Work on the new Dewey Short Regional Visitor Center began last fall and while the building was originally expected to be completed by August this year, weather, construction delays and an issue with funding for exhibits has the building set to be open to the public in the spring 2012. Those involved with the project believe it is worth the wait, though.

The 15,000-square-foot, $7.9 million facility has an outstanding view of Table Rock Lake and Dam. Visitors will be able to take in the sights from all three levels of the building. Even the elevator has a great view- the east facing side of the shaft is glass!

Construction of the building is nearing its final phase, doors and hardware are installed and interior light fixtures are in place. Cabinets are hung in the wet lab and the break room. The wet lab will be utilized by students who will be able to test lake water and learn about water quality.

One goal of the newly formed foundation is to promote education on water quality. The building isn't only about education, however. It is touted as being the crowned jewel of Table Rock Lake.

The restrooms will feature colorful glass tile walls in shades of green and burgundy. The concrete floors are polished to bring aggregate to the surface. Different levels of staining and sealing will produce a realistic look to the surface and mirror the natural rock of the exterior landscaping.

Decorative railing is installed both inside and outside the facility. The mezzanine level and interior staircase will have the same graceful curved railing. Exhibit gallery work has begun with a central feature being the 14'waterfall on a natural looking two-story tall bluff.

Exterior work is culminating as well. Planting, seeding and mulching are almost complete. Sidewalks are  finished and light poles in the parking areas are in place. Asphalt work is complete with only striping and sealing yet to be done.

The design and construction of the new building is being paid for by American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds.

New Dewey itself will be an outstanding view - pictures are worth a thousand words!

Quote of the Week

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David Beckman, NRDC Staff Blog, Switchboard

I live in California, and about the time each fall when we turn our clocks back to standard time many of us are hunting around our closets or car trunks looking for umbrellas we last saw in April.  It's the start of the rainy season out West.  Of course, for much of the nation, rain falls through most of the year.  To say the least, we need the rain.  But it also comes with increased water pollution. Because of all of the paved and otherwise impervious surfaces in our cities, rain mixes with the pollutants that fall onto our city driveways, sidewalks, parking lots, and streets, creating a witches' brew of polluted runoff.

Across the nation, an estimated 10 trillion gallons a year of untreated stormwater runs off roofs, roads, parking lots, and other paved surfaces, often through our cities' sewage systems, into rivers and waterways that serve as drinking water supplies and flow to our beaches, increasing health risks, degrading ecosystems, and damaging tourist economies.

But it doesn't have to be that way.  A major report we are releasing today, NRDC's Rooftops to Rivers II, profiles 14 cities of all sizes using "green infrastructure"-a set of design strategies that mimic nature's own hydrology and allow rain to filter back into the ground right where it falls-to tackle stormwater pollution and sewage overflows.  The way we built cities before we knew better basically capped the ground in concrete, creating at first currents of runoff that as cities grew became torrents. Green infrastructure is a simple and powerful solution:  make cities function from a water perspective more like the natural landscape by making them more pervious and, well, green. (more)

Increased agriculture regulations still to come from EPA

Ron Smith, Southwest Farm Press 

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency doesn't necessarily have farm interests lined up in its crosshairs, but it's not exactly ignoring agriculture as a target of opportunity either.

"We've had it pretty good in agriculture for a long time," said Shannon Ferrell, assistant professor at Oklahoma State University, during the recent Rural Economics Outlook Conference on the Stillwater campus. "EPA went after the low-hanging fruit first, the big polluters," Ferrell said. "Now, they're going after the rest."

Are they picking on agriculture? Ferrell says not exactly, although some programs, such as concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFO), may be priorities. "Everyone is subject to pressure," he said. "A lot of small businesses are getting squeezed by environmental regulations" that have already hit big business.

He said when the industry asks if "they are coming after us," we have to determine: "Who are they and who is us?" "They" could be the EPA, the federal government or interest groups, he said. And "we" may be hard to identify. "We talk about ag as one unified front, but from the outside we look different." He said outsiders see divisions within the ag industry - livestock versus grain, for instance.

To minimize damaging effects of over-regulation, Ferrell said agriculture should try to develop a more unified voice and learn more about how the process works. "We're good at discussing our needs with the House and Senate but we are not as cognizant of administrative law (as we should be). An incredibly large amount of regulations are enacted or proposed every year." (more)

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