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Excerpt from www.watercanada.net/light-shower-towers/:
Toronto’s newest stormwater system is breathtaking.
Housed in the pavilion basement at Sherbourne Common, a new park in the city’s rapidly developing East Bayfront area, the treatment facility cleans collected storm and lake water with ultraviolet (UV) light. The treated water is then sent underground to the north side of the park where it is released through three nine-metre-high art sculpture towers. The water flows from the tops of the towers down metal mesh veils and into a 240-metre-long water channel, or urban river, where it then flows into Lake Ontario.
Artist Jill Anholt’s Light Showers water towers are lit at night; as people move over the bridge of the water channel, motion sensors trigger shifting light patterns in the water as it falls from the sculptures. The mesh veils of the art sculptures are designed to capture water in the winter to form unique ice patterns.
Regardless of its attractiveness, the system and others like it have elicited some blowback from critics, especially in a time when many municipalities are worried about growing infrastructure deficits. Are the extra features necessary? Anholt’s sculptures don’t contain UV lamps and play only a minor role in the treatment process—they provide further aeration and act as a conduit to bring treated water to raised pools.
While some people may criticize Waterfront Toronto’s choice, others believe the art is a worthwhile investment. Waterfront Toronto chair Mark Wilson sees it as a catalyst for the further development of the East Bayfront neighbourhood. “The park has already helped us attract private and public sector partners who are working with us to transform this former industrial area into a dynamic new community,” he says. The City plans to recover the cost for the art feature—$1.9 million—through development fees as part of Waterfront Toronto’s public art strategy.
Others argue that making infrastructure visible is important to public understanding. During last April’s Out of Water: Sustaining Development in Arid Climates conference at the University of Toronto. (see “In the Eye of the Beholder,” a blog post at www.wordpress-139196-653073.cloudwaysapps.com), one audience member said water infrastructure is often designed to blend with the environment. “Often, we don’t even know it’s there—but is that a good thing?” she asked. Maybe it’s important, she posited, that we see, recognize, and feel comfortable with the mechanisms that allow us to maintain the lives we’re accustomed to living and, at a basic level, survive.
During a presentation at the Ecocity World Summit this August in Montreal, Concordia University graduate student Cecilia Chen discussed the importance of mapping the flows of streams and aquifers beneath and around urban spaces to increase awareness that cities are, in some ways, nothing more than watersheds. Water’s role in an urban ecosystem, she said, goes unrecognized because it travels underground and out of sight. It’s only when a storm-drain overflows and what she calls “hybrid water” becomes visible that awareness increases.
James Roche, director, parks design and construction for Waterfront Toronto, isn’t interested in separating infrastructure, landscape, and public space. “There’s more to gain from combining these fields,” he says. Roche says we ignore water’s important, though background, role in commerce and cities. “It changes how we live on a daily basis. The Sherbourne Common design helps to bring water back into the public realm.”
Following in the tradition of projects such as Stephen Holl Architects’ Whitney Water Treatment Plant in New Haven, Connecticut—a long, stainless steel building built in an inverse-raindrop shape—and Hervé Descottes’ breathtaking lighting design for the Newtown Creek Wastewater Treatment Plant in Brooklyn, New York, Sherbourne Common serves as a reminder of the role water plays in our lives.
The Roman Baths complex is a site of historical interest in the English city of Bath. There are four main features in this building: the Sacred Spring, the Roman Temple, the Roman Bath House and the Museum. The first shrine at the site of the hot springs was built by Celts and was dedicated to the goddess Sulis, whom the Romans identified with Minerva.
The water which bubbles up from the ground at Bath fell as rain on the nearby Mendip Hills. It percolates down through limestone aquifers to a depth of between 2,700 metres (8,900 ft) and 4,300 metres (14,100 ft) where geothermal energy raises the water temperature to between 64 °C (147.2 °F) and 96 °C (204.8 °F). Under pressure, the heated water rises to the surface along fissures and faults in the limestone.
Bath is a city in the ceremonial county of Somerset in South West England. The City of Bath was inscribed as a World Heritage Site in 1987.
This huge mill began operations in Hamilton, Ohio in 1893. Located beside the Great Miami River on the west side of town. This mill closed in 2012 was abandoned for many years. The City of Hamilton and a number of investors repurposed many of the buildings into the 650,000 square foot Spooky Nook Sports Complex. It includes many indoor and outdoor sports areas and includes restaurants and a hotel.
The park belongs to the estate of Markyate Cell, Hertfordshire. It is (and has been for over a thousand years) private property (for sale now). In the centre you see the outlines of a dried-out lake. The River Ver runs only after heavy rainfalls fill up the aquifers of the limestone rock.
This rare, blind, translucent underwater cave crayfish spends its time hanging upside down from the ceiling of caverns within the Floridan Aquifer in North-central Florida. It's Latin name is Troglocambaras maclanei.
Wikipedia: A qanat or kārīz is a system for transporting water from an aquifer or well to the surface through an underground aqueduct; the system originated approximately 3,000 years ago in Iran. The function is essentially the same across the Middle East and North Africa, but the system operates under a variety of regional names: qanat or kārīz in Iran, karez in Afghanistan and Pakistan, foggara in Algeria, qanat in Malta, khettara in Morocco, falaj in Oman and the United Arab Emirates, and uyūn in Saudi Arabia, etc. The largest extant and functional qanat systems are located in Afghanistan, Algeria, Iran, Oman, Pakistan, and the oases of the Turfan region in Xinjiang, Northwestern China.
La superfície boscosa serveix com a refugi i font d'aliment per a una gran varietat d'espècies animals. Les funcions protectores dels boscos fan possible preservar la vida i l'equilibri natural dels ecosistemes. I acompleixen altres funcions essencials, com són:
Regulació del clima local
Reducció de l'impacte de vent i l'erosió eòlica
Conservació de les zones costaneres i aiguamolls
Protecció de terra evitant allaus
Protecció dels recursos aqüífers
Hàbitat natural d'espècies animals
Font d'espècies vegetals emprades per a la creació de medicaments
Filtre natural d'aire i aportació d'oxigen al planeta.
