Archive for category: Water Issues
Tracy Mehan offers a review of the book, “Troubled Water; what’s wrong with what we drink,” authored by best...
Trump EPA ends Obama-era clean water rule. What Now? . . .
, , Links, Water Issues, #CleanWaterRule #EPA, 0 This week, the EPA finally drove a stake through the heart of the Obama-era clean water rule. While many...
“Nudging” versus “Coercion” – Balancing Environmental Protection with Liberty and Freedom
, , Conservative Conservationism, EPA, Free-Market Environmentalism, Species Protection, The Environment and Politics, Water Issues, Andy McCarthy, Big Data, Big Government, Cass Sunstein, conservative, environmental, F.A. Hayek, freedom, John Stuart Mills, Jonah Goldberg, liberty, Next Generation Compliance, NRO, Nudge Theory, Russell Kirk, 0 The recent controversy over the U.S. Government’s increased proclivity to secretly paw through the electronic communications and telephone records of Americans has...
We Need Cheap Water!
, , Water Issues, Aqua America, California, California American Water, drinking water, Inframark, private water companies, Public Water Now, Suez, Veolia, 0 This past week, a group in California called Public Water Now, an anti-privatization movement aimed at re-municipalization of community...
Chesapeake Conservancy Advancing Smart Data for Smarter Decisions to Clean-up the Bay
, , Water Issues, Chesapeake Bay High-Resolution Land Cover, Chesapeake Bay Program, Chesapeake Conservancy, Joel Dunn, U.S. EPA, 0 Data, data, and more data! At times it seems we are drowning in data – information overload. But smart...
The Confounding Evolution of Federal Jurisdiction Over the Nation’s Streams, Rivers and Riffles
, , Water Issues, Clean Water Act, CRS, Rapanos, Stephen Mulligan, waters of the U.S., WOTUS, 0 For those environmental policy wonks like me who simply can’t get enough of this stuff, the Congressional Research Service...
The World’s Water Crisis is Very Solvable – drop by drop
, , Water Issues, Carnival Cruise Line, ceramic water filters, Dominican Republic, Fathom Cruises, Haiti, voluntourism, Wine to Water, world's water crisis, 0 The statistics are sobering, nearly 700 million or 1 in 10 human beings on this earth lack access to...
GOP Leadership on the Defensive for Failing to Address Failing Water Infrastructure
, , Water Issues, Bret Baier, failing water infrastructure, Flint water crisis, Fox News, GOP, lead poisoning, Marco Rubio, 0 The recent Fox News GOP debate had more lowlights than highlights, but one of the latter was a mention...
Flint Michigan Water Crisis – A Nonpartisan Disaster
, , Water Issues, corrosion inhibitor, Democrats, EPA, Flint Michigan, Governor Rick Snyder, lead and copper rule, lead in water, MDEQ, public health crisis, Rachel Madow, Sturgis, water contamination, 0 The story of how Flint, Michigan’s children were poisoned with lead is long, complicated, and filled with human errors...
The Realm of Environmental Possibility – Good Samaritans to the Rescue
, , Water Issues, abandoned hardrock mines, acid mine drainage, Animas River, EPA, Good Samaritans, Trout Unlimited, watershed cleanup, WGA, 0 The tragic mining spill in the Animas River this summer has brought renewed vigor and attention on the need...
Mehan Urges “Creative Abandonment” to Great Lakes Commission
, , Water Issues, agricultural runoff, Carbon, climate change, Great Lakes Commission, Greenhouse gases, infrastructure, nonpoint source, nutrients, Saginaw Bay, Toledo, water cycle, water quality, 0 I share the following remarks by friend and great thinker, Tracy Mehan, with the Great Lakes Commission delivered on September...
Water is the New Oil – Price it Carefully
, , Water Issues, Andrew Swiston, Benedict Clements, Catherine Patillo, externalities, Glass Half Full, Global Water Security, Government Subsidies and Environmental Problems, Harald Finger, IMF, Kalpana Kochhar, Laure Redifer, public utilities, Robert Tchaidze3, Stefania Fabrizio, sustainability, Valentina Flamini, water pricing, water subsidies, Yan Sun, 0 Water is indeed the new oil, with one exception – you need water to live. A very timely report...
