Entries by Brett Walton

Federal Water Tap, September 9: EPA Proposes New Water Quality Standards

A Little Clarity After years of talk, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has released six amendments to the water quality standards that guide how the Clean Water Act is implemented. The amendments do not set numeric water quality targets; they deal with definitions and procedures, such as how to set designated uses for water bodies, […]

Federal Water Tap, September 2: Everglades Restoration Plan

Increase the Flows The Army Corps of Engineers has released a draft report on how it plans to implement a $US 1.7 billion project to revive the Florida Everglades. In essence, the corps will send more water south from Lake Okeechobee, treat it to remove phosphorous, and let it drain slowly to mimic natural filtration […]

Fields of Gold in Northern New Mexico’s Monsoon Season

Much of New Mexico is in drought, but signs of water abound near Taos. Photo © Brett Walton / Circle of Blue Fields of showy goldeneye along Kit Carson Road in Taos, New Mexico. Click to see an enlarged image. August is monsoon season in New Mexico, where bright morning skies give way to bulbous, […]

Study: Cutting Ogallala Water Use Now Will Benefit Kansas Later

Not all is gloom and doom for the famed underground water resource that lubricates farm economies in the Great Plains. Photo courtesy of Flickr/Creative Commons user deanfotos66 Farming in western Kansas would not be the same without the Ogallala Aquifer. Roughly 94 percent of the water from the aquifer is used for irrigation, which boosts […]

Federal Water Tap, August 26: Hurricane Sandy Rebuilding Strategy (Plus, Food Safety)

“Smarter and Stronger” Better data and coordination, financial protections for homeowners, and resilient infrastructure are major pieces to the federal government’s rebuilding plan for the Mid-Atlantic states struck by Hurricane Sandy. President Obama created a task force in December 2012 to give cabinet-level gravitas to the rebuilding plan. The resulting 200-page document and its 69 […]

Federal Water Tap, August 19: Water Returns to the U.S. Supreme Court

Florida v Georgia The long-running water feud between three states in the Southeast will perhaps see two of them face off in the nation’s highest court. Florida Governor Rick Scott, a Republican, announced that he would file a lawsuit in September in the U.S. Supreme Court to stop what he calls “Georgia’s unchecked consumption of […]

Fortune Telling: Colorado River Teeters Toward First-ever Shortage Declaration

In the short term, water prices would rise and groundwater pumping would increase. In the long term, demand would have to drop.

Federal Water Tap, August 12: $US 400 Million Pipeline in Colorado

Water Supply The Bureau of Reclamation released a final environmental impact statement for a $US 400 million water pipeline project in southeastern Colorado. The Arkansas Valley Conduit includes roughly 365 kilometers (227 miles) of pipeline plus upgrades to an existing water treatment plant in order to supply 40 towns and water systems currently serving 52,000 […]

Federal Water Tap, August 5: Tribal Water Rights Agreement Signed

Water to the People Federal and tribal officials signed a water rights agreement with the White Mountain Apache Tribe at a ceremony July 30, one of four such settlements signed in the last two years. The agreement settles the tribe’s claims to water from the Gila River and Little Colorado River and authorizes the U.S. […]

Federal Water Tap, July 29: Obama Administration Plan for Stopping Asian Carp

Raising Barriers A new electronic barrier in a Chicago shipping canal and a berm across a wetland in Indiana are two projects in the Obama administration’s $US 51 million plan to keep Asian carp out of the Great Lakes, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports. Read more from Circle of Blue about the northward march – […]

Pennsylvania Encourages New Source of Water for Fracking – Discharge from Abandoned Mines

The state aims to turn an old problem into an asset. Photo courtesy of Winner Water Services Winner Water Services, a Battelle subsidiary, runs a treatment facility in Sykesville, Pennsylvania that removes iron from the water that flows through an abandoned coal mine. The company would like to sell the water to energy companies for […]

Federal Water Tap, July 22: A Local-Federal Fire Partnership

The consequences of severe fires last long after the flames have been snuffed out. Watersheds and reservoirs, in particular, are at risk from debris, erosion, and pipe-clogging ash, all of which degrade water quality and increase the cost of treatment. So the Interior Department and the Department of Agriculture announced a plan to work with […]