Alex (They/Them) 💧🦉🏳️🌈🏳️⚧️
@hydrowl.bsky.social
Water engineering, accounting, data viz, and policy. Enjoyer of gay sci-fi, philosophy, poetry, and nature.
Pinned
For those who don't know me yet, I work in water. I always feel a little weird talking about it because I don't consider myself an expert yet. I took hydro classes and can mess around with data and make some maps and charts but I don't really KNOW water. I think it takes years to know it.
Reposted by Alex (They/Them) 💧🦉🏳️🌈🏳️⚧️
Dramatic increase in conflicts over #water in 2024 compared to previous years.
pacinst.org/announcement...
pacinst.org/announcement...
November 14, 2025 at 3:53 AM
Dramatic increase in conflicts over #water in 2024 compared to previous years.
pacinst.org/announcement...
pacinst.org/announcement...
I'll be printing this one at the office... I'm more "modeling adjacent" but this is something I think about a lot.
Always appreciate introspection from the hydrologic modeling community. Reflecting and acting on the social aspects of modeling doi.org/10.5194/hess...
HESS Opinions: Reflecting and acting on the social aspects of modeling
Abstract. Hydrological models are generally acknowledged as subjective and uncertain, yet they are often still perceived as neutral, meaning they are seen as not taking sides. This notion of neutralit...
doi.org
November 11, 2025 at 4:54 PM
I'll be printing this one at the office... I'm more "modeling adjacent" but this is something I think about a lot.
I want to put together a queer water group and call it the Frogs but I can't think of a good acronym...
FFROGs - Freshwater Freaks Running On Garbage???
FFROGs - Freshwater Freaks Running On Garbage???
November 11, 2025 at 5:16 AM
I want to put together a queer water group and call it the Frogs but I can't think of a good acronym...
FFROGs - Freshwater Freaks Running On Garbage???
FFROGs - Freshwater Freaks Running On Garbage???
Very exciting bumper sticker find this morning
November 8, 2025 at 10:05 PM
Very exciting bumper sticker find this morning
Anyway I should probably have a less work-related interest to engage in on Saturday mornings.
November 8, 2025 at 5:37 PM
Anyway I should probably have a less work-related interest to engage in on Saturday mornings.
I guess what I'm trying to figure out with this AI thing as an early career water professional is that everybody is saying that it's inevitable and I need to learn to use it. But I don't know what "it" means, I don't know what the risks are.
November 8, 2025 at 5:36 PM
I guess what I'm trying to figure out with this AI thing as an early career water professional is that everybody is saying that it's inevitable and I need to learn to use it. But I don't know what "it" means, I don't know what the risks are.
Currently working through this paper by @sashamtl.bsky.social et al, starting to get my brain around the throughline between ethics and environmental impacts arxiv.org/pdf/2504.00797
November 8, 2025 at 5:18 PM
Currently working through this paper by @sashamtl.bsky.social et al, starting to get my brain around the throughline between ethics and environmental impacts arxiv.org/pdf/2504.00797
I don't post here that much but my latest obsession has been AI ethics. I'm really interested in what the potential risks are for water management specifically - if anyone has papers to point to, even for public health and resource management more specifically, I'd appreciate it.
November 1, 2025 at 5:24 PM
I don't post here that much but my latest obsession has been AI ethics. I'm really interested in what the potential risks are for water management specifically - if anyone has papers to point to, even for public health and resource management more specifically, I'd appreciate it.
why is talking about climate at my water job so much easier than talking about water at my water job
October 2, 2025 at 1:59 AM
why is talking about climate at my water job so much easier than talking about water at my water job
Reposted by Alex (They/Them) 💧🦉🏳️🌈🏳️⚧️
this fire has exploded by over 800% in the last few weeks with almost no containment as we head into another extended period of heat and red flag days
Apparently being in the middle of fighting a wildfire is no protection from border patrol
www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news...
www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news...
Federal agents arrest firefighters working on WA wildfire
Federal agents showed up northeast of Lake Cushman to check identification of crew members fighting Washington's largest active wildfire.
www.seattletimes.com
August 28, 2025 at 7:30 AM
this fire has exploded by over 800% in the last few weeks with almost no containment as we head into another extended period of heat and red flag days
may have found a good starting point www.nature.com/articles/s41...