Carnarvon National Park - Mt Moffatt Section has many sandstone sculptures, including this arch and pillars.
These formations have formed in the Hutton Sandstone, which is an aquifer in the Surat Basin. The infiltration of water feeds the Great Artesian Basin that has enabled the pastoral industries and urban communities to thrive in the inland. The groundwater of this aquifer is now subject to increased extraction as the Coal Seam Gas (CSG) industry penetrates the various aquifers of the basin.
The surface area at this location (around Marlong Arch) is part of the headwaters of the Maranoa River, which flows to the Balonne River as part of the Murray-Darling catchment.
The San Francisco Peaks are a volcanic mountain range in the San Francisco volcanic field in north central Arizona, just north of Flagstaff and a remnant of the former San Francisco Mountain. The highest summit in the range, Humphreys Peak, is the highest point in the state of Arizona at 12,633 feet (3,851 m) in elevation. The San Francisco Peaks are the remains of an eroded stratovolcano. An aquifer within the caldera supplies much of Flagstaff's water while the mountain itself is in the Coconino National Forest, a popular recreation site. The Arizona Snowbowl ski area is on the western slopes of Humphreys Peak, and has been the subject of major controversy involving several tribes and environmental groups.
The six highest individual peaks in Arizona are contained in the range:
Humphreys Peak, 12,633 feet (3,851 m)
Agassiz Peak, 12,356 feet (3,766 m)
Fremont Peak, 11,969 feet (3,648 m)
Aubineau Peak, 11,838 feet (3,608 m)
Rees Peak, 11,474 feet (3,497 m)
Doyle Peak, 11,460 feet (3,493 m)
The San Francisco Peaks are a volcanic range in north central Arizona, just north of Flagstaff and a remnant of the former San Francisco Mountain. The highest summit in the range, Humphreys Peak, is the highest point in the state of Arizona at 12,533 feet (3,851 m) in elevation. The San Francisco Peaks are the remains of an eroded stratovolcano.
An aquifer within the caldera supplies much of Flagstaff's water while the mountain itself is in the Coconino National Forest.
In 1629, 147 years before San Francisco, California, received that name, Spanish friars founded a mission at a Hopi Indian village in honor of St. Francis, 65 miles from the peaks.
Seventeenth century Franciscans at Oraibi village gave the name San Francisco to the peaks to honor St, Francis of Assisi, the founder of their order.
Wikipedia
I Francescani del diciassettesimo secolo nel villaggio di Oraibi nel Navajo Contea, diedero il nome di San Francisco alla montagna per onorare San Francesco d'Assisi, il fondatore del loro ordine.
My husband and I had a great time hiking around this beautiful place.
Thank you for your comments,
Gemma
Pont de neige.
Le cirque d'Anglade alimente le ruisseau des Cougnets, l'une des neuf-fontaines de Salau, affluents du Salat. En amont la cascade, très abondante, s'infiltre littéralement dans une excavation sous le plancher du cirque, vers un aquifère calcaire karstifié dit du Caradoc située sous le terril de la mine d'Anglade.
The ancient village of Bagno Vignoni and the "Square of sources", namely a rectangular tank, of 16th-century origin, which contains the original source of water that comes from the underground aquifer of volcanic origins. Since the Etruscans and Romans - as evidenced by the numerous archaeological finds - the spa of Bagno Vignoni was attended by eminent personalities such as Pope Pius II, Santa Caterina da Siena, Lorenzo the Magnificent and many other artists who had elected the village as main holiday resort.
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The sunny side.
Built by the Folkestone Water Company in 1932 to replace an earlier Victorian pumping station. The station was built by Otto Marks, building contractors, Folkestone. The station pumps up water from wells sunk into the aquifers in the chalk downs. It is now run by Affinity Water.
Alkham Valley, Dover.
Els Uelhs deth Joèu (Val d'Aran) es una surgència d'aigua en forma de cascada d'uns 50 hm3 anuals que desembossa al riu Joèu. Forma part d'un dels fenòmens càrstics més interessant de la serralada dels Pirineus. El fenomen comença a la Vals de l'Éssera (Aragó), a 2.074 m d'altitud, molt a prop de la glacera de l'Aneto. El riu Éssera desapareix sota terra a l'anomenat Forat d'Aiguallut. Les aigües apareixen de nou als Uelhs deth Joèu, a uns 3,6 km de distancia en línia recta. Aquesta surgència se situa a 1.658 m d'altitud, a l'Artiga de Lin, dins de la comarca catalana de la Vall d'Aran. Finalment aquestes aigües del riu Joèu desemboquen al riu Garona, és a dir, a l'oceà Atlàntic, i no a la Mar Mediterrània a través del riu Ebre, com fan les aigües no infiltrades de l'Éssera.
Els treballs de l'enginyer Tiburzio Spannochi l'any 1595 son les primeres referències documentades sobre l'aqüífer del riu Joèu. Amb molta intuïció però d'una manera molt encertada, va concloure que les aigües de l'engolidor de Aiguallut alimenten sota terra a la surgència Uelhs deth Joeu. Quasi 200 anys després, l'any 1789, es publiquen els primers treballs de Louis Ramond de Carbonnières qui després d'una exploració per el màssic de Maladetas relaciona el Forat d'Aiguallut amb la surgència del Uelhs deth Joèu. Un segle després, Font i Sagué en el seu Catàlech espeleològich de Catalunya[6] (1897) cita l'Embut del Jueu, com un avenc on es precipita el riu Jueu i que mitjançant un recorregut subterrani d'un quilòmetre, reapareix a la Gola del Jueu (Uelhs deth Joèu). També al llibre de l'enginyer Josep Reig i Palau titulat El Valle de Aran (1895) es recopila molta informació i estudis referents aquesta hipòtesis. Quan Josep Reig i Palau escriu referent a la Gola del Jueu (Uelhs deth Joeu) fa una descripció molt ajustada a la realitat. Aquesta hipòtesis no va a ser completament acceptada fins que Norbert Casteret, l'estiu de 1936, va demostrar per coloració la relació del Forau d'Aiguallut amb els Uelhs deth Joèu. Per l'experiment van caldre 60 kg de fluoresceïna que després de ser abocada al Forat de Aiguallut va aconseguir la coloració del riu Joèu i de tota la Garona fins i tot més enllà de la frontera amb França. La prova va ser espectacular e irrefutable donant per tancada qualsevol polèmica. Viquipèdia
www.flickr.com/photos/127439878@N07/45942118051/in/album-...
