Nothing specific at the moment but interested in being considered to contribute relevant content as and when
Author name: Rianne ten Veen
Speciality and expertise: Environment and disasters, faith-based environmentalism
Sector/Affiliation: Green Creation
Adress: England, UK
E-mail: rianne@greencreation.info
Type of contribution: articles
“Listen well, it is never in our interest to control and eliminate the illegal drilling because such actions can irritate our voters leading to lose any future election” Said a tribal Shaikh from Bani Hushaish, Yemeni Parliament Member.
Wherever you go with your eyes… here or there, to the north or south, east or west of the earth you will find the water issues are managed through a set of technical, social, economic, political…etc. tools. However, this does not mean that it is a same recipe of tools or solutions applicable for every country, region, area…etc. nor all countries adopt and apply all or some of these tools when managing their water resources and uses. What is quite sure is the adoption and application extent varies from country to country based on countries demand, consciousness, will, commitment and capabilities in applying the integrated concept when managing the water resources.
Water strategies and action plans are usually long term frameworks and actions that adopt and implement various water management tools and policies. Water policies are a sectorial tool to overall orient and manage the various water issues through the implemented water strategies and action plans. Given as an example, in the soccer game the decisions on team formulation, attack and defense tactics, player’s replacement…etc. are considered as the game strategy and or plans. On the other hand, rules that specify the playing ground area, game time, number of players, fouls and penalties kicks away of implementation…etc. are considered as the game policies. Similarly, the water strategies are long term strategic plans that determine goals, objectives, approaches, measures and interventions, main players, cross cutting issues, implementing issues…etc. that should be followed and implemented, while the water policies are simply a set of general rules and frameworks that orient, adjust, and determine the implementation of the water strategies and action plans. For instance, banning the importing or exporting of a specific crop that consumes high amount of water is considered as a water policy that can affect the water situation in a country while covering an irrigated area of one hundred thousand hectare with modern irrigation systems can be considered as strategic action that can be implemented during long period of time.
Politics is a state/regime measurements and actions that contribute to the establishment and implementation of both policies and strategies in all development and governing sectors including the water sector. Politics has significant and critical impacts on the on the water policies and strategies determining the effectiveness and efficiency of respective interventions implementation and the ultimate improvements in the water situation. On the other hand, the political systems and elites can also be affected by the way water issues are handled when implementing the adopted water policies and strategies. The effect level itself, however, depends mainly on to the extent the water users in particular and citizens in general are aware of their water interests, and able to move and put pressure on the political elites in order to manage the water resources efficiently, as well as the politicians consciousness about the importance the proper water management policies and strategies. Given as a live example, the German Green Political Party has succeeded to win more seats in the region parliamentarian election in some south and north regions like the Hessen Region in spite of being classified among the small political parties in Germany. Such success was due to the smartness of the party leadership in putting the environmental issues on the top of the party agenda giving the fact that people in those regions are highly aware and concerned of their environmental issues.
Without going that far, here in Yemen many contradictions between the water management policies and other governing politics existed representing a very interesting case full of vague and questionable decisions undertaken on many water. For instance, why did Yemeni Government and the former regime choose to excessively support the agriculture expansion during the last three decades although agriculture has insignificant contribution in the national GDP????!!!
Why did Yemen issue an official decree to ban the import of fruits and vegetables in the 1980s although it has critical adverse impacts on the groundwater in many water basins in Yemen????!!!!
Was it a sheer coincidence that the state politics hurried wildly establishing hundreds of casual dams out of which many were just awarded as gifts by the former president Ali Saleh to the tribes Shaikhs????!!! According to the National Water Strategy (NWSSIP), the total number of constructed dams reached 1000 dams in 2004. Excluding Marib Dam, the annual amount of water such numerous constructed dams could store does not exceed one third of the annual ground water abstracted from Sana’a Basin. Nevertheless, many soci, economic, and environmental adverse impacts have induced by such casualty of dams’ construction. Further, what is the rationality to go with dams’ construction option in a country that has an average of 200mm/year of rainfall and 2300mm/year of potential evaporation rate…!
