Brett Walton

About Brett Walton

Brett writes about agriculture, energy, infrastructure, and the politics and economics of water in the United States. He also writes the Federal Water Tap, Circle of Blue’s weekly digest of U.S. government water news. He is the winner of two Society of Environmental Journalists reporting awards, one of the top honors in American environmental journalism: first place for explanatory reporting for a series on septic system pollution in the United States(2016) and third place for beat reporting in a small market (2014). He received the Sierra Club's Distinguished Service Award in 2018. Brett lives in Seattle, where he hikes the mountains and bakes pies. Contact Brett Walton

Entries by Brett Walton

The Mississippi Seesaw: Extreme Weather Begets Extreme River Levels

August 21, 2012/in Great Lakes/by Brett Walton

With historic drought following historic floods, the lower Mississippi River basin has seen, in consecutive years, both ends of the hydrological spectrum. The Mississippi River at Memphis, Tennessee is 17.3 meters (56.7 feet) lower today than it was just 15 months ago during the spring of 2011. Back then, record floods led the U.S. Army […]

Brett Walton

Brett writes about agriculture, energy, infrastructure, and the politics and economics of water in the United States. He also writes the Federal Water Tap, Circle of Blue’s weekly digest of U.S. government water news. He is the winner of two Society of Environmental Journalists reporting awards, one of the top honors in American environmental journalism: first place for explanatory reporting for a series on septic system pollution in the United States(2016) and third place for beat reporting in a small market (2014). He received the Sierra Club’s Distinguished Service Award in 2018. Brett lives in Seattle, where he hikes the mountains and bakes pies. Contact Brett Walton

circleofblue.org/author/brett

Federal Water Tap, August 20: Army Corps Builds Underwater Levee in Mississippi River to Hold Back Salt Water

August 20, 2012/in Federal Water Tap/by Brett Walton

Last Thursday, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers started building a levee on the bottom of the Mississippi River, downstream from New Orleans. Because of the drought, water levels in the river are low, allowing a wedge of salt water to push upstream. The levee, called a sill, will block the wedge, which is denser […]

Brett Walton

Brett writes about agriculture, energy, infrastructure, and the politics and economics of water in the United States. He also writes the Federal Water Tap, Circle of Blue’s weekly digest of U.S. government water news. He is the winner of two Society of Environmental Journalists reporting awards, one of the top honors in American environmental journalism: first place for explanatory reporting for a series on septic system pollution in the United States(2016) and third place for beat reporting in a small market (2014). He received the Sierra Club’s Distinguished Service Award in 2018. Brett lives in Seattle, where he hikes the mountains and bakes pies. Contact Brett Walton

circleofblue.org/author/brett

A West Texas City Cuts Against the Grain for Water Rates

August 17, 2012/in /by Brett Walton

While the U.S. trend is for higher fixed fees, Lubbock’s utility will rely more on water sales. This spring when I was compiling the data for Circle of Blue’s 2012 water prices survey, I noticed that several cities were shifting more of their revenue from charges on water use to monthly fixed fees. For these […]

Brett Walton

Brett writes about agriculture, energy, infrastructure, and the politics and economics of water in the United States. He also writes the Federal Water Tap, Circle of Blue’s weekly digest of U.S. government water news. He is the winner of two Society of Environmental Journalists reporting awards, one of the top honors in American environmental journalism: first place for explanatory reporting for a series on septic system pollution in the United States(2016) and third place for beat reporting in a small market (2014). He received the Sierra Club’s Distinguished Service Award in 2018. Brett lives in Seattle, where he hikes the mountains and bakes pies. Contact Brett Walton

circleofblue.org/author/brett

With Water Management, We’re Missing the Obvious

August 16, 2012/in California, California Drought/by Brett Walton

For climate change adaptation and water management, start with the basics, researchers say. It is not desalination plants or reservoirs or any whiz-bang technology that will best prepare California’s water users for climate change. It is a simple record of who is using water and how much. That is the primary recommendation in a white […]

