1. Happy New Year, Happy Holidays
May 2016 bring you a greater sense of family, love and happiness!
2. Arizona Department of Environmental Quality Stormwater Permitting Program.
You can now receive updates from ADEQ via email or SMS/Text Message on various topics of your choice. Currently available topics related to stormwater include: Construction General Permits, Multi-Sector General Permits, De Minimis General Permits, Phase II MS4 General Permit, and Pesticide General Permit. Other ADEQ topics are also available. Typical updates include information on upcoming public hearings, soliciting public comments on draft permits, and notification on stakeholder meetings associated ADEQ’s Air Quality Division, Waste Program Division, and Water Quality Division.
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El Nino and Stormwater
For those of us who live in the desert southwest, we become accustomed to long periods of dry weather. As a facility with a stormwater permit, it’s possible that you do not discharge very often because we don’t get a lot of rain, or because your on-site detention or other factors limit discharges. With climatologists predicting the onset of an El Nino for the 2015-16 winter season, ADEQ encourages you to follow your permit conditions to reduce or eliminate pollutant runoff.
What El Nino May Mean for You When Pacific Ocean trade winds weaken, warmer surface water is allowed to flow eastward creating the phenomenon known as El Nino. During an El Nino year, Arizona typically experiences increased rainfall during the winter. During the December 1997 through April 1998 El Nino, for example, Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport recorded about 6.8 inches of rain, which was double the precipitation we typically average for these months. 3
El Nino events usually bring increased rainfall at lower elevations, and earlier and deeper snowpack in the mountains. In fact, there is general agreement that the 2015-2016 El Nino could be one of the biggest on record and could last through early spring.
While most of us enjoy increased precipitation to fill Arizona’s reservoirs for drinking water and recreation, as well as for snow pack and skiing in the high country, it is important to ensure that snow melt and stormwater runoff does not become contaminated with chemicals, nutrients, heavy metals, sediment, and other pollutants.
Here are some practical things you can do every day at the home and office to limit stormwater runoff from harming Arizona’s surface waters:
Repair automotive leaks
Don’t over apply fertilizers or apply them unnecessarily
Clean up pet waste
Keep chemicals and other pollutants in sealed containers or properly dispose if no longer needed
Don’t litter
Volunteer for cleanup and other activities within your community
For more info, go to AZDEQ@public.govdelivery.com
3. Governor’s New Water Council Too Business-Friendly, Critics Say. The Agribusiness Council, the Arizona Cattlemen’s Association and Freeport McMoRan Inc. are represented on a new water council aimed at finding supplies for this drought-parched state. The Sierra Club and Audubon Society are not.
The Agribusiness Council, the Arizona Cattlemen’s Association and Freeport McMoRan Inc. are represented on a new water council aimed at finding supplies for this drought-parched state. The Sierra Club and Audubon Society are not. That, in a nutshell, is why Gov. Doug Ducey’s new, 29-member Water Augmentation Council is already drawing criticism, right after being named last Wednesday.
State officials say they’ve chosen members who know the most about water issues and would be most affected by possible future water policy changes. State officials tried to have the council’s makeup reflect different constituencies across the entire state, while keeping its number relatively small, said Arizona Depart of Water Resources Director Thomas Buschatzke, the council’s chairman. Environmentalists say the selections leave out crucial, often dissenting voices — not just theirs, but those representing low-income and minority communities and the general public, who would shoulder much of the tab for new water projects.
“This group is very ag- and development-focused. It’s obviously not the kind of council that will be asking about the future of the San Pedro or Upper Verde rivers,” said Bahr, referring to rivers in southeast and Central Arizona, respectively, which many conservationists and scientists believe are threatened by population growth and groundwater pumping. She contrasted that ideal with the state’s process in which Ducey was advised on selections by the state water agency, his natural resources adviser, Hunter Moore, and various state boards and commissions.
Colorado recently adopted a new State Water Plan, “based on a deeply participatory process,” Kiser said. Writing last month about Colorado, the magazine High Country News said, “But where other states did things top-down, Colorado took a more grassroots approach, asking committees in each of the state’s eight river basins, plus the Denver metropolitan area, to assess their needs, their gaps, and propose solutions. Colorado also opted for extensive public participation — soliciting tens of thousands of comments from across the state.”
Arizona’s process for water planning is entirely different from Colorado’s, and Arizona officials wanted to select a committee “that actually could accomplish a positive outcome,” Buschatzke countered. .
