en-us http://www.gongol.net News on water, wastewater, and the environment, especially in Iowa, Nebraska, the Upper Midwest and Great Plains Wed, 11 Jan 2011 16:39:01 CST http://gongol.net/newsletter/2012/01/10/ http://gongol.net/newsletter/2012/01/10/ While nobody's ready to get too confident yet, the US Army Corps of Engineers is reporting that the storage capacity of the lakes and reservoirs in the upstream Missouri River basin should be about 2% greater than normal levels when the runoff season begins in March. The winter season has been relatively dry so far, which may help reduce the likelihood of spring flooding this year. Last year's devastating floods left terrible scars in western Iowa, where contractors are racing to repair damaged levees. The cover illustration on the updated USACE operating plan for the Missouri River gives a really good overview of just how large a network of rivers feeds into the Missouri, which illustrates in turn just how significant the snowfall in Montana, Wyoming, and Colorado is to river conditions in Iowa and Nebraska. We are actively assisting communities working to improve their river-flood defenses right now, with rush orders for flood gates and pumps available for those seeking to beat the arrival of spring. Contact us if you need emergency shipments on pumps, gates, or other flood-control products. Our suppliers are capable of meeting deadlines faster than anyone else in the industry. Mon, 09 Jan 2011 22:23:01 CST http://gongol.net/newsletter/2012/01/09/ http://gongol.net/newsletter/2012/01/09/ The Sioux City Journal publishes a regular column with stories from the archives, and in yesterday's edition shared an 1887 story about the then-brand-new waterworks serving the city. It's widely lost to the public's imagination, but municipal drinking water systems in the United States are mainly a product of the post-Civil War era and are thus not really all that old from the long viewpoint of human history. (In other words, we're still relatively new at this, at least when compared to lots of other things we've been doing much longer.) On the other side of that coin, however, is the knowledge that the components making up those systems are aging all the time, and many are in urgent need of repair or replacement. There are many systems with original components still in place delivering water today. They've far outlived their reasonable service lives and need to be upgraded in order to ensure the continued supply of safe fresh water that we take for granted. Thu, 29 Dec 2011 12:52:01 CST http://gongol.net/newsletter/2011/12/29/ http://gongol.net/newsletter/2011/12/29/ The US Army Corps of Engineers is getting more money than previously expected to accelerate the repair of levees in southwest Iowa along the Missouri River. This is good news for the thousands of households and dozens of communities that were hit by the floods of 2011 -- and that could be threatened by a new round of flooding in the spring of2012. The Corps acknowledges that it can't get all of the repairs done by next spring, but the extraordinarily mild weather we're having should help. Most people haven't been there in person to see the damage left behind by the flooding, so we offer you this video taken in early November right around the Iowa/Missouri border, where some of the damage was greatest. It's difficult to grasp the full extent of the damage from this video taken from Interstate 29, but it's educational nonetheless. Jump ahead to the 2:36 mark to see Hamburg, Iowa. We are working right now to assist communities in the Missouri River valley with flood-protection equipment and systems, including portable pumps and flood gates. Please contact us if you need our assistance. Mon, 21 Dec 2011 13:54:01 CST http://gongol.net/newsletter/2011/12/19/ http://gongol.net/newsletter/2011/12/19/ Prices for corn and soybeans are at very high levels -- and the Federal budget is short on cash. That combination is putting a lot of pressure on the Conservation Reserve Program. The CRP takes agricultural land out of production and sets it aside -- mainly in an effort to protect streams and waterways from pollution by the runoff from fertilizer applied to farm fields. The buffer that CRP acreage creates between fertilized land and the water helps filter out the nutrients in the fertilizer before it makes its way into the natural supplies of drinking water that people rely upon every day. Source water protection is a major issue for the municipal water sector, since it's extremely expensive to remove nutrients from the water -- and much cheaper to keep them out in the first place. But the very