Clean Water: America’s Great Unfinished Agenda
, , Water Issues, clean water, EPA, green infrastructure, Green Investment, Loan Guarantees, SRF, water quality, 0 Sixty years ago, kids swimming in the Great Lakes could be up to their necks in water, look down,...
Congress Dips Its Toe Into Troubled Waters
, , Water Issues, Congress, Corps of Engineers, EPA, federal jurisdiction, JP Woodley, Ken Kopocis, Rapanos, SWANCC, Waters of the US, WOTUS, 0 On Wednesday, the House Appropriations Energy and Water Subcommittee met to mark up the Fiscal Year (FY) 2016 Energy...
There Is No Such Thing As A “Rain Tax”
, , Water Issues, Chesapeake Bay, Maryland, Montgomery County, Rain Tax, stormwater, stormwater management fee, 0 The water sector seems to be completely immobilized by the canard that a stormwater management fee tied to impermeable...
There Is No Such Thing As A “Rain Tax”
, , Water Issues, Chesapeake Bay, Maryland, Montgomery County, Rain Tax, stormwater, stormwater management fee, 1 The water sector seems to be completely immobilized by the canard that a stormwater management fee tied to impermeable...
Water Infrastructure, Yes! New EPA Water Finance Center, No!
, , Water Issues, EPA water finance center, failing water infrastructure, Michael Curley, State Revolving Fund, sustainability, water resources, water sector, 0 By Michael Curley, Guest Contributor Last Friday, the White House made a dramatic announcement about clean water on the...
It’s a bird, it’s a plane . . . no, it’s just some crazy kids providing water to the poor
, , Water Issues, Amhara Ethiopia, base jumping, Doc Hendley, Millennium Water Act, Nathan Jones, Project: Base, Sam Hardy, Water for the Poor, Wine to Water, Wingsuits, 0 Amazing death defying must see video of Sam Hardy and Nathan Jones of Project: Base doing some crazy wingsuit...
Global Groundwater Depletion – An overdraft of nature’s bounties posing economic collapse and regional instability
, , Water Issues, 60 minutes, GRACE satellite, groundwater depletion, Jay Famiglietti, Leslie Stahl, Value of Water, water crisis, water infrastructure, 0 Water is the new oil, or so say those who understand the true value of water. This week 60 Minutes...
Lake Erie Bites Back with a Vengeance – Water Impacted by Harmful Algal Bloom
, , Water Issues, biotoxins, contaminated drinking water, cyanobacteria, drinking water, EPA, harmful algal blooms, Lake Erie, Lesley D'Anglada, microcystins, public health, Toledo Ohio, 0 So what would you do upon waking one morning with coffee in hand, you turn on the news, and...
How to fill the water infrastructure investment gap in one easy lesson
, , Uncategorized, Water Issues, Clean Water Act, CWSRF, ELI, financing, infrastructure gap, Michael Curley, Safe Drinking Water Act, State Revolving Fund, water finance policy, WIFIA, 1 We should all offer thanks for a new book by Environmental Law Institute visiting scholar Michael Curley, a former...
Natural Investment in Water Quality
, , Water Issues, avoided costs, City of Philadelphia, Durham NC, economics, filtration avoidance, Forests, Howard Neukrug, Hydrology, Manchester New Hampshire, National Academies, National Research Council, natural infrastructure, Safe Drinking Water Act, Seattle, South Central Connecticut Regional Water Authority, Todd Gartner, Upper Neuse River Basin, water quality, World Resources Institute, 0 A few weeks ago I posted an item regarding the release of World Resources Institute’s new report on natural...
Steady Progress in the ORB Means Improvements in the Gulf of Mexico
, , Featured Article, Water Issues, Agriculture, David Schoenbrod, dead zone, Edmund Burke, EPA, EPRI, government, Gulf of Mexico, hypoxia, Jessica Fox, Laura Huggins, little platoons, market-based environmentalism, Ohio River Basin, Roger Pielke Jr., Roger Scruton, Ted Nordhaus, Tracy Mehan, USDA, water quality trading, 0 Many of you have probably detected a theme and undertone to this blog. That is, for us to fix...
How Safe is Our Drinking Water – Continued
, , Water Issues, drinking water safety, EPW Hearing, source water protection, West Virginia chemical spill, 0 I was asked to testify this week on behalf of United Water in a Senate hearing on the West...
