Western Waters Item of the Week: Report, Estimation of groundwater velocities from Yucca Flat to the Amargosa Desert

Posted on May 8, 2012 by Anna Neatrour

The Western Waters Item of the week is a report issued in June 1997, “Estimation of groundwater velocities from Yucca Flat to the Amargosa Desert using geochemistry and environmental isotopes, June 1997″ From the report description, “Geochemical modeling techniques were applied to groundwater flowpaths from Yucca Flat on the Nevada Test Site (NTS) to the Amargosa Desert, south of the NTS to estimate groundwater flow velocities for independent comparison to velocities calculated by other methods. The groundwater flowpaths examined considered flow in the carbonate aquifer beneath Yucca and Frenchman flats mixing with flow from carbonate aquifers east and southeast of the NTS and discharging at wells south of the NTS border. The approach used the computer codes WATEQ4F and NETPATH to calculate chemical speciation, determine the saturation state of mineral phases, and simulate mixing and the possible chemical reactions along the flowpath.”

This report comes to the Western Waters Digital Library from UNLV’s Historic Landscape of Nevada Collection.
View the collection at UNLV Libraries to access additional tools for educators and suggested primary source sets of digital materials.

Browse the Western Waters Digital Library for more information on:

groundwater
groundwater velocities
geochemistry

Western Waters Item of the Week: Restoring Harmony in the Klamath Basin

Posted on May 2, 2012 by Anna Neatrour

Restoring Harmony in the Klamath Basin is the Western Waters Digital Library item of the week. This report was originally published in 2003 as part of the PERC policy series.

From the introduction, “Restoring Harmony to the Klamath River Basin,” by Roger E. Meiners and Lea- Rachel Kosnik, addresses the conflict over water that torments the once- peaceful region around the Klamath River in southern Oregon and northern California. In addition to analyzing the causes of the turmoil, this paper offers specific suggestions for ending the discord.”

This item comes to Western Waters from The Oregon Institute of Technology’s Klamath Waters Digital Library

View more items in the Western Waters Digital Library on the Klamath River Basin.

Item of the Week: What CVA means to you, the Columbia is our River

Posted on April 12, 2012 by Anna Neatrour

Enjoy the mid-century design of this historic pamphlet from 1950, “What CVA means to you, the Columbia is our river”

This pamphlet was authored by The League for CVA and was designed to promote the creation of a Columbia Valley Administration organization. The pamphlet begins, “The Columbia is a river of gold–in terms of potential resources the RICHEST RIVER IN THE WORLD. Its waters and surrounding lands contain an almost inexhaustible supply of benefits, natural riches that are the key to the greatness of the Pacific Northwest.”

This item comes to Western Waters from the University of Washington’s Grand Coulee Dam collection, which “contains images of photographs and text documenting the creation of the Grand Coulee Dam, built during the first half of the twentieth century. Included are images of the Works Progress Administration work camps, land clearing activities, the moving of towns, and the dam construction itself. Also presented are documents outlining arguments both for and against this enormous undertaking.”

View the Grand Coulee Dam collection at the University of Washington University Libraries.

View more pamphlets from the Western Waters Digital Library

Item of the Week: Dragline backfilling spillbox from Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge

Posted on April 4, 2012 by Anna Neatrour

The Western Waters Digital Library item that we are featuring this week is a photo of a dragline backfilling spillbox, taken in the Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge in the spring of 1931. This item comes to Western Waters from Utah State University’s Bear River Watershed collection. From the photo’s description, “George E. Mushback and Mr. Diffenbach inspect backfilling of spillbox being done by dragline, an excavating machine that fills in areas by dragging dirt towards itself.”

See more items from WWDL about the Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge

Read reports and technical papers about the Bear River Basin

View more photos documenting dragline excavation.

Latest Index is live

Posted on March 19, 2012 by Anna Neatrour

The latest index for the Western Waters Digital Library is live.