definition of non-point-source pollution is that it's not possible to identify a single source -- so it's hard to assign responsibility for the expense of the prevention measures. We have participated in some of the educational and research efforts of the nitrates committee of the Nebraska Section AWWA. These include two recent articles in the section's journal: One is an overview of the nitrate issue, and the other is a review of treatment options. The next issue will feature an article on source-level mitigation. Wed, 14 Dec 2011 14:14:01 CST http://gongol.net/newsletter/2011/12/14/ http://gongol.net/newsletter/2011/12/14/ Jefferson County in Alabama has declared bankruptcy due to a $4.2 billion debt they can't repay. Most of that debt ($3.14 billion) was incurred by the sewer system. It's by far the largest municipal bankruptcy in American history. Jefferson County is certainly not the only municipal government in financial trouble right now, but it's hard not to see the problem there and wonder about the future for many other places. Services like sewer systems are a necessary part of most municipal budgets, and they require occasional but often very large expenditures. There's been a lot of maintenance that has been deferred over the years, particularly as systems built across America around the time of the Clean Water Act have reached the end of their expected service lives. The gap between the anticipated costs of infrastructure repairs and reinvestment and the amounts customers have been willing to spend thus far is a large one. Mon, 12 Dec 2011 12:48:01 CST http://gongol.net/newsletter/2011/12/12/ http://gongol.net/newsletter/2011/12/12/ NASA and FEMA are warning that groundwater supplies in half of Texas are "extremely depleted" and warn that it will take a long period of above-normal precipitation to return things there to normal. A featured NASA map on the subject also shows that western Nebraska is extraordinarily wet right now -- as is most of the upper Missouri River basin. This could set us up for another spring of serious flooding along the Missouri, especially if the winter snowpack is unusually deep once again. Mon, 28 Nov 2011 16:12:01 CST http://gongol.net/newsletter/2011/11/23/ http://gongol.net/newsletter/2011/11/23/ Nebraska governor Dave Heineman has signed two laws into effect governing the route of oil pipelines across the state. The laws are the result of the special session called to address the Keystone XL pipeline route, which was the subject of much concern and speculation as its original route passed over the Sand Hills and thus traveled over the Ogallala Aquifer, which supplies a huge amount of water for both irrigation and public drinking supplies. Mon, 21 Nov 2011 15:54:01 CST http://gongol.net/newsletter/2011/11/21/ http://gongol.net/newsletter/2011/11/21/ The announcement that TransCanada is going to re-route its Keystone XL pipeline through Nebraska has raised a new question: Where will the re-routed pipeline go? Some groups still plan to oppose the pipeline no matter what, but others seem satisfied with the announcement that a new route will be followed to avoid passing over the Nebraska sandhills. Thu, 17 Nov 2011 19:33:01 CST http://gongol.net/newsletter/2011/11/17/ http://gongol.net/newsletter/2011/11/17/ The US Army Corps of Engineers (from Rock Island) has unveiled its plans for flood protection for the east side of the riverbank in Cedar Rapids, where it goes through downtown. They're planning to use a mix of levees and permanent flood walls for future flooding control -- even though the city expressed a preference for a lot of removable flood walls, which are much more expensive. Flood-protection levees and permanent walls often utilize flap gates and sluice gates to allow water to drain from the dry side of the levee or wall into the river that's being contained. We've been very pleased with the quality and speed of delivery on gates from Golden Harvest over the seven years we have represented them -- particularly on flood-related emergency projects. Golden Harvest has the unique ability to respond to rapid-response requests and to turn around gates faster than any other manufacturer we've seen. Wed, 09 Nov 2011 17:22:01 CST http://gongol.net/newsletter/2011/11/09/ http://gongol.net/newsletter/2011/11/09/ Because the proposed pipeline from the Canadian oil sands to the Gulf of Mexico is an international affair, the US State Department gets a say in where the pipeline route goes. And according to an Associated Press report, some officials there are considering having the pipeline re-routed so that it doesn't pass over the Nebraska sandhills. If