Archive for the Policy & Politics Category
Drought Lessons Revisited
California finds itself, once again, in the unenviable position of facing a potentially serious drought, much as it did less than a decade ago. With a dry winter and warmer than average temperatures early in the spring, water was consumed at a higher than normal rate, and the snowpack that typically melts and flows to increase water supplies in rivers and reservoirs was quickly absorbed into the earth. These circumstances prompted Gov. Gavin Newsom to declare a drought emergency in two counties in April. By May, officials reported that “water supplies have been reduced by more than 500,000 acre-feet – […]
Waste Not Want Not
Infrastructure frequently makes headlines; we read stories about crumbling roads and bridges, high hazard dams, airport capacity problems, and perhaps most alarming, stories about water. Water is essential for every facet of life on the planet. It sustains us all so issues of sustainability are of great consequence. Climate change’s impact on consistent precipitation paired with increased population and demand make sustainability far more difficult to achieve. As water availability has become less certain, the importance of dealing with other clear-cut issues of waste that threaten water is glaring. Historically underfunded, the country’s infrastructure systems are severely outdated and overextended […]
Pittsburgh Infrastructure
Infrastructure is on the minds of people across the nation from local communities to the national level. President Biden has made it a priority for his administration as across the nation, hundreds of cities are facing aging infrastructure issues. Resolving these issues will not be cheap. Lumped into the broad category of infrastructure are water systems, for both drinking and sewage. Pittsburgh is just one of the hundreds of cities nationwide facing aging water systems that can no longer provide reliable and safe service to their nearly 300,000 customers. At the beginning of May, the Pittsburgh Water and Sewer Authority […]
Expanding the Use of ASR at Lake Okeechobee
Increased water insecurity is driving creativity on the preservation front. Mitigation efforts range from individual commitments to reduce water consumption (through the use of water efficient appliances, faucets, toilets, shower heads, and reduced irrigation), to local water reduction mandates, to large-scale water reuse projects and technologies. One technology that has been employed for 40 years is Aquifer Storage and Recovery (ASR), also known as deep injection wells. ASR is the injection of surface water supplies into an aquifer for later recovery and use, such as in times of drought. Florida has used such technology for as long as it has […]
Decreased Water Flow Projected to Colorado River Basin
Colorado is no stranger to drought especially as the current one is closing in on 20 years with no trajectory change in sight. The drought is the second worst 20-year period in the past 1,200 years, according to Bradley Udall, a senior climate and water scientist at Colorado State University’s Colorado Water Center. This summer/fall alone had some of the hottest spells on record and the worst wildfire season ever. “Aridification” is what Udall formally calls the situation that is currently occurring in the western U.S. But perhaps more accurately, he calls it hot drought which is heat-induced lack of […]