Water

Posted on October 20, 2014October 24, 2014 by Building The World

Ancient Rome had more water per person than most of today’s cities. And there was enough for fountains, celebrated in Ottorino Respighi’s “Fontane di Roma.” Water is a limit to growth: Tiber threatened, Rome sent expeditions to the hills to find new sources, and built aqueducts to bring water to the city. Waters had brands: one spring was named “Aqua Virgo” after a little girl, with a particularly clear complexion (this was thought to be an indication of abundant clean water), who guided experts to a hidden spring. There is still a cafe, near the Vatican, where cappuccino is made with this special exilir. Water is recognized as a critical need for the world’s future. Actor Matt Damon‘s vision, and film “Running the Sahara,” may see Africa lead.

For more:

Hargreaves, Steve. “Greatest urban projects of all time,” Oct 7, 2014, CNN. http://money.cnn.com/gallery/news/economy/2014/10/07/greatest-urban-projects/4.html

Running the Sahara: http://www.runningthesahara.com/

Building the World Blog by Kathleen Lusk Brooke and Zoe G Quinn is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.

Summertime Blues: Lake Mead

Posted on August 14, 2014August 14, 2014 by Building The World

Lake Mead Marina. Image: wikimedia commons.

Once a fabled boating mecca, the oasis formed by the Hoover Dam’s intervention in the Colorado River is drying up. Lake Mead‘s shoreline is changing; areas formerly underwater now battle dust. Drought that challenges California can be traced in part to Lake Mead’s shrinking. A similar problem exists in Africa due to changes in Lake Chad. How can lakes supplying water to an increasingly thirsty world be better preserved and protected?

For more: http://www.bostonglobe.com/news/nation/2014/08/12/southwest-braces-lake-mead-water-levels-drop/wnQ6rWqEYmDYMwuQsdoEFP/story.html

Building the World Blog by Kathleen Lusk Brooke and Zoe G Quinn is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.

Water, Power, and Art

Posted on July 18, 2014July 21, 2014 by Building The World

Hoover Dam is not only an achievement of hydroelectric engineering but a work of art. After the dam was designed from an engineering standpoint, architect Gordon B. Kaufmann joined the project to rework the design to add an artistic dimension: a pattern of plain surfaces relieved by carefully placed shadows. In addition, Oskar W. Hansen was commissioned to create two large cast concrete panels depicting flood control, irrigation, power, and the history of the area. It was Hansen who set, in the dam’s floor, a star map comparing the Hoover Dam to the pyramids. Water is central to earth and civilization; the Romans built aqueducts – and fountains. Now, how might water’s future be honored, and perhaps protected, by art?

Building the World Blog by Kathleen Lusk Brooke and Zoe G Quinn is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.

I Have A Dream

Posted on August 24, 2013August 26, 2013 by Building The World

Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. from Wikimedia Commons

On August 28, 1963, the Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. stirred the hearts and minds of many when he delivered his famous “I Have A Dream” speech to those gathered in Washington, DC. The 50th anniversary of this turning point in history is celebrated this week. Highlights of the 2013 gathering include a “Conference on Civil Rights: Marching Forward by Looking Back — March on Washington for Jobs & Freedom” (http://50thanniversarymarchonwashington.com/). The Hoover Dam is one of the most important achievements in United States history, because it was the first time in public construction history that the federal government mandated a policy of diversity. (Building the World, Volume 1, p. 432). As we look ahead to the next 50 years, what rights will be most important?

Building the World Blog by Kathleen Lusk Brooke and Zoe G Quinn is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.