Another inquiry, why did the government encourage Yemeni farmers to import drilling rigs and big pumps even without paying any type of customs or taxes for a long period of time???!!! Why has the government subsidized the diesel prices during that period as well???!!! Some may justify the taken politics mentioned above as to afford the country food security. However, as everybody knows that although all unpremeditated political measurements are applied, Yemen did not reach the delusive food security the former regime has publicized; nonetheless, we annually pump more than 40% of our finite and vulnerable groundwater to irrigate Qat crops which is neither considered a kind of food nor provides hard currencies that can be used to import food…!!! Others might justify it as to obtain development, stability and wealth for rural communities, and eliminate the increasing rates of internal migration from the countryside to the urban cities which maximizes the pressure on the public services such as water supply and sanitation, roads, schools, hospitals…etc. in the urban areas. However, statistics show that internal migration rates from rural to urban areas has increased annually till it reached up to 7% in the capital city of Sana’a which became amongst the top ten cities with highest population growth worldwide. On the other hand, rural economy that has relatively improved in some basins due to the agriculture leap induced during the 1980s was just a temporary delusive improvement. For instance, economic returns of agriculture attained by depleting huge amounts of fossil groundwater in many basins were spent either on building Luxurious houses or on travelling to some Arab countries for health treatment or tourism which ultimately didn’t provide any alternative economic activity that can secure a sustainable income for the rural communities once the groundwater is totally depleted. Is it right to assume that the politics and interests of the Yemeni politicians were and might still aiming to keep the majority of the Yemeni people busy with their farming business and away from the political game and ruling system? Who knows?
Another example, why Yemeni state still fails to control some hundreds of rigs that drill thousands of illegal wells annually???!!! Is it difficult for the respective security and local authorities to follow and control them everywhere? If so, why didn’t they hold the rigs when passing by the numerous security checkpoints exist elsewhere? Or why the drilling rigs were not hold even earlier when imported and entered through the national border ports where the state has a full controlling power and authority???!!! Are those hundreds of rigs owners more powerful than the Yemeni state??? If so, what kind of power do they have so that the government is disabled to control them???!!!
The simple and obvious factor is again the regime politics and interest that do not match with the water management policies as expressed by a Shaikh from Bani Hushaish, who was elected among the Moatammar Party elites in the national parliament in 2003. When I and another colleague from NWRA Sana’a Branch had admonished him for not cooperating in eliminating the illegal wells drilling in Bani Hushaish District, the Shaikh explicitly responded to us “Listen well, frankly it is never in our interest to control and eliminate the illegal drilling because such actions can infuriate our voters leading us to lose any further election in the future”. If so, it is clearly understood, why the symphony of the illegal wells drilling is still playing till this moment.
Now, if this is the opinion and intendancy of parliament members, it is not then surprising to conclude that all unjustified erroneous politics were not taken by the former regime for the purpose of rural communities’ development and national economy promotion as announced, yet it was just to satisfy the wide base of electors who live in the rural areas so they continue to support and elect the former regime elites in every election. On the other hand, as forth assumed it was also to keep the major base of voters away from the political game and country ruling system and process by keeping them busy with delusive unsustainable agricultural development and ensuring the political stability of the ruling regime; meanwhile, ignoring the critical and non-compensational costs and values such as the vanished groundwater resources that is still vulnerable for high depletion rates on the medium and long term periods. If it wasn’t the case, why the former regime didn’t follow and adopt right tools, policies and interventions for much more realistic and sustainable water management and national economy development???? Why was the former regime highly reluctant to support proper effective and efficient water management actions and interventions rather than the limited timely fictional measurements although the respective knowledge and experiences were available at that time?
Now, what are the results? Did the former succeeded to last as it had planned? Absolutely, no. Was the propaganda-based agricultural and economic development attained? It is never happened. Could the former politics of the state sustain our finite and vulnerable groundwater resources? Regrettably, they could not. The final question now on the today regime, government, political parties and elites, can they draw and learn some lessons of the past? Can they get rid of the personal and or political interest when managing the country different development issues including water? They should answer it yet not me or you dearest readers!
Last but not least, all of us as citizens of this lovely country before being politicians or voters, water users or managers have to consider and learn from the past, act with more comprehensive and integrated insights, and start adopting realistic proper and integrated water resources planning and management policies, tools, and interventions that ensure the public interest of Yemen at first and 25 million Yemenis soci and economic sustainable development at second.
