Altamont Pass Wind Farm + Mikes Farm

Driving by the the Altamont Pass Wind Farm was definitely a sight to see. It is the largest wind farm in the United States at almost 10 miles across. It was also the first wind farm set up by President Cater after the energy crisis in the 1970's. There are 4390 wind turbines on the property, but that sounds a lot better on paper then in real life. The majority of the wind turbine there are very small and inefficient, so those 4390 turbines are only producing a maximum of 576 megawatts but they only run at 20% efficiency so that is about 115 megawatts. Which for 4390 wind turbines is pretty bad. But it is clean wind power so it is 115 less megawatts producing by burning fossil fuels.

Of course with all clean energy there are still problems. The main problem is that Altamont Pass is the main migration route for raptors. So at this farm over 50 golden eagles are killed each year. If the wind farm is transformed into a newer high-tech wind farm this would solve both the inefficiency problem and the raptor problem because newer larger wind turbines create more power and kill less birds.

After visiting the wind farm we drove to Tait's friends dairy farm. This was a very cool experience because I have never been on a dairy farm. Mike and his family were extremely hospitable and his two children were adorable and very playful. He made us feel right at home so we had a little cook out and set up camp in his front yard, 10 feet a way from thousands of dairy cows. Later that night he took us on a tour of the farm which he said operates 22 hours a day. So we go to see it in action. First he showed us all of the different feeds they use. This was interesting because I did not know that so much effort went into the diet of these cows. Mike is actually require to hire a nutritionist to make sure that his cows are as healthy as they can be. Since he makes his own feed the ingredients that are added can be adjusted very precisely to suit the needs of the cows. It was amazing to see so many cows. The property next to his house held 2,000 cows that were being milked and another property a little while down the road held another 2,000 cows that were not ready to be milked. Next up was the best part of the night, he gave us a hands on tour of the milking process. Even though all of the milking is done mechanically, workers are still needed to make sure that every utter is clean, working properly and not infected. So we were able to manually milk the cow to check to make sure that their milk was good. That was very fun because I have never milked a cow and never though I would in my life, it was definitely an awesome experience.

Picture Citations:

"Windmill Farm." Dan Chusid. Web. 2006.

http://www.pbase.com/camera0bug/image/68041492

"Dairy Farm." Anthony Sarnoski. 2011.

San Luis Reservoir

Even though we got into our campsite after midnight I was happy we were there. The stars were absolutely amazing. I think I spent a hour before going to sleep just staring at the stars. In New Jersey I was am use to seeing 10 stars at the most. There had to be thousands right there in front of me and they were so bright that Ifelt like I could touch them. Finally I drifted off to sleep, waking up occasionally to swat a fly off my face, but I was happy.

We woke in the morning packed up our gear and headed for the reservoir. We had a short lecture there about the reservoir and I learned a lot. It holds about 2 million acre feet of water and is the largest off stream reservoir in the US. That means that all of the water in the reservoir is piped in from the San Joaquin and Sacramento Rivers. The majority of the water is used for irrigation but some is used. The cost of running the off stream reservoir is higher then a regular reservoir but 55% of the cost is funded by the federal government while the rest is funded by the state. The way they pay the cost is by using pump storage to produce peak hour electricity.

Pump storage is not the greenest ways to produce energy but it is a very good way to get peak hour power. During off peak hours water is pumped from the O'Neill Forebay, which if fed by the California aqueduct, into the San Luis Reservoir, with an elevation difference of 219 feet. The pump is powered by energy from the grid that is sold at a cheaper cost. Then when peak demand hits the water is released from the reservoir back into the forebay , flowing through a turbine creating energy that can be sold on the grid at a higher price. This specific pump storage facility produces about 400 megawatts a day.