Cool, crystal-clear waters flow over gravelly beds, streaming through white-flowered water-crowfoot and watercress in serene lowland landscapes.A globally rare habitat; there are only about 250 chalk streams in the world, about 160 of them are in England, with some raising from the chalk aquifer of the North Downs under Kent, inc. River Darent, Great Stour, Little Stour, Nailbourne, Dour and North and South Streams
Altopiani centrali dell'isola in una giornata piovosa e nebbiosa.
Come la maggior parte dei crateri vulcanici che hanno piccoli laghi o stagni all'interno dei suoi confini, Hnausapollur è un maar
( in vulcanologia, cavità imbutiforme, a sezione grossolanamente circolare, larga da alcune centinaia di metri fino a circa 3 km, che costituisce un cratere formatosi in seguito a eruzioni freatiche o freatomagmatiche).
Si forma quando la lava è entrata in contatto con le falde acquifere al momento dell'eruzione.
Hnausapollur si è formata nell'871, circa 1200 anni fa, in una massiccia attività vulcanica che si è verificata contemporaneamente nelle caldere di Bárðabunga e Torfajökuill.
È un'eruzione famosa perché ha trasformato gran parte dell'altopiano e si è verificata contemporaneamente all'inizio dell'insediamento dell'Islanda.
Central highlands of the island on a rainy and foggy day.
Like most volcanic craters that have small lakes or ponds within its boundaries, Hnausapollur is a maar
(in volcanology, funnel-shaped cavity, with a roughly circular section, from a few hundred meters to about 3 km wide, which constitutes a crater formed following phreatic or phreatomagmatic eruptions).
It is formed when the lava came into contact with the aquifers at the time of the eruption.
Hnausapollur was formed in 871, about 1200 years ago, in a massive volcanic activity that occurred simultaneously in the calderas of Bárðabunga and Torfajökuill.
It is a famous eruption because it transformed much of the plateau and occurred at the same time as the settlement of Iceland began.
_MG_9747m
Austin, Texas, much to its credit, has proven to be a highly progressive city that has gone to great lengths to protect the beauty and majesty of its surrounding environment. Depicted here is just one of many entrances to Austin greenbelt areas that wind through downtown and residential areas within the city. These areas have been set aside and protected from commercial and residential development. They serve as open space public natural areas that preserve and protect Austin's magnificent aquifers, springs and streams that distinguish the city. In the spring of 2019 the greenbelt areas were layered with vast fields of color produced by wildflowers as depicted in this image.
Breeding season stripe on his bill; skittish and moves quickly. The flats are shallow, so he didn't dive.
Saltese Flats was once a nearly thousand-acre lake & was partially drained around 1900 for timothy hay agriculture. The Lake—originally spelled "Seltice" Lake—was named after Chief Andrew Seltice of the Coeur d'Alene tribe, who lived in a home on the west side.
Spokane County purchased 580 acres & began the wetlands restoration process in 2019. The project provides enhanced wildlife habitat, recreation, and strategic water management benefits. The primary goal is to restore the wetlands habitat while increasing late summer water flow into the Spokane River via the Spokane Valley-Rathdrum Prairie Aquifer. It has become an important stopover site for migratory waterfowl, as well as a wide variety of other birds and animals that once again call this home.
2084
A shaggy little western cottonwood, its leaves resplendent in their autumn yellow, brightens the Mojave riverbed, with the Rocksprings trestle and the sun-and-shadow mottled Ord Mountains in the background. Cottonwoods are common along the river, with some atop the river's banks and a few scattered in the riverbed itself. They like moist soil, enjoying the water-filled riverbed in the rainy season, and drawing water from the riverbed's underground aquifers in the drier months.
Camera: Polaroid 300 (2010, www.flickr.com/photos/143151681@N02/29118071242/in/photol...). This compact little Polaroid is a re-branded, renamed Fuji Instax Mini 7S, made by Fuji but sold by Polaroid.
Film: Fuji Instax Mini Color. This film, which works in both Polaroid 300 and Instax Mini cameras, creates small (46x62mm) instant color images.
A reminder of how life used to be! Nowadays we take it for granted that you just open a tap and pay the bill! Norfolk, although one of the driest counties in the UK, has amazingly large water resources, both above and below ground. Virtually the whole of the county is on top of a water saturated chalk aquifer. The downside is that the water is hard and for modern equipment like Combi boilers a water softener has to be installed to protect them. Life itself was harder but also a lot simpler when village pumps were the water source!
Excerpt from www.watercanada.net/light-shower-towers/:
Toronto’s newest stormwater system is breathtaking.
Housed in the pavilion basement at Sherbourne Common, a new park in the city’s rapidly developing East Bayfront area, the treatment facility cleans collected storm and lake water with ultraviolet (UV) light. The treated water is then sent underground to the north side of the park where it is released through three nine-metre-high art sculpture towers. The water flows from the tops of the towers down metal mesh veils and into a 240-metre-long water channel, or urban river, where it then flows into Lake Ontario.
Artist Jill Anholt’s Light Showers water towers are lit at night; as people move over the bridge of the water channel, motion sensors trigger shifting light patterns in the water as it falls from the sculptures. The mesh veils of the art sculptures are designed to capture water in the winter to form unique ice patterns.
