The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency estimated in 2023 that the nation’s water utilities need to spend $625 billion on infrastructure over the next 20 years. Two-thirds of that total is for water transmission and distribution – the pipes, in other words. Water mains are a city’s hidden circulatory system. In large metro areas they snake […]
Author Archives: Brett Walton
Brett writes about agriculture, energy, infrastructure, and the politics and economics of water in the United States. He also writes the Federal Water Tap, Circle of Blue’s weekly digest of U.S. government water news. He is the winner of two Society of Environmental Journalists reporting awards, one of the top honors in American environmental journalism: first place for explanatory reporting for a series on septic system pollution in the United States(2016) and third place for beat reporting in a small market (2014). He received the Sierra Club's Distinguished Service Award in 2018. Brett lives in Seattle, where he hikes the mountains and bakes pies. Contact Brett Walton
