[080724]

Comments on choice of topic

Watersheds need to be restored [in the immediate future] because they have been abused in the past. Human economic activities have imposed pressure on the land, and the result, lacking proper wisdom and management, has been watershed degradation.

Baseflow augmentation goes well with watershed restoration, because one of the consequences of watershed abuse is baseflow loss, or disappearance. Therefore, if watershed degradation leads to baseflow loss, watershed restoration should lead to baseflow gains.

Baseflow gains should produce more surface water, which is a scarce resource, particularly in California. Baseflow should be protected as a resource separate from surface runoff, because it is different from surface runoff. Surface runoff is ephemeral, while baseflow is permanent. Permanency enhances sustainability. Baseflow loss leads to unsustainability.

Advance comments on thesis work

The literature review is exhaustive. Very little actual physical work has been done on baseflow augmentation because of entropy: disorder tends to prevail over order. In other words, it is easier to mess up than to fix. Besides, for a concept to be politically and therefore, economically viable, it has to be endorsed by the media, and the latter folks do not act, they react. Those that work on baseflow augmentation are the precursors of things to come, like Roger Revelle was when he taught global warming to Al Gore in the 1970's.

It is imperative that the methodologies, i.e., the science, be accurate and believable; otherwise, the nay-sayers will have a way of prevailing. Thus, those who study baseflow augmentation should have a thorough knowledge of the interaction between surface water and groundwater. This is easier said than done. Both traditionally-trained surface-water hydrologists and groundwater geologists have trouble with the boundary between these two components of the hydrologic cycle. The danger of falling into the crack is enormous; the equations are different, and traditional disciplines have had difficulty looking into the crack. While surface water equations are hyperbolic, groundwater equations are elliptic; thus, the rift.

Groundwater is both science and art. Its is science because it deals with flow, and flow is expressed by equations. It is art because we do not know with certainty how much groundwater can we use without hopelessly encroaching upon the surface water. Encroachment leads to issues that are socioeconomic and political, if not legal. So baseflow augmentation is both science and art. It fits admirably into UIT's program on Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences.

Disciplinary thought, while an asset in the 20th century, has become a liability in present times. Nature does not distinguish between fields, but humans do, for obvious practical reasons. However, carried too far, as it has been done in the past, disciplinary thought leads to tunnel vision.

Suggestions on upcoming presentation and defense