NSF Science and Technology Center for Sustainability of semi-Arid Hydrology and Riparian Areas

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Ephemeral FlowA NEWSLETTER ABOUT SAHRA

W elcome to the first 2009 issue of Ephemeral Flow, a newsletter for sharing information within the SAHRA community. Ephemeral Flow is sent to

SAHRA researchers, staff, and students at all participating institutions every few months. Your contributions and suggestions are always welcome. Please send items to Mary Black at mblack@sahra.arizona.edu.

FEATURES

UPCOMING EVENTS

2009, no. 1

March 26, 2009: UA HWR’s El Dia del Agua, Student Union, Univ. of Arizona

April 9-10, 2009: Executive Committee retreat, Marshall Building, Univ. of Arizona

Sept. 24-25, 2009: SAHRA Annual Meeting, Tucson, AZ

One of SAHRA’s most active participants is likely someone you don’t know: the estimable G. Emlen Hall, who shuns the limelight while doing most of his research and writing at a cabin in the northern New Mexico village of Cundiyo. Em is collaborating on a book on the Rio Grande, Reining in the Rio Grande, with Fred Phillips and Mary Black, combining a writing style that is both erudite and engaging with an encyclopedic knowledge of New Mexico water law and water history.

A graduate of Princeton University and Harvard Law School, Hall took an indirect route to academia. He first diverted to such activities as serving as teacher/principal/janitor of a tiny elementary school in northern California; playing semi-pro ice hockey in the Bay Area; then serving as village planner, attorney, and judge for the village of Pecos, New Mexico, where he also wrote and edited the New Mexico Review (an investigative monthly newspaper); and toiling for seven years at the State Engineer’s Office under the legendary Steve Reynolds. Finally he

donned the pinstripes (think three-piece suit, not Yankees) and taught law at the University of Texas at Austin and then at the University of New Mexico, where he is now emeritus professor. An avid tennis player and chili farmer, the multi-

talented Hall is the author of High and Dry: The Texas-New Mexico Struggle for the Pecos River, published by the University of New Mexico Press in 2002, and was long-time editor-in-chief of the Natural Resources Journal until 2008.

ADMINISTRATIVE NOTES

Em Hall takes a break from his research at Cundiyo to revel in his zinnia patch.

OMS Stands for “Obey Mighty SAHRA”Please don’t forget to update your personal information in SAHRA’s Online Management System (OMS) by February 2. Of particular interest to the

powers that be are presentations you made, honors you received, or any change in your student status or contact information. For those who manage SAHRA projects, project reports are due via the OMS by February 15. Project reports should focus on activities and accomplishments

for 2008 and plans for 2009, and include citations for any manuscripts submitted for publication, accepted, or published. It’s a challenge to keep track of the diverse activities and people at our many participating institutions, so your cooperation is very much appreciated.

Meet Em Hall, Foreign Affairs Director for Cundiyo Acequia

PAGE 2 2009, no. 1

PEOPLETransitions

James Hogan has left SAHRA to head the surface water quality monitoring program for the New Mexico Environmental Department. “Boy Wonder”

joined SAHRA as a postdoc eight years ago and soon became Chief Postdoc, then Assistant Director for Science, and finally Associate Director for Science Integration. Hogan’s talents are legendary: eloquently synthesizing the mission and goals of SAHRA; providing a focus for its scientific efforts; undertaking his own precise and relevant isotopic studies and research on salinity and groundwater sources, flowpaths, and residence times; and articulating the diverse scientific achievements of SAHRA. The many UA students whom he successfully mentored through the (sometimes literal) wilderness of graduate student life can attest to his high standards. Their educational journeys inevitably went something like this: initial hair-raising fear of his sharp intellect, morphing gradually to begrudging respect (James’ version of “shock and awe”) and finally grateful appreciation for his guidance and tough love. His colleagues will fondly remember the way his hair would shift to vertical and his laughter grow louder as meetings or happy hours wore on.

We wish James, his wife Rebecca Miles, and adorable daughter Eliza all the best in their new life in Santa Fe, where they will be joined in late June by Baby Hogan II.

James McGill, systems application specialist for SAHRA and the Arizona Water Institute, has accepted a job with a small defense aerospace firm in Phoenix. His wife, who is in the UA’s MD/PhD

program, is based at the medical campus in Phoenix. His new position will allow James the opportunity to get reacquainted with her. His last day will be February 9, but he may continue to do some work on the Arizona Hydrologic Information System (AHIS) on a part-time consulting basis. Best of luck to you, James!

