U.S. dam safety frameworks have helped to prevent major calamities, but the May collapse of the 95-year-old Edenville Dam in Michigan illustrates that key failure risks remain—often involving many causes, according to a study of dam safety risk assessments by Oak Ridge National Laboratory.
Ever since it became clear the COVID-19 pandemic would send the U.S. economy into a tailspin, there’s been lots of talk about using government stimulus funds to create clean energy jobs rather than propping up fossil fuel companies whose business model is fueling the climate crisis.
The House yesterday cleared a sweeping public lands package to be signed into law — a historic achievement that could have long-standing political repercussions in both parties and chambers.
The House’s 310-107 passage of the “Great American Outdoors Act” came nearly a month after the Senate advanced its version, 73-25.
Washington has joined New York, California, and 17 other states plus the District of Columbia in filing a lawsuit to prevent the Trump Administration’s proposal to change the Clean Water Act.
Attorneys general in 20 states and the District of Columbia sued the Trump administration on Tuesday, alleging that new federal rules undermine their ability to protect rivers, lakes and streams within their borders.
The Imperial Irrigation District has won the battle over water rights in Imperial County.
The Fourth Appellate District Court of Appeals ruled a split decision Thursday. The lawsuit, filed by the local farmers and former IID Director Michael Abatti.
Joel Ackerknecht manages about 3,500 acres of land north and west of Bakersfield and south of Arvin for DM Camp and Sons, a more than 80-year-old Kern County farming operation that grows a variety of specialty crops, including wine grapes, nuts and sweet potatoes.
A combination of expanding global demand for California produce, stretched water resources, receding ground water levels and increasing government regulations caused Ackerknecht to search for ways to do more with less.
California water regulators announced Monday they planned to cut the level at which water suppliers must sample for and report detections of the chemical perchlorate, which has been linked to thyroid conditions.
Water suppliers in California currently must test for perchlorate in drinking water down to 4 parts per billion. The State Water Resources Control Board said it plans to cut that level to 2 parts per billion and then again to 1 part per billion in 2024.
In accordance with deadlines set in 2018 legislation, the California State Water Resources Control Board has adopted a definition for “microplastics” that will be used in testing of drinking water for microplastics. The Board was required, on or before July 1, 2020, to adopt a definition of microplastics in drinking water and, on or before July 1, 2021, will be required to adopt requirements for testing and reporting on microplastics in drinking water, among other things. While this development is currently focused on the testing of drinking water in California, the Board and others expect that it will form the basis of future efforts to quantify and address microplastics in the environment.
Four in five Americans served by a water utility (77 percent) say the quality of their tap water is excellent or good, although Black and Hispanic respondents report a lower level of satisfaction, according to a survey conducted by Morning Consult on behalf of the American Water Works Association.
