 A state-of-the-art weather station has been completed in Flandreau for the Santee Sioux Tribe, with the equipment and set-up coming through New Mexico State University. Two civil engineers from the University spent from December 19-21 in town to complete the station, which is located behind the Tribe’s Natural Resources building on West Broad Avenue.
Tribal member Liz Wakeman, who serves as a water technician for the FSST, was instrumental in getting the weather station in place here. She participated in a Bureau of Indian Affairs Water Resources Technician Training Program from June 4-30, 2005, at New Mexico State University in Las Cruces, NM.
“When I went to this training two years ago to become a water technician, I saw all the weather stations at the University,” said Wakeman. “When I came back, it was my goal to have one of these stations here. The station measures water, but does so much more. When we want to know about weather conditions, we won’t need to call Sioux Falls, because we will have the answers right out our back door. I believe that this weather station will benefit both the Tribe and the city.”
The two engineers, who do research at NMSU, Zach Libbin and Jimmy Moreno, spent four days in town prior to Christmas to install the equipment for the station. The two indicated that the station would measure meteorological data for the FSST. The equipment is capable of providing wind speed, solar radiation, relative humidity, air temperature, precipitation, soil temperature, soil moisture and barometric pressure.
The station will also be able to reference evaporation-transpiration, which will be able to calculate how much moisture crops are using at any particular time of the season.
Wakeman is grateful to Vicki Kujawa, the Tribe’s water specialist, who sent Wakeman for the training two years ago. Topics addressed at that program included fluid mechanics, groundwater and surface water hydrology, irrigation practices and management and watershed monitoring and management. She also learned about environmental statutes, wastewater and drinking water treatment, water rights and land surveying.
The goal of the program was for participants to use the skills learned to gain employment in the field of water resources, as well as allow their tribe to become more self-sufficient and to grow economically.
Wakeman was among 13 Native Americans from across the nation that attended the original training. She believes that this opportunity for training has brought the new weather station to this community.
Assisting Wakeman in reading the data daily will be Kujawa and John Bechen, who also works at the Natural Resources department for the Tribe.
Source: http://www.moodycountyenterprise.com |