Students who finished Ph.D.sCongratulations to Kazungu Maitaria, Fulbright Fellow from Kenya and Phoenix Suns devotee, who defended his Ph.D. dissertation in hydrology and water resources at the UA in early December. His dissertation is entitled “Enabling Hydrological Interpretation of Monthly to Seasonal Precipitation Forecasts in the Core North American Monsoon Region.” Committee members were Jim Shuttleworth, Juan Valdes, Steven Mullen of Atmospheric Sciences, and Dave Gochis and Dave Yates of the National Center for Atmospheric Research.

Kazungu has already gone off to DC and is working as a project scientist for the

University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR). He reports some initial bureaucratic unpleasantries but eventual success in getting his security clearance to work in a federal building as a non-citizen, and is still adjusting to the very different climate. He was at the site of President Obama’s inauguration by 6 am on January 20th, and writes that he “…was moved by the beauty that America is. Everyone gave a speech that befits a great nation!”

Also defending his dissertation in hydrology and water resources, “Climate Change Impacts on Hydrology: Quantification and Societal Adaptation,” at the UA in December was Aleix Serrat-Capdevila. Aleix is now serving as the inaugural postdoctoral fellow of the academic component of the new International Center for Integrated Water Resources Management (ICIWaRM), based at the University of Arizona/SAHRA and funded by the Army Corps of Engineers.

Immediately following his defense and before returning to his home near Barcelona for the holidays, Aleix headed to Senegal to work with other physical and social scientists from the UA and from member states Mali, Mauritania, Senegal, and Guinea of the Organisation pour la Mise en Valeur du Fleuve Senegal (OMVS). Aleix’s role is to extend the methodology developed in the San Pedro decision support system to the Senegal River Basin. The project aims to promote self-sufficiency in food, improve the income of the local populations, and preserve natural ecosystems. The interdisciplinary team will use the latest available technologies to assess climate and hydrology dynamics; environmental change (land use/land cover); irrigation; public health; socioeconomic change; and natural resource management. OMVS members came to the UA later in January

to attend workshops and seminars.Kazungu in full academic regalia, with his sister Rebekka and uncle Manga, who traveled from Kenya for his graduation.

PAGE 3 2009, no. 1

R&R

PUBLICITY/HONORS

Paradise Bakery Training Pays Off for SAHRARiding on behalf of a crackerjack SAHRA team, Southwest Hydrology’s technical editor Howard Grahn (spouse of publisher Betsy Woodhouse) staged a breakaway to head for a remote hilltop cookie stand and ended up claiming the overall time trial in Tucson’s First El Tour de Cookie. The charity bicycling event lured 300 participants on a frigid January morning to 11 “pastry” stands

spread through the Tucson metropolitan area. SAHRA participants included Grahn, Woodhouse, John Madden, and the editor of this publication. Bicyclists raced for the stands through any route of their choosing; prizes were awarded both for fastest times (Grahn) and most cookies consumed. Although she finished in a very respectable time, the competitive Betsy Woodhouse nevertheless took last place in the alphabetic order of participants.

I Spy a…. Watershed!SAHRA’s Education division is putting the finishing touches on its dazzling Watershed Visualization DVD, which should be ready for printing this spring. Narrated by Martha Whitaker, “Watershed Viz” aims to illustrate a southwestern version of the water cycle and how water interacts with watersheds in the Southwest. Module titles are: “Fly-through of the Verde River Watershed”; “What is a Watershed?”; “The Hydrologic Cycle”; and “Infiltration and Recharge.” The DVD is targeted to middle-school

audiences and beyond, and has been piloted at Wildcat School in Tucson and with numerous AP environmental science teachers. Jim Washburne and John Madden are developing supplemental classroom activities for the program and plan to debut the DVD at the Dynamic Deserts Conference this spring at Arizona State University. SAHRA will distribute 1,000 copies of the DVD for free under the NSF Geoscience Education grant that funded the project, then will make additional copies available for purchase on the SAHRA website storefront.

NewsWatch Hits MilestoneSAHRA’s Global Water NewsWatch website has reached another milestone. Louise Shaler and her assistants

have now written 20,000 summaries of news articles—over two million words or the equivalent of 16 average-sized textbooks! NewsWatch, the brainchild of Gary Woodard, was designed by Kyle Carpenter, and Shaler has supplied the content since July 2001. During that time, she has summarized over 3,000 articles from French, 1,300 from Spanish-language sources, 1,300 from Italian, and 800 from Greek. Her assistants have added around 290 translated summaries from Arabic and 120 from Portuguese. Sign up to receive NewsWatch summaries via email on the topics and countries of your choice at www.sahra.arizona.edu/newswatch/subscribe.html.

EDUCATION

Glutted Grahn gloats.