Regardless of its attractiveness, the system and others like it have elicited some blowback from critics, especially in a time when many municipalities are worried about growing infrastructure deficits. Are the extra features necessary? Anholt’s sculptures don’t contain UV lamps and play only a minor role in the treatment process—they provide further aeration and act as a conduit to bring treated water to raised pools.
While some people may criticize Waterfront Toronto’s choice, others believe the art is a worthwhile investment. Waterfront Toronto chair Mark Wilson sees it as a catalyst for the further development of the East Bayfront neighbourhood. “The park has already helped us attract private and public sector partners who are working with us to transform this former industrial area into a dynamic new community,” he says. The City plans to recover the cost for the art feature—$1.9 million—through development fees as part of Waterfront Toronto’s public art strategy.
Others argue that making infrastructure visible is important to public understanding. During last April’s Out of Water: Sustaining Development in Arid Climates conference at the University of Toronto. (see “In the Eye of the Beholder,” a blog post at www.wordpress-139196-653073.cloudwaysapps.com), one audience member said water infrastructure is often designed to blend with the environment. “Often, we don’t even know it’s there—but is that a good thing?” she asked. Maybe it’s important, she posited, that we see, recognize, and feel comfortable with the mechanisms that allow us to maintain the lives we’re accustomed to living and, at a basic level, survive.
During a presentation at the Ecocity World Summit this August in Montreal, Concordia University graduate student Cecilia Chen discussed the importance of mapping the flows of streams and aquifers beneath and around urban spaces to increase awareness that cities are, in some ways, nothing more than watersheds. Water’s role in an urban ecosystem, she said, goes unrecognized because it travels underground and out of sight. It’s only when a storm-drain overflows and what she calls “hybrid water” becomes visible that awareness increases.
James Roche, director, parks design and construction for Waterfront Toronto, isn’t interested in separating infrastructure, landscape, and public space. “There’s more to gain from combining these fields,” he says. Roche says we ignore water’s important, though background, role in commerce and cities. “It changes how we live on a daily basis. The Sherbourne Common design helps to bring water back into the public realm.”
Following in the tradition of projects such as Stephen Holl Architects’ Whitney Water Treatment Plant in New Haven, Connecticut—a long, stainless steel building built in an inverse-raindrop shape—and Hervé Descottes’ breathtaking lighting design for the Newtown Creek Wastewater Treatment Plant in Brooklyn, New York, Sherbourne Common serves as a reminder of the role water plays in our lives.
The stunning chalk river the Darent flows through the village and the Darent valley a stunning tranquil walk and river in Kent.A globally rare habitat; there are only about 250 chalk streams in the world, about 160 of them are in England, with some raising from the chalk aquifer of the North Downs under Kent, inc. River Darent, Great Stour, Little Stour, Nailbourne, Dour and North and South Streams
Lysandra's native city, and the crown jewel of Calathar, Solkaris rises defiantly from the arid expanse like a blazing beacon. Its sunbaked sandstone walls gleam golden beneath the unyielding light, a testament to the resilience of its people. Built atop a rocky mount, the Palace of the Sun towers above the lush green oasis below, sustained by an ancient, hidden aquifer. The citizens of Solkaris are as rugged and unyielding as the desert itself. Hardened by relentless heat and shifting sands, their spirits reflect the stark and unforgiving beauty of their land. Yet within them lies a fierce pride, for Solkaris is not merely their home; it is their legacy, a city forged through fire and perseverance.
Sisters of Opposing Magic: The Perilous Path
by... me, if I can ever finish it
The 10th hole on the Snow Mountain Course at Paiute Golf Resort. The course is visually stunning between the green fairways and harsh desert just beyond. The cool part is the Paiute tribe irrigates the course from a natural aquifer and then uses the ponds on the courses to recapture and recirculate water.
the flooded gardens of Cedar Lakes on a cloudy windy day. The aquifer level had risen 9' above normal pretty much inundating everything planted at normal lake level. Green growth further obscured any view into the waters.
Ned Harris says "This one is an older adult. The red eye is the key to aging this individual."
It is perched on the rim of my birdbath In Tucson, Arizona, USA.
I’ve been wondering why all the new White-Winged Doves had disappeared. If this Adult Cooper’s Hawk eats one a day, that could explain it. It's part of the natural order of things. Predators keep the population of the prey animals in check. That enables more diversity and prevents starvation of unlimited over-population of the predator's prey.
All animals have their purpose in the natural order. That's why returning wolves to Yellowstone Park in Colorado and protecting them has brought back plants including trees that had been overgrazed by the uncontrolled deer overpopulation. That brought back animals such as beavers and the resulting aquatic habitats for aquarian flora and fauna.
The unnatural overpopulation by humans of the Tucson Valley and the concomitant overuse of subterranean water has unnaturally lowered the subterranean aquifer that was near the surface. That and the planet earth's warming climate have eliminated the year-round surface water in certain streams in the valley.
I fear the planet Earth's climate change and the current pandemic or another even more virulent pandemic may be the way the overpopulation of the planet Earth by humans will be brought under control. As a Father, Grandfather, and Great-Grandfather, I find that extremely depressing!
Humans wipe out forever entire species of other fauna on land and in the oceans every single day! And that is also very depressing!
IMG_0141.JPG
In Explore April 26, 2023.
From Wikipedia:
Franklin Parker Preserve is an 11,379 acre natural preserve located in the Pine Barrens in Chatsworth, New Jersey. The preserve links Brendan Byrne, Wharton, and Penn State Forests. Franklin Parker Preserve is owned and managed by New Jersey Conservation Foundation.
Geography is typical of the Pine Barrens with sandy roads, pitch pines, cedar swamps, blueberry fields and tributaries of the Wading River. The 53 mile Batona Trail runs through parts of the preserve and the preserve provides habitat for rare, threatened or endangered species including bobcats, bald eagles, barred owls, northern pine snakes and pine barrens tree frogs. The area also serves as a filter for rainwater that makes its way into the Kirkwood-Cohansey aquifer.
