Entries by Brett Walton

The Stream, June 7: 100,000 North Alabama Residents Told Not to Drink Tap Water

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The Global Rundown New EPA health standard prompts Alabama water authority to warn against drinking its tap water. Global hydropower capacity and generation increased in 2015. Flint’s water problems are much broader than lead pipes. Fishermen in Quebec caught an invasive Asian carp species in the St. Lawrence River. Residents in the San Francisco Bay […]

Federal Water Tap, June 6: Oil Train Derails in Columbia River Gorge

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The Rundown EPA investigators are on the scene of an oil train derailment on the Oregon side of the Columbia River, finding oil seeping into the water and damage to the town of Mosier’s wastewater system. The U.S. Supreme Court rules in favor of property owners in a Clean Water Act challenge. The U.S. Geological […]

USGS Map Reveals Long-Term Changes in America’s Groundwater Quality

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Further studies needed to explain contamination trends. By Brett Walton, Circle of Blue Chloride and nitrate concentrations are rising and arsenic levels are holding steady or falling. Those are two of the conclusions from a U.S. Geological Survey assessment of changes in the nation’s groundwater quality in the last two decades. The federal science agency […]

Congress Weighs Help To Pay Escalating Household Water Bills

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Midwest lawmakers propose new direction for water affordability. By Brett Walton, Circle of Blue Responding to a string of contamination and drinking water emergencies in the Great Lakes region, a group of lawmakers is leading a campaign in Congress to make it easier for poor people to gain access to clean and affordable drinking water. […]

Federal Water Tap, May 31: House Energy Bill Becomes Trojan Horse for California Drought Legislation

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The Rundown House Republicans slip California water bill into energy policy act. They also pass a bill loosening clean water rules in the name of Zika virus protection. An Indian water rights settlement is introduced in the Senate. A Senate Democrat wants to tax offshore corporate profits and use the money to fund water infrastructure. […]

Lake Mead Record Low Reflects Changing American West

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In drier conditions, the desire to use more water confronts the need to use less. By Brett Walton Circle of Blue Nervous investors, concerned about their nest eggs, will check the financial markets. Is the New York Stock Exchange up? What direction is the NASDAQ moving? For people living in the American Southwest, water levels […]

Lake Mead Drops But Hoover Dam Powers On

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New investments expand the dam’s generating range. By Brett Walton, Circle of Blue Six years ago, at the end of the summer of 2010, federal Bureau of Reclamation officials worried that Hoover Dam, the biggest hydropower enterprise in the Southwest, might soon go dark. Water levels in Lake Mead, the dam’s energy source, were falling, […]

Federal Water Tap, May 23: U.S. Senators Worry About Local Water Problems

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The Rundown Senator letters support the idea that politics and water are local. A House committee introduces a big water resources bill. The EPA revises the drinking water health standard for a nonstick chemical. The Supreme Court rejects an Exxon groundwater contamination appeal. The House Natural Resources Committee discusses three water settlements. The USGS studies […]

Texas Water Board Approves $US 62 Billion Water Plan

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Plan guides state response to drought. By Brett Walton, Circle of Blue The Texas Water Development Board approved on Thursday the newest edition of the state water plan, a document that includes $US 62 billion in capital projects over 50 years to respond to the threat of water shortages. Every five years, Texas draws up […]

Price of Water 2016: Up 5 Percent in 30 Major U.S. Cities; 48 Percent Increase Since 2010

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Brett WaltonBrett 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 […]

Infographic: Average U.S. Household Water Use and Bills, 2015-16

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High prices do not necessarily mean high bills.

Federal Water Tap, May 16: Army Corps Denies Permit for Washington Coal Export Terminal

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The Rundown Because of tribal fishing rights, the Army Corps denies a permit for a proposed coal export terminal in Washington state. Bills on California drought, Colorado River, and western water issues are before the Senate Energy Committee. The Senate, meanwhile, passed a water and energy spending bill. The State Department is reviewing a desalinated […]