We have new collections from the UW College of Forest Resources Water Center and a new maps collection from the University of the Pacific focused on the San Joaquin Sacramento Delta.

Item of the Week: Lighthouse at Junction of the Columbia and Willamette Rivers

Posted on March 19, 2012 by Anna Neatrour

The item of the week is a Lighthouse at junction of the Columbia and the Willamette Rivers. This is a tinted postcard that comes to the Western Waters Digital Library from the University of Oregon’s Columbia River Basin collection. The description for the item is, “A tinted photographic postcard. The legend in red at upper left reads “Lighthouse at junction of the Columbia and the Willamette Rivers.” The lighthouse, which stands in the middle of the water, is a wooden structure with a metal roof. The wooden pilings and beams supporting the living quarters are built in a square, but the building itself is octagonal. On the lowest level is a fenced deck surrounding the building; the level above that features four tall gable windows, one looking to each of the four directions. At the top is a fenced widow’s walk. On the left side of the building can be seen a lantern and a tall pole, perhaps a lightening rod. On the shore beyond the lighthouse are trees. The lighthouse was built near Kelly Point in 1895. In 1935 the lighthouse was electrified and no longer needed keepers to light the lantern or ring the fog bell. It was sold and moved during the 1940s and burned during the 1950s.”

Additional Resources

View more historic postcards in the Western Waters Digital Library
Western Waters Columbia River Basin Research Guide

Item of the Week: Correspondence on Colorado River Compact

Posted on March 12, 2012 by Anna Neatrour

This week we are featuring a letter from George W.P. Hunt to William P. Stuart regarding the Correspondence of California Governor Friend W. Richardson on Colorado River Compact. The letter starts, “Dear Stuart: I am in receipt of your letter of March 9th enclosing letter of Governor Friend Richardson of California. I do not know that I care to make any comment on the situation. I gave the correspondence to the press which speaks for itself. I do not question the motives of Governor Richardson. I wish simply to take occasion to point out that under the terms of the Compact, Arizona stands to lose at both ends. If the Compact is adopted, and a Lower State Conference is then called, as suggested in Governor Richard- son’s letter, there will be nothing to discuss. All California has to do is to take the water. We would not be able to prevent it.”

This letter comes to the Western Waters Digital Library from Arizona State University’s Colorado River Central Arizona Project collection.

View more resources from the Western Waters Digital Library on the Colorado River Compact.

Item of the Week: Platte River Basin Study

Posted on February 29, 2012 by Anna Neatrour

The WWDL item of the week is the Platte River Basin Level B Study. This report comes to the Western Waters Digital Library from The University of Nebraska – Lincoln’s Platte River Basin in Nebraska Collection. This report, published in 1976, presents “a recommended plan for water resources management in the Platte River Basin of Nebraska.”

You can view other Western Waters materials on the Platte River here.

Visit UNL’s Platte River Basin project page for more information about this collection.

Item of the Week: Oil Spill Remediation from Hidden Water

Posted on February 8, 2012 by Anna Neatrour

The item of the week is a photo documenting Oil Spill Remediation in Red Butte Creek. This photo comes from Hidden Water, a recently added collection to the Western Waters Digital Library. “Hidden Water unveils surface water systems on the east side of Salt Lake Valley, both culinary and irrigation. The web site follows the seven major streams of the Wasatch Front, plus minor ones, and tracks that water from headwaters to the Jordan River and then Great Salt Lake. It intermixes contemporary photographs with historical photographs from several archives showing earlier uses and diversions of water.”

Visit hiddenwater.org for interactive maps and galleries for different drainage systems.

Western Waters Research Guides and updated collections page

Posted on February 7, 2012 by Anna Neatrour

We’ve added a new section of Research Guides demonstrating how to use the Western Waters Digital Library for different topics. We currently have guides for maps, the Colorado River basin, and the Columbia River basin. We’ll be adding additional guides in the future.

The collections list has also been updated with the many new collections we’ve added recently.