Franklin Parker Preserve is a former cranberry farm that was once the third largest cranberry producer in the US. The farm was owned by Garfield DeMarco, an influential Burlington County Republican Chairman. He frequently opposed many of the pineland's preservation regulations but he decided to sell the land at a significant discount versus the lands estimated value in order to preserve it. The land was purchased by New Jersey Conservation Foundation in 2003 after they were able to raise the funds for preservation. After securing additional adjacent tracts of land from private owners in 2015 and 2016 the total acreage of the preserve is now 11,379. The preserve is named after Franklin E. Parker III, the first chairman of the New Jersey Pinelands Commission.
Tiny is a township, part of Simcoe County in south-central Ontario, Canada. The Township of Tiny can be found in the Southern Georgian Bay region and is approximately 43 miles long or 160 square miles.
The township was named, in 1822, after a pet dog of Lady Sarah Maitland (1792-1873), wife of Sir Peregrine Maitland, Lieutenant Governor of Upper Canada. Two other adjoining townships were also named for her pet dogs, Tay and Flos (now Springwater Township).
The history of Tiny Township reflects its three founding cultures: Native, French and British. Located within Wendake, the historical homeland of the Huron people, the region is closely tied to early missionary exploration of the region, including the Jesuit mission of Sainte-Marie among the Hurons in nearby Midland.
The township is also the location of an important archaeological site, the 17th century ossuary of the community of Ossossane, the capital of the Huron Confederacy.
In 1798, the British government purchased the land in the area and soon after established a naval base at Penetanguishene. By the mid 1800s, families from Quebec began moving to the Tiny Township area for the cheap and fertile land to farm.
Today, the Tiny Township area is still very much a bilingual (French and English) area of Ontario, and is one of 25 municipalities in Ontario designated for bilingual government services under the French Language Services Act. In honour of the region's French history, Lafontaine hosts the annual Le Festival du Loup, a festival of francophone music and culture which celebrates the death of a wolf that terrorised the village in the 1800s, which takes place in July.
Lafontaine was originally called Sainte-Croix (French for Holy Cross) due to many large crosses found in the area that were planted by the Jesuits. It was renamed Lafontaine to honor the politician Louis-Hippolyte Lafontaine, one of the early Joint Premiers of the Province of Canada.
Tiny contains an artesian well that produces some of the purest spring water in the world. Many residents were concerned that a proposed garbage dump over the aquifer would contaminate the water, and a series of protests achieved a one-year moratorium on the dump.
Tiny is a township, part of Simcoe County in south-central Ontario, Canada. The Township of Tiny can be found in the Southern Georgian Bay region and is approximately 43 miles long or 160 square miles.
The township was named, in 1822, after a pet dog of Lady Sarah Maitland (1792-1873), wife of Sir Peregrine Maitland, Lieutenant Governor of Upper Canada. Two other adjoining townships were also named for her pet dogs, Tay and Flos (now Springwater Township).
The history of Tiny Township reflects its three founding cultures: Native, French and British. Located within Wendake, the historical homeland of the Huron people, the region is closely tied to early missionary exploration of the region, including the Jesuit mission of Sainte-Marie among the Hurons in nearby Midland.
The township is also the location of an important archaeological site, the 17th century ossuary of the community of Ossossane, the capital of the Huron Confederacy.
In 1798, the British government purchased the land in the area and soon after established a naval base at Penetanguishene. By the mid 1800s, families from Quebec began moving to the Tiny Township area for the cheap and fertile land to farm.
Today, the Tiny Township area is still very much a bilingual (French and English) area of Ontario, and is one of 25 municipalities in Ontario designated for bilingual government services under the French Language Services Act. In honour of the region's French history, Lafontaine hosts the annual Le Festival du Loup, a festival of francophone music and culture which celebrates the death of a wolf that terrorised the village in the 1800s, which takes place in July.
Lafontaine was originally called Sainte-Croix (French for Holy Cross) due to many large crosses found in the area that were planted by the Jesuits. It was renamed Lafontaine to honor the politician Louis-Hippolyte Lafontaine, one of the early Joint Premiers of the Province of Canada.
Tiny contains an artesian well that produces some of the purest spring water in the world. Many residents were concerned that a proposed garbage dump over the aquifer would contaminate the water, and a series of protests achieved a one-year moratorium on the dump.
The Menindee Lakes is a natural series of lakes that fill with water when the Darling-Baaka River floods. In the 1960s, a series of engineering projects augmented the Menindee Lakes, allowing water to be directed into the lakes and held back or released. This ensured a reliable water supply for the city of Broken Hill, the township of Menindee and secure supply of water for the Lower Darling River and supply to South Australia.
The Menindee Lakes system provides important habitat, nursery and recruitment for native fish, such as the Murray Cod and Golden Perch. It is important habitat for a huge variety of native and migratory bird species. The Menindee Lakes system is vital to the communities of the Far West, providing recreation and amenity, as well as attracting tourism, recreational fishing, horticulture and viticulture.
The Darling-Baaka River is central to the cultural, spiritual and economic lives of the Barkindji people.
The health of the Menindee Lakes and the Darling-Baaka River are intimately linked. The lakes fill from the Darling-Baaka River and water stored in the Menindee Lakes keeps the Lower Darling flowing during dry times. The Great Darling Anabranch is a series of ephemeral creeks, billabongs and lakes that wind their way to the Murray River to the west of the main Darling-Baaka River Channel.
Irrigation expands:
There has been a rapid expansion of irrigation along the rivers in the Northern Basin of the Murray Darling Basin, particularly cotton. Irrigation of cotton has expanded by 4,000% since the 1970s. In 1971 Australia grew 81,000 bales of cotton. By 2012 Australia grew 5.3 million bales. Irrigation dams - Wee Waa
Much of the cotton is grown along the rivers of the Murray Darling in very large irrigation enterprises, with most of the cotton grown on tributaries of the Darling-Baaka River.
