6A
NEWS
THE UNIVERSITY DARRY KANSAS
MONDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 2006
NATION
Low river levels affect water quality $2 million pumps may be turned on
KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Area utilities are concerned about the Missouri River's depth, saying they could have to turn on emergency equipment if the river drops a few more inches.
"We're about a quarter of a foot away from that point," said Tom Schrempp, production manager for Johnson County, Kan., Water District No. 1, where record lows at the district's water intake have left the suburban Kansas City district monitoring flows daily.
The problem is an unprecedented, long-term drought in the upper sections of the river. Water storage in the upstream reservoirs is at an all-time low, and some lake levels are 26 to 30 feet below normal.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers stopped water releases
for navigation early this fall to conserve water. It's releasing just enough water from upstream reservoirs to keep utility intakes in the Kansas City area beneath the river's surface, said corps spokesman Paul Johnston.
be affected" he said. "But there are added costs that eventually get passed along."
Added water pumps and other emergency equipment mean customers should have enough water and electricity, but that extra equipment and energy use increases operating costs.
"Consumers hopefully will not
Low water also adds to treatment costs.
"It's a whole new territory for us," said Schrempp, whose district spent $2 million in recent years to add pumps for low river conditions.
"We are seeing a lot more taste and odor in the water with it low." Schrempp said, "and we're having to add more powdered activated carbon to clean it up."
John Reddy, treatment plant manager for the Kansas City Water Services Department, said the river is only about a half foot above the level where auxiliary pumps will need to be turned on. Kansas City has wells, but they don't have enough capacity to supply the region's water needs, Reddy said.
"We are seeing a lot more taste and odor in the water with it low."
Hydrologist Tom Harris of the U.S. Geological Survey said river levels at Kansas City on Nov. 13 were about a half foot from record
lows set last December,
when winter
weather froze
tributary
inflows.
TOM SCHREMPP Production manager
Forecast for the winter show a good chance for higher-thannormal temperatures and
below- normal precipitation in the Rocky Mountain and Great Plains headwaters of the Missouri River, said Brian Fuchs, climatologist for the National Drought Mitigation Center in Lincoln, Neb.
If the drought doesn't ease, Johnston said, the 2008 navigation season might not happen, leading to low water conditions in summer as well as winter.
Happy birthday Kandula
Kandula, a male elephant of Sri Lankan heritage, opens his birthday present at the National Zoo Sunday in Washington. Kandula was celebrating his fifth birthday, Kandula was born via artificial insemination in 2001. His mother, Shanthi, arrived at the National Zoo in 1976 from a Sri Lankan elephant orphanage.
Manuel Balce Geneta/ASSOCIATED PRESS
ACADEMICS
32 students receive 2007 Rhodes Scholarships
BY DAVID WEBER ASSOCIATED PRESS
BOSTON — Parvinder Thiara had just finished his freshman year at Harvard University when his grandfather in India died of infectious diarrhea. The death affected him profoundly.
"Then I found that 2.2 million people — 1.8 million of them are children — die each year from infectious waterborne diseases," said Thiara, a chemistry major.
Thiara's work to improve and protect the world's water supplies — and prevent death's like his grandfather's — helped him become one of the 32 men and women across the United States selected as Rhodes Scholars for 2007. The
students, announced Sunday by the scholarship fund, will enter Oxford University in England next October.
Thiara, 21, of Rocelle, IL., is the co-founder of an organization dedicated to improving water sanitation technologies, particularly in impoverished regions.
"We're trying to develop natural products that can be grown and easily processed," said Thiara, who plans to study theoretical chemistry and water science policy and management at Oxford. "We're just trying to develop the means to make it effective on a rural, local scale."
The scholars were selected from 896 applicants endorsed by 340 colleges and universities, and will join scholars selected from 13 other
jurisdictions around the world. Approximately 85 are selected each year. The scholarships provide two or three years of study, with the total value averaging about $45,000 per year.
Rhodes Scholarships were created in 1902 by the will of British philanthropist Cecil Rhodes. Winners are selected on the basis of high academic achievement, personal integrity, leadership potential and physical vigor, among other attributes.
Many of the recipients have already spent time overseas.
Whitney Haring-Smith spent the summer working for a U.N.-funded disarmament program in Afghanistan and also spent time with the U.N.'s refugee agency in
Sri Lanka.
"It was really good to see the nitty-gritty of international relations," said Haring-Smith, 21, a Providence, R.I. native and senior at Yale University.
Zachary Manfredi, a senior at Atlanta's Emory University, interned in the democracy program of The Carter Center, working on civil society building programs and election monitoring in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Cote d'Ivoire and Haiti.
"As a Rhodes Scholar I'll get to work on important political causes and also to keep asking important philosophic questions. It's a synthesis of my two greatest loves, justice and knowledge," said Manfredi, 21, of Rochester, Mich.
BIRTH CONTROL PATCH WARNING
The birth control patch may cause HEART ATTACKS, STROKES & BLOOD CLOTS
Recently, the FDA approved updated labeling for the Ortho Evra birth control patch, warning users that the Ortho Evra patch exposes women to higher levels of estrogen than most birth control pills.
Increased levels of estrogen may cause heart attacks, strokes, pulmonary embolisms, deep vein thrombosis (DVTs) or blood clots in women using the Ortho Evra Birth Control Patch.
If you or someone you know has experienced a heart attack, stroke, pulmonary embolism, deep vein thrombosis or blood clots while using the Ortho Evra birth control patch, you may be entitled to substantial monetary compensation.
For a free consultation, contact Peterson & Associates. P.C.at 1-800-305-7552 or log onto www.petersonlawfirm.com.
1-800-305-7552
The choice of a lawyer is an important decision and should not be based solely upon advertisements. Peterson & Associates, P.C. 801 W. 47th St. Suite 107, Kansas City, MO 64112. While the firm maintains joint responsibility, cases of this type may be referred to other attorney's for principal responsibilities Not available in all states.
RSON & ASSOCIATES, P.C.
ATTORNEYS AT LAW
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