Special National Geographic Water Issue

This single-topic issue of National Geographic magazine highlights the challenges facing our most essential natural resource. "Water: Our Thirsty World" is available for free download starting on World Water Day, March 22, and extending through April 2, 2010. This interactive edition of National Geographic magazine presents complete content from the print edition, plus extra photo galleries, rollover graphics that animate features like maps and time lines, video profiles of photographers who contributed to the issue, and other interactive features. National Geographic's water issue is available in print on newsstands everywhere beginning March 30.

Click here to get your free issue.

Dry for a reason

Those who have heard me speak before may recognize the following statistic from some of my recent talks: 43% of the 920 greenhouse growers in the state of Georgia are no longer in business. Pike's Nursery, who had long defined retail lawn & garden activity in the Atlanta metro market also suffered the same fate. This, of course, came in the wake of [what I thought] was one of the most severe droughts (2005-2007) the Southeast has faced in a while. Knowing all of this made the recent blurb in the newsletter for the newly branded Southeast Color Connection even more interesting:

We might have all thought they were the worst conditions possible, but according to researchers at Columbia University, the drought that gripped the Southeast from 2005 to 2007 was not unprecedented and resulted from random weather events, not global warming.

The published report (click here) examined population trends, data from weather instruments, computer models, and measurements of tree rings, concluding that the drought was “pretty normal and pretty typical by standards of what has happened in the region over the century,” said Richard Seager, a climate expert at the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory.

Census figures show that in Georgia alone the population rose to 9.54 million in 2007 from 6.48 million in 1990, and Douglas LeComte, a drought specialist at the Climate Prediction Center of the National Weather Service said the new report “makes sense.” Although Weather Service records suggest the 2005-07 drought was the worst in the region since the 1950s, LeComte said. “We have had worse droughts before. I am not going to criticize any governments for what they did or did not do,” he added. “But if you have more people and the same amount of water storage, you are going to increase the impact of droughts.”

Not good news for those of us hoping this drought was a freak occurrence or something that could be prevented, but it is a good reminder that times are changing…industry professionals alike should be prepared for the next drought with internal water conservation measures, drought-tolerant product offerings, and customer education literature.

"Water is the next oil"most pundits are saying today. Without a doubt, preserving and conserving our most important natural resource is imperative for green industry firms today. That's why we developed the recent webinar series on water quality, conservation, and management. We had a lot of folks join us for that series, but if you happened to miss them, you can listen online at the Ellison Chair website (click here).

Water webinar series continues

The Ellison Chair in International Floriculture announces the THIRD of a 3-part webinar series that focuses on water quality, conservation, and management on October 20 at 11:00 a.m. CDT.

Dr. Don Wilkerson of Texas AgriLife Extension Service will be our next featured speaker and he will address the topic: Water Management That Makes Cents!

CLICK HERE -- or go to http://ellisonchair.tamu.edu/webinar.htm to register for the SECOND webinar of the series.

In case you missed them, CLICK HERE -- or go to http://ellisonchair.tamu.edu/webinar.htm to view the RECORDING of the first two webinars of the series, which are now available online. Dr. Paul Fisher of the University of Florida was the first speaker and he covered: What's in Your Water? Water Quality and Treatment for Pathogens and Algae. Dr. Peter Ling of Ohio State University was our second featured speaker and he addressed the topic: Knowing Exactly When to Apply Irrigation Water.

Water webinar series continues

The Ellison Chair in International Floriculture announces the second of a 3-part webinar series that focuses on water quality, conservation, and management continues this month on September 15, 2009 at 11:00 a.m. CDT. Dr. Peter Ling of Ohio State University will be our next featured speaker and he will address the topic: Knowing Exactly When to Apply Irrigation Water.

Proper irrigation management is a key to successful plant growth and pest management in controlled environments. Further, limited water resources and public concerns of environmental sustainability are making greenhouse water usage efficiency a priority for commercial greenhouse production. Peter will discuss three aspects of automated irrigation management to achieve high efficiency water usage: when to water, how much to water, and how to deliver water. Starting with an overview of commercial sensors for irrigation management, Peter will also introduce emerging non-contact sensing technologies to determine when plants need water by monitoring plants directly. Using this sensing technology, along with evapotranspiration models to determine irrigation quantity and proper delivery of water, his research team has achieved about 50% water savings in growing plants, using water as a biological growth regulator to improve plant quality.

CLICK HERE -- or go to http://ellisonchair.tamu.edu/webinar.htm to register for the SECOND webinar of the series.

HOLD THE DATE for the third webinar of the series! Registration will be open soon. October 20, 2009 - 11:00 a.m. CDT. Dr. Don Wilkerson of Texas A&M University will our third featured speaker discussing the topic: Water Management that Makes Cents!

CLICK HERE -- or go to http://ellisonchair.tamu.edu/webinar.htm to view the RECORDING of the first webinar, which is now available online. Dr. Paul Fisher of the University of Florida covered: What's in Your Water? Water Quality and Treatment for Pathogens and Algae

Register now for water webinar series

CLICK HERE to register for the first webinar of the series (see below).

August 17, 2009 - 2:00 p.m. CDT
Webinar 1 Topic:
What's in Your Water? Water Quality and Treatment for Pathogens and Algae
Dr. Paul Fisher, University of Florida

September 15, 2009 - 11:00 a.m. CDT
Webinar 2 Topic:
Knowing Exactly When to Apply Irrigation Water
Dr. Peter Ling, Ohio State University

October 20, 2009 - 11:00 a.m. CDT
Webinar 3 Topic:
Water Management that Makes Cents!
Dr. Don Wilkerson, Texas A&M University

New water webinar series upcoming

Given the success of its inaugural Shine in 09 webinar series (recordings are online at http://ellisonchair.tamu.edu/webinar.htm), the Ellison Chair in International Floriculture announces a new 3-part webinar series that focuses on water quality, conservation, and management.

Why water?

Access to an adequate supply of high quality water is also a growing concern for the nursery/floral industry due to drought, urbanization, and competing demands have decreased available irrigation water. Additionally, regulations on consumption and runoff have greatly impacted greenhouse and nursery management and profitability!

The first of these water-related webinars will be presented on August 17 at 2:00 p.m. CDT by Dr. Paul Fisher, Associate Professor and Extension Specialist at the University of Florida. His topic will be: "What's living in your water? Water quality and treatment for pathogens and algae."

Paul also serves as the lead collaborator for the Water Education Alliance for Horticulture. The goal of the Alliance is to reduce runoff and water-related disease issues in the greenhouse and nursery industry by increasing grower knowledge of water technologies and water conservation practices. Current projects are focusing on the development of accessible educational materials for growers. They are also researching practical methods to assess how well treatment technologies work to treat pathogens. Click here to review some of the activities, programs, and educational materials of the WEAH.

To register, click here, or copy the link below into your browser:

Program: Ellison Chair Water Webinar Series
Program address: https://tamu.webex.com/tamu/onstage/g.php?p=1&t=m