Large private storages were built to hold water and other structures were built to capture flood waters. Water licences and water sharing plans allow irrigators to suck huge quantities from the tributaries of the Darling-Baaka even when flows are modest.
The result has been that low and medium flows have virtually stopped flowing down the Darling-Baaka River. Only the largest floods that cannot be captured upstream, or specially protected environmental flows, now make it down to the Menindee Lakes and Lower Darling-Baaka River.
An easy target?
After the Millennium Drought exposed just how over-allocated the river systems of the Murray-Darling Basin were, the Murray-Darling Basin Plan was agreed between the Commonwealth and the states. The Plan aimed to make the Murray-Darling Basin system more sustainable by returning more water to the rivers through buying back water licences and other measures to recover water for the environment.
Menindee Slogan Bus:
The irrigation industry views the water flowing into the Menindee Lakes as wasteful and unproductive (not growing crops). They would prefer water to be taken from the Menindee Lakes to meet the targets under the Basin Plan rather than for the irrigation industry to be compelled to use less water. The industry points to the volume of water that evaporates from the Menindee Lakes each year as a key reason to reduce the amount of water flowing into and being stored in the lakes. The amount of water that evaporates from shallow private storages in equally hot and dry climates is rarely mentioned.
Scientists and environmentalists view the water that flows down our rivers, fills wetland and billabongs, and spills over floodplains as highly productive for nature and vital for sustaining complex ecosystems that have evolved over eons. These flows are also vital for replenishing underground aquifers and for sustaining downstream communities and Indigenous cultures.
Some politicians view the Menindee Lakes as an easy target. The population around Menindee is sparse, without much economic or political clout. The birds, fish and wildlife can not vote, lobby or protest. Taking water from the Menindee Lakes system is seen as politically easier than seeking to recover water from loud, well-connected and politically savvy irrigators. The location of the Menindee Lakes in a remote part of NSW that is out of sight and out of mind for many citizens located on the eastern seaboard also makes it hard for the issue to gain political traction.
A plan to decommission the Menindee Lakes:
After the Menindee Lakes filled from a major flood event in Queensland and NSW 2012, they were rapidly emptied by the Murray Darling Basin Authority and the NSW Government. Usually the lakes would hold water for many years after they filled, but by 2014 they were emptied. As a consequence, Broken Hill was in danger of running out of water and the government announced a plan to drill bores to supply the city with low-quality bore water. Locals were outraged at this plan and were concerned that the Menindee Lakes had been deliberately drained so quickly as part of a plan to justify the decommissioning of the lakes.RIP Menindee Lakes
Another flood filled the Menindee Lakes in late 2016, but again they were rapidly drained, almost inexplicably into a flooding river. By then end of 2017 they were again dry just as drought started to bite and Broken Hill was facing another artificial water shortage.
Flush with cash from privatising the electricity networks, the NSW Government spent $500 million building a 270 kilometres water pipeline from the Murray River at Wentworth to Broken Hill. This ended the city’s reliance on the Darling-Baaka River and Menindee Lakes for water supply. Cotton Australia applauded the construction of the pipeline saying in their Annual Report, "The pipeline is a win for the community, the environment and irrigating farmers, and a solution Cotton Australia and its allies have long lobbied for." Meanwhile the local community was concerned that the pipeline would allow the NSW Government to decommission the Menindee Lakes without worrying about Broken Hill's water supply.
Sure enough, plans to reconfigure the Menindee Lakes are back on the table as a project to 'recover water from the environment' under the Murray-Darling Basin Plan's Sustainable Diversion Limit Adjustment Mechanism. The NSW Government wants to save up to 100 gigalitres of water each year by reducing the volume water stored in Menindee Lakes by up to 80%. A range of proposals have been put forward for consultation.
The Darling River Action Group has labelled the plans as 'ecological genocide.' They strongly oppose the huge reduction in habitat that will occur if reconfiguration plans go ahead. They worry that changing the times between and length of inundation in the lakes will have a major impact on fish breeding and birdlife. The Barkindji native title holders are also strongly opposed to the plans, with significant concerns about the impact on their culture, community, environment and sacred sites.
Fish kills and dry rivers and lakes:
Fish Kill Menindee In the teeth severe drought, predictions of environmental catastrophe on the Darling River came true as millions of fish floated dead on the surface. Hot weather and a lack of flows led to a blue-green algae bloom that stripped the water of oxygen when it died, suffocating many millions of fish along a length of the Darling-Baaka River. Images of giant Murray Cod many decades old floating on the surface of a stagnant, bright green river shocked Australians. If water had been stored in the Menindee Lakes, a flow of water in the Darling-Baaka River could have been maintained and millions of fish and other creatures would have survived. It was noted that the very large mature Murray Cod that had died would have survived numerous previous droughts, so what had changed?
A report by the Australian Academy of Science concluded:
The conditions leading to this event are an interaction between a severe (but not unprecedented) drought and, more significantly, excess upstream diversion of water for irrigation. Prior releases of water from Menindee Lakes contributed to lack of local reserves.
A small flow in mid-2019 led to a partial revival of the Darling-Baaka River and water in the upper lakes of the Menindee Lakes system. However, the Menindee Lakes and Darling-Baaka River face three major threats:
1) The proposed re-configuration of the Menindee Lakes system;
2) The continuing overallocation of water extraction licences in the Northern Basin of the Murray-Darling system;
3) The extent and proposed licencing of floodplain harvesting, which is capturing huge quantities of water before it can even reach the waterways of the Darling-Baaka River.
Source: Save Menindee Lakes (www.savemenindeelakes.org.au/the_history)
Ahhh today it is a rainy day and where more perfect to be than The Relic. Here you can feel protected from all storms. An absolute haven for disappearing into a book or connecting to another time... I swear this building has secrets...
