Entries by Brett Walton

Federal Water Tap, November 11: Water’s Value to the U.S. Economy

Chasing the Wind The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency asked itself a difficult question – What is the value of water to the American economy? – and came up with a broad answer. Water is obviously valuable, but because reliable data on price, quantity, and use is often not kept, water’s “total contribution to the U.S. […]

Federal Water Tap, November 4: President Obama Unveils New Elements in Climate Action Plan

What Should We Do? Continuing to flesh out a plan he outlined in June, President Barack Obama issued an executive order creating two climate change advisory bodies. The Council on Climate Preparedness and Resilience is a federal conglomeration, comprising senior officials from at least 30 agencies. The other is a task force of prominent state, […]

Ongoing Texas Drought Threatens Supply from Two Reservoirs on Colorado River

With the amount of reliable water in reservoirs shrinking, water agencies set sights on groundwater transfers and more reservoirs. Photo © J. Carl Ganter / Circle of Blue In the morning mist, bare land pokes above the surface of Lake Travis, a reservoir formed by Mansfield Dam on the Colorado River in Texas. Water levels […]

Federal Water Tap, October 28: Water Infrastructure Legislation & Studies

Kansas Aqueduct Study The Army Corps of Engineers will reassess a 600-kilometer (375-mile) aqueduct that would deliver Missouri River water to the High Plains. The aqueduct was part of a 1982 study that analyzed four schemes to increase water supplies in the region served by the diminishing Ogallala Aquifer. The cost of the $US 300,000 […]

Kansas and Army Corps Revive Study to Ship Water from Missouri River to Ogallala Aquifer

In addition to reducing demand from its key aquifer, Kansas wants to study the cost of importing water to the High Plains. But will this cause conflict with neighboring states that also use the river?

Sipping from the Fountain of Prairie Life

Reporter Brett Walton recently visited the plains states of Kansas and Texas, finding a difference of opinion on how to best use limited water supplies. Photo © Brett Walton / Circle of Blue Soybeans harvested by a combine are funneled into a truck that drives parallel to the machine on a field in Thomas County, […]

Federal Water Tap, October 21: Pakistan Aid Package Includes Money for Dam

No, Thanks The U.S. Supreme Court decided not to consider two water-related cases, Greenwire reports. One case involves the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s ruling that pollution permits are not required to transfer water between sources. The Supreme Court upheld that decision in 2010, but the question now is which court has the jurisdiction to hear […]

Fallowing Farmland: A New Card in Arizona’s Water Shuffle

A pilot project will test how much water can be saved by not growing crops.

Federal Water Tap, October 14: Government Still Shutdown

On Hold The Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources postponed a hearing on the Columbia River Treaty. Last month stakeholders in the Pacific Northwest recommended that fish, ecosystems, and climate change be given greater weight in a new treaty with Canada. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency postponed public “listening sessions” in Boston and Philadelphia. […]

Federal Water Tap, October 7: Shutdown

Stop Work Most agency staff have been sent home. Press officers are not returning calls or emails. Only those in “excepted positions” – jobs required to protect human life and property – remain at work. Federal agencies such as the National Weather Service are still monitoring the nation’s water and weather and offering forecasts, but […]

Tennessee’s Geology Shows the Local Peculiarity of Fracking

Circle of Blue’s Brett Walton finds that little water is used for fracking in a state that is not known for its oil and gas production.

Federal Water Tap, September 30: Algae in Lake Erie

Too Many Vitamins A phosphorous target for the Maumee River, a key tributary, and prohibitions on certain fertilizers in lawn-care products are two of 15 recommendations in a draft plan for reducing algal blooms in Lake Erie. The plan comes from the commission that manages waters shared by Canada and the United States. The International […]