycle. It evaporates from the oceans, forms clouds, rains or snows, the rivers return it to the ocean.The longest timescale of water anywhere in the cycle is in the deep of the ocean and deep in the ground (perhaps 10,000 years). However, water is very slowly destroyed chemically in photosynthesis and recovered again in respiration. One can calculate how much water remains from the dinosaur age from the total amount of water on the planet and the amount of water taken up in photosynthesis per year.The Earth's plants take up 12,00 billion kg or water per year. The total water on Earth is about 1400 billion kg. So within about 100 million years most of the water will have been chemically destroyed. Dinosaurs lived 65 years ago. So, SOME of the water we drink is the same water but more than half is different water."

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