The stygobitic and paedomorphic Georgia Blind Salamander resides in the Floridan Aquifer System of southwestern Georgia and extreme northwest Florida. Occasionally they may venture outside of the aquifer proper in areas where karst windows (=karst fensters) have formed through the lime rock within a cave system. These "windows" are a link, and a direct view, into the aquifer. Spring water will force its way up through these openings and pool within the cave. The salamanders use this conduit to access these pools where they can forage for food a wider variety of small invertebrates.
This salamander was once the sole species (=monotypic) within the genus Haideotriton, but their genetic lineage was later proved to be very closely related to the Southern Two-lined Salamander (Eurycea cirrigera) and subsequently was placed in the genus Eurycea.
The species "wallacei" is eponymously named for the late Dr. Howard Keefer Wallace who was the head of the Department of Zoology at the University of Florida where his primary study/interest was in arachnology.
I'm honored to have this photo displayed at the Florida Museum of Natural History in Gainesville, Florida.
The mirror images of the tree canopy on spring-fed Cypress Creek in Wimberley, Texas were particularly striking on this particular day.
Mesquite Dunes, Death Valley, California
Branches of a creosote bush poke through the dunes. It is early morning and the sky is lit up by the rising sun. The Grapevine Mountains are in the background.
The water table underneath the dune field on Mequite Flat is quite near the surface. Aquifers from outside the valley bring in the water. The creosote bush is a long rooted plant that won't let a bit of sand get between it and water. I wonder how old it is.
Laguna del Tejo
La formation de ces torks et dolines est le résultat de processus géologiques complexes liés à la dissolution de roches riches en carbonates, notamment les dolomies du Crétacé supérieur. Ces processus incluent la convergence de réseaux perpendiculaires de joints ou de fentes dans les roches, générés par des contraintes, une dissolution ou des changements de température. La présence d'un matériau imperméable au fond de certains torks est la raison pour laquelle ils retiennent l'eau, faisant ainsi ressortir la nappe aquifère. Ces lagunes ont une grande valeur scientifique en raison de leur fonctionnement fragile et complexe, ainsi que des communautés végétales et animales qui y vivent.
Les lagunes de Cañada del Hoyo abritent des phénomènes étonnants. Parmi eux, se distingue la stratification des eaux, qui crée des couches aux propriétés physico-chimiques différentes dans la Laguna de la Cruz au printemps et en été. De plus, des processus de blanchiment se produisent pendant de courtes périodes estivales en raison de la précipitation de cristaux de calcite provoquée par l'augmentation de la température et l'activité photosynthétique des plantes aquatiques. (Source : turismoserraniacuenca.com/en/item/lagunas-de-canada-del-h...)
Exiting from the Wilson Tunnel on the windward side of Oahu provides a sunrise view of the spectacular Ko’olau pali. The steep cliff (pali) may be a portion of the interior west wall of the Ko’olau volcano caldera and rift zone or subsequent erosion. The Ko’olaupoko was formed during a massive landslide when the seaward side of the Ko’olau caldera sloughed off into the Pacific Ocean about a million years ago. The fluted columns of the cliff face were carved by subsequent stream erosion from the nearly constant presence of orographic cumulus that cap the mountain and resulting relief precipitation that dissects the basalt, irrigates the dense rainforest, and recharges the aquifer. The cliffs in this area rise to 2,700+ feet.
Excerpt from en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oshino_Hakkai:
Oshino Hakkai (Japanese: 忍野八海, literally Eight Seas in Oshino) are the eight springs found in Oshino, Yamanashi, Japan. The aquifer water from Mount Fuji comes out to the ground to form these springs. They are a Natural monument of Japan, part of the Mount Fuji World Heritage Site, and one of Yamanashi Prefecture's important tourist attractions.
The ancient village of Bagno Vignoni is located in the heart of Tuscany, in the Val d'Orcia Natural Park. Thanks to the Via Francigena (which was the main route followed by pilgrims in antiquity who went to Rome), these thermal waters were found and have been used since Roman times. At the heart of the village is the "Square of sources", namely a rectangular tank, of sixteenth-century origin, which contains the original source of water that comes from the subterranean aquifer of volcanic origins. Since the Etruscans and Romans - as evidenced by the numerous archaeological finds - the spa of Bagno Vignoni was attended by eminent personalities such as Pope Pius II, Saint Catherine of Siena, Lorenzo the Magnificent and many other artists who had elected the village as their main holiday resort.
Another one of my favorite places in Spain to do landscape and nightscape photography. This place is known as "Lagunas de Cañada del Hoyo" and it is a group of 7 lagoons located almost next to each other. This lagoon formed after the ground sank exposing aquifers. Because of the microorganisms and bacteria living on the water some of the lagoons have pretty unusual colors. This lagoon is called "La Gitana" (The Gypsy) . Another place worth visiting if you ever visit Spain.
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Picture Taken At The Relic, UNM Aquifer Two (61, 202, 21
LAGO DI CORNINO.
Il Lago di Cornino è una piccola gemma incastonata nella valle del Medio Tagliamento, in Friuli, in una alcova scavata ai piedi di una montagna poco distante dallo scorrere del fiume.
Un luogo incantato e un po' nascosto, in un territorio non invaso dal turismo mainstream che conserva un legame profondo con la natura.
Si tratta di un piccolissimo specchio d'acqua dal colore spettacolare, tanto da risultare quasi irreale a chi vi si affaccia per la sua incredibile trasparenza. Il lago non ha né immissari né emissari, ma ricambia continuamente le proprie acque grazie a falde sotterranee che gli consentono di mantenere una costante bassa temperatura e una grande purezza.
Il Lago di Cornino arriva a essere profondo 8 metri, ma la balneazione è vietata. Si trova infatti all'interno di una Riserva Naturale all'interno della quale viene intrapreso un progetto di conservazione del grifone, un grosso rapace della famiglia degli avvoltoi.
