Synapse Energy Economics, Inc. (Synapse) was contracted by several Utah State agencies, including the Utah State Energy Program, the Division of Public Utilities, the Division of Air Quality, the Committee of Consumer Services, and the Governor’s Energy Advisor, to develop and apply methods of calculating water and health co-benefits of displacing electricity generation technologies in Utah with new energy efficiency or renewable energy.
repost from Utah Division of Wildlife Resources
Sandy—Kids can catch fish, learn about predators and find out how to ride an ATV safely at this year’s DNR Youth Outdoor Sports Fair.
The sports fair is part of the upcoming International Sportsmen’s Exposition.
The expo will be held March 18 to March 21,2010 at the South Towne Exposition Center, 9575 S. State in Sandy. The cost to attend the exposition, which includes the youth fair, is $12 for adults. Kids 15 years of age or younger can attend for free.
The Youth Outdoor Sports Fair will be held at the south end of the exposition center. Six divisions will host activities: Forestry, Fire and State Lands; Oil, Gas and Mining; Parks and Recreation; the Utah Geological Survey; Water Resources; and Wildlife Resources.
More than 20 activities await children who attend the fair. Among the things kids can do:
“We want to get children excited about the outdoors,” says Mike Styler, executive director of the Department of Natural Resources. “We also want to teach them skills that will make their next trip into the outdoors safe and enjoyable.”
More information about the International Sportsmen’s Exposition is available at www.sportsexpos.com.
Six-million dollars will soon be turned into roughly $50 million worth of energy efficiency projects in Utah. The Utah State Energy Program (USEP) is partnering with the Division of Facilities Construction and Management (DFCM) to invest more than $50 million in energy efficiency measures in state-owned buildings.
“This partnership allows DFCM to add $44 million for numerous energy efficiency upgrades,” said Meghan Golden, USEP Clean Energy Program Specialist. “Also, the projects will be completed in a relatively short time frame.” Energy efficiency projects may involve activities such as replacing lighting with more efficient systems or upgrading heating ventilation and air conditioning equipment.
Related Links
Utah State Energy Program
American Recovery and Reinvestment Act
Upheaval Dome in Canyonlands National Park, Utah, is a colorful circular “belly button,” unique among the broad mesas and deep canyons of the Colorado Plateau.
The rim of Upheaval Dome is 3 miles across and over 1000 feet above the core floor. The central peak in the core is 3000 feet in diameter and rises 750 feet from the floor.
Since the late 1990s, the origin of the Upheaval Dome structure has been considered to be either a pinched-off salt dome or a complex meteorite impact crater; in other words the “belly button” is either an “outie” (dome) or “innie” (crater).
Both origin hypotheses account for the overall structure of Upheaval Dome, assuming approximately a mile of overlying rock has been eroded. The main differences between the two hypotheses are the amount of time and the pressures needed to produce the structure.
Senate Joint Resolution 1 of the 2009 Utah Legislative Session tasked the Utah State Energy Program with developing a model wind ordinance. This was accomplished by way of the Utah Wind Working Group and input from stakeholders. The Model Wind Ordinance document incorporates comments from:
private citizens,
PacifiCorp,
City of Monticello,
Utah Clean Energy,
Iron County,
Utah League of Cities and Towns,
the Utah Wind Working Group
Salt Lake City Corporation, and
the Utah Division of Wildlife.
RELATED LINKS
The Utah Geological Survey (UGS) and U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) have a cooperative agreement to study earthquake-hazards in Utah with an ultimate goal of producing detailed earthquake-hazards maps, including large-scale ground-shaking maps along the densely populated Wasatch Front urban corridor.
An important component of the ground-shaking maps is developing a three-dimensional model of the subsurface, a Wasatch Front Community Velocity Model (CVM), that incorporates shallow shear-wave velocity (Vs), deep-basin structure, and other effects. To aid in producing these maps, the UGS has compiled databases of Vs and deep-basin geophysical and well logs.