How Safe is Our Drinking Water
, , Water Issues, Congress, drinking water, Elizabeth Shogren, emergency planning, EPA, Freedom Industries, Jim Salzman, NPR, safety, source water protection, SPCC, spill contingency, 0 I was interviewed yesterday by Elizabeth Shogren of NPR on the safety of tap water. Ms. Shogren was...
Peace Building in the Middle East – Let’s Begin with Water
, , Water Issues, Arava Institute, collection system, education, Israel, Kidron Valley, Middle East, Middle Eastern Peace, Muslim Palestinian School, Palestine, schools, water conservation, Water Resource Action Project, water scarcity, water shortage, West Bank, 0 Water is one of many contentious issues in the Middle East, a region where political, cultural, and religious unrest...
Protecting Water Resources While Safeguarding Against Government Overreach
, , Water Issues, Agriculture, agriculture conservation, Clean Water Act, DOJ, environmental protection, EPA, EPA's Private Problem, government overreach, Jillian Kay Melchior, Jonathan Turley, nonpoint source pollution, NRO, privacy, Richard Epstein, rise of fourth branch of government, Sackett, Safe Drinking Water Act, smart farming, water resource protection, West Virginia Water Spill, 4 Lots to cover on the water front this week, from the spill in West Virginia causing over 300,000 to...
Brent Fewell and I had the pleasure of participating in an interesting program on December 16th observing the 39th...
Water Infrastructure Investments – or the lack thereof
, , Uncategorized, Water Issues, federalism, water crisis, water finance, water infrastructure, water protection, WaterWorld, WWEMA, 0 I’m linking here to an article in WaterWorld which reproduced my speech to the Water and Wastewater Equipment Manufacturers...
Coping with Water Scarcity
, , Water Issues, technological innovation, Texas A&M, water markets, water pricing, water supply, 0 Here is a link to my mildly optimistic article on America’s water supply challenges, Coping with Water Scarcity, Risk...
Water Might be Undervalued, But It Ain’t Overrated
, , EPA, Water Issues, Agriculture, economy, energy production, Importance of Water to U.S. Economy, Nancy Stoner, Value of Water, 0 Linking to a new EPA report hot off the press titled, Importance of Water to the U.S. Economy, which...
Health of Our Nation’s Streams – “B+” or “D-“
, , EPA, Water Issues, Agriculture, Chesapeake Bay, Cuyahoga River, ecological health, Gulf of Mexico, nation's streams, nutrients, rivers, sewage treatment plants, USGS, water impairments, water quality, waters of the U.S., 0 We’ve come a long way in the U.S. since our rivers used to catch on fire. Here’s a picture of...
Below is a sobering story of a yachtsman who, in a recent voyage from Australia to Japan, observed some disturbing...
Put this in the column of wacky Friday stories. In a story this week involving Portland, Oregon’s, drinking water...
Very encouraging news for the Pacific Northwest salmon fishery. Due to recent conservation efforts to restore beleaguered chinook populations, this...
By Brent Fewell I posted earlier this week on the enormous financial needs for restoring our water resources and infrastructure...
Connecting the Dots, Collecting the Drops
, , Free-Market Environmentalism, Water Issues, Ben Grumbles, bioswales, Echo Park, green infrastructure, green roofs, Los Angeles, One Water Management, raingardens, stormwater pollution, U.S. Water Alliance, water pollution, 0 By Brent Fewell I love this picture – as it puts into perspective the importance of Earth’s finite water...
By Brent Fewell For water junkies like me, or those who care about environmental restoration, you might be interested...
EPA Goes Big with Air and Water Proposals
, , Climate Change, EPA, Water Issues, air quality, climate change, ECOS, Gina McCarthy, jurisdiction, Lek Kadeli, Nancy Stoner, proposed rule, Rapanos, SAB, significant nexus, Supreme Court, wetlands, 0 By Brent Fewell Toward the waning hours of every administration the pace of regulating at EPA picks up –...
EPA Scores Big Victory in Chesapeake Bay Decision
, , EPA, Water Issues, Chesapeake Bay, conservation, Judge Rambo, TMDL litigation, 2 Last Friday, the U.S. EPA scored a big victory against industry opponents who challenged the Agency’s authority and efforts to...
