Protecting Rivers & Your Clean Water
Continuing on the Path to Climate Resiliency
Fay Augustyn, Intermountain West Blue Trails Manager
January 11, 2013 | Floods & Floodplains, Climate Change, Stormwater & Sewage
On January 1, 2013, Maryland’s Governor O’Malley signed an executive order requiring new and rebuilt state structures to consider climate change and rising sea levels in a state with the fourth-longest tidal coastline in the continental United States. This is a significant stride to keep Maryland’s coastal region resilient in the face of uncertainty.
Read more »Communities Evaluate Wild and Scenic as Tool to Protect the Crystal River
Matt Rice, Director, Colorado Conservation
January 10, 2013 | Wild and Scenic Rivers, Most Endangered Rivers
A couple of months ago communities along the Crystal River in Colorado gathered in Redstone, CO and Carbondale, CO to discuss the appropriateness of a Wild Scenic Designation to protect the river from new dam and trans-basin diversion projects. Four panelists with experience working to designate Wild and Scenic Rivers in Colorado and throughout the country spoke about various aspects of the law, challenges faced in designation, and recreational, ecological, economic benefits of designation.
Read more »What is the National Blueways Initiative?
Jamie Mierau, Director, River Protection
January 9, 2013 | Blue Trails, Urban Rivers, Wild and Scenic Rivers
In May of 2012, Secretary of the Interior, Ken Salazar announced the new National Blueways System, a key element of America’s Great Outdoors, and designated the Connecticut River Watershed – covering areas of Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts and Connecticut – as the nation’s first blueway.
Read more »Stanford University Under Investigation for Possible Endangered Species Act Violations
Steve Rothert, California Regional Director
January 8, 2013 | Dams & Dam Removal
The National Marine Fisheries Service has launched an investigation into whether Stanford University's operation of Searsville Dam has violated the Endangered Species Act by harming steelhead trout and other species threatened with extinction. Located on the Stanford campus in Palo Alto, CA, the dam blocks steelhead from migrating to 20 miles of spawning habitat upstream, it dewaters Corte Madera Creek below the dam, degrades water quality and habitat downstream and causes other negative impacts that harm species threatened with extinction.
Read more »National River Cleanup® Top Ten List of 2012
January 7, 2013 | National River CleanupIn the spirit of year-end countdowns, the 2012 results were calculated – and it has been a remarkable year. With more cleanups than ever before, the number of volunteers picking up trash out on our nation’s river has gained momentum each year.
Read more »Greener Landscapes For A Healthier Chesapeake Bay in 2013
Liz G. Deardorff, Director, Clean Water Program Pennsylvania
January 4, 2013 | Water Pollution, Urban Rivers, Stormwater & Sewage
Green infrastructure investments are one of the few spotlights in the State of the Bay report released by the Chesapeake Bay Foundation (CBF) for the New Year. Promotion and support of green infrastructure solutions for managing stormwater is also identified in the Action Plan for federal resource agencies with jurisdiction in the Bay.
Read more »Much Ado About Flooding - Using Green Infrastructure to Reduce A Growing Problem
Jeffrey Odefey, Director, Stormwater Program
January 3, 2013 | Floods & Floodplains, Urban Rivers, Stormwater & Sewage
To a considerable extent, the repeated crisis of local flooding is a result of the way we’ve historically built our storm sewer systems to move rainfall away from our communities in gutters, tunnels, and ditches. However, as more land is built and paved over with rooftops and parking lots, more rainfall flows into the storm sewer system in ever greater volumes.
Read more »