NEW YORK - September 8 - On September 10, Riverkeeper attorney Jay Simpson will testify before the New York City Council Environmental Protection Committee's emergency public hearing on natural gas drilling within the NYC Watershed. Riverkeeper applauds New York State's decision to conduct a supplemental review of gas drilling's environmental impacts throughout New York State; however the NYC Watershed, as the source of drinking water for half the state's population, is the state's greatest natural resource and warrants special protection.

TUCSON - September 5 - Today the Bush Administration took another step toward finalizing a commercial leasing program for oil shale on some of the nation's most pristine public lands and released a final programmatic environmental impact statement for commercial oil shale production on more than 2 million acres of public lands in Wyoming, Colorado and Utah.

TRENTON - September 5 - More than one thousand water bodies across New Jersey are too polluted for fishing or swimming and are supposed to be cleaned up to meet Clean Water Act requirements, according to the latest state report. These new figures show continuing water quality declines due to the state's inability to control sprawl or adequately fund clean water infrastructure, says Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER).

The Draft 2008 Water Quality Monitoring and Assessment Report posted this week paints a disturbing portrait of New Jersey waters:

SAN FRANCISCO - August 28 - Tomorrow, some 50,000 people will enjoy access to clean, safe tap water at Slow Food Nation thanks to Food & Water Watch. The consumer advocacy group is partnering with the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission to develop accessible and visible water stations at the festival. Water stations will serve filtered municipal tap water using state of the art technology from US Pure Water/The Water Store and will display visual materials to educate attendees about San Francisco's watershed and the campaign to promote tap water consumption.

OTTAWA - August 21 - The Council of Canadians is blasting the Federal government for suppressing an Environment Canada report that warns of increased water shortages across the country. The Council of Canadians is calling on the Government of Canada to implement a comprehensive National Water Policy, as there is currently no national strategy to address urgent water issues and no federal leadership to conserve and protect our water. The Federal Water Policy is over 20 years old and badly outdated.

WASHINGTON - August 21 - On Wednesday, Food & Water Watch joined St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay in providing 5,000 reusable drinking water bottles to City employees, banning the purchase of bottled water by city departments, and issuing a call for a federal trust fund for water infrastructure. The actions marked the City's leadership in a nationwide effort to provide safe and affordable drinking water through increased federal funding of public water systems.