“I don’t think augmentation means going out and quickly building a desal plant,” said Ferris, director of the nonprofit Arizona Municipal Water Users Association, representing 10 Phoenix-area cities. “But it doesn’t mean the council won’t be looking at desalination.”
Read the entire article at ucson.com/news/local/governor-s-new-water-council-too-business-friendly-critics-say. “I don’t want to put them out of business, but I do think we ought to talk more about the nature of agriculture in Arizona and the kind of crops and the way in which we make decisions. But that’s not popular with a lot of people. It feels too much like community control and creeping socialism.” Read more at article_b42ad87f-52c7-5aac-8a00-bc6496f77314.html
4. Celebrate New Years Eve, And Remember Everything January 1st. The late-Joseph Owades was a flat-out genius. With a PhD in biochemistry from Brooklyn Polytechnic Institute and an early job in the fermentation sciences department at Fleischmann’s.
“One teaspoon of yeast, mixed in with yogurt, per beer, right before you start drinking.” Active dry yeast has an enzyme in it called alcohol dehydrogenases (ADH). Roughly put, ADH is able to break alcohol molecules down into their constituent parts of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen. Which is the same thing that happens when your body metabolizes alcohol in its liver. Owades realized if you also have that enzyme in your stomach when the alcohol first hits it, the ADH will begin breaking it down before it gets into your bloodstream and, thus, your brain. Source: http://www.esquire.com/food-drink/drinks/how-to/a26328/how-not-to-get-drunk/
5. Arizona Gardeners: Protecting Plants From Frost, Freezing Injury. The nighttime lows are cold and if you have frost sensitive plants in the yard/garden, be sure to cover them with sheets, frost blankets, bed blankets, cardboard or towels. If you use any of these coverings, make sure they cover all of the plant from the crown to the ground. Soaking the soil under the plants (not the plant itself) can also provide some protection. DO NOT cover with plastic sheeting. Covering plants with plastic sheeting will guarentee the plants will freeze.
If it gets really cold, you might like to string some of the large Christmas bulbs throughout the plants for just a little heat. Mini lights and LED’s will not generate heat, so don’t even think about using them. If you have saved a few onegallon plastic water/milk jugs, you can fill them with hot water and around sundown, place the jugs two feet apart very near, if not under the plants. A grounded utility light can also generate some heat to protect the plants, but you should weight the cost of electricity against the cost of the plant.
6. Party Hardy But Be Responsible. New Year’s Eve is a time to say good bye to the old and bring in the new with confidence and the knowledge that all will be good. You don’t have to test article 4 on the previous page but if you do wake up with a bit of a hangover, consider doing this:
1. Refuel at the breakfast table.
Alcohol will lead to a drop in blood sugar, so boost it back up with a glass of apple juice in the morning! Fruit juices are a good way to treat mild low blood sugar, but if the situation feels dire then choose something with a high glycemic index, like darkhorse Rice Chex or a French baguette.
2. Go one for one.
It’s no secret that drinking water can help deflect that pounding a.m. headache (pretty much the opposite of a good morning). Tissues around the brain are mostly made of water, and dehydration will shrink these tissues, creating pressure in the head. Alcohol can lead to dehydration, so make sure to continuously drink water throughout the night. Try matching each alcoholic drink with one glass of water to avoid that next-day pain.
3. Chow down.
No, just because beer has calories doesn’t mean it counts as dinner. Drinking on an empty stomach will allow alcohol to absorb faster, so try getting in a good meal with lots of healthy carbs before breaking out the bottle. Some research even shows a stomach full of food may help keep blood alcohol content at a lower level.
4. Keep it light.
Darker drinks like red wine or rum contain more congeners (substances produced during fermentation), which may contribute to causing hangovers. Skip the whiskey in favor of vodka or a glass of white wine!
5. Stay classy.
The more expensive liquors are usually distilled more times, so contain fewer congeners—as we just learned, a cause for shaking-fist-at-the-sky action. So pass on the well liquor and take it up a notch with some top-shelf booze.
6. Take a multivitamin.
Drinking depletes nutrients in the body, including vitamin B12 and folate. Try popping in a multivitamin to replenish what’s lost from a night of drinking.
7. Skip the bubbles.
Opt out of champagne or other alcohol that’s mixed with carbonated beverages—research shows that the bubbles may cause alcohol to be absorbed more quickly, hence that New Year’s Day hangover.
