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Photograph by William Henry Jackson taken around 1890 near the present day Barker Reservoir. Image copyright by the Denver Public Library. Visit the BASIN Gallery for more information.
BASIN: A Work in Progress
BASIN-- the Boulder Area Sustainability Information Network-- is a work in progress. A pilot project designed to help deliver a variety of environmental information about the Boulder area to its inhabitants, BASIN invites you to participate in this experiment in community learning and service. If you have already had an opportunity to tour the BASIN site, please take a moment now to complete our survey, or bookmark this site and visit it again.
Or better yet, help us to build a true information network about the Boulder area by accepting our invitation that invites you, your neighborhood and your schools to contribute to this learning, service, community project.
What Are BASIN's Objectives?
- Improve existing environmental monitoring to provide credible, timely and usable information about the watershed to the public.
- Create a state-of-the-art information management and public access infrastructure using advanced, web-based computer technologies.
- Build strong partnerships and an ongoing alliance of governmental, educational, non-profit and private entities involved in watershed monitoring, management and education.
- Develop education and communication programs to effectively utilize watershed information in the public media and schools and facilitiate greater public involvement in public policy formation.
BASIN Project Funding
- National Program: BASIN is one of eight EMPACT projects funded throughout the United States in 1998. The EPA's EMPACT program (Environmental Monitoring for Public Access and Community Tracking) aims to improve access to time-relevant environmental data.
- Funding: $400,000 EPA grant
- Project Period: Two years, beginning January 1999.
What is the "Boulder Area?"
For the purposes of the EMPACT pilot project, the "Boulder area" has been defined as the Boulder Creek Watershed, a 440 square miles region that extends from the Continental Divide to the high plains and includes some 150,000 people. In the coming years BASIN anticipates extending its focus to the entire St. Vrain Watershed, of which Boulder Creek and its tributaries make up less than half the entire drainage area. (For a 108K map of the St. Vrain Watershed from the EPA's Maps on Demand site, click here.)
What Does Sustainability Mean?
The term "sustainability" derives from the word "sustainable" which means to maintain or prolong necessities or nourishment. When it comes to the sustainability of the environment and communities, many people agree that providing citizens with environmental information that will allow them to make personal actions and help determine public policy is of crucial importance. The liveability of communities tomorrow will be, in part, determined by the actions of citizens today.
BASIN offers a variety of information about our local environmental systems by focusing initially on water resources in our communities. In the future we intend to expand our focus to include other issues relating to the long-term liveability and sustainability of our communities.
Can Our Community Be Sustainabile?
BEYOND BASINPacific Institute: Water & Sustainability
EPA Links to Sustainability Websites
Al Bartlett's Sustainability Page
How Can I Get Involved in BASIN?
For BASIN to live up to its potential as a community resource and become sustainable beyond the pilot project phase (which is completed at the end of December, 2000) we need your participation. There are many ways you can support the Boulder Area Sustainability Information Network. Accept our invitation to become involved with BASIN and help us as we explore what it means to have a liveable, sustainable community.
Contacting the BASIN Project?
For more information contact the BASIN project coordinator
- WWW: through the WWW site comment form
- POSTAL MAIL:
BASIN
Boulder Community Network Campus Box 455
Boulder, CO 80309-455
