Protecting Rivers & Your Clean Water
The Colorado is America’s Most Endangered River
Jessie Thomas-Blate, Coordinator, Most Endangered Rivers
April 17, 2013 | Climate Change, Most Endangered Rivers, Water Supply
Mark Twain once said, “Denial ain’t just a river in Egypt.” His words ring true today about another river, the Colorado, that many call the lifeblood of the West. In some places the Colorado River is drained dry, in others its flows are so depleted and manipulated that fish and wildlife are federally listed as “endangered,” and in yet others more dam/diversion/pipeline projects are proposed that would drain the last legally allowed drops of water out of the river.
Read more »Plumbing the Colorado River
Matt Niemerski, Director, Western Water Policy
April 17, 2013 | Water Supply
Great poster former HCN publisher, Ed Marston, depicting how the Colorado River basin's rivers drain into various reservoirs and, from there, into water management systems.
Read more »Announcing America’s Most Endangered Rivers of 2013
Amy Souers Kober, Senior Director of Communications
April 17, 2013 | Climate Change, Most Endangered Rivers, Water Supply
For thirty years, our America’s Most Endangered Rivers report has highlighted urgent threats to rivers and has spurred the public to take action. Through the report, we have helped sound the alarm on hundreds of rivers, saving them from threats like pollution and new dams.
The river at the top of the 2013 list, announced today, is the Colorado River – a river that is so dammed, diverted, and drained that it dries to a trickle before reaching the sea.
Read more »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 »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 »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 »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.
Read more »