Protecting Rivers & Your Clean Water
Preparing Utilities for a Changing Climate
Fay Augustyn, Intermountain West Blue Trails Manager
April 15, 2013 | Climate Change, Stormwater & Sewage, Water Supply, Urban Rivers
In the last two years, we have seen a record number of extreme weather events including floods, heat waves, droughts, fires and snowstorms. In 2011, 14 different extreme weather events resulted in damages of more than $1 billion each. That trend has shown no signs of abating.
Read more »Water Management Could Become Game of Hardball
Matt Niemerski, Director, Western Water Policy
April 12, 2013 | Climate Change, Water Supply
As drought continues to loom over much of the Colorado River Basin reservoir capacities are at critically low levels. With the upcoming year not looking at all well for water users in the basin, the questions will turn very quickly to how we will manage this resource through a crisis.
Read more »Anxiously Eyeing the Skies in the Sunny South
Ben Emanuel, Associate Director, Water Supply
April 12, 2013 | Water Supply, Most Endangered Rivers
Here in Georgia, it’s been a cool, wet spring so far. That’s an especially good thing after drought conditions last year that were as severe here as anywhere in the country. But in my conversations with local water managers and other water-watchers lately, I’ve noticed a unanimous sentiment: the nagging worry that we’ll have another dry summer.
Read more »Maintenance: It’s Not Just for Your Car
Stacey Detwiler, Associate, Conservation & Government Relations
April 11, 2013 | Climate Change, Stormwater & Sewage, Urban Rivers, Water Pollution
Many of us are familiar with maintenance in some form. Whether it’s getting an oil change for the car or unclogging the sink, if we don’t get around to it, we usually end up paying in the long run.
Maintenance for infrastructure that manages stormwater runoff works in much the same manner, albeit at a larger scale. Without consistent maintenance, these practices can fail forcing expensive repairs and posing significant health and safety risks.
Finding the connection on Amethyst Brook
William Robert (Bob) Irvin, President
April 9, 2013 | Dams & Dam Removal
At American Rivers we like to say that rivers connect us, but how do you reconnect a river? That was the question I was pondering on a cold April day along the banks of Amethyst Brook in western Massachusetts. One of the things that makes American Rivers so effective is that, in addition to advocating laws, policies and practices that protect and restore rivers and clean water, we are also leaders on the ground, working with partners and communities to remove outdated dams, establish Blue Trails, and construct green roofs and rain gardens.
Read more »Miles Per Gallon for Raindrops - What is a Performance Based Standard for Managing Stormwater?
Gary Belan, Director, Clean Water Program
April 5, 2013 | Stormwater & Sewage, Urban Rivers, Water Pollution
American Rivers has been a leader on clean water issues for some time now, and nowhere is this more evident than in our work on stormwater. In particular, we have been working to ensure that the USEPA comes out with a balanced and effective approach to managing stormwater in its anticipated new stormwater rule.
Read more »Water Water Is Not Everywhere
Jenny Hoffner, Senior Director, Water Supply
April 2, 2013 | Most Endangered Rivers, Water Supply
From where I sit in Georgia, it’s spring. The rains are here, flowers are in bloom (as they have been since January), rivers are running high(er), and drought, at least for now, is far from the headlines. Yet, I know what is lurking just around the corner. Drought and water issues will be making news again this summer in communities across the Southeast, like a recurring bad dream.
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