Bright Idea – TVA

Posted on June 12, 2013June 7, 2013 by Building The World

http://www.publicdomainfiles.com/images_view/51/13525742419998.png

Did the United States become a society driven by electricity because of the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA)? Tesla proved water could produce electricity; the Hoover Dam, followed closely by the Tennessee Valley Authority, supplied it. But it took Norris town to show people how to use this new energy. Designed as housing for the women, men and families who came to the Knoxville area to work on the TVA, Norris was a showcase for electricity. At a time when few homes had wired power, the town offered refrigerators in every kitchen, and overhead lights on the porches of every house (porches were a hallmark of Tennessee life and remain popular today, evidenced by Porch Rocker and Parton songs). Well-lighted public schools invited new environments for learning. Peak/off-peak and low rate/high use policies were another innovation, encouraging development of all things electric. Can Norris and the TVA reveal ways to demonstrate products and power from new energy sources, such as solar? What is the next bright idea?

Building the World Blog by Kathleen Lusk Brooke and Zoe G Quinn is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.

Agua – Colorado River

Posted on June 6, 2013June 8, 2013 by Building The World

Colorado River in Mexico. Library of Congress, United States, LC-DIG-stereo-1s00953.

Minute 319 might not solve the problem. Some say Mexico and the United States need to take a radically different approach. The November 10, 2012 decision of the International Boundary and Water Commission of the United States and Mexico tried to address effects of the 2010 earthquake in the Mexicali Valley, Baja California, on the Colorado River Basin (www.ibcw.gov/Files/Minutes/Minute_319.pdf). In 1922, the Colorado River was parceled among the Upper Basin United States of Wyoming, Colorado, Utah and New Mexico (9.25 billion cubic meters per annum) and the Lower Basin Arizona, California, Nevada (10.45 billion cubic meters. By 1944, Mexico claimed their, previously unspecified, water rights (1.85 billion cubic meters per annum). Rights of Native Americans, including the Navaho, would follow, determined decades later, perhaps advantageously in this age of water valuation. In 1922, it was not easy to estimate water needs; original allocation of the Colorado River was set above projected needs. Add to that the fact that in the 1920’s the river’s flow was above-normal (http://www.forbes.com/sites/stratfor/2013/05/14/u-s-mexico-the-decline-of-the-colorado-river/). Organizational structure and management of the river lacks basin-wide coordination. Many might agree with Professor of Law Gabriel Eckstein’s recommendation that Mexican and United States “subnational entities at the regional and local level pursue cooperation in the form of locally-specific, cross-border arrangements” (www.internationalwaterlaw.org). For example, Nogales, Sonora businesses have cooperated with the public water authority of Nogales, Arizona, for more than 40 years. Deciding sustainable use policies of transboundary water resources might be part of the future of Tratado de Libre Comercio de America del Norte (TLCAN) or also known as NAFTA, upon its 20th anniversary on January 1, 2014. What is the future of water rights in North America? Other regions? What is the destiny of water? Agua de mayo, pan para todo el año.

Building the World Blog by Kathleen Lusk Brooke and Zoe G Quinn is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.

Gambling with the Future of Casinos

Posted on September 11, 2012 by zoequinn001

mystic lake — Mystic Lake Casino in Minnesota, (discussed in article), from parsoncorp.com.

In the United States, Native American tribes are treated as sovereign nations. In the case of the Hoover Dam, supplier of the energy to run Las Vegas’ casinos’ lights, water rights for these sovereign nations differed greatly from those water rights received by the Upper and Lower Basin states involved in the construction and operation of the Hoover Dam and rest of the dam system. This status of sovereign nation also means that any revenue earned from the casinos so often found on reservations cannot be taxed by the state or federal government. Developments in the world of internet gambling, however, are threatening this income stream. Internet poker is daily becoming more popular, and there is a movement to legalize it under state and federal laws, which would allow it to be taxed. Should this come to fruition, it would threaten the livelihood of many tribes. For more on what this movement means for Native American casinos, please visit:

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/09/us/more-casinos-and-internet-gambling-threaten-shakopee-tribe.html?_r=1&nl=todaysheadlines&emc=tha23_20120809

Building the World Blog by Kathleen Lusk Brooke and Zoe G Quinn is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.