Protecting Rivers & Your Clean Water
Green Infrastructure to Alleviate Flooding
April 4, 2012 | Water Pollution, Floods & Floodplains, Stormwater & SewageAmerican Rivers recently completed retrofitting over 12 acres of impervious surface in the Wilson Park Creek Subwatershed.
Read more »River Policy Update: March Wrap-Up
Eileen Fretz, Flood Policy Director
April 3, 2012 | Water Pollution, Most Endangered Rivers, Wild and Scenic Rivers
Locals Advocate for Wild and Scenic Rivers - In March, Congress heard from people who support Wild and Scenic River designations for their favorite rivers. During a House Natural Resources Committee hearing on a bill that would designate the Molalla River as a National Wild and Scenic River, Michael Moody, President of the Molalla River Alliance testified on the benefits that Wild and Scenic River designation would bring to the communities that depend on a healthy Molalla River.
Read more »Cherry Blossoms: Ideal indicators of the impacts of climate change?
Fay Augustyn, Conservation Associate
March 29, 2012 | Water Pollution, Floods & Floodplains, Climate Change, Water Supply
Like much of the country, spring arrived surprisingly early in Washington D.C. this year. In fact, I didn’t feel like we had a real winter at all. A born and bred Midwesterner, I am used to freezing temperatures, down jackets and snow – lots of it. This year’s unusually warm winter in D.C. and around the country was puzzling for many of us. In fact, D.C.’s iconic cherry blossoms bloomed much earlier this year, which was attributed to the unseasonably warm temperature.
Read more »Watching Montana's Clark Fork River Come Back to Life
Michael Fiebig, Montana Campaign Coordinator, Wyss Fellow
March 28, 2012 | Water Pollution, Dams & Dam Removal
The Clark Fork, flowing through Missoula, Montana, is no longer the same river that it was when I lived near its banks during graduate school. Back then paddlers, swimmers, and fishermen had to contend with long green plumes of “rock snot” that blanketed the river bottom and made for difficult, slippery wading in river sandals. Today one instead finds ever shifting gravel bars composed of clean, multi-colored rocks. It’s as if the Clark Fork River recently received a scrub.
Read more »A River by Any Other Name
March 23, 2012 | National River Cleanup, Water PollutionThis map, designed by Derek Watkins, is an interesting visual representation linking cultural, environmental and geographic patterns in generic toponyms. This fascinating map captured my attention with its lite-brite-esq quality.
Read more »Green to Go Green for Clean Water in the Chesapeake
Liz G. Deardorff, Director, Clean Water Program Pennsylvania
March 22, 2012 | Water Pollution, Stormwater & Sewage, Floods & Floodplains
My office sits near the bank of the Susquehanna River in central Pennsylvania, so it was a treat to leave the office several days ago to travel downstream to where this 464 mile long river flows into the Chesapeake Bay at Havre de Grace, Maryland. I was there to attend an announcement of $4 million in new federal funding for local governments to use for green infrastructure, like green roofs, parks, and green streets, for cleaner water to help meet pollution reduction goals.
Read more »World Water Day: take action to protect clean water
Amy Souers Kober, Senior Director of Communications
March 22, 2012 | Water Pollution
Imagine having to walk three miles every day to obtain fresh water. That's the average distance someone living in sub-Saharan Africa travels to get water for drinking, cooking, and washing. Today is World Water Day, and the facts are sobering, to say the least. Hundreds of millions of people worldwide lack adequate drinking water and sanitation facilities.
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