,,,Allah bless and mercy Yemen and Yemenis
Best Regards
MSc. Abdulkhaleq Q. Alwan
IWRM Principle Advisor at MWE
Alwan10@gmail.com
Author name: Abdulkhaleq Alwan
Speciality and expertise: IWRM
Sector/Affiliation: Water Sector
Adress: Khawlan St, Sanaa – Yemen
E-mail: alwan10@gmail.com
Mobile: +967777148875
Type of contribution: Article
CHANGE INDIA ~ I WILL MAKE A DIFFERENCE
To a certain extent, all of us are influenced by our religious texts, customs, traditions, etc. Most of us visit places of worship at regular intervals and are very punctual. IF we really ARE so particular about religion, why don’t we practice what our religious texts preach? As far as I know, the common belief is that, in a place where women are respected, God resides there. When we are aware of this, then why do we exploit women?
Exploitation of women is definitely a crime, but a secondary crime. The most primary crime is to overlook our religious texts and claim ourselves to be religious and spiritual in nature. Be true to others. But first, be true to yourself.
Now, I am going to talk about exploitation of women as a crime. Why do we even have such crimes prevailing in our country? Let us accept it, it is all because of our mindset, that women are weak. But, I repeat, that it is a MINDSET and not reality. This thinking pattern of ours eventually takes the form of actions. What is the point of complaining about the exploitation of women when we ourselves are the cause, when we ourselves are the reason? As Mahatma Gandhi very rightly said, ‘Be the change that you want to see in the world’.
My Civics Textbook of 8th grade says, ‘ Women and other weaker sections of society’. When you are being educated that women are weak, then how do you expect a sudden change to take place, which would improve the status of women in our society? We exploit women because we disrespect them and consider them weak. This is our biggest undoing.
Just think about this, why are Women Empowerment, Feminist Approach, etc. such major concerns in India and not in countries abroad? Why aren’t women molested, burnt on account of their incapacity to pay dowry and why isn’t the Sati practice prevalent in countries abroad?
STOP telling women to not get out of her house after 10 and always to wear full-sleeved clothes. Change how YOU perceive her to be. If our Indian constitution preaches ideals of Liberty, Equality, etc. regardless of gender, then let us learn to conform to them.
https://www.linkedin.com/today/post/article/20140622163340-257012117-change-india-i-will-make-a-difference-by-asavari-saxena
Author name: ASAVARI SAXENA
Speciality and expertise: ASAVAREE BRAND NAME
Sector/Affiliation: POLITICS & INFRASTRUCTURE
Adress: Bangalore , INDIA
E-mail: saxenaasavari@gmail.com
Follow our Guest Blogger Rajendra Nhisutu who brings to you interesting information from the highest point on earth. “Sustain-earth” extends its activities for mintoring and reporting on the environments at every corner of the earth and all the space around it. Conservation of natural resources on the planet is essential for sustaining life on the earth and improving its quality.
There Are Over 200 than more Bodies on Mount Everest, And They’re Used as Landmarks and most bodies still remain on the mountain frozen in time.
Is there any Mission/Agency on Earth who can help handovering to their family?
May the souls of the dead rest in peace!!!
“PLEASE don’t leave me,” the dying woman cried. Two climbers heard the screams of Francys Arsentiev, an American climber who had fallen after succumbing to snow blindness and found herself separated from her husband. They were in the death zone, they were low on oxygen, and the woman was on the side of a steep cliff; carrying her was not an option. The trip just to get down to her would be a risk of their own lives. Despite the risks, the two climbers – Ian Woodall and Cathy O’Dowd – climbed down to her and did what they could to give her assistance.
But it was too late. Ian and Cathy administered oxygen and tended to Fran, but there was nothing they could do. They returned to base camp to seek help and report their findings.
Eight years later the two climbers would return (above). In an attempt to give Francys a makeshift high-altitude burial, they would place an American flag on her body along with a note from her family.
At the time of Francys’ death in 1998, no one knew what had happened to her husband and climbing partner Sergei. He had been climbing with her and had disappeared around the same time; all that had been found were his pick axe and rope. On the day Francys died, other climbers had last seen Sergei far ahead of Francys on the descent after the two had accidentally become separated.
Looking for his wife, Sergei later backtracked toward the summit despite knowing he did not have enough Oxygen to last. His exposure to the harsh conditions on Everest so far had been all he could handle, and he was beginning to suffer from frostbite. Still, Sergei would not leave his wife behind.
