The City is hosting a series of public forums to explore long-term solutions for drinking water.  The forums are open to everyone with an interest in water and Norman’s future.

They will be held in the City Council Chambers, 201 W. Gray Street.  They begin at 6 p.m. and will last approximately two hours.  The dates and topics of the forums are as follows:

January 7, 2010 Introduction and Purpose of the Series; Norman’s Existing Strategic Water Supply Plan, and Charter Utility Provisions
January 21, 2010 State Water Plan
February 4, 2010 Other Water Supply Options (Reclaimed Water, Brackish Water, Arsenic Treatment Technologies)
February 18, 2010 Lake Thunderbird Augmentation Study/Central Oklahoma Master Conservancy District
March 4, 2010 Central Oklahoma Regional Raw Water Supply Solution
March 25, 2010 Use of Trusts to Collectively Acquire and Deliver Water Resources
April 1, 2010 Financial Condition of Norman’s Utilities (Water, Sewer, Solid Waste)
April 15, 2010 Comparison of Financial Options Related to Long Term Water Solutions

The forums will be broadcast live on Channel 20 and rebroadcast periodically throughout the series. Please call the City of Norman Utilities Department at 366-5443 to reserve your place at these meetings.  Informational packets regarding each meeting will be provided.

From The Norman Transcript:

Keep Oklahoma Beautiful presented the City of Norman the Environmental Excellence Award for local governments in Oklahoma this week.

[...]

Norman was recognized for its accomplishments in implementing a number of provisions of the U.S. Mayor’s Climate Protection Agreement. Some of the city’s accomplishments included increasing fuel efficiency of municipal fleet vehicles by using CNG and biodiesel, increasing recycling rates by introducing curbside recycling, expanding the city’s compost facility and decreasing electrical usage by increasing motor efficiencies at the wastewater plant.

Read the rest.

From The Journal Record:

In the coming years, the University of Oklahoma may be sending more students into the work world equipped with skills to fight for people in need.

The university recently launched the Center for Social Justice, part of the Women’s and Gender Studies Program. With a focus on internships, “activists-in-residence” and information on issues both local and global, the center’s staff aims to connect students with what they need to make a career out of activism. The school also anticipates offering a social justice minor next fall.

Read the rest.

You can find the new Center for Social Justice website at http://peace.ou.edu.

From The Norman Transcript:

In a society monopolized by the idea of “greening up,” Richard McKown isn’t afraid of brown.

McKown, developer for Norman-based Ideal Homes, doesn’t fertilize his yard, deeming the plant food one of the main culprits of water pollution.
Despite neighborhood campaigns to convince him that he’s tarnishing the area’s green aesthetic, his brown grass doesn’t bother him.

“People are always mad at me. Fertilize more. Make everything greener. They just don’t understand,” said McKown, who said most yards are only deficient in one of the three nutrients found in the common fertilizer, prohibiting plants’ ability to absorb the other nutrients found in the fertilizer, which are picked up in water runoff and carried into water sources, contaminating the supply and producing algae as a byproduct.

Read the rest.

From The Norman Transcript:

Northwest Norman will have another option for transportation starting Monday.

Cleveland Area Rapid Transit will launch its first new community transportation route in more than 16 years when it debuts the West Norman Link.

[...]

The West Norman Link will service Embassy Suites, as well as the Norman Regional HealthPlex, University Northpark, Brookhaven Village and residential areas along 36th Avenue Northwest, Tecumseh Road and 24th Avenue Northwest.

Read the rest.

Thanks to everyone who came to the meeting and the many eloquent speakers who supported water sustainability in Norman!

From The Norman Transcript:

The Norman City Council discussed the Storm Water Master Plan Tuesday evening in front of a packed house of concerned citizens, business leaders and others who had varying concerns regarding the 650-page document that will cost $83 million to implement.

After an avalanche of public comment, including a resolution drafted by the Norman Chamber of Commerce urging the council not to adopt data and maps contained in the plans because they would hurt business development in the future, council members voted unanimously to adopt the resolution and begin the process of moving forward on the Storm Water Master Plan after a meeting lasting more than four hours.

Read the rest.

As Norman grows and new areas of town are covered by buildings or asphalt, there is less land to absorb water and less vegetation to filter pollutants. The result is increasing problems of flooding, erosion, and polluted drinking water in Lake Thunderbird.

This Tuesday, the Norman City Council is voting on whether to accept the findings of the Storm Water Master Plan and Greenway Master Plan. These plans outline strategies to manage run-off in urban areas and integrate those solutions with a citywide system of greenways and recreational trails.

The resolution does not establish any specific policies for water management. It only directs city staff to begin developing a policy based on the data in the Master Plans.

Nevertheless, some in the developer community are opposing even this initial step. They are asking for more studies and further delay, even though the problem is clear and the proposed solutions are similar to what has been successfully implemented in cities throughout the region.

The NSN steering committee believes this is an important step for sustainable development in Norman. Delays will only make the problems worse and more expensive in the long-run. Water management is a community-wide problem, and it needs the kind of comprehensive, community-wide solution that the Storm Water Master Plan represents. While some areas of town may need more improvements than others, the benefits are citywide. The watershed is a very complex system, and water flowing through one area will inevitably interact with many others before it reaches Lake Thunderbird or the Canadian River.

We urge all Norman residents to attend the City Council meeting this Tuesday, 6:30pm, at 201 W Gray St, and express your support for managing our vital water resources in a sustainable way. We need speakers from all walks of life. And whether or not you plan to speak at the meeting, we encourage everyone to attend wearing the brightest blue shirts you have to show your support.

For more information about this issue, check out this video at http://zanzibarstudios.com/clients/PSA.html.

We will gather to prepare for the meeting at 5:30pm at Gray Owl Coffee, 223 W Gray St. Contact us at info@normansustainability.org if you have any questions.

From OETA:

Norman-based Phononic Devices, Inc. is getting a $3 million-dollar Department of Energy grant to continue work on a project aimed at converting wasted heat into energy. The basis for the research the company is conducting is that 60-percent of the United States’ energy is lost in the form of wasted heat. The company’s founders say high-efficiency thermoelectrics holds great promise to tap into this hidden energy source while reducing green house gas emissions.

This Going Green story originally aired Nov. 4, 2009.

The November gathering of Science Cafe Norman will host Dr. Robert Nairn of the Department of Civil Engineering and Environmental Science. Dr. Nairn will talk about using environmentally conscious methods of passive filtration to purify Tar Creek in eastern Oklahoma, which is polluted due to drainage from abandoned mine sites. Dr. Nairn is a part of the leadership for the Water Technologies for Emerging Regions (WaTER) Center, as well as the director of the Center for the Restoration of Ecosystems and Watersheds (CREW). He is also working on a similar water purification project in Cerro Rico de Potosi, Bolivia.

The event is at 7pm, Thursday Nov. 5, at the Norman Public Library (225 N Webster). Coffee and snacks will be provided by the Friends of the Norman Public Library. There is no cost to attend, and all are welcome. Questions should be directed to Sean Crowell at sean.m.crowell@gmail.com.

From the OU Daily:

Researchers from around the world will soon be able to forecast ecological processes with the development of an “information cafeteria” a team of OU researchers is creating called cyberCommons.

CyberCommons will allow others to obtain electronic real-time data of ecological systems. A $6 million grant from the National Science Foundation allowed researchers to fund this project.

“It’s taking the concept of forecasting we know so well on weather science and applying it to ecological science,” said Paul Risser, lead researcher for the project.

Read the rest.