Today we drove to Boulder to check out Western Resource Advocates headquarters. We spoke to Joanne and Karen, both of whom were very pleasant. We sat in one of their meeting rooms around a big table. They explained that the table was made from "Beetle Kill" wood, which raises awareness about the Pine Bark Beetle problem they are experiencing in the area. I thought it was such an innovative way to salvage the wood from the dead trees killed by the Pine Bark Beetle. Joanne explained that the Pine Bark Beetle is a problem because it is not cold enough to kill the beetles in the winter due to climate change. Joanne also spoke about how the Pine Bark Beetle impacted the water in the Colorado River Basin. Since the trees kept the soil tight to hold water, less trees means less water infiltrating and being stored. All of the dead trees are causing the water to just runoff instead, which is a really big deal. I thought the issues surrounding the Pine Bark Beetle were extremely interesting, and it became somewhat of a theme throughout the first half of the trip. This sparked my interest to write my research paper on the Pine Bark Beetle.
Joanne and Karen showed us an interactive map of the Colorado River Basin on the computer that had recently been created. It shows people the ways water is used, and helps raise awareness about water conservation. The map showed the amount of water used at nuclear and coal plants, which makes people consider how they're using resources. It also showed potential dams, points of interest that rely on water, and real time stream flow data. I thought the interactive map was a great idea because it allows people to get involved in the water issues going on in their area and it raises awareness about conserving water in the Colorado River Basin.
Western Resource Advocates covers west of the Rocky Mountains, and protects the region, promotes clean energy, conserving water, and protecting public land. It is a mixture of lawyers, economists, ecologists, policy analysts, among others. They are concerned with climate change, as many issues connect directly and it is a central pivot point. There are different issues in the west than in the east like we are used to. Colorado is part of the Rocky Mountain west, and they have special management issues. Water is the most important, as they get only 11 inches per year, and most of it is snow. The Colorado River provides water for 40 million people as well as agriculture. The challenge here is that everyone wants a lawn like we had in the east. Trying to get people away from that and appreciate sparse green that they have in the west has proven difficult. Colorado also has the fastest growing counties, but they still want the natural land and be able to water their lawn. In Denver, about 50% of the water used is for outdoor landscape. That's ridiculous! It's just not possible to have everything, and Western Resource Advocates are trying to send the message that we need to be reasonable and stop landscaping and go native instead. There are some incentives in place, such as in Nevada where they pay you to remove your grass. There are also solar rebates in Colorado. However, in places like Arizona, the more water you use, the less you pay for it. I was very shocked to learn this and it needs to change. I was also shocked to learn that rain barrels are illegal in most places because capturing water is taking away from the next person. Every drop of water is accounted for, and the Colorado River Compact is the legal agreement on how the water will be shared. The upper basin includes CO, NM, UT, WY and the lower basin includes NV, AZ, CO. The upper basin is required to deliver 7.5 maf (326,000 gallons = 1 maf) at the time of the compact, estimated to be about half of the water. However, this is not actually accurate to the average river flow because it was taken during a wet year. The upper basin wants to develop, but it has a commitment to the lower basin that is hard to meet in the first place. The states need to crack down on the amount of water used in new development and landscaping. They also need to legally require people to find water for the development before they build.
There is big money in the water allocation as it is now, so they don't want to adjust it or renegotiate. Instead, they are trying to find new ways to manage it better and make changes. This is unfortunate because it doesn't seem like it is really working. As previously mentioned, it is cheaper to use more water, and most of it is being used to water lawns in the desert. The reality is that water is not infinite, there is not alternative, and pumping it in from somewhere else won't work. We need to learn to live within our means. "We're dry, we're big, and we're a desert", Karen said. I couldn't have said it better myself.
Karen was very knowledgeable, and I was shocked to learn some of the things she told us. For example, I had no idea how many native Americans lived there, and the fact that Arizona grows rice in the desert using flood irrigation. We had a great talk about people asked some great questions about development in the area, water conservation, and the future of resources in the area. I think that sooner or later, the compact must be readdressed because the water simply isn't there. I am interested to watch how the situation will unfold in the area with climate change starting to really present itself.
After WRA, we drove to Boulder to check out the city. It was like a town-square set up; everything was walk-able and very pedestrian friendly. We had an hour or so to walk around and check it out. We went in a few stores and I got some ice cream. We also talked to a guy from Greenpeace for a while. He was very nice and actually got Jess to sign up. (I'm already a member!) We had a nice time in Boulder, I would definitely consider coming back.
Lessons Learned: Don't take longer than the time you're allotted! If you have to use the bathroom, try to remember to go before your time is up. After the first week you will get the hang of this. Do what's necessary FIRST! Then have fun :-)
Next stop, we went to an energy resources lecture at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). The first thing I noticed when we went inside was beetle kill wood that decorated the back wall of the room. We took a tour of the outside of the building and learned about their passive solar design that lets in natural light. They also have a "trom wall" that heats the building and the brick absorbs solar energy. This keeps the building warm in the winter and cold in the summer. The walls were strategically oriented and there were also windows embedded in the wall to create shadows that would keep it cool. After our outside tour, we went back inside to learn more about NREL. They are the only lab dedicated soley to energy efficiency and renewable energy research. Their science and technology lab buildings are platinum LEEDs certified, which is quite impressive. I was also very impressed that they have two of the most energy efficient data centers in the world, and that people come from all over the world to learn about the technologies developed at NREL. Their expertise includes bio-energy research and photovoltaics. They revolutionized the PV industry by inventing the multi-junction solar cell, which enabled a 25% conversion efficiency. NREL also helped launch the wind industry through their airfold designs and reliability testing. There are many other technologies being developed at NREL, including biofuels and energy storage. Their future goals are to continue to improve energy efficiency and make global progress in driving costs down for alternative energy. They are also doing a program called brownsfields to brightfields which provides funding to convert cleanup to energy.
I thought NREL was a fascinating facility. The architecture was designed to conserve energy and use passive solar, which I believe is very effective and useful. I hope to see more of it in the near future. It's so easy I don't understand why people don't take advantage of it more often. The speaker, Jim, at NREL was very knowledgable and told us about all of the things NREL is responsible for creating and has been expanded upon by others. It seems like a great place to work as a laboratory scientist.
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