Brett Walton

Brett writes about agriculture, energy, infrastructure, and the politics and economics of water in the United States. He also writes the Federal Water Tap, Circle of Blue’s weekly digest of U.S. government water news. He is the winner of two Society of Environmental Journalists reporting awards, one of the top honors in American environmental journalism: first place for explanatory reporting for a series on septic system pollution in the United States(2016) and third place for beat reporting in a small market (2014). He received the Sierra Club’s Distinguished Service Award in 2018. Brett lives in Seattle, where he hikes the mountains and bakes pies. Contact Brett Walton

circleofblue.org/author/brett

Clean, Affordable Water is a Problem in This Country

August 14, 2012/in Water News/by Brett Walton

While almost everyone in the United States has clean, reliable drinking water, some people are left behind. And with the economy as it is and the cost of infrastructure going up, more may struggle in the future. “Inadequate access to drinking water” is a clinical phrase that appears in official statements and in United Nations […]

Brett Walton

Brett writes about agriculture, energy, infrastructure, and the politics and economics of water in the United States. He also writes the Federal Water Tap, Circle of Blue’s weekly digest of U.S. government water news. He is the winner of two Society of Environmental Journalists reporting awards, one of the top honors in American environmental journalism: first place for explanatory reporting for a series on septic system pollution in the United States(2016) and third place for beat reporting in a small market (2014). He received the Sierra Club’s Distinguished Service Award in 2018. Brett lives in Seattle, where he hikes the mountains and bakes pies. Contact Brett Walton

circleofblue.org/author/brett

Oregon Congressman Proposes Clean Water Trust Fund

August 14, 2012/in Infrastructure, North America, Water Law, Water News, Water Policy & Politics/by Brett Walton

Revenue for the fund would come from taxes on containers and waste products.

Brett Walton

Brett writes about agriculture, energy, infrastructure, and the politics and economics of water in the United States. He also writes the Federal Water Tap, Circle of Blue’s weekly digest of U.S. government water news. He is the winner of two Society of Environmental Journalists reporting awards, one of the top honors in American environmental journalism: first place for explanatory reporting for a series on septic system pollution in the United States(2016) and third place for beat reporting in a small market (2014). He received the Sierra Club’s Distinguished Service Award in 2018. Brett lives in Seattle, where he hikes the mountains and bakes pies. Contact Brett Walton

circleofblue.org/author/brett

Book Review of “A Twenty-First Century U.S. Water Policy”

August 13, 2012/in North America, Water News, Water Policy & Politics/by Brett Walton

A new book from the Pacific Institute argues that it is time to reassess the federal government’s roles and responsibilities for water management.

Brett Walton

Brett writes about agriculture, energy, infrastructure, and the politics and economics of water in the United States. He also writes the Federal Water Tap, Circle of Blue’s weekly digest of U.S. government water news. He is the winner of two Society of Environmental Journalists reporting awards, one of the top honors in American environmental journalism: first place for explanatory reporting for a series on septic system pollution in the United States(2016) and third place for beat reporting in a small market (2014). He received the Sierra Club’s Distinguished Service Award in 2018. Brett lives in Seattle, where he hikes the mountains and bakes pies. Contact Brett Walton

circleofblue.org/author/brett

Federal Water Tap, August 13: Oil Dispersant Lawsuit

August 13, 2012/in Federal Water Tap/by Brett Walton

Environmental and public health groups are suing the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to force the EPA to issue a rule on the chemical dispersants used in oil spill recovery, WaterWorld reports. Millions of gallons of chemical dispersants were used in the Gulf of Mexico after BP’s Deepwater Horizon spill in 2010, and the groups claim […]

Brett Walton

Brett writes about agriculture, energy, infrastructure, and the politics and economics of water in the United States. He also writes the Federal Water Tap, Circle of Blue’s weekly digest of U.S. government water news. He is the winner of two Society of Environmental Journalists reporting awards, one of the top honors in American environmental journalism: first place for explanatory reporting for a series on septic system pollution in the United States(2016) and third place for beat reporting in a small market (2014). He received the Sierra Club’s Distinguished Service Award in 2018. Brett lives in Seattle, where he hikes the mountains and bakes pies. Contact Brett Walton

circleofblue.org/author/brett

New EPA Guidance for Combined Sewers Draws Mixed Reviews

August 11, 2012/in Infrastructure, North America, Water News, Water Policy & Politics/by Brett Walton

