A Global Water Story

Script and storyboard, installer, and the data sources used.

Script & Storyboard

• Read the storyboard (web page)
• Open the script and storyboard (Google Doc)

Installer Download

Uniview Installer Files

• wvn01_water_FINAL.msi (81MB)
• Requires Uniview 1.5

Training Video

Data Sources

• Digital Universe Atlas
• Blue Marble Next Generation
  http://neo.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/view.php?datasetId=BlueMarbleNG-TB
  http://neo.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/view.php?datasetId=GEBCO_BATHY‍
• National Geographic Society
• Office of the State Engineer, Colorado Division of Water Resources
• USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service

Videos and visualizations related to the program.

Where do we get our fresh water?

Fresh water accounts for only 2.5% of Earth’s water, yet it is vital for human civilization. What are our sources of fresh water? In the first of a two part series on fresh water, Christiana Z. Peppard breaks the numbers down and discusses who is using it and to what ends.

WWF: Virtual Water: Change the Way You Think About Everything

How much water does it take to make one latte? We can do more using less of our natural resources, right now.

Good: Water

For World Water Day 2008, we look at the planet’s water, how it’s being used, and the increasing strains on this vital resource. Drink up!

WWF: The Importance of Water

Of all the water on this blue planet of ours, only 3% of it is freshwater. And this precious, life-giving resource has seen a decline of 35% in the species that live within its realm since 1970. We must use water more wisely. We must make better use of the bounties and services that it provides.

NASA / USGS | LANDSAT: A Space Age Water Guide

Water specialists Rick Allen, Bill Kramber and Tony Morse have created an innovative satellite-based method that maps agricultural water consumption. The team uses Landsat thermal band data to measure the amount of water evaporating from the soil and transpiring from plants leaves. Evapotranspiring water absorbs energy, so farm fields consuming more water appear cooler in the thermal band. The Landsat observations provide an objective way for water managers to assess on a field-by-field basis how much water agricultural growers are using. Landsat is a joint program of NASA and the US Geological Survey.

Good: Drinking Water

Celebrate World Water Day!

Good Transparency: Water Conservation

Thirsty? So is everyone else. We’re headed for a water shortage. Here’s how simple daily choices can reduce your water use. A GOOD Transparency video.

Reading and reference links for going further.

Water

• Best Reading for Understanding Peak Water
• Virtual Water
• The Virtual Water Project
• Water Footprint Network
• Colorado Foundation for Water Education
• Citizen’s Guides
  Citizen’s Guide to Colorado Climate Change
  Citizen’s Guide to Colorado’s Water Heritage
  Citizen’s Guide to Colorado Water Conservation
  Citizen’s Guide to Colorado Water Quality Protection
  Citizen’s Guide to Denver Basin Groundwater
  Citizen’s Guide to Colorado’s Environmental Era
  Citizen’s Guide to Colorado’s Interstate Compacts
  Citizen’s Guide to Colorado Water Law, 3rd Edition
  Citizen’s Guide to Where Your Water Comes From

• Headwaters Magazine
  Winter 2011
  Fall 2010
  Summer 2010
  Winter 2010
  Fall 2009
  Summer 2009
  Spring 2009
  Winter 2009
  Summer 2008
  Winter 2008
  Fall 2007
• Western Water Assessment
  Climate Change
  Colorado River
  Front Range
  Water Management and Drought
  Western Water Law

• Biohabitats
  Leaf Litter Newsletter:
  Spring Equinox 2011
  Winter Solstice 2010
  Fall Equinox 2010
  Summer Solstice 2010
  Spring Equinox 2010
• Denver Water
• Aurora Water
• Douglas County Water
• Northern Water Conservancy District
• Central Colorado Water Conservation District
• Colorado Water Conservation Board
• Cherry Creek Stewardship Partners
• Colorado State University Extension Service‍
• Western Resource Advocates:
  Filling the Gap: Commonsense Solutions for Meeting Front Range Water Needs‍
• The Nature Conservancy – Managing Changing Landscapes in the Southwestern United States

Organizations and tools for taking action.

• Savory Institute
  The focus of the Savory Institute is to restore the vast grasslands of the world through the teaching and practice of Holistic Management and Holistic Decision Making.
• Holistic Management
  Holistic Management International is a non-profit organization dedicated to restoring the health of degraded private, public and communal grasslands worldwide. By managing land resources in partnership with nature, we can increase land productivity, optimize water resources, preserve food sources, create sustainable livelihoods, and remove Carbon Dioxide from our atmosphere.
• Whole Measures
  What organizations and communities measure often determines what they pay attention to and says much about what they value. We believe that one of the greatest challenges currently faced by the conservation movement – and others seeking to create stronger relationships between healthy people, communities and lands – is the way we define, talk about and measure success. The challenge is that we become what we measure, and conservationists primarily measure dollars, acres, and biological diversity.
• The Ursula Project
  The earth, and its ability to sustain life, is the origin of all real wealth and the only logical fundamental basis of value. We are required to sustain it, so that it may sustain us. To sustain it, first we must value it. To value it, we must assess it. To assess it we must measure it. To measure it, we require a rule. URSULA uses a standard of global sustainability as the rule by which value is measured and assessed.

The people and organizations behind the program.

Partners

• Denver Museum of Nature & Science

Funders

• National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Office of Education

Presenters

• Bob Raynolds (DMNS)
• Ka Chun Yu (DMNS)

Scriptwriters

• Bob Raynolds (DMNS)
• Ka Chun Yu (DMNS)
• Ned Gardiner (NOAA)
• David McConville (The Elumenati)

GIS & Visualizations

• Ned Gardiner (NOAA)
• Lindsay Irving (CAS)
• Ka Chun Yu (DMNS)
• David McConville (The Elumenati)

Photography

• Tito Dupret
• History Colorado
• Bob Raynolds (DMNS)
• Savory Institute
• Jon Waterman
• Ka Chun Yu (DMNS)

Production Coordination

• Lindsay Irving (CAS)

Technical Support

• Greg Mancari (DMNS)
• Ka Chun Yu (DMNS)
• DMNS Support
• Julia Beegles-Spalding (DMNS)
• Liz Davis (DMNS)
• Jessaca Fox (DMNS)
• Dan Neafus (DMNS)

Advisors

• Colorado Foundation for Water Education
• Biohabitats
• Denver Water
• Aurora Water
• Savory Institute
• Colorado Geological Survey
• Central Colorado Water Conservation District
• Cherry Creek Stewardship Partners
• Colorado Climate Center, CSU
• Colorado Springs Utilities
• Colorado State University Extension Service
• Colorado Water Conservation Board
• Department of Atmospheric Science, CSU
• Douglas County Water
• Loveland Museum/Gallery
• Northern Water conservancy District
• St. Vrain Left Hand Water Conservation District
• Watershed School
• Wright Water Engineers
• Gustavo Fontes
• Gene Reetz
• Jon Waterman
• Karen Kudebeh
• Western Water Assessment

Participants

• Colorado Foundation for Water Education
• Biohabitats
• Denver Water