Sergei had made his way back to Francys, and descended toward the cliff she lay on as she screamed for help. Sadly, he fell to his death trying to reach his wife.
Possibly the most famous body on Everest is that of “Green Boots,” an Indian climber named Tsewang Paljor. Paljor was a Constable with the Indo-Tibetan Border Police who took his last breath on the 10th of May during the famous 1996 Mount Everest Disaster. Paljor was part of a three-man group that was attempting to be the first Indian team to ascend Mt. Everest from the Northeastern route. The weather that season was worse than otheryears and 1996 proved to be one of the deadliest seasons for Mount Everest climbers. When the storm rolled in, visibility went to zero and the temperature dropped considerably. Separated from the climbers in his group and suffering from the cold, Paljor found a small cave and huddled inside for protection from the elements. Little did he know that would be his resting place for the next 15 years.
One of the more storied climbers that met his fate on Everest was George Mallory, a famous English Mountaineer. In 1924, Mallory fell to his death during a storm while attempting to be the first to reach the summit of Everest. His body was discovered in 1999 during the Mallory and Irvine Research Expedition. Decades earlier, Chinese climbers had reported seeing a “European body” laying face down on a shelf off the main trail. Given the description and the date of the find, experts had always assumed it was the body of Andrew Irvine. Irvine was another famous English Mountaineer who had attempted the ascent of Everest with Mallory and perished in the same storm.
During a 1933 Everest expedition, climbers found Andrew Irvine’s axe and rope. Because of this, it was widely believe to be Irvine’s body discovered by the Chinese. When the body was found during the 1999 search expedition, it was discovered to be that of George Mallory, not Irvine. Mallory was found face down in a bunch of shale with his arms spread out and up. His skin was in remarkably good condition but was tanned from 75 years of sun exposure. After examining the body, experts hypothesized that Mallory’s rope had failed as he was found with a short severed rope tied around his waist. He was also found with a golf ball-sized hole in his forehead, indicating he might have suffered blunt force trauma from striking a sharp rock. Andrew Irvine has never been found.
A more recent story is that of David Sharp. David was an English mountaineer who, in 2005, ascended Everest in a group but attempted the final climb by himself. At one point he stopped in a small cave and eventually froze to the point he could not move. As he lay near death below the summit, he was passed by over 40 other climbers both on their way up and their way down.
Sharp had stopped to rest and protect himself from the elements in the same cave Green Boots had used. Since David was not moving, the 40 climbers that passed by had either not seen him or assumed he was Green Boots. A group of sherpas in a later expedition on the way up to the summit noticed Sharp just off the trail, alive and moaning. When the sherpas reached David, he was not coherent and badly frostbitten – but he was able to say his name and which party he was with.
After giving David some oxygen, the sherpas attempted to help him climb down but he could not stand under his own power. Realizing Sharp was not going to be able to move, the sherpas pulled David into the sunlight hoping the sun exposure would warm him up. By the time the sherpas returned to camp to report their find, David was dead. The last party to see Sharp alive was the documentary crew filming the ascent of double-amputee Mark Inglis. Since they were filming, they had cameras rolling when they approached David and the footage was used in the documentary.
If any suggestion please contact to Rajendra Nhisutu, Chair of HIMET organization (mounteveresttower@gmail.com)
Kathmandu, Nepal
Author name: Rajendra Nhisutu
Speciality and expertise: Climb for Cause
Sector/Affiliation: HIMET Organization, Nepal
Adress: Kathmandu, Nepal
E-mail: mounteveresttower@gmail.com
Mobile: +9779843097740
Type of contribution: Posting
World Oceans Day is celebrated around the world every June 8th, following the World Environment Day on 5th June. SynergY youth group in Dubai made a promise for the ocean by planting 50 trees at Green Mountain MRF supported by Dubai Municipality at the landfill area in Dubai on 7th June’2014. Nearly 1200 trees have been planted at various landfill and waste management sites in a short span in Dubai and 50 more added today. The Members also took interesting selfies near the Mamzar Beach to seal their pledge. These pictures showed the deep commitment this group has to raise awareness and get the community engaged in to support environment. The theme for World Oceans Day for 2014 is, “Together we have the power to protect the ocean!” and that of the World Environment Day was “Raise your voices and not the sea level”.