More Chicken Wings, More Environmental Challenges
, , Agriculture and Environment, Free-Market Environmentalism, Water Issues, anearobic digester, blue crabs, Chesapeake Bay, Chesapeake Bay Foundation, chickens, conservation, Governor O'Malley, incentives, Maryland Eastern Shore, water quality, 0 We have a lot of chickens in Maryland. And, in fact, we humans are outnumbered 1,000 to 1 along...
To EPA’s New Administrator – Don’t Forget About the Water
, , EPA, Free-Market Environmentalism, Water Issues, Clean Water Act, Federal Advisory Committees, Gina McCarthy, Ken Kopocis, market-based approaches, nonpoint source pollution, water pollution, water quality trading, 0 As many of you who read this blog know, I talk a lot about the water problems that still plague...
Conservation 2.0 – regulations alone won’t fix a broken earth
, , Conservative Conservationism, EPA, Free-Market Environmentalism, Species Protection, Water Issues, American Farmland Trust, Andrew McElwaine, Ben Grumbles, Brent Fults, Brooks Smith, Chesapeake Bay Nutrient Land Trust, Dave Paylor, Dave White, Ellen Gilinsky, EPRI, Freshwater Trust, Iowa Soybean Association, Jessica Fox, Joe Whiworth, Peter Hughes, Red Barn Trading, Roger Wolf, USDA, water, water quality trading, Willamette Partnership, 7 By Brent Fewell I spent some quality time this week in the wonderful city of Cincinnati, home of the...
China – A Growing Threat to the Earth
, , Climate Change, Conservative Conservationism, Energy and Resource Extraction, EPA, Free-Market Environmentalism, Species Protection, The Environment and Politics, Water Issues, China, conservation, conservative, Craig Simons, Diane Rehm, environmentalism, NPR, pollution, Russell Kirk, The Devouring Dragon, 1 Listened to a sobering interview yesterday on NPR’s Diane Rehm Show, with Craig Simons, author of the new book, The Devouring Dragon, which...
Oyster Fisheries and Families along Gulf Coast in Jeopardy
, , Energy and Resource Extraction, Species Protection, Water Issues, Alabama, Apalachicola River, Apalachicola Riverkeeper, conservation, Dan Tonsmeire, Florida, Georgia, Governor Rick Scott, Gulf of Mexico, Lizette Alvarez, oysters, Scott Fewell, Tri-State Water Wars, 0 By Brent Fewell Thanks to my older brother, Scott, who forwarded the following story, A Fight Over Water, and to Save...
EPA Announces Formation of Technical Working Group to Review Ocean Acidification
, , Climate Change, EPA, Species Protection, Water Issues, Amena Saiyid, carbon emissions, Center for Biological Integrity, global warming, John Reis, Nancy Stoner, ocean acidification, water quality criteria, Woods Hole, 0 By Brent Fewell As first reported by Amena Saiyid over at BNA, EPA announced this week that it plans to establish a...
Happy, Healthy Bugs Means Healthy Waters: continued strides to restore America’s waters
, , EPA, Species Protection, Water Issues, algal blooms, Duke University, Ken Reckhow, macroinvertebrates, nature, Nicholas School of the Environment, numeric criteria, nutrients, regulations, States, TMDL, water quality, water quality standards, 0 By Brent Fewell The following may be a wee bit granular for some of my readers, but hear me...
Emerging Markets are Helping Accelerate Environmental Restoration
, , Conservative Conservationism, Free-Market Environmentalism, Species Protection, The Environment and Politics, Water Issues, 2 Spent several days this week in Racine, WI, at the Johnson Foundation’s Wingspread, which the H.J. Johnson Family (think SC Johnson...
Global warming can be really really scary to kids . . .
, , Climate Change, Energy and Resource Extraction, Water Issues, children, climate change, fear of global warming, glacial melting, global warming, modeling, nature, Petermann Glacier, 0 By Brent Fewell A new survey reveals that nearly 60 percent of children fear global warming and the dire consequences,...
An Intriguing But Not-So-Bizarre Tale Involving EPA
, , Climate Change, Energy and Resource Extraction, EPA, Water Issues, climate change, conservation, environmentalism, Gina McCarthy, Haida Salmon Project, ocean fertilizing, Russ George, Tracy Mehan, 0 A couple of months back I posted about a promising geoengineering development here, Save the Planet – plant a...
