water

Shell Stakes Claim on Yampa River

The race to secure water for oil shale has moved to the Yampa River, one of the last few streams in the West with liquid to spare.

Shell Oil Co. has staked a new claim on the scenic waterway, seeking millions of gallons of H20 to support future plans for oil shale, said spokesman Tracy Boyd.

"This would be one of the more substantial water rights we're accumulating," Boyd said. The company has a wide array of water rights in the Colorado Basin, which includes the Yampa and White rivers.

Posted in oil shale, water

Murky Waters: Why Privatization Is Not the Solution to Fixing America’s Aging Water Infrastructure Systems

Think of the last time you turned on a tap while washing dishes, brushing your teeth or grabbing a glass of water. If you're like most people, it probably doesn't stand out as a momentous experience. That's because most of us don't give much thought to this resource that we tend to take for granted. But our water service is becoming less reliable as the infrastructure that delivers it to us falls apart and private companies threaten to take it over for their own financial gain.

Posted in privatization, water

Idaho Miners Won't Have to Restore Groundwater

BOISE, Idaho - Monsanto Co., Agrium Inc., and J.R. Simplot Co. will be able to mine phosphate without being forced to restore groundwater beneath their operations to its natural condition, according to a new rule awaiting approval by the 2009 Legislature.

The rule is backed by industry but opposed by environmentalists including the Greater Yellowstone Coalition and Idaho Conservation League, who say it gives mining companies near the Idaho-Wyoming border license to pollute forever.

Posted in Environment, mining, water, water quality

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 22, 2008
10:21 AM

CONTACT: American Rivers
Amy Kober, American Rivers, (206) 898-3864

Bureau of Reclamation Releases Final Environmental Impact Statement on the Black Rock Dam Proposal

American Rivers responds with a call for less risky alternatives

Statement by Michael Garrity, Washington conservation director for American Rivers

WASHINGTON - December 22 - The final federal Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) on the Black Rock dam proposal was released today by the U.S. Department of the Interior Bureau of Reclamation. According to the EIS, none of the alternatives evaluated for the Storage Study proved economically justifiable based on the costs and benefits measured. The cost of the Black Rock dam proposal is estimated to range from $4.95 to $7.73 billion, with a probable cost of $5.69 billion, plus annual operating and maintenance of $60.2 million.

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American Rivers is the only national organization standing up for healthy rivers so our communities can thrive. Through national advocacy, innovative solutions and our growing network of strategic partners, we protect and promote our rivers as valuable assets that are vital to our health, safety and quality of life.

Founded in 1973, American Rivers has more than 65,000 members and supporters nationwide, with offices in Washington, DC and the Mid-Atlantic, Northeast, Midwest, Southeast, California and Northwest regions.

American Rivers Links:

Posted in Environment, water, water quality

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 17, 2008
2:20 PM

CONTACT: American Rivers
Betsy Otto, American Rivers, 202-347-7550
Amy Kober, American Rivers, 206-898-3864 or 206-213-0330 x23

Green Infrastructure Projects in 25 States Would Create Jobs, Stimulate Economy

Interest in Water Management Blossoms

Brock Dolman signs off his e-mails this way: "Mostly Water, Brock."

He considers storm water a crop to harvest just like sugar snap peas.

He talks about how sediment running off a landscape into a creek affects salmon as well as the neighbors, and mends creeks eroded by water dumped from culverts with plugs of fir branches thinned from overgrown forests.

Posted in Environment, water

Highest US Court Ponders Power Plants and Fish Protection

WASHINGTON, DC, December 4, 2008 (ENS) - The U.S. Supreme Court is wrestling with the difficulty of valuing fish and aquatic organisms with little or no commercial worth, hearing arguments in a legal dispute over what steps older power plants should take to limit water use and minimize environmental harm.

In oral arguements Tuesday, the Bush administration urged the court to allow federal regulators to use cost-benefit analysis when crafting such requirements - a view rejected by a lower court last year.

Posted in conservation, pollution, water

'2025' Report: A World of Resource Strife

A new report by the National Intelligence Council (NIC) on the emerging strategic landscape, "Global Trends 2025," has attracted worldwide attention because it forecasts a future environment in which the United States wields less power than it does today and must contend with a constellation of other, newly ambitious great powers.

Posted in Energy, resource wars, water

Experts: Half World Faces Water Shortage by 2080

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia - Half the world's population could face a shortage of clean water by 2080 because of climate change, experts warned Tuesday.

Wong Poh Poh, a professor at the National University of Singapore, told a regional conference that global warming was disrupting water flow patterns and increasing the severity of floods, droughts and storms _ all of which reduce the availability of drinking water.

Posted in water

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 6, 2008
3:47 PM

CONTACT: American Rivers
Andrew Fahlund, American Rivers, 202-347-7550
Amy Kober, American Rivers, 206-213-0330 x23

Clean Water Must be Top Priority for New Administration and Congress

With infrastructure crumbling and communities at risk, clean water must be top priority for new Administration and Congress

American Rivers outlines top actions for water

WASHINGTON - November 6 - With the nation's sewer systems, pipes, and levees outdated and crumbling, and with global warming threatening communities with more intense floods and droughts, water infrastructure must be a top priority for the Obama Administration and the 111th Congress, American Rivers said today.

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