Entries by Sarah Haughn

To regulate or not to regulate: California looks for solutions to another year of dry conditions

Fallow fields and cattle for sale foreshadow a future of continued drought for California. The state’s Department of Water Resources reports that some contractors will benefit from only 15 percent of their typical allocation. According to Capitol Weekly, a new study by the University of California–Berkeley found that climate change could cost California $300 million […]

Pakistan takes India Water Row to World Bank

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — Pakistan reports that India diverted a significant volume of water from the river Chenab to its Baglihar dam. After numerous talks with their neighbor nation, Pakistan now plans to take its concern to the World Bank for compensation. They claim India is in violation of the Indus Waters Treaty. According to the […]

New York residents may struggle to pay as water rates rise

NEW YORK CITY — Could the economic downturn affect consumers of H2O in the Big Apple? If water bills continue increasing, it just might. According to Steve Lawitts, commissioner for the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), “As more people become affected by financial conditions … we have to monitor how that’s affecting their timeliness of […]

Competition for sugar daddy: New bid may thwart government purchase of U.S. Sugar

As U.S. Sugar seeks to sell segments of its land, multiple interests are now wrangling for a bite from a plate the state of Florida thought it had almost already secured. A deal that has required years of red tape and fiscal creativity currently faces competition from a farming company from Tennessee whose bid may […]

Opinion: Blue is the new green

From living roofs to living walls, from greywater to rainwater harvesting, water conservation is getting a technology makeover. In a recent New York Times op-ed, Allison Arieff explains why and how people should pay attention to water use, profiling techniques that go far beyond the “turn-off-the-tap-while-brushing” mantra: Because water is cheap (at least for now) […]

Red light, green light: Studies conflict concerning Lake Mead’s future

SCOTTSDALE, Arizona — Or perhaps a yellow light. As the sun rises over Lake Mead, a new study suggests that the water body may not dry up as soon as a February study projected. Scientists from the University of Colorado just came out with research that gives the lake a five percent chance of disappearing […]

Film celebrates World Toilet Day with Dada utility disposal

PEORIA — Was it the portentous pall of the November afternoon or an avant-garde episode of effluential angst that inspired Circle of Blue producer Eric Daigh to bring his inefficient toilet out of the water closet once and for all? In celebration of World Toilet Day, Daigh decided to give his resource-needy receptacle a new […]

A bad kind of good: New Bond movie plots water’s worth

Not only is the latest James Bond flick “Quantum of Solace” scoring millions at the box office, many watching its progress hope that this particular plotline drives home the current crisis facing most of the world’s fresh water. Water remains a natural resource; but for years investors, governments, intellectuals and environmentalists have argued whether to […]

Approved Great Lakes Compact Registers Ripple Effect Among Michigan Citizens

TRAVERSE CITY, Michigan — There’s a hole in our bucket, dear Congress, dear Congress. Or so concerned environmental groups in Michigan sing after the lauded passage of the Great Lakes Compact — legislation they believe needs a patch or two. The Compact, passed this October, prevents private and public interests from diverting large quantities of […]

Japan turns up nose to smelly U.S. bottled water

Eight million bottles of water from the U.S. came off the shelves in Japan, due to complaints from consumers that the product had a medicinal and insecticidal odor. Reuters reports that the firm — CG Roxane LLC — reports no abnormalities in the water. Marketed as Crystal Geyser in Japan, the bottled beverage garnered 75 […]

Boom or bust: Proposed feedlot worries Washington farmers strapped for water

ELTOPIA, Washington — Farmers in rural Franklin County express concern that a 30,000-head cattle feedlot could threaten their already low water supply. According to the AP, local agriculturalists worry that the feedlot could dry up their wells. Although most wells require a permit, some remain exempt. A 2005 opinion by Attorney General Rob McKenna allows […]