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Harvesting the Rain: An Old Idea Takes on New Life

Rain barrel. (flickr photo by chumworth)

As Californians grapple with ways to save water in this third consecutive dry year, Jerry Block has taken an extreme path.

Last month, the retired medical doctor had four gravity-fed, 5,000-gallon polyethylene water tanks installed on his Monte Sereno property. The system will harvest raindrops to provide irrigation for an extensive food garden.

Block sees it as a patriotic as well as an environmental statement.

Posted in conservation, water

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 6, 2009
4:47 PM

CONTACT: American Rivers
Amy Kober, 206-213-0330 x23

Washington D.C. Water Main Break Is Example of National Water Infrastructure Problems

American Rivers is securing funding and providing 21st century solutions to nation’s cities

WASHINGTON - May 6 - The water main break that flooded southern Adams Morgan is an example of broader water infrastructure problems nationwide, American Rivers said today.

"Unfortunately, this disaster is part of a larger trend," said Rebecca Wodder, president of American Rivers. "Our nation's water infrastructure is in a serious state of disrepair. Whether it is a water main break, a failing levee, or an unsafe dam, outdated infrastructure puts lives, property, and clean water at risk."

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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 water

EPA Seeks Rules for Utilities' Polluted Runoff

A Finnish paper factory. Eric Schaeffer, who heads the Environmental Integrity Project, an advocacy group, said the agency must take action to avoid solving \"one environmental problem by creating another.\"(AFP/File/Olivier Morin)

Faced with new evidence that utilities across the country are dumping toxic sludge into waterways, the Environmental Protection Agency is moving to impose new restrictions on the level of contaminants power plants can discharge.

Posted in epa, pollution, water

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 29, 2009
5:00 PM

CONTACT: American Rivers
Katie Swartz, American Rivers, 419-936-3759
Angela Dicianno, American Rivers, 202-243-7077

Toledo City Council Votes for Clean Water

American Rivers applauds Council for promotion of green infrastructure

TOLEDO, Ohio - April 29 - American Rivers today applauded the Toledo City Council for taking a major step toward protecting clean water. The Council voted last night to allow the use of 21st century green infrastructure solutions in projects located within the City. The City of Toledo will now allow pervious pavement as an eligible alternative for required off-street parking, including parking lots, and natural water filtration with native plants, including rain gardens, as an alternative to current landscape requirements in parking lot islands.

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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 water

Corporate Think Tank Dives into Water Policy

In May 2008, the major law firm Hunton & Williams launched the Water Policy Institute (WPI), a think tank-esque, industry-supported consortium formed "to address water supply, quality and use issues,

Posted in privatization, water

Water Controversies Boil Over

The low water level of the San Luis Reservoir served as the backdrop for a rally of farmers and farmworkers on April 17, the end of their four-day march through the Central Valley from Mendota to bring attention to the California water crisis and environmental problems in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. The third year of drought is expected to bring more job loss and rising food prices. (DAVID McNEW/Getty Images) Any doubt that California is hip-deep in an epic struggle for water was put to rest earlier this month when an estimated 10,000 farmers and farmworkers marched 50 miles across the gasping San Joaquin Valley.

The goal was to heighten awareness about their water shortage, brought about by a third year of drought in California and environmental problems in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. Their alliance is surprising, given a long history of acrimony between farm owners and laborers. It demonstrates the shifting alliances and simmering tensions that emerge when people fight over water.

Posted in water

An Unearthed Resource: Gas Drilling in Northeast Raises Health and Environmental Concerns Among Residents

Ron Carter, a resident of Dimock Township, Penn., stands at the end of his property line where a truck hauls away water used to collect natural gas in the area. (photo: Evan Falk/The Ithacan)

The road leading to Ron Carter’s trailer is made of red clay that melts away a little every time it rains. Truck traffic has created an obstacle course of tall divots that punch at the bottom of cars, rattling spines and scraping mufflers. Some lawns along the way host bathtubs full of garbage or rusty drums belching out dark smoke. Others have drill pads and cranes that stab 200 feet into the air. This is Dimock Township, the speck on Pennsylvania’s map that just became ground zero for America’s energy future.

Posted in drilling, Energy, Environment, gas, water, water quality

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 22, 2009
11:03 AM

CONTACT: Food & Water Watch
Denise Hughes, 917-549-2621, or
Denise@creative-connectors.com

Maude Barlow Addresses UN General Assembly

UNITED NATIONS - April 22 - Food & Water Watch Board Chair Maude Barlow addressed the United Nations General Assembly today to support the Bolivian call for an annual "International Mother Earth Day" celebration. Her speech was a call to action to implement the human right to water and abandon the "hard path" of large-scale technology  - dams, diversion and desalination  - in favor of the "soft path" of conservation, rainwater and storm water harvesting, recycling, alternative energy use, municipal infrastructure investment and local, sustainable food production.

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Food & Water Watch is a nonprofit consumer organization that works to ensure clean water and safe food. We challenge the corporate control and abuse of our food and water resources by empowering people to take action and by transforming the public consciousness about what we eat and drink.
Food & Water Watch Links:
Posted in Environment, Sustainability, water

Palestinian Water Crisis Deepens

A Palestinian girl fills a bottle with water from a public tap in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip April 20, 2009. Israelis have access to more than four times more water than do Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, the World Bank said in a report on Monday. It said that a 1995 interim peace accord that governs the allocation of water has proven inadequate, as the Palestinian Authority has been fragmented by the last eight years of fighting while Israel has improved its own water facilities. (REUTERS/Ibraheem Abu Mustafa)

A World Bank report blames Palestinian mismanagement and Israeli restrictions for severe water shortages in Palestinian areas.

Palestinians get only a quarter of the water Israelis have access to.

The existing problems effect not just daily supply but the development of water resources, water uses and wastewater management.

"Water related humanitarian crisis are in fact chronic in Gaza and parts of the West Bank," says the report.

Posted in water, water quality, Israel/Palestine

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 16, 2009
4:30 PM

CONTACT: Food & Water Watch
Kate Fried, Food & Water Watch (202) 683-2500

Food & Water Watch Highlights Importance of Clean, Affordable Water for All on Earth Day

WASHINGTON - April 16 - Food & Water Watch, a national consumer advocacy group based in Washington, D.C., will co-sponsor a series of events in observance of Earth Day to draw attention to the importance of clean, affordable public water systems and the social and environmental benefits of choosing tap water over bottled water. The events will take place in Washington, D.C.; New York, N.Y.; San Diego, Calif. and Waterville, Maine, among other cities.

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Food & Water Watch is a nonprofit consumer organization that works to ensure clean water and safe food. We challenge the corporate control and abuse of our food and water resources by empowering people to take action and by transforming the public consciousness about what we eat and drink.
Food & Water Watch Links:
Posted in water
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