Year-end notes on geese, water tower bucks, and wind

Here are a few bits and pieces I’ve been gathering as the year comes to an end:

If it looks like there are fewer Canada geese in the air so far this winter, the reason is there was a very poor nesting season for our winter visitors last summer in the pothole and prairie regions of northern Canada.  

The decline in population has prompted managers for the Atlantic Flyway to go on record already that for the 2019-20 hunting season, the days of hunting will be reduced to 30, and the limit will be reduced from two geese to one in the Chesapeake region, which includes Delaware, Maryland and Virginia. That pretty well knocks out commercial-guide hunting for Canada geese for next year.  

The nesting pairs in the Atlantic flyway are estimated at 154,000 according to Delaware’s waterfowl biologist Justyn Foth. The break number for going from moderate seasons such as we have now to restrictive seasons as planned for next year is 150,000 nesting pairs.

He said managers decided to go with the restrictive season next year even though we haven’t hit the 150,000 pair figure yet. That’s because the nesting pair number is based on a running three-year average. Because of this year’s very low nesting numbers, next year’s three-year average will be below the 150,000 mark, and managers want to get ahead of the problem before it gets worse.

Foth said a closed season for Canada geese will only occur when the breeding pair population drops to 60,000. The last time there was a total moratorium on taking Canada geese was in the 1990s.

Populations of mallard ducks are also declining, which has prompted managers to reduce next year’s hunting limit on mallards to two per day instead of the current four.

Here are the migratory waterfowl counts in Delaware as recorded in early December by an aerial survey: 12,036 Canada geese, 41,611 snow geese, 5,978 black ducks, 11,368 mallards, 1,862 gadwalls, and 3,308 tundra swans.

Have you ever wondered what all those devices are that are attached to the top of the water towers in our municipalities?

I asked Lewes Board of Public Works General Manager Darrin Gordon what the units are on the Lewes tower.  He said they are all communication devices owned by two companies - AT&T and Verizon - for receiving and transmitting digital signals.

He said the BPW received $31,314.50 in space rental fees from Verizon for 2018 and $28,420.69 from AT&T. That’s almost $60,000 in revenue from a structure that used to only hold water - and all-important water pressure - for the town.

If you want to get in on the ground floor of the rapidly developing offshore wind industry along the Delaware coast, you might want to take advantage of this new offering from the University of Delaware.  The university and the Danish Energy and Climate Academy have announced creation of their joint Offshore Wind Skills Academy.

OSWA builds on both the ECA’s experience training more than 2,000 European wind-power professionals, and UD’s College of Earth, Ocean and Environment’s research and graduate education in U.S. offshore wind power.

According to a recent report from the university, eastern coastal states have committed to a 10-gigawatt pipeline of offshore wind projects over 12 years; the U.S. Department of Energy estimates the  project pipeline at over 25 gigawatts.

Information presented in this column two weeks ago indicated a five-gigawatt offshore wind facility can provide power for 2 million homes at prices lower than what are being paid now.

The university report said this presents a pressing need to educate the professionals who will be entering – and creating – this new American industry.

The Offshore Wind Skills Academy is targeted for professionals from traditional energy industries, supply chain companies, regulators, investors, consultants and any others who may be new to the offshore wind industry. It is not targeted to trades, vessel operators, craftsmen, etc., for whom training is being developed at the local level.

OWSA will draw lecturers from industry experts, including project developers, OEMs, and engineers, all with European and/or North American experience.

Three courses will be offered in Newark in January 2019: Overview of Offshore Wind (one-day short course); Comprehensive Introduction to Offshore Wind (two-day introduction); and Offshore Wind Farm Project Development (three-day advanced course).

For further information, contact the University of Delaware’s College of Earth, Ocean and Environment, 302-831-2792 or go to www.ceoe.udel.edu.

Let’s blow into the new year pushing for lots of clean, wind-powered energy and hoping it will bring more jobs our way.

Goodbye 2018.