Picture Citations:

"San Luis Reservoir." Bureau of Reclamation. About the San Luis Reservoir Low Point Improvement Project. Web. 2011.

http://www.usbr.gov/mp/sllpp/images/index_page.jpg

"Pump Storage." McGraw-Hill Encyclopedia of Science & Technology. Web. 1997.

http://content.answcdn.com/main/content/img/McGrawHill/Encyclopedia/images/CE557350FG0010.gif

The Channel Islands

The Channel Islands are absolutely beautiful. I knew it was going to be an awesome adventure when on the ferry ride to theisland we were camping on we encountered a very large pod of dolphins. This was the most dolphins I have ever see in my life and the boat captain said that this was a very small pod. The water was crystal clear, a lot different then the ocean I am use to in New Jersey. We arrived on the island of Santa Cruz midday and it was stunning. The rocky beach was full of life, sea urchin, starfish, hermit crabs, and plenty of fish. I could not believe my eyes I felt like I was at an aquarium. This could not be real life. We unloaded the ferry and started to walk towards are campsite, a nice mile hike. On the way we passed a huge eucalyptus trees and little foxes that were so cute. Nothing on this island could make you unhappy. We then learned that people lived on this island, the land was donated to the National Park Service but the residents still had some time to live there. That is simply amazing, I am jealous of whoever gets to live in such a beautiful place. Once we had our campsite set up we grab a little to eat and then as a group we went on to explore the island. Every over look was absolutely mind blowing. I felt like I was in another country, there was huge limestone cliffs that made you feel like you were staring at the coast of Ireland and extremely secluded coves that would be perfect to harbor a pirate.

On our hike we talked about the history and characteristics of the island. The island has been in use way before the west was settle as there is evidence of use by the Native Americans. It was officially named Santa Cruz in 1792 and in 1857 sheep ranching begun on the island. In 1980 the land was donated and turned into a National Park but ranching continued on the island until 1990. In 2007 all mammals that were not endemic to the island were removed. This left the island fox. The island fox has no natural predators and also less animals to prey on since it is on the island and because of this it has evolve to be about 20% smaller than their mainland relatives. The opposite is with the island scrub jay, they have evolved to be 30% larger because they have no predators and a lot more food then on the mainland. That was awesome to learn about because it was exactly what we have been learning about all of our lives with Darwin and evolution but it was happening a lot closer to home. Another beautiful thing about the island were their kelp forests, at first they seem like ugly plants ruining the crystal clear water but when you take a closer look the forest are full of fish and other sea creatures that depend of the forest to survive. We also learned that the Native Americans used this kelp as a very important food source in their diets.

It was sad when we had to leave, the views were spectacular and the amount of wildlife that I saw will be hard to beat. The ferry ride back was even more exciting then the ride there. the pod of

dolphins were back and their size had tripled. They were extremely playful just in our wake and riding with us for the entire length of the cruise back to the mainland. For the time I was there I felt like I was in a dream. It was definitely the most beautiful place we have been on so far and most likely the entire trip.

Picture Citations:

"Limestone Cliff." Anthony Sarnoski. 2011.

"Channel Island Fox." Mark Holden. Web. 2007.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/theholdensphotos/1176199831/lightbox/

"Common Dolphin." Anthony Sarnoski. 2011.

Environmental Issues in Southern California

Today we met with Harmonie Hawley, she is a professor at the University of California Fullerton, but she was born New Jersey. This was good because she understood the issues that were being dealt with in California, especially Southern California, were a lot different then the issues being dealt with in New Jersey. She also explain stuff that other speakers would have figured was common sense.

The first thing that she talked about was water use in Southern California. The main difference is that in Southern California there is not a lot of surface water and in some place there is not a lot of sub-surface water either. So most of the water that is used has to be piped in, coming from as far away as the Colorado River. For cities near the coast desalination is an option, but as of right now the technology is too expensive to be efficient so there are some plants built but they are not in use. Fullerton is in Orange County and their water is managed by the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California (MWD). The MWD manages water for 6 counties, Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, Ventura, San Diego, and San Bernardino. This area is the most populated area of the state. They get their water from three sources, the Colorado River Aqueduct, local sources, and the State Water Project. The MWD gets about one eighth of their water from the Colorado and the State Water Project pumps from the California Aqueduct. This aqueduct is 450 miles long and runs down the center of the state. One difference between the water in California and the water in New Jersey is when we think of big rivers we think of the Hudson or the Delaware, huge natural rivers. In California to make sure that no water is wasted then have lined all of their rivers in cement and turned them into huge drainage ditches. Another difference is that water is more expensive in California, because since it is piped in from such far distances a average water bill in New Jersey would be about 300 dollars a year but in California it would probably be more three times more expensive at about 1000 dollars a year. The part that I found most interesting was when she started to talk about salt water intrusion along the coast. I always just figured that salt water intrusion was formed when wells that were too close to the ocean were over pumped, but in California the aqueduct is too close to ocean and over use are putting the entire aqueduct at risk of salt water intrusion. THe good thing about California is that since it is on a subduction zone, there is the Newport-Inglewood fault that is acting as a natural barrier between the saltwater and the freshwater. The problem is there are two small gaps in the fault where salt water can get through but there are numerous pumps located at those two spots that continuously pump water into the gaps acting as a wall.

