If The Dam Breaks

The water pressure builds
The rain pours
The reservoir fills and fills
How can it hold back much more?

If the dam breaks
There will be devastation
If the dam breaks
There's no knowing how much damage will be done
If the dam does not hold up
We may not be able to recover what is lost.

First it was a drizzle
There there was rain
The thunder began roaring
The lighting - shooting pain.

There's a leak

There is a creak and crack
It's gonna crash
let the floods begin.

If the dam breaks
There will be devastation
If the dam breaks
There's no knowing how much damage will be done
If the dam does not hold up
We may not be able to recover what is lost.

If the dam breaks
Everything will be washed away
If the dam breaks
Will we survive the wrath?
After the floods
Will we be able to start  anew?

Watershed Delineation Using ArcInfo 9.2 and LIDAR Data

This watershed analysis was done for Cleveland Metroparks using their primary datasets. LIDAR was acquired from OSIP.

Watershed Delineation

1-     Add reservation boundaries layer. Select a reservation. Zoom in.

2-     Add Hydrology layer and detailed streams layer from H:\temp\Mosaics-10000\1-STREAM ORDER SHAPEFILES-10000

3-     Add watershed layer from

4-     Draw rough boundary of watershed around the reservation with draw tool.

5-     Load the DEMS first by copying into V: drive and then decompressing the files using the command lines.

6-     Mosaic the “filled” DEMS

7-     Create subset of the entire mosaic

8-     Use the special “other tools” watershed delineation tool. Set output destinations.

9-     This will refill the filled mosaic. It will take a long time to run.

10- Infer the rivers from the “streams” output

11-  Convert selected streams into new shapefile

12-  Convert watershed raster to polygon

13-  Use “select by location” or ‘select by attributes” to select the watershed polygons that contain the selected streams.

14-  Create hillshade from the mosaic-ed raster DEM

15- create 2 ft and 5 ft contours from the mosaic-ed DEM

16- dissolve the polygon layer

17- DO NOT delete any of the intermediate layers

18- To correct errors put shapefiles into Geodatabase and set topology rules. Run.

For Urban Areas, Sewers, Storm Water Data, Pipes, Culverts etc.

1-     First add the infrastructure network layer on to the map

2-     Then activate Arc Hydro Tools 9

3-     Under Terrain Preprocessing find the DEM manipulation

4-     Under DEM manipulation find DEM Reconditioning

5-     The Mosaic will be the Raw DEM

6-     The AGREE Stream will be the network

7-     AGREE DEM will be the output (name wisely)

8-     Stream Buffer -5

9-     Smooth Drop/Raise (DEM z unit) -10

10-  Sharp Drop/Raise (DEM z unit) – 1000

I will update this later with step by step images, fails, and final product picture later.

My First Song - How does your River flow?

H20 - Part 2
by Pree

we begin a new chapter
steps in life's mystery
we know there is never a 'happily ever after'
as we learn from world history

life takes its toll - it carries on
flowing till it reaches the sea
my love it stole - we carry on
until we're absolutely free

how shallow does your river flow?
deep as an endless abyss?
where does it flow?
to hades as the river styx?
together we could steer it away
where northern lights shine
one think for sure i can say
one day we all find our way. (chorus? i need a music person to put it to THIS TUNE OR THAT TUNE!)

could we skip to the end?
or is it a never ending story?
all rivers reach the sea
where do we go from there?

The Dilemma: Compassion to people ... compassion to animals

So the past couple of years I have been working as a Park Ranger for the National Park Service, then as a GIS intern at the Metro Parks around Akron, now the land planner at the one in Cleveland. I help conserve natural areas, for the enjoyment of people and to help save species of animals. Ohio, may not be a Sundarbans, or great barrier reef, it is a makeshift home to many migratory species. It's waters drain into the Great lakes which eventually drain into the Atlantic Ocean. The environment and the quality of the environment is a shared responsibility. Some of us work more actively in the field than others.

However what is the COST of conservation? In Northeast Ohio people are concerned we are taking away their land. The land which they rightfully own, for some dumb birdies. In India Medha Patkar and Baba Amte stood up for the tribal/village people who would be affected by the dam which was to be built across the Narmada River. Did those people really matter? Did that whole environment really matter? Is not renewable energy for the overpopulated cities of India more important than some people in a village, who farm, they could farm or do whatever they do elsewhere right? Do these peoples' sentiments really matter?

I have been reading this book called "The Hungry Tide" by Amitav Ghosh. I highly recommend it if you have any interest in Indian culture, environment, tigers, culture in Asia, philosophy or just really good piece of fiction. The story is set in the Indian section of the Sundarbans. This is a real area, and all the facts that follow are true. The Sundarbans are the largest mangrove forest in the world. A Mangrove forest is a special habitat created where the river meets the sea, the depositing silt creates temporary and changing landforms, this process gives birth to semi-aquatic flora and specialized fauna. This area is also the humble abode of the Royal Bengal Tiger. WWF, and other such organizations have listed the Tiger as a threatened and endangered species. This animal is subject to loss of habitat, and poaching.

