News & Notes
US Wood-Pawcatuck Watershed Protection Act, HR3388. US Representative Jim Langevin of RI and US Representative Joe Courtney of CT introduced legislation on November 4, 2011, that would initiate a study by the Secretary of Interior of the wild and scenic attributes of the Wood-Pawcatuck Watershed for potential addition of the Beaver, Chipuxet, Queen, Wood and Pawcatuck Rivers to the National Wild and Scenic Rivers System. The study and report is to be completed within three years of being funded.
HR3388, Wood-Pawcatuck Watershed Protection Act, Introduced in House
Rep Langevin press release on Wood-Pawcatuck Watershed Protection Act
RI Renewable Energy Siting Partnership (RESP). RESP is a federally funded project being conducted through the RI Office of Energy Resources and URI to analyse renewable energy siting, including hydropower. To assess hydropower potential in the state, RESP will utilize two modeling programs: the Idaho National Laboratory Virtual Hydropower Prospector and the US Geological Survey StreamStats. Chris Damon of the URI Environmental Data Center is overseeing this element of the RESP projects agenda.
RI Renewable Energy Siting Partnership
Idaho National Laboratory Virtual Hydropower Prospector
US Geological Survey StreamStats
Blackstone River Valley Industrial Heritage National Historical Park. (Proposed). On July 18, 2011, the National Park Service in its Blackstone River Valley Special Resource Study recommended as its preferred alternative the establishment of the Blackstone River Valley Industrial Heritage National Historical Park. The National Park Service System now has 398 units of which 45 units are National Historical Parks. In August, the RI Rivers Council urged adoption of the preferred alternative which would include the Blackstone River as part of the park. The RI Rivers Council urges individuals and groups to express their support for the creation of the park to Congress.
Blackstone River Valley Special Resource Study
RI Habitat Restoration Team Rivers Working Group. The RI Habitat Restoration Team formed a Rivers Working Group and has posted a web page with contact information. A draft white paper has been circulated and is currently being revised. Addressing all aspects of river restoration versus only targeting dam removals is under discussion.
RI Habitat Restoration Team Rivers Working Group
Save the Bay Dam Analysis & Recommendations
RIDEM F&W Strategic Plan for the Restoration of Anadromous Fishes (Dec 2002)
Pawtuxet Falls Dam Removal. A web address was set up to document the Pawtuxet Falls dam removal project that occurred in August, 2011. A celebration was held on Friday, September 30th on the Pawtuxet Village bridge followed by a reception at the Aspray Boathouse. See the Providence Journal 10/1/11 article by Richard Salit entitled "Pawtuxet River dam removal a boon to spawning fish."
Pawtuxet Falls Dam Removal
Two employees monitor the state's 671 dams Article by John Hill, Providence Journal, March 28, 2011
Newspaper article
RIDEM Dam Inventory
Bicentennial Steamboat Celebration! The Rivers Institute at Hanover College in Hanover, Indiana, located on the Ohio River sponsored events throughout 2011 to mark the two hundredth anniversary of steamboat travel commencing in America.
Bicentennial Steamboat Celebration
Calendar of Events
Rivers Institute at Hanover College
Rivers Institute at Hanover College Library Collection
Tim Palmer. From 1975 to the present, Tim Palmer has been the author and photographer for over twenty books about rivers and river conservation. He was the first recipient of a lifetime achievement award from the American Rivers organization based in Washington, DC. Tim grew up in Pennsylvania and now lives in Oregon when not out and about observing and photographing America's rivers.
Tim Palmer website
"The problems of rivers fall into six categories: pollution, dams, diversions, altered channels, riverfront development, and the invasion of exotic species." - Tim Palmer, Rivers of America, Page 184.
Rivers and Water Annotated Bibliography
Anisfeld, Shimon. Water Resources. Washington, DC: Island Press, 2010. A primer on water resources that describes balancing the many differing demands for water.