8. Practice your downward dog.
Scientists have yet to prove that a few sun-salutations will whisk away a hangover, but breathing and meditation exercises in yoga can get oxygen fl owing and blood pumping to help relieve stress, usually abundant when the world feels sideways. Namaste!
9. Grab some potassium.
When dehydrated, we lose not only water but electrolytes too. Gain ‘em back by snacking on potassium-rich foods like bananas or spinach. And if you’re thinking ahead, stock up on Pedialyte— one bottle has twice the sodium and five times as much potassium as the same size bottle of Gatorade.
10. Scramble eggs.
Eggs contain taurine, which has been shown to reverse liver damage caused by a night of heavy boozing. Scramble them up with lots of veggies for added antioxidant power!
11. Sip ginger tea.
7. New Year’s Eve | About the New Year’s Eve Ball Drop. Each year, millions of eyes from all over the world are focused on the sparkling Waterford Crystal Times Square New Year’s Eve Ball. At 11:59 p.m., the Ball begins its descent as millions of voices unite to count down the final seconds of the year, and celebrate the beginning of a new year full of hopes, challenges, changes and dreams.
The Ball is a geodesic sphere, 12 feet in diameter, and weighs 11,875 pounds and is covered with a total of 2,688 Waterford Crystal triangles that vary in size, and range in length from 4 3⁄4 inches to 5 3⁄4 inches per side. For Times Square 2016, 288 of the Waterford triangles introduce the new Gift of Wonder design composed by a faceted starburst inspiring our sense of wonder that nourishes the seeds of knowledge and achievement. Last year’s Gift of Fortitude design utilized diamond cuts on either side of a crystal pillar to represent the inner attributes of resolve, courage and spirit necessary to triumph over adversity. The remaining 2,112 crystal triangles feature the Gift of Imagination design with a series of intricate wedge cuts that are mirrored reflections of each other inspiring our imagination.
Ball Fun Facts
- The 2,688 Waterford Crystal triangles are bolted to 672 LED modules which are attached to the aluminum frame of the Ball.
- The Ball is illuminated by 32,256 Philips Luxeon Rebel LEDs (light emitting diodes). Each LED module contains 48 Philips Luxeon Rebel LEDs – 12 red, 12 blue, 12 green, and 12 white for a total of 8,064 of each color.
- The Ball is capable of displaying a palette of more than 16 million vibrant colors and billions of patterns that create a spectacular kaleidoscope effect atop One Times Square.
Revelers began celebrating New Year’s Eve in Times Square as early as 1904, but it was in 1907 that the New Year’s Eve Ball made its maiden descent from the flagpole atop One Times Square. Seven versions of the Ball have been designed to signal the New Year.
The first New Year’s Eve Ball, made of iron and wood and adorned with one hundred 25-watt light bulbs, was 5 feet in diameter and weighed 700 pounds. It was built by a young immigrant metalworker named Jacob Starr, and for most of the twentieth century the company he founded, sign maker Artkraft Strauss, was responsible for lowering the Ball. As part of the 1907-1908 festivities, waiters in the fabled “lobster palaces” and other deluxe eateries in hotels surrounding Times Square were supplied with battery-powered top hats emblazoned with the numbers “1908” fashioned of tiny light bulbs. At the stroke of midnight, they all “flipped their lids” and the year on their foreheads lit up in conjunction with the numbers “1908” on the parapet of the Times Tower lighting up to signal the arrival of the new year.
The Ball has been lowered every year since 1907, with the exceptions of 1942 and 1943, when the ceremony was suspended due to the wartime “dimout” of lights in New York City. Nevertheless, the crowds still gathered in Times Square in those years and greeted the New Year with a minute of silence followed by the ringing of chimes from sound trucks parked at the base of the tower—a harkening-back to the earlier celebrations at Trinity Church, where crowds would gather to “ring out the old, ring in the new.” In 1920, a 400 pound Ball made entirely of wrought iron replaced the original. In 1955, the iron Ball was replaced with an aluminum Ball weighing a mere 150 pounds. This aluminum Ball remained unchanged until the 1980s, when red light bulbs and the addition of a green stem converted the Ball into an apple for the “I Love New York” marketing campaign from 1981 until 1988. After seven years, the traditional glowing white Ball with white light bulbs and without the green stem returned to brightly light the sky above.