RELATED LINKS
Community Velocity Model (CVM)
Shallow Shear-Wave-Velocity Data
Deep-Basin-Structure Data
GEOLOGIC MAP OF THE ST. GEORGE AND EAST PART OF THE CLOVER MOUNTAINS 30′ x 60′ QUADRANGLES, WASHINGTON AND IRON COUNTIES, UTAH
Robert F. Biek, Peter D. Rowley, Janice M. Hayden, David B. Hacker, Grant C. Willis, Lehi F. Hintze, R. Ernest Anderson, and Kent D. Brown
A just-released map presents southwestern Utah’s geology in unprecedented detail. There is also an innovative 3-D version of the map and a virtual field trip for online viewing. The Utah Geological Survey (UGS) created all versions of the map.
The new geologic map covers 2000 square miles of southwest Utah. It stretches from Zion National Park on the east, through the St. George area, to the Beaver Dam and Bull Valley Mountains on the west, and from the Arizona border north through the Pine Valley Mountains.
GLACIAL GEOLOGIC MAP OF THE UINTA MOUNTAINS AREA, UTAH AND WYOMING
Jeffrey S. Munroe and Benjamin J.C. Laabs
This dataset represents the first complete inventory of the glacial deposits in the Uinta Mountains since Atwood (1909) described the glacial geology of this area. It is the result of previous and continuing work by the authors and others to better understand the glacial and climatic history of this fascinating area. It depicts the distribution of glacial deposits and post-glacial sediments including mass wasting, lacustrine, and rock glacier deposits. A discussion of the glacial history and a figure showing a reconstruction of the ice extent during the local Last Glacial Maximum are also included.
This DVD contains the geologic map at 1:100,000 scale in PDF format and an ArcMap 9.3 map document. Geographic Information System (GIS) files are provided in an ESRI file geodatabase and as ESRI shapefiles. Metadata, PDF, HTML, text, and image files are included to help the user view, evaluate, and use the spatial data.
DVD (1 pl., scale 1:100,000 [contains GIS data])
MP-09-4DM (DVD)……….$24.95
MP-09-4DM (plot)……….$19.95
The Utah Geological Survey (UGS) was notified of a large rock fall in Rockville, Utah Wednesday morning that damaged several buildings. Geologists say it could have been much worse and are worried about the possibility of second boulder breaking loose.
Around 7:30 a.m., a boulder estimated to be 35-feet by 30-feet by 30-feet broke loose and rolled down a hill toward the home that Tamara Burton was renting.
Tyler Knudsen and Bob Blackett, UGS geologists, were asked by Rockville Mayor Alan Brown to investigate what happened. According to air photos, the boulder had been there for at least four years after detaching from a ledge and sliding about 20 feet and coming to a rest on a 45-degree slope above Burton’s home.
IN THE MEDIA
Salt Lake Tribune
KSL.com
Deseret News
ABC4.com
Local8news.com
The Spectrum
Los Angeles Times
Atlantic Journal Constitution
The Spectrum
Hours of debate regarding the Green Hollow Landslide and the proposed Capo Di Monte subdivision on Cedar Mountain took place at the Iron County Planning Commission meeting Thursday, with no decisions made as of press time.
At the meeting the commission heard the recommendation of Utah Geological Survey Geologist Bill Lund.
Lund recommended that further study by expert engineers take place before further development be allowed to continue on one of the largest landslides in the state. The study will determine whether more development and water saturation in the area could cause the landslide to reactivate.
Lund also told the planning commission that several smaller landslides on the mountain had been activated since the Cedar Highlands subdivision was completed. Conclusions were based on the original studies in 1981, which stated that the landslide was inactive.
The Utah Geological Survey (UGS) is a division of the Utah Department of Natural Resources. Several specialized programs comprise the UGS: Data Management, Energy & Minerals, Geologic Hazards, Geologic Information & Outreach, Geologic Mapping, Groundwater & Wetlands, and Paleontology.