Ball, Philip. Life's Matrix: A Biography of Water. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2000. OSLC. British physicist describes the many properties of water.
Barlow, Maude, and Tony Clarke. Blue Gold: The Fight to Stop the Corporate Theft of the World’s Water. New York: New Press, 2002. OSLC. A seminal book that describes the range of problems associated with the privatization of water systems by multi-national corporations.
Barlow, Maude. Blue Covenant: The Global Water Crisis and the Coming Battle for the Right to Water. New York: The New Press, 2007. OSLC. An argument to include water as a basic human right and make water rights part of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights which was established by the United Nations in 1948.
Brierley, Gary and Kirstie Fryirs. River Futures: An Integrative Scientific Approach to River Repair. Washington, DC: Island Press, 2008. Integrative river science and management defined.
Brown, Peter and Jeremy Schmidt. Water Ethics: Foundational Readings for Students and Professionals. Washington, DC: Island Press, 2010. Collection of sixteen articles with introductions by the editors.
Cole, Jim. Paddling Connecticut and Rhode Island: Southern New England's Best Paddling Routes. Guilford, CT: Falcon, 2009. OSLC. A relatively new guide that makes a good companion volume to the book cited below by the late Ken Weber.
Dugan, Patrick, ed. Firefly Guide to Wetlands. Buffalo, NY: Firefly Books, 2005. OSLC. A comprehensive description of the benefits and geography of wetlands worldwide.
Duncan, Dayton and Ken Burns. The National Parks: America's Best Idea. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2009. OSLC. Rivers are central elements to many of America's National Parks. This book and the Ken Burns film of the same name tell the story of America's national park system from the time of Lincoln to the end of the Twentieth Century. The book and film provide excellent background information in regard to establishing the Blackstone River Valley Industrial Heritage National Historical Park.
Fishman, Charles. The Big Thirst: The Secret Life and Turbulent Future of Water. New York: Free Press, 2011. OSLC. A business journalist's perspective on trends in water management.
Fitts, Frederic. "Water Rights in RI, 1790-1840: The Commodification of the Landscape." Rhode Island History, 61:2, Summer 2003. Pages 27-35. Description of water rights legislation during early history of the state.
Gleick, Peter et al. The World’s Water 2008-2009: The Biennial Report on Freshwater Resources. Washington, DC: Island Press, 2008. Considered one of the most qualitative summaries of water science and management updated every two years.
Gleick, Peter. Bottled and Sold: The Story Behind Our Obsession with Bottled Water. Washington, DC: Island Press, 2010. OSLC. An outline of the pros and cons of bottled water in relation tap water by one of the world’s leading water experts.
Glennon, Robert. Unquenchable: America’s Water Crisis and What To Do About It. Washington, DC: Island Press, 2010. OSLC. An ironic and comical examination of the mismanagement of water.
Grossman, Elizabeth. Watershed: The Undamming of America. New York: Counterpoint, 2002. OSLC. A journalist examines dam removal projects in nine states.
Leopold, Luna, M Wolman and J Miller. Fluvial Processes in Geomorphology. San Francisco: WH Freeman, 1964. Dover reprint, 1995. Dr. Leopold (1915 – 2006, son of conservationist Aldo Leopold) earned his doctorate in geology from Harvard, worked as chief hydrologist for the USGS in the 1950s and 1960s, and became a professor of geology at UC Berkeley. He authored or coauthored eight books including this classic.
Lohan, Tara. Water Matters: Why We Need to Act Now to Save Our Most Critical Resource. Washington, DC: Island Press, 2010. Collection of articles by activists, artists, photographers and writers urging preservation and protection.
Outwater, Alice. Water: A Natural History. New York: Basic Books, 1996. OSLC. An environmental engineer reflects on the many uses of water. Includes an excellent chapter describing how extensively beavers dammed and ponded the North American continent prior to European contact.
Palmer, Tim. Lifelines: The Case for River Conservation. Washington, DC: Island Press, 1994. OSLC. Revised edition published in 2004. Arguments for river conservation set forth with balance of logic and emotion.