August 27, 2025 at 7:54 PM
may have found a good starting point www.nature.com/articles/s41...
I want to learn more about engineering history, particularly of non-western origins. We sort of learn in school that modern civil engineering (especially water) started in ancient Rome but that feels like an oversimplification. Who gets to decide what engineering is and isn't?
August 27, 2025 at 3:03 PM
I want to learn more about engineering history, particularly of non-western origins. We sort of learn in school that modern civil engineering (especially water) started in ancient Rome but that feels like an oversimplification. Who gets to decide what engineering is and isn't?
Reposted by Alex (They/Them) 💧🦉🏳️🌈🏳️⚧️
Medieval Water Distribution
We are familiar with water distribution systems of Persia (qanats) and Rome (aqueducts), but we rarely hear about such systems in the Middle Ages. Still, the construction of aqueducts continued, in Europe often initiated by monasteries and shared with nearby cities.
We are familiar with water distribution systems of Persia (qanats) and Rome (aqueducts), but we rarely hear about such systems in the Middle Ages. Still, the construction of aqueducts continued, in Europe often initiated by monasteries and shared with nearby cities.
August 27, 2025 at 8:25 AM
Medieval Water Distribution
We are familiar with water distribution systems of Persia (qanats) and Rome (aqueducts), but we rarely hear about such systems in the Middle Ages. Still, the construction of aqueducts continued, in Europe often initiated by monasteries and shared with nearby cities.
We are familiar with water distribution systems of Persia (qanats) and Rome (aqueducts), but we rarely hear about such systems in the Middle Ages. Still, the construction of aqueducts continued, in Europe often initiated by monasteries and shared with nearby cities.
Still going back and forth on this. I'll probably decide by labor day and treat it as a college semester.
I'm not sure I actually have too many engineer mutuals but question for the class - does it make sense for me to start studying for my PE right now while Rome is burning outside? (Some more thoughts in the thread)
August 2, 2025 at 5:33 PM
Still going back and forth on this. I'll probably decide by labor day and treat it as a college semester.
I'm not sure I actually have too many engineer mutuals but question for the class - does it make sense for me to start studying for my PE right now while Rome is burning outside? (Some more thoughts in the thread)
July 25, 2025 at 7:56 PM
I'm not sure I actually have too many engineer mutuals but question for the class - does it make sense for me to start studying for my PE right now while Rome is burning outside? (Some more thoughts in the thread)
Shit's on fire but I am researching PE prep courses I guess
July 22, 2025 at 3:30 AM
Shit's on fire but I am researching PE prep courses I guess
Going to the river to not think about the world but it's a river so it WILL make me think about work. Which usually makes me think about the world.
July 5, 2025 at 4:48 PM
Going to the river to not think about the world but it's a river so it WILL make me think about work. Which usually makes me think about the world.
Reposted by Alex (They/Them) 💧🦉🏳️🌈🏳️⚧️
Never before in the history of this nation has such a large redistribution of income been directed upward, for no reason at all
July 3, 2025 at 8:01 PM
Never before in the history of this nation has such a large redistribution of income been directed upward, for no reason at all
Trying to get back into cycling regularly so I bought a bike that is actually my size and not a hand-me-down earlier this week. Shout-out to bike co-ops, that place felt like it was straight out of a solarpunk novel.
July 4, 2025 at 4:34 PM
Trying to get back into cycling regularly so I bought a bike that is actually my size and not a hand-me-down earlier this week. Shout-out to bike co-ops, that place felt like it was straight out of a solarpunk novel.
actually while I'm here my hot take is that "scope 3" is way too broad because how can you put employee commuting and embodied carbon of materials and end use of your product in the same category. The lack of specificity is why scope 3 is optional in many certs and it should NOT be.
I haven't been in the carbon accounting space in a good while but the conversation seems to come down to the fact that calculations conveniently leave out scope 3 emissions - similar to how oil companies don't count the end use of gas in their emissions accounting.