Simran Vedvyas, the founder of SynergY explained how each and every act of ours can help reduce the effects of global warming which is the biggest threat to humankind as- ‘We throw away over 1/3 of all food that is produced, wasting precious land and water resources that have gone into its production. Food waste in landfills is one of the biggest contributors of the harmful gases that cause global warming. Warmer temperatures are melting glaciers causing sea levels to rise, threatening small islands and low lying cities around the world. We pose everyone to take pledge and ‘reduce food waste’ because this is the only way to make a difference in lives of our future generation’
Mr. Sadin Ismail Al Falasi, Head of Treatment Systems Unit from Waste Management Department, Dubai Municipality and other officials were present at the event to support and encourage the children in their endeavors. He believes that what this group is doing for the community is remarkable and also complimented Simran for her recent achievements and on receiving the John Muir Award for Youth Environmental Conservation Award and the International 2014 Eco Hero Award by Action for Nature USA, recently.
“We ask everyone to help reduce the “FOODprint” by managing the meals smartly, storing food, using leftovers, buying imperfect vegetables and encouraging the supermarkets and restaurants to cut their food waste”, is the message disseminated by the members of this group.
The group celebrated the World Environment Day by visiting the exhibition “Your Planet Needs You” by Dubai Municipality at Children City that encourages a scientific look into the future of Dubai should we choose to take care of or ignore our environment. The visit to this exhibition gave a glimpse into Dubai 2050 as to how citizen of Dubai will survive global changes such as resource availability and the climate. The exhibition is an eye-opener into a scientifically designed future of our world, and is recommended for children, teens and families. The activities were CSR supported by Al Futtaim Carillion and Barakat Juices.
SynergY youth group has worked on grass-root level projects to raise awareness and fight against food waste which campaigns for reducing landfills. Making use of the Information and Communication Technology this youth group has innovatively used tools like videos, blogs, e-mails and shared the work on the social media to ‘reduce the food waste’. SynergY has raised awareness and environmental education through events, lectures, presentations about reducing waste that is filling the landfills and also planting trees and greening the landfill areas.
www.synergyouth.weebly.com
www.facebook.com/CosmoFoundationYouth
Author name: Simran Vedvyas
Speciality and expertise: Environment and Waste Management
Sector/Affiliation: SynergY youth
Adress: P. O.Box 30876 Dubai UAE
E-mail: simran.vedvyas@gmail.com
Mobile: 00971506526228
Type of contribution: Climate Action
The Stand for Vulnerable Organization (SVO) was founded by Misganaw Eticha Dubie and his wife Tadelu Debissa Eticha with other three co-founders: Berhanu Kenea Yifru, Fayera Abdissa Kitla and Daniel Fantaye Bekana.
Misganaw Eticha Dubie (the founder) was a second year university student in 1992. On April 3, 1992, he went outside of the university campus to look for a shoeshine after he had his lunch. While a Shoe shiner was polishing his shoes, the founder looked at the nearby mother who was sitting on the roadside with her three children, two daughters and a son. Her tears were flowing down while the son was eating bread but the two daughters were crying for. The founder asked the mother “why are you weeping and your children are crying?” The mother immediately responded, “They are hungry”. He was stricken by her words of hunger and gave her the bread that he took for a Shoe Shiner from his lunch plate. This bread was to be given to the Shoe Shiner instead of the payment of some coins. Because of the sensitivity of the founder towards the incident, humanitarian service concept conceived on that day in his mind. He recalled the teaching of the Lord Jesus Christ in Matthew 25: 35-45, which directs His disciples to reach for the poor and geared his mind to start thinking on how to give birth of the conception. His heart never got a rest from that day onwards to seek ways and strategies of realizing desired wholistic development for children and empowering their guardians particularly their mothers who mostly suffer with their children.
The founder understood that children and mothers are the most affected vulnerable sections of a society from external shocks. The situation has persuaded him to concentrate on prioritizing children and their mothers/ women’s’ involvement in any process of development undertakings. He started reading and learning operational experiences of other previously established humanitarian organizations on their organizational administration, effectiveness, efficiency, partnership, leadership and other related issues to have an organization with a strong ground in bringing the desired goal in Ethiopia. This enabled him to learn the strengths and weaknesses of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and started to design how to share his vision and recruit people who shared the vision and willing to shoulder the burden and serve their communities with a genuine good will. The dream to have strong kind of NGO in Ethiopia challenged the founder and pushed him to take time to work on effective founding strategies of the Stand for Vulnerable Organization (SVO).