What is the Best Antidote to Environmental Irrationality?
, , Conservative Conservationism, Energy and Resource Extraction, Water Issues, Cass Sunstein, climate change, conservatism, Dan Kahan, democracy, environmental, environmental hysteria, fear, Fear of Democracy, Laws of Fear, Patrick Moynihan, Penn & Teller Bullshit, rule making, 5 The material well-being of a democratic society depends on its ability to rationally manage a nearly limitless variety of...
The Face of Conservation is Changing – Cheers to Today’s New Leaders
, , Conservative Conservationism, EPA, Free-Market Environmentalism, Species Protection, The Environment and Politics, Water Issues, Ben Grumbles, Freshwater Trust, Joanie Mahoney, Joe Whitworth, Kim Marotta, Matt Millea, MillerCoors, Onodaga County, Save the Rain, U.S. Water Alliance, William Reilly, 0 By Brent Fewell The pros and cons of living in Washington DC are receiving all sorts of invitations to political...
My Infinitesimally Small Contribution to Earth Day
, , Conservative Conservationism, Water Issues, Chesapeake Bay, Chris Bayley, conservation, Earth Day, environment, rain garden, storm water, water quality, 3 By Brent Fewell Inspired earlier this month by the conservation work of Chris Bayley out in Oregon, and his...
Rain Rain Go Away . . .
, , Uncategorized, Water Issues, Chris Bayley, Michael Brown, Puget Sound, rain garden, Stewardship Partners, stormwater, water quality, 1 By Brent Fewell One of the ideas behind creating this blog was to highlight some of the great conservation efforts underway...
Platoons for Conservation and the Healing Power of Water
, , Conservative Conservationism, Water Issues, Alan Folger, Cassidy and Associates, conservation, flyfishing, Freeport-McMoran, Livingston Group, Middle River Group, Newmont Mining, Telos, Trout Unlimited, United Water, veterans, water, water quality, 1 By Brent Fewell Attended an awesomely moving tribute last evening to our Nation’s veterans. This marks the third year that...
Why legalize weed – just drink the water?!
, , Water Issues, Dispose-My-Meds, drinking water, drugs, drugs in water, EPA, NCPA, NRDC, pharmaceuticals, PPCPs, surface water, take-back programs, United Water, USGS, water, water quality, 2 By Brent Fewell A recent WSJ article highlights an increasingly important issue with which society is slowly grappling, drugs in...
Save a Fish – Paint a Storm Drain
, , Species Protection, Water Issues, American Rivers, education, Katherine Baer, pollutants, pollution, storm drains, stormwater runoff, water, water quality, 1 By Brent Fewell Polluted stormwater runoff remains a pernicious and difficult-to-solve environmental challenge of our time. This is a storm...
The Bureaucratization of Environmentalism – can we survive good intentions?
, , Conservative Conservationism, Water Issues, bridge, bureaucratization, bureaucrats, conservative, environmentalism, EPA, incentives, Orvis, Rockville, stormwater, stream, Trout Unlimited, water, water quality, wildlife habitat, 4 Calling all Good Samaritans
, , Conservative Conservationism, Water Issues, abandoned mines, Ben Grumbles, Chris Wood, environmental stewardship, EPA, Good Samaritan, Patty Limerick, Snowbird, Tiffany & Co., Trout Unlimited, water, water quality, 3 We all know the parable told by Jesus regarding the sojourner who was robbed, pillaged, and left to die...
Nature’s Resilience – Chesapeake Bay and Signs of Hope
, , Conservative Conservationism, Free-Market Environmentalism, Water Issues, Alex Beehler, Alex Echols, Ann Mills, Arlen Lancaster, Benjamin Grumbles, Bruce Knight, CBF, Chesapeake Bay, conservation, Cy Jones, Dan Nees, EPA, Katie McGinty, market-based conservation, nutrient trading, PADEP, Paul Faeth, Peter Hughes, Pinchot Institute, Ricardo Bayon, stormwater, Tracy Mehan, water quality, water quality trading, wildlife, WRI, 2 By Brent Fewell Promising news flowing from the Chesapeake Bay. U.S. EPA is reporting that pollutants, such as phosphorous,...
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