By Haley Huntington
ST. LOUIS, January 15, 2013 – Day Two brought the Tapped Out team some intriguing, yet opposing views.
In the morning, we visited Washington University of St. Louis to speak with Dr. Robert Criss, a professor of geochemistry. Immediately after, we headed to the offices of the St. Louis District of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE).
After getting slightly lost in the long hallways of Rudolph Hall at Washington University, we finally located the office of Dr. Criss. All of us were thankful to be doing an interview indoors after spending much of our first day outside in 20-degree weather.
We began setting up our equipment, but found ourselves bumping into things stacked around the room.
“Oh, you can move those boxes,” said Dr. Criss. They’re just full of rocks.” Clearly, we were in the office of a geologist.
Right off, it became clear that we were in for a day of diverging opinions regarding water scarcity and quality. Dr. Criss was quick to tell us he’s no fan of the dredging, demolition and other engineering currently underway on the Mississippi River. Essentially, Criss said he believes that human intervention prevents the river from doing its job, which is to move water and sediment – on its own.
Dr. Criss provided interesting insights into how current the drought has been portrayed in the media. He made it clear that we should always be hesitant to believe everything we see and hear in the mass media without researching issues ourselves.
By looking at charts and graphs on Dr. Criss’ computer of the Mississippi’s historical flows, we learned that there have been several years in which the drought was as bad, and even worse, than current conditions. In Criss’ opinion, we may be down, but not out.
Since Dr. Criss was singing a significantly different tune than what we had previously heard, the team began to think more deeply as we made our way to downtown St. Louis for our visit with the Army Corps of Engineers.
We suddenly had a lot more questions about the dredging and rock removal occurring on the Mississippi, such as “Where does the sediment go when it is removed?” “Are these practices sustainable?” “What impact does the dredging have on river ecosystems?”
We went through the equivalent of airport security in order to enter the Young Federal Building where a host federal agency offices such as the Government Services Administration, the Labor Dept. and many others, are co-located.
Mike Peterson, Director of Public Affairs for the St. Louis District of the Corps of USACE, gave us a tour of the offices. Mike told us that he and his colleagues have done more than 500 interviews about drought in the past few months. Nonetheless, many heads turned with puzzled gazes as we waddled about the hallways lugging our camera equipment.
We visited the Corps’ Water Control Division, where I played photographer. My job was to shoot stills and supplementary B-roll footage, while my "Tapped Out" teammate Katie Baumann probed specialists about the operations of dams, levees, and locks.
I quickly became mesmerized by the six large television screens streaming real-time data of water levels and CFS (cubic feet per second) in various rivers and waterways within the 28,000 square mile area that the St. Louis ASACE District oversees.
As a visual learner, I found one of the most insightful and entertaining portions of our day to be our trip to the Applied River Engineering Center (AREC). We entered a spacious room with six rivers flowing through it. The rivers were indeed real. They were just modeled on a much smaller scale.
Each model, which represented a particular section of a river, simulated the actual flow patterns of the waterways, including the Mississippi. The team got up close and personal with these mini-rivers, and got to witness how and why manipulation of a river occurs from an engineering standpoint.
Though dredging may not be ideal, the models did show how the method allows waterways to remain open during a drought such as the one currently affecting the Mississippi.
Having now heard both sides of the human intervention argument, the team has a much more well-rounded view of the issues. In a documentary such as Tapped Out, which aims to examine complexities, showcasing multiple viewpoints is crucial, especially since policies and activities can affect individual stakeholders very differently. Opposing opinions will help us produce a film that is thoughtful and informed.
At the conclusion of our visit to AREC, we hopped into the minivan and headed for the McKinley Bridge just outside of downtown, where we got to witness the full-sized magnitude of the model structures we saw at AREC. They are much larger in person!
To ensure that the next day’s filming would not not hindered by frost-bitten videographers, we paid a visit to the nearest Target store to outfit ourselves apparel more appropriate in 20-degree weather.
We can’t wait to see what’s up next! Stay tuned for Day 3 on the “Big Muddy!”
