Entries by Brett Walton

Federal Water Tap, June 6: Water Assessments

US Forest Service Maps its Waters For the past few years, through the marbled halls of government and the glass towers of multi-lateral development agencies, a conservationist buzz phrase has resonated: ecosystem services. The term designates the things nature does—like scrub the air and pollinate flowers—that benefit humans. For forests, one of the key functions […]

Federal Water Tap, May 31: Regulations. Lots of Regulations.

Arizona’s Water-Energy Union On the Ropes On May 24, a House Natural Resources subcommittee held a hearing on the fate of one of the largest power plants in the West. The Environmental Protection Agency is considering air pollution regulations for Arizona’s Navajo Generating Station, a power plant that provides nearly all of the electricity to […]

NASA Mission Measures How Ocean Salinity Affects Climate and Water Cycle

Launching in June, the Aquarius satellite mission will improve scientific understanding of the global water cycle.

Federal Water Tap, May 23: Tribal Rights, Energy Projects, and Clean Water

Tribal Water Rights Owing to the cut-at-all-costs political fervor in Washington, an $800 million water rights settlement between the federal government and American Indian tribes in the Southwest is unraveling, the Arizona Daily Sun reports. Arizona Republican Senator John Kyl has asked negotiators for the more than 30 participating parties to lower the cost of […]

U.S. Conservation Group Releases Top 10 ‘Endangered Rivers’ Report

American Rivers’ annual list highlights waterways with an immediate threat to their ecosystems.

Waiting on High Waters — Louisiana Prepares for the Mississippi Flood (Updated 5/16)

Emergency spillways will be used to shepherd the river to the sea.

Federal Water Tap, May 16: Hydropower and Fracking

Central Utah Project The government is looking to lease. The Department of the Interior is signing away “power privilege”—the right for a non-federal entity to use a federal project to generate electricity. The federal project in this case is the Spanish Fork Flow Control Structures, part of the Bureau of Reclamation’s Central Utah Project. According […]

Federal Water Tap, May 9: Follow the Money

Fool Me Once, Shame on You. Fool Me Twice… Before the Deepwater Horizon blowout, BP was involved in another oil spill in Alaska. In 2006, a leak in a corroded transit line from Prudhoe Bay on the state’s North Slope spilled more than 200,000 gallons of crude oil. According to a Justice Department consent decree […]

The Price of Water 2011: Prices Rise an Average of 9 Percent in Major U.S. Cities

Because of costlier inputs and infrastructure replacement, rate experts predict prices will only go higher.

South of the Border—Second Environmental Review of Tar Sands Pipeline Leaves Many Groups Unsatisfied

Residents and lawmakers in Nebraska mull their options for protecting key groundwater sources.

Federal Water Tap, May 2: Clean Water

The President’s Water Plan The Obama Administration announced a clean water strategy. Among the recommendations is a proposal to expand the number of rivers and streams that fall under the regulatory domain of the Clean Water Act. There is a 60-day public comment period. Comments can be emailed to owdocket@epa.gov, with “EPA-HQ-OW-2011-0409” in the subject […]

Federal Water Tap, April 25: Pipelines and Power Plants

The Tar Sands Might Be Moving to Texas The U.S. Department of State released a supplemental environmental impact statement (EIS) for the proposed Keystone XL pipeline, which would bring oil from Canada’s tar sands to refineries in Texas. An EIS for the 1,710 mile, 36-inch-diameter pipeline was completed last year. The supplement addresses public concerns, […]