The Sundarbans is also home to a very popular species that inhabits the earth: Humans. So two great predators occupy this dense jungle, or whatever is left of it. As the humans make way for more homes, the tigers fight for survival... the people who live here are mostly refugees, living in abject poverty, poor, fishing in the little streams and rivers that form this vast delta. Who has rights to this land? WWF and people from our class are all for SAVE THE TIGER. The tiger is dying. However, where will these people go? Do they matter?

Then again there are people like me who work hard but for no great compensation, to protect these areas, quoting the book (at this point two characters are discussing the difference between conserving habitats for animals and keeping animals in captivity): "the difference (...) is that is what it was intended, not by you or me, but by nature, by the earth, by the planet that keeps us all alive. Just suppose we cross that imaginary line that prevents us from deciding that no other species matters except ourselves. What will be left then? Aren't we alone enough in the Universe? And do you think it will stop at that? Once we decide we can kill off other species, it will be people next. Just the kind of people you were speaking of, people who are poor and unnoticed."

This made me think that perhaps preservation does draw the line from us killing off the earth and then killing each other for more of it. When we create preservations, reservations, conservation areas... It is because we acknowledge the fact that this is a place that must be shared not only with humans but reserved for animals who would otherwise have no home. WE as a species are selfish and greedy, taking the best and leaving the rest to the lowest. Some might call it survival of the fittest, but most of us are more than fit. So since we are the dominant species and class why not help the "less fit" more often.

However there is still the line between helping poverty stricken people and helping the environment. When the Narmada Bachao Andolan (Medha Patkar and Baba Amte's non-government organization) began a movement against the dam, it aimed at preserving habitat (trees etc) and people. Then there is an area like the Smoky Mountain National Park, which preserves a small portion of the smoky mountains and is home to the Cherokee Indians. So how do we find a balance in countries countries in Africa, South America, and South Asia to strike a balance between helping the poor, but helping the animals too. Maybe even separating the two. We can not afford to lose the earth's second greatest predator (being the Big Cats). However can not ignore poor people and cast them aside. However conserving the nature is my job at the moment. There are both sides of the coin, which can go hand in hand. Which side of the coin are you? and what have you done so far?

Under The Stars

Man creates his own world; dazzling and glamorous. Cities bustling, filled with pop-culture, entertainment, foods, music, cars, technology... its full of life. In the process we, mankind, miss out on the entire universe. When I mean the Universe, I mean the serenity of silence, the vastness of it all, what are we in the big picture. The Universe is glamorous, larger than life, too great to behold... but the little bubbles we create for ourselves, we never step out from it, we forget to look up and understand our place in it all. We are out own universes, we our own gods. We live a lie.

We went to the Allegheny Mountains and camped in the Allegheny National Forest. It was my first time. We camped Minister's Creek trail to a camp site. There we set up camp, and made our own fire pit. It was very nice. We collected fire wood, and it is something which came very naturally to me. I was born to do this.

At night, the embers glowed dimly in the dark, and the other campers around were quiet and settling down around their fires, or their tents for the night. I stepped out of mine to look up and be caught by the magnificence of the sky. I stood stunned by the glory of it... the stars.

Have you ever seen the milky way? The entire milky way... in the silence of the night?

I froze and did not account to how much time passed, I think I said "OMG it's amazing!" Many times. It was as though someone had shut out all the light in the world by draping a thick black cloth over it. However someone had made holes in it... and through that the light shined - bright. Like jewels on black leather it was beautiful, anyone could have cried. That's how the sky should look, but many of us do not know it can look that beautiful from earth itself. Standing there I imagined, if it looks so beautiful from here, Imagine the other wonders out there.

There are so many beautiful things to see in the Universe... and even on our planet. And truly they surpass human beauty, and material things... waterfall such as the Niagra Falls, wonders such as the Grand Canyon ... just to name a few. They are there for a reason, and we miss the message.

That night I realized looking out my window with city lights shinning up, it wont ever be the same. Another time when I had seen that kind of beauty was when I went to Sedona and saw the rock formations there. It was unbelievable.

The National Parks program is on PBS this week, and it should remind us all that there is the beauty of America and the World which we have to live for. There's so much to see, it truly is a beautiful world a beautiful life... once we see the bigger picture.

H20

I am a river,
deftly i flow.

No one can hold me back
breaking all dams i go.

I am an ocean,
I know all lands.

I am as vast as the skies,
bounded by the sands.

I am the rain,
tears of the heavens.

Everyone's pain,
washed away with goodness.

I am the lake,
still and calm.

Waiting for time,
Rippling in storm.

I am the Waterfalls,
powerful and strong.

Overwhelming at times,
Pleasing for all!

I am water,
Cool and changing.

No one can hold me,
Yet giving life to all!