Tag: water

  • $1 Trillion Bipartisan Spending Bill Mixed Bag for Water Programs

    By Brett Walton After a period of budget gloom, the $1 trillion spending bill approved by the House and Senate last week brought a little cheer to water programs, which fared relatively well. Some of the harshest sequestration cuts have been restored. [caption id="attachment_318557" align="alignnone" width="500"] Among the programs that were saved from budget cuts include the…

  • Gov. Cuomo, Go Big on Clean Water Investments

    With only three days until Gov. Cuomo releases his 2014 budget plan, the Albany Times Union has this advice: Invest in clean water, Governor. Riverkeeper couldn’t agree more. The Governor’s own environmental agency calls our failure to invest adequately in water infrastructure a “gathering storm” and a “crisis.” The Times Union warns that we are looking more and…

  • Drought Emergency Declared in California as Residents Urge Halt to Fracking

    The state of California formally declared a drought emergency today due to a lack of winter rainfall and water reserves at only 20 percent of normal levels. This is the third year of dry conditions across California, which poses a threat to the state’s economy and environment. [caption id="attachment_318398" align="alignnone" width="500"] In addition to concerns about having…

  • Dangers of Water Privatization Emerge In the Wake of West Virginia’s Chemical Spill

    By Matt Wasson It took a few days after a state of emergency was declared across nine West Virginia counties and one-sixth of the state’s population was told not to drink or bathe using their tap water for the national news media to discover a story of national importance occurring in the political backwaters of Appalachia. [caption id=”attachment_318240″ align=”alignnone”…

  • Top 10 Priority Areas in Marine Conservation

    By Dr. Elizabeth Selig If you walk on the beach and look out at your nearest stretch of the global ocean, it can be hard to fathom the incredible diversity that lies beneath the waves. Our oceans contain an estimated 2.2 million species, the vast majority of which have never been seen or described by…