The Bridges of Madison County is the only movie (other than a drive-in) where I actually fell asleep in the theater. Uggh. All the testosterone drained from my body, and I didn't need to shave for three weeks. Took a decade (and Grand Torino) for me to forgive Clint Eastwood.
The Wells of Lancaster County, however, is not a movie. Rather, it's a map. Yesterday, Mayor Chris Beutler implemented mandatory water use restrictions in Lincoln, to deal with the drought's impact on Lincoln's water supply, which comes from the City well field about 25 miles away on the Platte River. Violations of the restrictions carry some pretty hefty criminal penalties, but private wells are exempt.
Around noon, I was down in the Emergency Communications Center (AKA, 911), where some of the staff were gathered over a thick sheaf of papers listing all of the privately-owned wells in Lincoln, trying to figure out how these records were organized. They were wondering how they might be able to determine, when a complaint is received or when a police officer inquired, whether there was a private well at a particular address.
I had an idea. Since my office is at the Health Department building, I have become acquainted with Deb Byrne, a fellow GIS aficionado who does such work for the Health Department. I knew that she already had a geocoded database of wells in Lancaster County, so it was a pretty simple matter to create an GIS application to display these data: click on the icon, up pops the address of the well and the name of its owner. After lunch, I shipped that off to the police service desk and the 911 center. This is another good example of how a once-complex head-scratcher is ideally solved with GIS technology. Deb's previous work in creating and maintaining the geodatabase of wells made the final step to a custom map just a short hop.
As I worked on this, I was surprised at how many privately-owned irrigation wells there are inside the city limits. It's interesting to look at: many large entities such as apartment complexes and big commercial parcels; private golf courses; lots of former acreages that had been annexed over the years; some old houses that obviously were once farmsteads; and a fair number of homes that don't fit any of these descriptions. I guess some people have just been willing to bear the expense of sinking a well, for the pleasure of irrigating to their heart's content without enduring a huge water bill.
Friday, August 10, 2012
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13 comments:
I'd imagine that like hospitals, large manufacturing plants, prisons, and other entities that have their own power generating stations because they can't withstand the power grid going down for any length of time or being in a brownout, these places went off-grid for their irrigation water to avoid exactly what is happening currently with our "water grid". It's wise to plan for possible future difficulties, especially when your business relies on irrigating your plants, like a nursery, orchard, golf course, etc.
Too many straws, not enough milkshake.
I expect privatization to be suggested by the usual faction
Is this well map publicly available online anywhere? I'm just the curious type...
It all comes from the same place.
This water shortage could get really ugly. I visited the Platte at Two Rivers State Park last weekend and I did not need my swim suit. There are good pictures on my blog.
City Administration needs to step up the effort to educate the wasteful users of our water system. On my morning commute I saw over a dozen irrigation systems running on the wrong side of the street, including one business completely soaking a 20x150 ft patch of street. Reporting this volume of violators does not seem like the answer. Look to how San Antonio deals with their water shortages.
One other request I would make to my fellow citizens would be to turn off your water features. We are in an extreme drought and those decorative fountains should be turned off.
I crossed the Platte near Columbus on my way home from Sturgis, and I didn't see any water anywhere; just lots of sand and mud.
They should have flooded Ashland and built that big lake they were thinking of a few years ago. After last years flood, that lake would have been almost full and Lincoln wouldn't have a water problem EVER.
Decorative fountains don't use water. They have a pump that pushes the same water through it over and over.
9:32,
You've never heard of evaporation?
Anonymous 9:32: I do loose some water in my pond through evaporation. However, I replace it every other day with a few cups of water. Should I feel guilty? Just wondering...
On Sunday, 8-12-12, I observed the sprinklers at 575 S 10th operatoring? Just curious...has the city exempted itself from the water restrictions it put in place on everyone else? Kinda like how Congress has exempted itself from Obamacare!
OOPS, I meant to say...I lose water...
9:15,
Government is not exempt, but this building complex occupies two full city blocks, and has multiple addresses (550 S. 9th St., for example). There are many similar examples around the City. Campuses like this must declare one or the other of the two schedules, and notify the Water Department of that choice.
I also note that the complex has its own well, which would also exempt it from the restrictions, if it is used for the irrigation. I do not know, however, if the well supplies the sprinkler system or not.
Since you are big on stats Director, how about keeping us posted on how many "water calls" have been received. Maybe a daily update on the past 24 hours or something. I think it would be interesting.
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