Summer 2024
Waterworld made a splash at Expo ’74
Washington State University’s pavilion at the 1974 Spokane World’s Fair showcased water’s importance. » More ...
Water
Summer 2024
WSU’s Waterworld pavilion at Expo ’74 revisited
Travel back to Expo ’74 in Spokane to see the remarkable WSU Waterworld pavilion.
Read about how WSU students and faculty created an exhibit highlighting the importance of water for the 1974 World’s Fair.
Spring 2024
Kitsap County Extension water stewardship programs
Helping people appreciate the beauty and ecological value of beaches, streams, and salmon runs is part of Washington State University’s Kitsap County Extension Program.
Each year, local residents train as beach naturalists, stream stewards, or salmon docents. Nearly 100 people completed one of the trainings in 2022. Volunteers donated more than 3,500 hours for education, stewardship, and community science in Kitsap County during the year, including time donated from past trainees who remain active volunteers.
The training empowers people to take action and become stewards of their local environment, says Anna McClelland, interim water stewardship coordinator for Kitsap Extension.
“It gives me … » More …
Winter 2021
The great recession
From satellite observation to boots on the ground, Northwest climate patterns and declining snowpack are laid bare. » More ...
Winter 2018
Complexity in a Ditch: Bringing Water to the Idaho Desert
Hugh T. Lovin ’56 MA History
WSU Press: 2017
Growing up on a farm near Inkom, Idaho, the young Hugh Lovin would engineer ways to divert water to the crops he produced for his livestock. Later in life, after years of writing histories of labor, Lovin turned his attention again to irrigation. In a number of articles, collected for the first time in this volume, he traced the history of the “dreamers, schemers, and doers” who brought water … » More …
Fall 2017
Shifting waters
On the south end of Puget Sound, where I lived for a number of years, water surrounds Olympia: Black Lake, Budd Bay, Capitol Lake, inlets, rivers, and creeks. It’s part of the picturesque scenery that I enjoyed daily, until I saw a half-submerged SUV at an intersection. The storms of 2007 flooded some streets, not to mention covering I-5 just south in Centralia. Water had become an unexpected hazard.
We can expect even more heavy storms and major floods, especially in the Midwest and Northeast, as the climate changes. Floods that were once seen every 20 years are projected to happen as much as … » More …
Fall 2017
Waves of the future
When the tides are high in parts of San Francisco, Charleston, and Miami, city streets experience an odd new kind of flooding that happens even on bright, sunny days.
In San Francisco’s Embarcadero district, king tides caused flooding between Mission and Howard Street last winter. Seattle’s Georgetown and South Park neighborhoods have experienced sewer back-ups into streets and basements after large storms.
These are quite literally waves of the future, confronted by Hope Hui Rising and her students at Washington State University. They are working on the front lines of sea level rise, developing urban design strategies to help communities adapt.
As the oceans … » More …
Fall 2017
Fluid dynamic
Growing up in Ethiopia’s capital city of Addis Ababa, Yonas Demissie never suffered from lack of access to clean water, but he knew from a young age that it was a serious problem in most parts of his home country.
He remembers reading news and watching documentaries about the droughts and related famine that still impact Ethiopia.
“Why can’t a three-year-old eat his breakfast?” the young Demissie would ask his parents and teachers. “A society should not have an excuse for a child to go hungry.”
According to Water.org, which works to improve access to safe water and sanitation, just 43 percent have access … » More …
Fall 2017
Game changer
A small, brownish dry spot is visible on the ninth fairway at Palouse Ridge Golf Club.
Superintendent Mike Bednar is unbothered, which might seem a bit surprising given the course’s enviable reputation among national golfing groups.
“This is designed to play hard and fast,” says Bednar ’92, ’04, explaining Palouse Ridge needs to be a bit on the dry side to deliver the kind of gameplay challenge that’s kept it atop national rankings ever since its 2008 opening. “We’ve got an irrigation system that lets us water only when and where it’s necessary.”
The design isn’t just about gameplay, though.
As water becomes … » More …
Fall 2017
Streaming solutions
High in the Cascade and Olympic Mountain snowfields, pristine rivulets trickle into brooks that descend through forest, farmland, and town. Streams merge into rivers and sweep through cities until finally breaking into Puget Sound and the marine waters of the Pacific.
There, in the southern arm of the Salish Sea, the waters mingle in a fertile estuary teeming with biodiversity.
“Looking out at the waters of Puget Sound, you see the sunset, the beautiful mountains, and people think, ‘Everything is good, we’ve got the orca.’ But we have invisible problems,” says Chrys Bertolotto, natural resource programs manager at the Washington State University Snohomish County … » More …