Protecting Rivers & Your Clean Water
In With the New Out With the Old...Toilet
January 23, 2012 | Water Supply, Water Pollution, Climate ChangeThis fall I was committed to renovating my old 1980’s style bathroom. Now that it is done my wife and I disagree a bit about what the coolest feature of the new bathroom is, she likes the claw foot bathtub, but I am excited about the toilet. Yeah, the toilet. Anyone who works in water supply policy or infrastructure will sooner or later come down to a conversation about toilets
Read more »Are Extreme Weather and Climate Change like a Baseball Player on Steroids?
Fay Augustyn, Intermountain West Blue Trails Manager
January 6, 2012 | Water Supply, Water Pollution, Floods & Floodplains, Climate Change
That is the connection Jeff Masters, a meteorologist and cofounder of the Weather Underground, described climate change and its effect on extreme weather events like floods, droughts and heat waves in a recent PBS broadcast; “They all tend to get increased when you have this extra energy in the atmosphere. I call it being on steroids … for the atmosphere.” From record breaking heat and droughts to blizzards, hurricanes, floods and tornados, we saw 12 weather disasters in 2011 that each caused one billion dollars or more in damage.
Read more »Testifying on Green Infrastructure
Katherine Baer, Senior Director, Clean Water and Water Supply Programs
December 22, 2011 | Water Pollution, Water Supply, Stormwater & Sewage
Last week I had the opportunity to testify at a House hearing about a new EPA initiative called “integrated permitting.” The Agency’s idea is to look at ways to evaluate various Clean Water Act requirements together to see how they could be integrated. For example, if a city has pollution problems from urban stormwater runoff and sewer overflows, are there a set of solutions to address both of these together that might be more cost effective and sustainable?
Read more »Restore the Yakima River and its salmon!
December 21, 2011 | Floods & Floodplains, Climate Change, Water Supply, Wild and Scenic RiversFor nearly three years, I've been working with the Yakama Indian Nation and conservation partners at the National Wildlife Federation, The Wilderness Society, and Trout Unlimited (among others) to negotiate a package of habitat restoration and protection and water management measures to restore central Washington’s Yakima River and its salmon and steelhead in a way that earns the lasting support of the Yakama Nation, local farmers, and local communities.
Read more »Averting Water Wars in the Carolinas
Jenny Hoffner, Senior Director, Water Supply
December 16, 2011 | Dams & Dam Removal, Water Supply
Like many communities across the Southeast, Lancaster County, South Carolina is proposing a new reservoir as a way to attract and support new development. The new bi-state Catawba-Wateree River Basin Commission asked to hear from American Rivers at its December meeting about water efficiency and conservation alternatives to reservoirs. We were glad for the audience, and we’ve got plenty to share.
Read more »Preparing for Climate Change: Massachusetts
December 15, 2011 | Water Pollution, Dams & Dam Removal, Floods & Floodplains, Climate Change, Water SupplyEarlier this fall, Massachusetts released its Climate Change Adaptation Report. Following in the footsteps of many other states, such as Wisconsin, Maryland, Oregon, Pennsylvania and Washington, Massachusetts’ report analyzes strategies to adapt to a changing climate across many sectors from natural resources to infrastructure and the economy.
Read more »Say No to Fracking for North Carolina
Katherine Baer, Senior Director, Clean Water and Water Supply Programs
December 2, 2011 | Fracking, Water Pollution, Water Supply, Most Endangered Rivers
With a recent victory to postpone a vote to open up the Delaware River Basin to fracking (hydraulic fracturing for natural gas), it looks like there is some understanding of the potential adverse impacts of fracking on our clean water supplies. Our listing of the Susquehanna River as number one on the list of the Nation’s Most Endangered Rivers highlighted the threat of contamination to our rivers from fracking.
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