The second part of her discussion was on air quality. Everyone has heard about how terrible air quality is in california. It is not because they have more pollution then in New Jersey it is that they a mountain range right next to the coast and thats where their cities are. On both coasts winds blow off the ocean and across the land. On the east coast the blow through the coastal cities and dissipate the pollution but on the west coast they blow through the cities and get trapped on the mountain range behind them. The wind loses all of its power because it cannot make it over the mountain range. Due to this the pollution is not dissipated and collects in the cities and is a much greater health risk than on the east coast. This is called photochemical smog. The thing that I found interesting what when she started talking about particle size. It is broken up into PM2.5 and PM10. The number is the size of the particle and it is measured in micrometers. Anything under 2.5 will not be caught by the cilia in your nose and throat and have the potential to be a lot more dangerous. The problem is that particles under 2.5 also cannot be seen. The interesting thing is that an area with a lot of PM10 might look very unhealthy but your body with protect itself from it but an area with a lot of PM2.5 will look healthy but your body has no way to protect itself so you can be in a lot of danger.

Picture Citations:

"Santa Ana River." Web. 2010.

https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWZ4xi_sMpte0zr7ilYBT46pvNVKHcfFsxztHLb790xZV7vHkXCZR-XD2gNHqHXTKELhXuGNnwebUQS7N6D6osVccI4F8G8NG37YO0lzyC-o-y61dvSAR6E-YxLQBjhzgCCNtE8WQCPss/s640/santa-ana-river-trail-bridge.jpg

"Smog in Los Angeles." Living in a Toxic World. University of Oregon. Web. 2011.

http://livinginatoxicworld.files.wordpress.com/2011/04/california-emissions-fee1.jpg

Nevada Solar One Project + Nevada Fish and Wildlife

Even though we were not able to get a tour of the Nevada Solar One Project it was really cool to be able to see it in person. I had barely any knowledge on parabolic solar mirrors and have definitely never seen one it person. Parabolic mirrors are another way to use solar to produce energy. Instead of using solar panels the mirrors focus the suns rays on to a small tube running across the mirror. This pipe is filled with a certain oil and the oil is run into the power station where it heats up water turning it to steam. This steam then turns a turbine producing energy. The oil not only holds the heat better than water it also prevents the pipes from eroding. It is also pretty efficient it has a capacity of 75 megawatts and runs at about 64. Just like everything that is man made there is a downside. The land that the solar concentrators are built on is encroaching on desert tortoise habitat and they are endangered but Nevada has a lot of habitat for them so no negative impacts have been noticed.

The second part of the day was talking to Amy from the Nevada Fish and Wildlife Service. This was a nice talk be cause we actually got to go for a nice stroll up Spring Mountain. She works at the desert wildlife refuge which is 1.6 million acres and is located just north of Las Vegas. It was interesting to learn that since the mountain range was formed rather quickly there a numerous endemic species which have been isolated and are beginning to evolve. The majority of the endemic species are plants but there are 128 variations of endemic butterflies and the largest endemic species is a chipmunk. She also talked about the environmental problems with building solar farms in the desert, they destroy virgin Mojave soil and impede on desert tortoise land. This is interesting because to the large majority of people this land is just barren waste land but it is so fragile and important that disturbing it just a little bit can cause huge problems in the ecosystem.

Picture Citations:

"Parabolic Mirror." Solar and Renewable Energy Products. Web. 2011.

http://www.ecomall.com/biz/1solarfarm.jpg

"Spring Mountain." Anthony Sarnoski. 2011.

