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Tue, 2011-11-22 14:08 — mdmcdonald
This working group is focused on discussions about US - Water.

The mission of this working group is to focus on discussions about US - Water.

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Exploring Solutions to Growing Water Shortages

Fri, 2012-10-05 00:01 — Kathy Gilbeaux

submitted by Samuel Bendett

Homeland Security News Wire - September 25, 2012

Most Americans do not pay much attention to how much water they use when they take a shower or when they water the grass, but Michael Sullivan, a global executive at IBM thinks this will change.

“Water is a finite resource,” Sullivan told the panel. “What we’re dealing with is that there’s a finite supply, and as the population grows and industry grows, we’re stressing that finite supply.”

(READ COMPLETE ARTICLE)

Desalination Losing Ground as a Solution to California’s Chronic Water Shortage

Thu, 2012-10-04 13:13 — Kathy Gilbeaux

submitted by Samuel Bendett

Homeland Security News Wire - September 26, 2012

According to the July 2011 census, more than thirty-seven million people live in the state of California, increasing the pressure on the state’s water sources. Desalinating sea water as a solution to the scarcity of fresh water is not a new technology — it has been around for more than four decades — but it has more recently been considered as a way to address California’s chronic, and growing, water shortage.

The Seattle Times reports that the idea has run into problems, and rising construction costs, energy requirements for running desalination plants, and legal challenges have limited desalination in California to only one plant producing drinking water.

(READ COMPLETE ARTICLE)

Industry Money and Questionable Ethics Contaminate UT Austin Fracking Study

Mon, 2012-07-30 22:53 — Kathy Gilbeaux

Scientific American - by David Wogan - July 24, 2012

Remember that study out of The University of Texas last February that concluded there wasn’t a direct link between fracking and groundwater contamination? It caught flack for seeming to being too easy on the fracking industry by suggesting that there wasn’t a direct link between cracking shale and groundwater contamination. The study was great news for an industry fighting a PR battle over a politically-charged issue.

However, financial ties to the fracking industry were never mentioned in all of the announcements about the study, and not known until a new study put out Monday by the Public Accountability Initiative. The study’s leader, Dr. Charles “Chip” Groat has significant financial ties to the fracking industry, to the tune of a couple of million dollars.

(READ COMPLETE ARTICLE)

Drought Puts Food at Risk, U.S. Warns

Fri, 2012-07-20 10:12 — Maeryn Obley

Rodney Byars, center, walked ahead of his brother, Rich, through a field of dead and stalled corn this week in Geff, Ill. Image: Rodney Byars, center, walked ahead of his brother, Rich, through a field of dead and stalled corn this week in Geff, Ill.

nytimes.com - Peter Baker - July 18th, 2012

The Obama administration warned Wednesday that food supplies were at risk from the worsening drought afflicting more than half of the country and called on Congress to revive lapsed disaster aid programs.

President Obama reviewed the situation with Tom Vilsack, the agriculture secretary, who called it “the most serious situation” in about 25 years and added that he was praying for rain.

“I get on my knees every day, and I’m saying an extra prayer now,” Mr. Vilsack told reporters at the White House after his discussions with Mr. Obama.

(VIEW COMPLETE ARTICLE)

Natural Resources Defense Council

Tue, 2012-07-10 22:00 — Kathy Gilbeaux

nrdc.org

Executive Overview

NRDC's annual analysis of water quality and public notification data at coastal U.S. beaches found that the number of beach closing and advisory days in 2011 reached the third-highest level in the 22-year history of our report, totaling 23,481 days (a 3% decrease from 2010). More than two-thirds of closings and advisories were issued because bacteria levels in beachwater exceeded public health standards, indicating the presence of human or animal waste in the water. The portion of all monitoring samples that exceeded national recommended health standards for designated beach areas remained stable at 8% in 2011, compared with 8% in 2010 and 7% for the four previous years. In addition, the number of beaches monitored in 2011 increased slightly (2%) from a five-year low in 2010. The largest known source of pollution was stormwater runoff (47%, compared with 36% last year). The 2011 results confirm that our nation's beaches continue to experience significant water pollution that puts swimmers and local economies at risk.