Seattle will be the first city to test the new integrated framework. Photo © Brett Walton/Circle of Blue Elliott Bay, in downtown Seattle, is one of several bodies of water surrounding the largest city in the U.S. Pacific Northwest. The city is trying to reduce the number of sewer overflows into its lakes and bays, […]

Brett Walton

Brett writes about agriculture, energy, infrastructure, and the politics and economics of water in the United States. He also writes the Federal Water Tap, Circle of Blue’s weekly digest of U.S. government water news. He is the winner of two Society of Environmental Journalists reporting awards, one of the top honors in American environmental journalism: first place for explanatory reporting for a series on septic system pollution in the United States(2016) and third place for beat reporting in a small market (2014). He received the Sierra Club’s Distinguished Service Award in 2018. Brett lives in Seattle, where he hikes the mountains and bakes pies. Contact Brett Walton

circleofblue.org/author/brett

U.S. Drought Recap, August 6-10

August 10, 2012/in /by Brett Walton

Government reports show the U.S. is still hot and dry. Rain Nearly a quarter of the land in the Lower 48 states is in an “extreme” or “exceptional” drought—the two most severe categories—according to the August 7 update to the U.S. Drought Monitor, a weekly collaboration between federal, state and academic scientists. Last year at […]

Brett Walton

Brett writes about agriculture, energy, infrastructure, and the politics and economics of water in the United States. He also writes the Federal Water Tap, Circle of Blue’s weekly digest of U.S. government water news. He is the winner of two Society of Environmental Journalists reporting awards, one of the top honors in American environmental journalism: first place for explanatory reporting for a series on septic system pollution in the United States(2016) and third place for beat reporting in a small market (2014). He received the Sierra Club’s Distinguished Service Award in 2018. Brett lives in Seattle, where he hikes the mountains and bakes pies. Contact Brett Walton

circleofblue.org/author/brett

Federal Water Tap, August 6: Drought, Oil Spill, Infrastructure

August 6, 2012/in Federal Water Tap/by Brett Walton

Before adjourning for a five-week vacation, the House of Representatives passed a US$383 million drought-relief bill, the Hill reports. To pay for it, farmland conservation programs will be cut. Critics say that this is short-sighted because these programs protect, among others things, the soil’s ability to hold moisture. “If Congress is serious about assisting farmers […]

Brett Walton

Brett writes about agriculture, energy, infrastructure, and the politics and economics of water in the United States. He also writes the Federal Water Tap, Circle of Blue’s weekly digest of U.S. government water news. He is the winner of two Society of Environmental Journalists reporting awards, one of the top honors in American environmental journalism: first place for explanatory reporting for a series on septic system pollution in the United States(2016) and third place for beat reporting in a small market (2014). He received the Sierra Club’s Distinguished Service Award in 2018. Brett lives in Seattle, where he hikes the mountains and bakes pies. Contact Brett Walton

circleofblue.org/author/brett

More Lakefront Property Coming to Georgia

August 2, 2012/in Hydropower/by Brett Walton

The state doles out the first tranche of loans for reservoir construction. Other states are looking in the same direction. Lake Lanier, one of Georgia’s largest reservoirs and the primary source of drinking water for metropolitan Atlanta, shrank considerably during the 2007-08 drought. These two photos were taken from the same spot, almost a year […]

Brett Walton

Brett writes about agriculture, energy, infrastructure, and the politics and economics of water in the United States. He also writes the Federal Water Tap, Circle of Blue’s weekly digest of U.S. government water news. He is the winner of two Society of Environmental Journalists reporting awards, one of the top honors in American environmental journalism: first place for explanatory reporting for a series on septic system pollution in the United States(2016) and third place for beat reporting in a small market (2014). He received the Sierra Club’s Distinguished Service Award in 2018. Brett lives in Seattle, where he hikes the mountains and bakes pies. Contact Brett Walton

circleofblue.org/author/brett

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About Brett Walton

Entries by Brett Walton