The Grand Canyon

This is my second time hiking down the Grand Canyon. The first time I hiked it I was just about to turn 19 and now being 22 I must admit I could feel the weight of the years. I was a little bit more tired but I still enjoyed it just as much. The hike down was fun. Met a nice lady in the little hut down the trail. We got to the camp site at the bottom and this is when things started to get weird. There was hiking gear everywhere, it was the beginning to a bad a horror movie. There was a boot almost ripped in half, a sleeping bag with its guts strewn out on the grown and dozens of water bottles everywhere. It just didn't make sense in my head. We tried to tidy up but the packs had to have weighed 80 pounds each. Well no one was at the campsite so we did not pay it too much attention and headed to the stream to cool off. The great thing about this campsite is that there is a little pool you can swim in, the water is still pretty cold but not as cold as the Colorado River a few miles down stream.

Finally after a few hours of jumping off rocks and relaxing we had to me

et up with the rest of our group in their campsite. Which was along the shore of the Colorado River. We were told it was a mile and a half light hike but it turned into a 3 mile hike. On this short hike we passed a couple hikers that seemed a little out of place but they said they were good so we passed them. Finally we reached the banks of the Colorado and the rest of our group. We had a quick

conversation about the river and then relax a little on the sandy shore.

Our conversation was about how much the damming of the river has effected the ecosystem. It was amazing to learn that before the dam 380,000 tons of sediment moved down the river every day. Now because of the dam that load is only about 40,0000 tons. The species in this area have evolved to live with the harsh nature of the river. Now that the ecosystem is changing the species are too. Of the top prolific fish in the river 25 of them are introduced and only 3 are native.

Finally it was time to head back to our other campsite. I agreed to sleep at the campsite on the shore of the Colorado because it was a harder hike out in the morning so

I hiked back to the my original campsite, gathered up my stuff and headed back to the other campsite. It was a sure a lot of hiking in one day. But I think I made the righ

t decision, the sandy ground of the shore was definitely a lot more comfortable then the rock outcrop the other group was camping on.

Also from the stories I heard the night was not too enjoyable. The mystery hikers with the destroyed gear turned out to be the out of place hikers we saw on the way to the Colorado. They were extremely unprepared for their descent and ultimately their ascent out of the canyon. They did the same hike down that we did and it took us 4 hours and it took them nearly 3 days. I do not know why they did not turn around but they also did not have a water filter instead they just brought multiple cases of water down with them. Making their packs impossibly heavy. All of their gear was bought on eba

y. All they brought to eat with them was granola.

So the game plan was to hike out with the children and make sure they got out of the canyon safely. The dad was too dehydrated to hike out and would have to be air lifted out. Where was the mother you might ask yourself? She was the nice lady in the hut. She had been sitting there for three days because she was too afraid of heights to hike and further and would not hike out either. So her plan was to just sit there. This story was too crazy to make up.

All in all the hike was awesome, everyone in our group came out alive. It taught us a lesson: always be prepared and make smart decisions. If you realize you have made a mistake and are in way over your head do not be afraid to back out. Being a little embarrassed is a lot better then being dead.

Picture Citations:

"Grand Canyon Pond." Anthony Sarnoski. 2011.

"Trail to Campsite." Anthony Sarnoski. 2011.

"Top View of the Canyon." Anthony Sarnoski. 2011.

Glen Canyon Dam

This is also my second time doing the tour at Glen Canyon Dam, it was interesting because we had the same tour guide. This time he was much more confident and a lot more knowledgeable. The dam was built by the Bureau of Reclamation and they also built 336 other dams as well as 2 on the Colorado River. The lake formed behind the dam is Lake Powell and 66 tributaries flow into it. The problem with the river down stream is that there is no sediments in it because they are all trapped upstream at the beginning of Lake Powell. It was interesting to get the tour and to see all around the dam. It was also cool to see the inside of the dam and to see the sheer size of the generators, each creating 2000 horsepower.

The second speaker at Glen Canyon was not very good at all. We waited over a hour for her to get through traffic and then when she got to the dam she only talked for 15 minutes at the most. Her lecture was more suited for an elementary school class. The only thing that I got from that lecture was that water is used a lot.

Picture Citations:

"Lake Powell." Anthony Sarnoski. 2011.

"Glen Canyon Turbines." Anthony Sarnoski. 2011.