Nancy Barber (nlbarber) wrote,
Nancy Barber
nlbarber

Workshop, day 1

First day of the 2-1/2 day workshop is over, and it seemed to go well. My first talk (which was the first one of the day) generated lots of discussion both during and after, and I'll take that as a good sign. I also had several people come up and compliment me on it--also a good sign. The topic was "What is water use anyway? Terms, concepts, and the water-use data model", and it covered a big set of basic definitions that we'll be using the rest of the workshop. It was also the first talk after the Chief of the Office of Ground Water did a short introduction and welcome. (The water-use program is under the auspices of OGW now, so he controls the overall scope of the program and funds those of us who work on the national level stuff). The second talk I did was a short tour of the database everyone has to use, focussing on what is changing for the 2005 version.

I don't think I've actually described the workshop yet. This is the kick-off to the job of compiling the data for the next "Estimated Use of Water in the United States" report, this one for 2005. As we'd like to have each State base at least part of their dataset on actual 2005 data, we don't start the data collection effort until 2006. The workshop tells them what data we are requiring that they provide to us, with some discussion of sources and methods for each category. We've got pretty close to one person from each State here, though there are a few that didn't make it (and a few States have more than one person here for assorted reasons). The last report (Estimated Use of Water in the US for 2000) didn't come out until 2004, but we'd like to get the 2005 report out by 2008.

My budget pressure has eased a little, as the OGW Chief has named me to be the overall coordinator for the 2005 compilation of data. That will give me a little more base funding for a couple of years, and that seems to be enough that my office chief has quit bugging me about begging for more money. It's yet to be seen whether tackling this job of herding cats will be more aggravating than having to beg for funding from other sources....

After the workshop adjourned, the water-use database users' group assembled and we headed out to dinner and a short meeting, since we were all in the same physical location for once. Had a nice meal at the Table Mountain Inn in Golden, avoided slipping on any of the icy sidewalks (and had to wade through snow-covered cedar bushes at our parking spot), and even managed to discuss a few issues while waiting for our entrees and then after we had eaten.

Now I'm wiped, and I'm headed to bed. I've set the alarm to get an extra 30 minutes of sleep, as I don't feel the need to try and be down in the meeting room at 6:45 am again. The meeting will re-convene at 8, and all I'll be doing is keeping us on schedule and announcing breaks and lunch. Oh, must arrange airport carpools for Thursday and Friday, but....Yay! I'm done with my talks!
Tags: work
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