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CORNINO LAKE.
The Cornino Lake is a small gem set in the valley of the Medio Tagliamento, in Friuli, in an alcove dug at the foot of a mountain not far from the flow of the river.
An enchanted and somewhat hidden place, in a territory not invaded by mainstream tourism that maintains a deep bond with nature.
It is a very small body of water with a spectacular color, so much so that it is almost unreal to those who look out on it due to its incredible transparency. The lake has neither tributaries nor emissaries, but continuously exchanges its waters thanks to underground aquifers that allow it to maintain a constant low temperature and great purity.
Cornino Lake reaches 8 meters deep, but bathing is prohibited. It is in fact located within a Nature Reserve within which a conservation project is undertaken for the griffon vulture, a large bird of prey of the vulture family.
In EXPLORE il 27/05/2022 al n. 148
Fotocomposizione di 14 immagini realizzata con lo smartphone HUAWEI MATE 20 PRO
A photo I never processed but it cought my attention while going through my archives. It's good to do this once in a while...;-)!
A very common sight in Iceland are moss-covered lava fields. These are massive expanses of lava draped with Woolly Fringe Moss. Due to the high porosity of the lava (vesicular basalt), rainwater quickly drains through the rock into the aquifers below. The surface of the lava fields are thus dry ecosystems. Woolly Fringe Moss is a pioneer species and usually begins to form when the lava is at least 100 years old. The moss is spongey and forms thick pillows on the lava. It is greyish when dry and immediately a verdant green when wet. The moss produces soil on the lava which can then support heathers and lichens.
28-october-2021: autumn 2021 had very little rainfall in these areas, following, among other things, an equally dry and prolonged summer.
Water problems have been limited due to the high average rainfall of the whole Area which has rich aquifers.
There were many days completely sunny and transparent.
Climbing above the canopy dominated by ‘ōhi’a and koa trees with a richly diverse understory, the ridge trail undulates to the top of the Ko’olau range. In areas where landslides and slope failures have occurred, uluhe fern, the “scar healer”, is the first settler on exposed soil. The cloudless prominence in the midground before the intersecting range is Pu’ukawipo’o. Rain from the almost constant orographic cumulus over the peaks recharges the island aquifers.
The tree is a pitch pine (Pinus rigida).
From Wikipedia:
Franklin Parker Preserve is an 11,379 acre natural preserve located in the Pine Barrens in Chatsworth, New Jersey. The preserve links Brendan Byrne, Wharton, and Penn State Forests. Franklin Parker Preserve is owned and managed by New Jersey Conservation Foundation.
Geography is typical of the Pine Barrens with sandy roads, pitch pines, cedar swamps, blueberry fields and tributaries of the Wading River. The 53 mile Batona Trail runs through parts of the preserve and the preserve provides habitat for rare, threatened or endangered species including bobcats, bald eagles, barred owls, northern pine snakes and pine barrens tree frogs. The area also serves as a filter for rainwater that makes its way into the Kirkwood-Cohansey aquifer.
Franklin Parker Preserve was a former cranberry farm that was once the third largest cranberry producer in the US. The farm was owned by Garfield DeMarco, an influential Burlington County Republican Chairman. He frequently opposed many of the pineland's preservation regulations but he decided to sell the land at a significant discount versus the lands estimated value in order to preserve it. The land was purchased by New Jersey Conservation Foundation in 2003 after they were able to raise the funds for preservation. After securing additional adjacent tracts of land from private owners in 2015 and 2016 the total acreage of the preserve is now 11,379. The preserve is named after Franklin E. Parker III, the first chairman of the New Jersey Pinelands Commission.
The River Itchen in Hampshire, England, rises to the south of New Alresford at Hinton Ampner and flows 42 km to meet Southampton Water below the Itchen Bridge. The Itchen Navigation was constructed in the late 17th and early 18th centuries to enable barges to reach Winchester from Southampton Docks, but ceased to operate in the mid-19th century and is largely abandoned today.
The river is one of the world's premier chalk streams for fly fishing, amenable to dry fly or nymphing. The local chalk aquifer has excellent storage and filtration and the river has long been used for drinking water. Watercress thrives in its upper reaches.
Much of the river from its source to Swaythling is classified as a 748.5-hectare biological Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), and a Special Area of Conservation, of which the 9-hectare Hockley Meadows nature reserve is a part. The Itchen estuary is part of the separate Lee-on-The Solent to Itchen Estuary SSSI.
This part of the river is in Riverside Park which is a 32 hectare site located along the River Itchen and includes six football pitches, two cricket pitches, a tennis court, skate park and three play areas. The Southampton and District Society of Model Engineers run a miniature railway open to the public on Sunday afternoons during the summer months.
Recognised internationally as an important habitat for wildlife such as salmon, water voles, kingfishers, dragonflies and otters. The non-tidal section of the river support a variety of freshwater fish, including dace, roach and the migratory salmon and sea trout. Continuing along the river gives views onto the conservation areas on the other side where unusual species make their home including kingfisher, water vole, otter, various warblers and sometimes even cuckoos.
The Itchen Navigation Heritage Trail Project is a Heritage Lottery project managed by the Wildlife Trust preserving an internationally important chalk river system for future generations. They have produced a range of leaflets on walks along the Itchen Navigation from Riverside Park to Winchester. Bargeman's Walk Mansbridge is a two mile circular walk starting and ending at Woodmill. Visit the Itchen Navigation Project website for more details.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/River_Itchen,_Hampshire
www.southampton.gov.uk/people-places/parks-open-spaces/pa...
Excerpt from en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oshino_Hakkai:
Oshino Hakkai (Japanese: 忍野八海, literally Eight Seas in Oshino) are the eight springs found in Oshino, Yamanashi, Japan. The aquifer water from Mount Fuji comes out to the ground to form these springs. They are a Natural monument of Japan, part of the Mount Fuji World Heritage Site, and one of Yamanashi Prefecture's important tourist attractions.