Palmer, Tim. Rivers of America. New York: Abrams, 2006. OSLC. Exquisite photos combined with wise thoughts.
Postel, Sandra and Brian Richter. Rivers for Life: Managing Water for People and Nature. Washington, DC: Island Press, 2003. OSLC. Excellent discussion of river flow science and management, river policy toolbox and building blocks for better river governance.
Pielou, Evelyn. Fresh Water. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1998. OSLC. A natural history classic that includes scientific sketches by the academic Canadian ecologist known for mathematical modeling of natural systems.
Prud’homme, Alex. The Ripple Effect: The Fate of Freshwater in the Twenty-First Century. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2010. OSLC. Interesting anecdotes about water quality, drought, flood, conflict and innovation. Alex Prud’homme also co-authored My Life in France with his famous aunt, Julia Child. His takes on water reflect his cosmopolitan perspective.
Solomon, Steven. Water: The Epic Struggle for Wealth, Power and Civilization. New York: HarperCollins, 2010. OSLC. A comprehensive description of the role of water within the context of world history.
Stein, Richard, ed. Water Supply. New York: HW Wilson, 2008. OSLC. A collection of eighteen articles with a diversity of opinion about global water supplies.
Weber, Ken. Paddling Southern New England: Thirty Canoe Trips in Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut. Woodstock, VT: Backcountry Guides, 2001. OSLC. First edition of 1980 went through twelve printings; second edition added paddles such as Upper Pawtuxet River (Hope Dam to Gainer Dam and back) and Lower Pawtuxet River (Knight Street to Pawtuxet Village.) Author and naturalist Ken Weber’s passing in August, 2007, at age 63, occurred too early. His spirit lives on in his newspaper columns and books that described many fun and interesting observations, walks, rambles and paddles throughout Southern New England.
OSLC indicates availability through the Ocean State Libraries Catalog which connects the state's public libraries.
Ocean State Libraries Catalog
Island Press is a nonprofit organization based in Washington, DC, that is the nation’s leading publisher on environmental issues with 800 titles in print and some 40 new releases each year.
Island Press
Scientific Investigation Reports of Rhode Island’s Watersheds
Barlow, Lora. 2003. Estimated Water Use and Availability in the Lower Blackstone River Basin, Northern RI and South-Central MA. US Geological Survey Investigations Report 2003-4190, 75p.
Nimiroski, Mark and Emily Wild. 2006. Water Use and Availability in the West Narragansett Bay Area, Coastal RI. US Geological Survey Investigations Report 2005-5256, 54p.
Nimiroski, Mark and Emily Wild. 2005. Water Use and Availability in the Woonasquatucket and Moshassuck River Basins, North-Central RI. US Geological Survey Investigations Report 2005-5031, 44p.
Veeger, Anne et al. 2003. Water Use and Availability, Block Island, RI. RI Geological Survey Report 03-01, 22p.
Wild, Emily. 2007. Estimated Water Use and Availability in the East Bay Narragansett study area. US Geological Survey Investigations Report 2007-5168, 51p.
Wild, Emily and Mark Nimiroski. 2007. Estimated Water Use and Availability in the Pawtuxet and Quinebaug River Basins, RI. US Geological Survey Investigations Report 2005-5154, 68p.
Wild, Emily and Mark Nimiroski. 2005. Estimated Water Use and Availability in the South Coastal Drainage Basin. US Geological Survey Investigations Report 2005-5288, 46p.
Wild, Emily and Mark Nimiroski. 2004. Estimated Water Use and Availability in the Pawcatuck Basin, Southern RI and Southeastern CT. US Geological Survey Investigations Report 2004-5020, 72p.
Links to these reports can be found at the water data page on the RI Water Resources Board website.
RIWRB Water Data
Compilation and Annotations by Guy Lefebvre, Chair, RI Rivers Council