a re-routing is required, a new environmental study will be required, which will likely mean that the pipeline will be on hold until at least this time next year -- delaying it past the 2012 elections. The issue is a hot one, since it involves promises of jobs as well as a lot of local concern over the risk of water contamination. Fri, 21 Oct 2011 13:58:01 CDT http://gongol.net/newsletter/2011/10/20/ http://gongol.net/newsletter/2011/10/20/ The Norweco AT 1500 (available in our online store) is now the only wastewater-directed disinfection system to be UL Listed to Standard E317269. This listing was the result of some upgrades to the design of the unit, including an interlock switch that automatically cuts power to the disinfection chamber when the lid is removed, a master disconnect switch now supplied with every unit, and a factory-installed conduit and fittings arrangement that prevents water infiltration to the controls. Norweco is an innovative manufacturer of solutions to wastewater treatment issues, and the AT 1500 is now the only UV disinfection system to meet many state codes requiring UL listing for residential systems. Fri, 21 Oct 2011 11:03:01 CDT http://gongol.net/newsletter/2011/10/21/ http://gongol.net/newsletter/2011/10/21/ Today's Grand Island Independent carries a story about the latest winter weather outlook from NOAA, which suggests that it's going to be an unpredictable winter season in the Plains, with dry and warm conditions to the south and cold and wet conditions to the north. The resulting tug-of-war between weather patterns will probably make for a widely variable season for those of us in the middle. In a particularly worrisome turn, though, the forecast says that "Spring flooding could be a concern" for the northern plains. After the epic Missouri River flooding of 2011, we really don't need any more of that. Mon, 17 Oct 2011 13:32:01 CDT http://gongol.net/newsletter/2011/10/17/ http://gongol.net/newsletter/2011/10/17/ Please see our website for a list of booths where our manufacturing partners will be on display at WEFTEC Sun, 18 Sep 2011 14:40:01 CDT http://gongol.net/newsletter/2011/09/18/ http://gongol.net/newsletter/2011/09/18/ The Omaha World-Herald today carries a story that really brings home the magnitude of this year's flooding along the Missouri River. One farmer has a 50-foot-deep channel that was scoured through the ground by floodwaters. Mon, 29 Aug 2011 16:10:01 CDT http://gongol.net/newsletter/2011/08/29/ http://gongol.net/newsletter/2011/08/29/ A man from Morocco has been sent to jail for plotting to poison water supplies in Spain. He was arrested just days ago. These kinds of stories serve as reminders that it's extremely important to protect public drinking water systems, and to remain vigilant about their security. Thu, 18 Aug 2011 12:23:01 CDT http://gongol.net/newsletter/2011/08/17/ http://gongol.net/newsletter/2011/08/17/ The images we usually use to promote the work of municipal water services are generally those of the child splashing in a fountain or a clear glass of water. There's nothing wrong with those images, and they tend to strike close to home: The value of safe drinking water is enormous, and especially when we see just how great a difference safe drinking water makes to the lives of people living in developing countries. But it's also possible to forget (much too easily) that drinking-water systems also provide critical support to fire departments. It wasn't all that long ago that cities burned regularly because they weren't protected by municipal water systems that could be tapped for firefighting. One history site says that the downtown area in Homer, Nebraska, went up in flames five times between 1903 and 1913. Imagine: Just a century ago, American towns went unprotected against fire because they hadn't yet developed the municipal water infrastructure required to offer fire protection. Tue, 09 Aug 2011 11:06:01 CDT http://gongol.net/newsletter/2011/08/08/ http://gongol.net/newsletter/2011/08/08/ Gorman-Rupp's largest individual shareholders were on-hand to ring the closing bell at the New York Stock Exchange just a ">little over a week ago. The company's Chairman of the Board is Jim Gorman, whose father, JC, founded the company in 1933. Jim was elected to the board of directors of the company in 1946, and current President and CEO Jeff Gorman was elected to the board in 1989. The company became publicly-traded in 1968, but the Gorman family retains a very significant share of ownership in the company. We have represented Gorman-Rupp since 1984 -- or nearly two-thirds of the time it has been a publicly-traded company.