Brett Walton

About 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

Entries by Brett Walton

Federal Water Tap, June 27: Water, Nuclear Oversight

June 27, 2011/in Federal Water Tap/by Brett Walton

Taking the EPA’s Authority Away A House committee approved a bill that would gut much of the EPA’s power to enforce clean water standards. The Clean Water Cooperative Federalism Act, approved by the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, would transfer regulatory power over water, wetlands and mountaintop mining to the states, Greenwire reports. The House leadership […]

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

circleofblue.org/author/brett

Federal Water Tap, June 20: Flood Effects, Nuclear Power, Dam Removal

June 20, 2011/in Federal Water Tap/by Brett Walton

Pollution from the Mississippi The deluge comes quickly, but the effects linger. The spring flood on the Mississippi River will produce the largest-ever hypoxic dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico, according to a forecast from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the U.S. Geological Survey and university scientists. The dead zone will cover a […]

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

circleofblue.org/author/brett

Federal Water Tap, June 13: Pipelines, Plans and Spring Snowmelt Problems

June 13, 2011/in Federal Water Tap/by Brett Walton

Nevada Water Pipeline The Bureau of Land Management has released a draft environmental impact statement for a proposed water pipeline from northern Nevada to the Las Vegas area. The Southern Nevada Water Authority plans to build the 285-mile pipeline if it can secure water rights and a right-of-way permission. The BLM is not involved in […]

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

circleofblue.org/author/brett

Federal Water Tap, June 6: Water Assessments

June 6, 2011/in Federal Water Tap/by Brett Walton

US Forest Service Maps its Waters For the past few years, through the marbled halls of government and the glass towers of multi-lateral development agencies, a conservationist buzz phrase has resonated: ecosystem services. The term designates the things nature does—like scrub the air and pollinate flowers—that benefit humans. For forests, one of the key functions […]

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

circleofblue.org/author/brett

Federal Water Tap, May 31: Regulations. Lots of Regulations.

May 31, 2011/in Federal Water Tap/by Brett Walton

Arizona’s Water-Energy Union On the Ropes On May 24, a House Natural Resources subcommittee held a hearing on the fate of one of the largest power plants in the West. The Environmental Protection Agency is considering air pollution regulations for Arizona’s Navajo Generating Station, a power plant that provides nearly all of the electricity to […]

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

circleofblue.org/author/brett

NASA Mission Measures How Ocean Salinity Affects Climate and Water Cycle

May 27, 2011/in Climate Change, Water News/by Brett Walton

Launching in June, the Aquarius satellite mission will improve scientific understanding of the global water cycle.

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

circleofblue.org/author/brett

Federal Water Tap, May 23: Tribal Rights, Energy Projects, and Clean Water

May 23, 2011/in Federal Water Tap/by Brett Walton

Tribal Water Rights Owing to the cut-at-all-costs political fervor in Washington, an $800 million water rights settlement between the federal government and American Indian tribes in the Southwest is unraveling, the Arizona Daily Sun reports. Arizona Republican Senator John Kyl has asked negotiators for the more than 30 participating parties to lower the cost of […]

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

circleofblue.org/author/brett

U.S. Conservation Group Releases Top 10 ‘Endangered Rivers’ Report

May 19, 2011/in Mining, North America, Water News/by Brett Walton

American Rivers’ annual list highlights waterways with an immediate threat to their ecosystems.

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

circleofblue.org/author/brett

Waiting on High Waters — Louisiana Prepares for the Mississippi Flood (Updated 5/16)

May 16, 2011/in North America, Water News/by Brett Walton

Emergency spillways will be used to shepherd the river to the sea.

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

circleofblue.org/author/brett

Federal Water Tap, May 16: Hydropower and Fracking

May 16, 2011/in Federal Water Tap/by Brett Walton

Central Utah Project The government is looking to lease. The Department of the Interior is signing away “power privilege”—the right for a non-federal entity to use a federal project to generate electricity. The federal project in this case is the Spanish Fork Flow Control Structures, part of the Bureau of Reclamation’s Central Utah Project. According […]

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

circleofblue.org/author/brett

Federal Water Tap, May 9: Follow the Money

May 9, 2011/in Federal Water Tap/by Brett Walton

Fool Me Once, Shame on You. Fool Me Twice… Before the Deepwater Horizon blowout, BP was involved in another oil spill in Alaska. In 2006, a leak in a corroded transit line from Prudhoe Bay on the state’s North Slope spilled more than 200,000 gallons of crude oil. According to a Justice Department consent decree […]

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

circleofblue.org/author/brett

The Price of Water 2011: Prices Rise an Average of 9 Percent in Major U.S. Cities

May 5, 2011/in California, California Drought, North America, Water News, Water Pricing/by Brett Walton

Because of costlier inputs and infrastructure replacement, rate experts predict prices will only go higher.

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

circleofblue.org/author/brett

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About Brett Walton

Entries by Brett Walton