Earlier this month, Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards declared a state of emergency in response to the state’s rapidly disappearing coastline. The state of emergency coincides with the Louisiana Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority approving a new draft of the state’s 50-year master plan to battle the quickly receding coastline. “Decades of saltwater intrusion, subsidence and rising sea levels have made the Louisiana coast the nation’s most rapidly deteriorating shoreline. It loses the equivalent of one football field of land every hour,” a recent NPR article explained.[1] According to the declaration, if no further action is taken, an additional 2,250 […]

On April 7, 2017, Governor Jerry Brown declared the drought officially over, rescinding the emergency order he signed in 2014. As the worst drought to ever hit the region in 1,200 years has come and gone, Brown reminded Californians that the next drought could be around the corner and that ‘conservation must remain a way of life’.[1] Just as other catastrophic events lead to policy and regulatory changes, the brutal conditions between 2012 and 2016 are already leaving a legacy, changing the way Californians use, think, and prioritize water for generations to come. “There’s no question that we’ll be better […]

At the end of February, Denver Water along with state and federal officials renewed the “Forests to Faucets” partnership with a reinvestment of $33 million. The money used to renew the project will help prevent wildfires and soil erosion, which directly affects water quality of natural waterways. Federal officials estimate that 60 million Americans rely on drinking water, where water quality is directly influenced by the health of national forests and grasslands. Municipal water providers are often proactively involved in forest health because of their direct link to water quality. Forests that are prone to beetle damage can result in […]

Earlier this month, Vermont’s two U.S. Senators – Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., and Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., introduced a 10 year, $1 trillion proposal to rebuild the nation’s crumbling infrastructure. Titled Blueprint to Rebuild America’s Infrastructure, the proposal calls for investments in numerous high priority areas with national water resiliency as a top concern. Over $100 million of the proposed funding is occupied by wide-scale water and sewer upgrades. [1][2] With an estimated 240,000 water main breaks per year in the U.S. and after the incident seen in Flint, Michigan, investments in sustainable and resilient water and wastewater infrastructure have come to national attention. […]

Anne Castle, a senior fellow for the University of Colorado and lead researcher for the Colorado River Future Project, has issued a warning to the new Presidential Administration: the Colorado River cannot meet the current needs of 35 million westerners and cuts likely must be made. [1] According to the team’s research, and confirmed by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, the new administration could be faced with having to order the first-ever water shortage declaration. This would mean significant reductions in deliveries to Arizona, Nevada, New Mexico, and California. Without implementing any restrictions or hardline conservation methods, federal models have […]