ST. LOUIS, January 15, 2013 – Day Two brought the Tapped Out team some intriguing, yet opposing views.
In the morning, we visited Washington University of St. Louis to speak with Dr. Robert Criss, a professor of geochemistry. Immediately after, we headed to the offices of the St. Louis District of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE).
After getting slightly lost in the long hallways of Rudolph Hall at Washington University, we finally located the office of Dr. Criss. All of us were thankful to be doing an interview indoors after spending much of our first day outside in 20-degree weather.
We began setting up our equipment, but found ourselves bumping into things stacked around the room.
“Oh, you can move those boxes,” said Dr. Criss. They’re just full of rocks.” Clearly, we were in the office of a geologist.
Right off, it became clear that we were in for a day of diverging opinions regarding water scarcity and quality. Dr. Criss was quick to tell us he’s no fan of the dredging, demolition and other engineering currently underway on the Mississippi River. Essentially, Criss said he believes that human intervention prevents the river from doing its job, which is to move water and sediment – on its own.
Dr. Criss provided interesting insights into how current the drought has been portrayed in the media. He made it clear that we should always be hesitant to believe everything we see and hear in the mass media without researching issues ourselves.
By looking at charts and graphs on Dr. Criss’ computer of the Mississippi’s historical flows, we learned that there have been several years in which the drought was as bad, and even worse, than current conditions. In Criss’ opinion, we may be down, but not out.
Since Dr. Criss was singing a significantly different tune than what we had previously heard, the team began to think more deeply as we made our way to downtown St. Louis for our visit with the Army Corps of Engineers.
We suddenly had a lot more questions about the dredging and rock removal occurring on the Mississippi, such as “Where does the sediment go when it is removed?” “Are these practices sustainable?” “What impact does the dredging have on river ecosystems?”
We went through the equivalent of airport security in order to enter the Young Federal Building where a host federal agency offices such as the Government Services Administration, the Labor Dept. and many others, are co-located.
Mike Peterson, Director of Public Affairs for the St. Louis District of the Corps of USACE, gave us a tour of the offices. Mike told us that he and his colleagues have done more than 500 interviews about drought in the past few months. Nonetheless, many heads turned with puzzled gazes as we waddled about the hallways lugging our camera equipment.
We visited the Corps’ Water Control Division, where I played photographer. My job was to shoot stills and supplementary B-roll footage, while my "Tapped Out" teammate Katie Baumann probed specialists about the operations of dams, levees, and locks.
I quickly became mesmerized by the six large television screens streaming real-time data of water levels and CFS (cubic feet per second) in various rivers and waterways within the 28,000 square mile area that the St. Louis ASACE District oversees.
As a visual learner, I found one of the most insightful and entertaining portions of our day to be our trip to the Applied River Engineering Center (AREC). We entered a spacious room with six rivers flowing through it. The rivers were indeed real. They were just modeled on a much smaller scale.
Each model, which represented a particular section of a river, simulated the actual flow patterns of the waterways, including the Mississippi. The team got up close and personal with these mini-rivers, and got to witness how and why manipulation of a river occurs from an engineering standpoint.
Though dredging may not be ideal, the models did show how the method allows waterways to remain open during a drought such as the one currently affecting the Mississippi.
Having now heard both sides of the human intervention argument, the team has a much more well-rounded view of the issues. In a documentary such as Tapped Out, which aims to examine complexities, showcasing multiple viewpoints is crucial, especially since policies and activities can affect individual stakeholders very differently. Opposing opinions will help us produce a film that is thoughtful and informed.
At the conclusion of our visit to AREC, we hopped into the minivan and headed for the McKinley Bridge just outside of downtown, where we got to witness the full-sized magnitude of the model structures we saw at AREC. They are much larger in person!
To ensure that the next day’s filming would not not hindered by frost-bitten videographers, we paid a visit to the nearest Target store to outfit ourselves apparel more appropriate in 20-degree weather.
We can’t wait to see what’s up next! Stay tuned for Day 3 on the “Big Muddy!”