Entries by Brett Walton

Sequestration Takes a Big Cut from USGS Water Research Programs

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Less money means fewer staff positions and fewer research projects at the nation’s universities. Photo courtesy of U.S. Geological Survey. U.S. Geological Survey scientist Jud Harvey is shown sampling the Six-Mile Brook streambed for mercury contamination in Adirondack State Park, New York. By Brett Walton Circle of Blue Two U.S. Geological Survey research programs that […]

Federal Water Tap, May 20: Fracking Regulations, Arctic Strategy, Infrastructure

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The Bureau of Land Management’s revised regulations for hydraulic fracturing, aka fracking, on federal lands pleased almost no one outside of Congress. The proposal has three prongs: disclosure of chemicals in the fracking fluid, quality-control for well construction, and wastewater disposal. The BLM’s goal is to streamline the reporting process “without introducing unnecessary new procedures […]

Report: Fewer Trees in the Amazon, Less Hydropower from Dams

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The study runs counter to conventional wisdom about deforestation’s effects on the water cycle.

U.S. Groundwater Losses Between 1900-2008: Enough To Fill Lake Erie Twice

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Groundwater depletion in the United States has accelerated over the last decade, according to the U.S. Geological Survey, contributing to both localized problems and global issues, like sea level rise.

U.S. Marks At Least 65 Years of National Water Crisis

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A short history lesson about water shortage, water wars, and drought in the United States. “The water shortage is spreading like a creeping paralysis,” claims a major national magazine, printing the words beneath before-and-after photographs of the reservoir behind Arizona’s Roosevelt Dam. In the first photo, the reservoir is brimmed with water. Five dry years […]

Federal Water Tap, May 13: NASA Begins Pilot Project to Measure Western U.S. Snowpack

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NASA and the California Department of Water Resources are collaborating on a project to provide a near real-time assessment of mountain snowpack. The three-year pilot study of watersheds in California and Colorado began last month. The lasers and spectrometers on the Airborne Snow Observatory, carried aboard aircraft that fly below the cruising altitude of a […]

Report: Half of U.S. Fracking Wells Drilled in Highly Water-stressed Regions

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Energy companies should provide better data on fracking water use, and investors should push for quantifiable water targets, according to a sustainable investing advocacy group. Image courtesy of Ceres Hydraulically fractured shale regions are outlined in black and overlaid onto a map of U.S. river basins coded by water risk according to the World Resources […]

All Wet – A Stormy Spring Stymies Farmers in the U.S. Midwest

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In much of the Corn Belt, too much rain has left fields too soggy to sow. Image courtesy of Midwest Regional Climate Center Iowa had its wettest April on record, and much of the Midwest saw precipitation levels at 150 percent to 300 percent of normal. Farmers have delayed planting crops because of soggy fields. […]

Federal Water Tap, May 6: Federal Dollars for Hurricane Sandy Damage

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The Environmental Protection Agency will allocate $US 569 million dollars to New Jersey and New York for water and sewer facilities damaged by Hurricane Sandy last October. The money, authorized by Congress, will go into the states’ revolving loan funds for water infrastructure projects. Up to 30 percent of the money can be given away […]

Study: Plants Play Bigger Role in River Flows Than Previously Thought

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Transpiration from plants dominates the terrestrial water cycle. Photo © Z. Lapointe University of New Mexico doctoral student Scott Jasechko collects a water sample from the Santa Fe River near La Bajada, New Mexico. Evaporation from rivers and lakes contributes relatively little to atmospheric water vapor when compared with transpiration from plants, according to Jasechko’s […]

Federal Water Tap, April 29: Texas and Oklahoma Debate the Red River Compact in U.S. Supreme Court

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The justices on the United States Supreme Court pondered water law last week, as Oklahoma and a Texas water district presented arguments about water allocations under the Red River Compact. The justices asked many questions about the compact’s language and the intent behind an equal rights provision. They also dipped into matters of engineering, state […]

Thinking Big and Small About Natural Gas and Water

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A U.S. Senate hearing on drought and energy provided some statements to ponder. Withered corn stalks and cracked soils are images commonly associated with drought. But long dry periods affect the energy sector as well as agriculture. Several state and government officials testified Thursday before the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee about the need […]