(READ COMPLETE ARTICLE)

A Record: Half of U.S. Land Area is in Various Stages of Drought

Tue, 2012-07-10 12:25 — Kathy Gilbeaux

Drought has been especially hard in the U.S. southwest // Source: tamu.edu

submitted by Samuel Bendett

Homeland Security News Wire - July 6, 2012

Analysis of the latest drought monitor data revealed that 46.84 percent of the U.S. land area is in various stages of drought, up from 42.8 percent a week ago; previous records were 45.87 percent in drought on 26 August 2003, and 45.64 percent on 10 September 2002; looking only at the forty-eight contiguous states, 55.96 percent of the country’s land area is in moderate drought or worse — also the highest percentage on record

More of the United States is in moderate drought or worse than at any other time in the 12-year history of the U.S. Drought Monitor, officials from the National Drought Mitigation Center at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln said the other day.

(READ COMPLETE ARTICLE)

AquaSel, A Non-Thermal Brine Concentrator (NTBC)

Mon, 2012-07-09 00:50 — Maeryn Obley

NTBC 3D renderingImage: NTBC 3D rendering

submitted by Albert Gomez

ge-energy.com

GE’s AquaSel system is breakthrough non-thermal desalination technology with extremely high water recovery. It originates from GE’s leading expertise in desalination and zero liquid discharge technologies plus significant research and development.

(VISIT WEBSITE)

Plastics pollution study will be conducted on Great Lakes

Mon, 2012-06-25 17:32 — Corey Watts

submitted by Albert Gomez

www.plasticstoday.com - by Heather Caliendo - June 22nd, 2012

While much talk and discussion centers on plastic waste in the Pacific gyre, a new study will be conducted this summer on the Great Lakes, including Lake Erie.

This study will assess for the first time the potential effect plastic pollution has on these bodies of water. It's expected to provide data regarding the levels of discarded plastics from trash to tiny particles found in the lakes, as well as examine their impact on food supplies, according to an article on Cleveland.com.

(READ COMPLETE ARTICLE)

Injection Wells: The Poison Beneath Us

Fri, 2012-06-22 20:00 — Kathy Gilbeaux

      

A class 2 brine disposal well in western Louisiana near the Texas border. The well sat by the side of the road, without restricted access. (Abrahm Lustgarten/ProPublica)

propublica.org - by Abrahm Lustgarten - June 21, 2012

Over the past several decades, U.S. industries have injected more than 30 trillion gallons of toxic liquid deep into the earth, using broad expanses of the nation's geology as an invisible dumping ground.

No company would be allowed to pour such dangerous chemicals into the rivers or onto the soil. But until recently, scientists and environmental officials have assumed that deep layers of rock beneath the earth would safely entomb the waste for millennia.

There are growing signs they were mistaken.

(READ COMPLETE ARTICLE)

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Power Plant Mercury Emissions Poisoning the Great Lakes

Mon, 2012-06-11 21:36 — Kathy Gilbeaux

Poisoning the Great Lakes: Mercury Emissions from Coal-Fired Power Plants In the Great Lakes Region (54 page .PDF file)
http://www.nrdc.org/air/files/poisoning-the-great-lakes.pdf

switchboard.nrdc.org - Thom Cmar's Blog - June 8, 2012

This week we released a report, Poisoning the Great Lakes: Mercury Emissions from Coal Fired Power Plants in the Great Lakes Region, which highlights the impacts of mercury emissions from Great Lakes power plants on the people, fish, birds, and wildlife of our region.  EPA recently issued new nationwide Mercury and Air Toxics Standards that require power plants to cut their mercury emissions by 90% on average, as well as to make similar cuts to their emissions of arsenic, lead, acid gases, and other toxic air pollution.  

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