July 4, 2025 at 4:18 PM
actually while I'm here my hot take is that "scope 3" is way too broad because how can you put employee commuting and embodied carbon of materials and end use of your product in the same category. The lack of specificity is why scope 3 is optional in many certs and it should NOT be.
Reposted by Alex (They/Them) 💧🦉🏳️🌈🏳️⚧️
I don’t think anyone is prepared for what they just did w/ ICE.
This is not a simple budget increase. It is an explosion - making ICE bigger than the FBI, US Bureau of Prisons, DEA,& others combined.
It is setting up to make what’s happening now look like child’s play. And people are disappearing.
This is not a simple budget increase. It is an explosion - making ICE bigger than the FBI, US Bureau of Prisons, DEA,& others combined.
It is setting up to make what’s happening now look like child’s play. And people are disappearing.
July 3, 2025 at 6:58 PM
I don’t think anyone is prepared for what they just did w/ ICE.
This is not a simple budget increase. It is an explosion - making ICE bigger than the FBI, US Bureau of Prisons, DEA,& others combined.
It is setting up to make what’s happening now look like child’s play. And people are disappearing.
This is not a simple budget increase. It is an explosion - making ICE bigger than the FBI, US Bureau of Prisons, DEA,& others combined.
It is setting up to make what’s happening now look like child’s play. And people are disappearing.
Reposted by Alex (They/Them) 💧🦉🏳️🌈🏳️⚧️
“In a public letter, EPA employees accused the administration of engaging in unlawful partisan activity and endangering public health”
Yikes. Tough day for a letter release but let’s all try to multi-task. Gift link:
EPA Workers Warn Trump Is Politicizing Their Work www.nytimes.com/2025/06/30/c...
Yikes. Tough day for a letter release but let’s all try to multi-task. Gift link:
EPA Workers Warn Trump Is Politicizing Their Work www.nytimes.com/2025/06/30/c...
E.P.A. Workers Warn Trump Is Politicizing Their Work
www.nytimes.com
July 1, 2025 at 1:07 AM
“In a public letter, EPA employees accused the administration of engaging in unlawful partisan activity and endangering public health”
Yikes. Tough day for a letter release but let’s all try to multi-task. Gift link:
EPA Workers Warn Trump Is Politicizing Their Work www.nytimes.com/2025/06/30/c...
Yikes. Tough day for a letter release but let’s all try to multi-task. Gift link:
EPA Workers Warn Trump Is Politicizing Their Work www.nytimes.com/2025/06/30/c...
Reposted by Alex (They/Them) 💧🦉🏳️🌈🏳️⚧️
Hurricane forecasters rely on weather data collected and processed by Department of Defense satellites. That data will no longer be available as of Monday, June 30. By @rhersher.bsky.social
Defense Department will stop providing crucial satellite weather data
Hurricane forecasters rely on weather data collected and processed by Department of Defense satellites. That data will no longer be available as of Monday, June 30.
n.pr
June 28, 2025 at 5:23 PM
Hurricane forecasters rely on weather data collected and processed by Department of Defense satellites. That data will no longer be available as of Monday, June 30. By @rhersher.bsky.social
Reposted by Alex (They/Them) 💧🦉🏳️🌈🏳️⚧️
Same for scientists and everyone else who is rewarded professionally for being “objective,” neutral observers and describers.
I need my colleagues across news media to get it, and get it quick, that this administration is quite happy when we see ourselves as neutral, dignified remote observers of a "culture war."
It is a framing that trivializes their very real violence in order to make it acceptable.
It is a framing that trivializes their very real violence in order to make it acceptable.
June 12, 2025 at 10:32 PM
Same for scientists and everyone else who is rewarded professionally for being “objective,” neutral observers and describers.
Reposted by Alex (They/Them) 💧🦉🏳️🌈🏳️⚧️
Senator Padilla’s office sends me this video of his take-down and detention at Sec. Noem’s press conference in L.A.
June 12, 2025 at 6:38 PM
Senator Padilla’s office sends me this video of his take-down and detention at Sec. Noem’s press conference in L.A.