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, May 8: Water Programs Largely Protected in Budget Deal

May 8, 2017/in Federal Water Tap/by Brett Walton

The Rundown Congress decides not to scrap water spending. The U.S. Geological Survey finds arsenic and uranium in household drinking water wells in Connecticut. Lake Ontario water levels are the highest since 1993, prompting managers to release more water to minimize flooding. The Senate environment committee will discuss the private sector’s role in water while […]

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

Ideas for Understanding and Responding to the World’s Groundwater Challenge | PODCAST |

May 3, 2017/in Conservation / Environmental Restoration, Water Management/by Brett Walton

Large-scale exploitation of groundwater began in the 1950s and continues today. The water that flows underground and between soil particles gave rise to the Green Revolution in India and allows desert agriculture to flourish. It nourishes streams and springs and is the primary drinking water source for nearly half of the world’s people. Yet, due […]

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 1: EPA Website To Be Scrubbed of Obama Administration Influence

May 1, 2017/in Federal Water Tap/by Brett Walton

The Rundown Trump orders a review of national monument designations and a report on aiding rural communities and agriculture. The EPA water office holds a public listening session on Trump’s agenda to cut federal regulations. An Indian tribe in Montana approves a $US 471 million water rights settlement. A federal water loan program in Puerto […]

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, April 24: Lake Mead Receives Extra Water in High-Snowpack Year

April 24, 2017/in Federal Water Tap/by Brett Walton

The Rundown Lake Mead receives extra water but not as much as was hoped in March. A U.S.-Mexico task force releases a report on a February sewage spill in the Tijuana River. A federal judge greenlights a dam and fish bypass on the Yellowstone River. The USGS analyzes chemical contaminants in U.S. streams, finding most […]

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 Stream, April 21: Hawaiian River To Be Guaranteed Flowing Water

April 21, 2017/in The Stream/by Brett Walton

The Global Rundown An agreement to restore Hawaii’s Waimea River will result in continuously flowing water for the first time in more than a century. An Indian tribe in Arizona has to convince the U.S. government to join its lawsuit to restrict groundwater pumping above the Grand Canyon. Stanford researchers built an online map 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

The Stream, April 20: Detroit Begins Another Round of Water Shutoffs

April 20, 2017/in The Stream/by Brett Walton

The Global Rundown Nearly 18,000 households in Detroit — 25 percent fewer than last year — are behind on their water bills and risk having water service shut off if they do not negotiate a payment plan. Kenyan farmers work to protect wetlands during a harsh drought that southern Ethiopian herders say is unlike any […]

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 Stream, April 19: In Drought, Indian State Bans New Wells in Tech Hub

April 19, 2017/in The Stream/by Brett Walton

The Global Rundown Because of declining groundwater levels, no new wells for six months in India’s tech hub of Hyderabad, say state authorities. Concerned about water shortages, South Africa’s electric power utility will install a small groundwater desalination plant at a nuclear power station near Cape Town while city officials consider their own desalination facility […]

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

Nonstick Chemicals Slipped Into Water, Causing Health, Environmental, Regulatory Mess

April 18, 2017/in Pollution, Water News, Water Quality/by Brett Walton

PFASs — used in clothing, carpets, cookware, and more — contaminate wells across the United States.

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, April 17: EPA Pauses Rule that Restricts Power Plants from Dumping Toxic Metals into Rivers

April 17, 2017/in Federal Water Tap/by Brett Walton

The Rundown EPA administrator postpones the implementation date for rule to keep arsenic, mercury, and other power plant toxics from rivers, while also beginning a separate process to repeal or modify existing regulations. EPA inspector general says that the agency needs better health warnings for people who eat contaminated fish. An energy company wants 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

Federal Water Tap, April 10: EPA Science Board Reviews ‘Value of a Statistical Life’ Calculation

April 10, 2017/in Federal Water Tap/by Brett Walton

The Rundown EPA science advisers weigh in on proposed changes to the value of preventing a single death within a large group. The Department of Homeland Security issues an intelligence report on a cyberattack against a U.S. water utility. The U.S. Geological Survey publishes the first national assessment of brackish groundwater in more than 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

Water Utility Cyberattack Rings Up Hefty Data Charges

April 6, 2017/in Infrastructure, Water Management, Water News/by Brett Walton

Money is often the root of cyberattacks on water utilities, experts say. By Brett Walton, Circle of Blue Hackers that stormed the digital defenses of an American water authority and took control of its cellular routers late last year were not interested in disrupting water supply and wastewater treatment. Instead they were intent on stealing […]

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, April 3: Congress Begins Pushback Against Trump Rural Water Cuts

April 3, 2017/in Federal Water Tap/by Brett Walton

The Rundown House members will send a letter this week to colleagues asking not to eliminate rural water funding. Trump signs executive order to undo federal climate change action. Representatives introduce bills in Congress on water affordability, infrastructure investment, and Indian water rights. Membership in the bipartisan House climate caucus grows to nearly three dozen. […]

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