During his efforts to share his vision, he faced many challenges from different people. Many people and organizations were suspicious about a motive of NGO establishment since they see some NGOs misuse organizational resources. This has made the beginning difficult to convince and get committed collaborators to found the SVO. Since it was difficult to believe the idea that was not concrete and on the ground, people were with full of questions and reluctant to work with the founder except a few people. However, the pain of Ethiopian people never gave him rest to evacuate from the vision but continued his way with perseverance, which finally brought forth the birth of the Stand for Vulnerable Organization (SVO) after 12 years of its conception.
Finally, by organizing five co-founders including his wife, who was committed for the founding of the organization at all required costs and shared his burden, he led the meeting on the birth of SVO on October 15, 2005. The intention is to have a strong organization that was not simply adding the number of NGOs but to bring an NGO that is able to influence the development of the country in a meaningful way. With this notion and experience of its first conception of incidence in mind, SVO set priority to address the needs of children and their guardians, particularly women, in its development works to revenge poverty that has been the enemy of generations. It is all about empowering the Ethiopian communities so that they are able to fight poverty particularly the state of being devoid of basic needs.
Fulfilling all the legal requirements, SVO was officially registered on July 26, 2006 at the national level by its previous name, the Stand for the Vulnerables Association (SVA). Under the new Proclamation of 621/2001, the Stand for Vulnerable Organization was re-registered on October 16, 2009 by Charities and Societies Agency with a slight change to its name as the Stand for Vulnerable Organization (SVO).
After its legal registration, the first General Assembly Meeting was held on August 26, 2006 at the Marxist (Dibab Square) in front of Addis Ababa University (Main Campus) and its first official executive board members and executive director were appointed by the General Assembly. The meeting was held at the Square because of the organization was a new beginner without office. The rain that was falling on the attendants of the meeting was unforgettable in the history of SVO since it indicates the level of commitment of the General Assembly members who were recruited and committed to contribute to the development of our country.
The Stand for Vulnerable Organization (SVO) then after was shifted from the vision of single person to the vision of many people who were organized into legal body of General Assembly members to aggressively fight the poverty in the country. The General Assembly members of SVO consists of trained development experts with rich experiences in child and women development, natural resource management, livelihood improvement, health development, consultancy work, education, leadership and management working with different non-governmental and government organizations. It is with this strong background that the General Assembly members were well equipped with expertise and experience of project planning, implementation, and monitoring and evaluation. Above all, they are people with deep love for their country and committed heart to serve their people at any cost. This commitment of the founders and General Assembly members helped SVO to move forward to the position of bringing inexorable impact in the development direction of our country.
Misganaw Eticha
Executive Director
Stand for Vulnerable Organization ( SVO)
· © 2014 Stand for Vulnerable Organization (SVO) (http://www.sva.org.et/about-us/historical-background/)
Author name: Misganaw Eticha
Speciality and expertise: Sociology (BA); Development Studies
Sector/Affiliation: Child and Youth Development
Adress: Addis Ababa – Ethiopia
E-mail: misganaweticha.svo@gmail.com
Mobile: +251911516426
Type of contribution: Child Development
General publication platforms where “search” gives information on specific issues/topics with “Open Access” and “free down-loads”, up-to-the-date information on “Conferences” & “Publications”:
(1) “Taylor & Francis” of scholarly journals, books, eBooks, reference works, and databases in humanities, social sciences, behavioral sciences, science, technology, & medicine: http://www.tandfonline.com/
(2) InderScience Publisher of academic, scientific & professional journals: http://www.inderscience.com/
(3) ScienceDirect gives full-text science-database of numerous journal articles & book chapters: http://www.sciencedirect.com/
Specific publication/policy platforms:
Water – Publication and Conferences:
(1) European Water Association (management & improvement of the water environment): http://www.ewa-online.eu/
(2) International Journal on Hydropower and Dams (view and art in hydro and dam technology): http://www.hydropower-dams.com/
(3) INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF RIVER BASIN MANAGEMENT (river & floodplain management): http://jrbm.net/
(4) The National Water Rights Digest (public affairs and related subjects): http://www.ridenbaugh.com/nwrd/