Entries by Sarah Haughn

Runaway Runoff: New Report Urges Better Monitoring of Mississippi River

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WASHINGTON — While a multivitamin a day may keep the doctor away, too many nutrients in the mouth of a major river can create a dead zone in the water body. This is exactly the case where the Mississippi River feeds into the Gulf of Mexico. The region has swallowed too much nutrient-saturated runoff, leading […]

U.S. Sugar Deal Bittersweet, Florida Lawmakers & Growers Believe

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As the state of Florida plans to spend $1.34 billion to buy land from U.S. Sugar, key legislators and businessmen cast their doubt before their ballot on the efficacy of the purchase. State lawmakers are set to meet, to discuss whether the plan can accomplish restoration of the Everglades or is merely a corporate bailout. […]

My Wetland is Your Wetland: EPA Awards Funding to Midwest Marshes

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The U.S. EPA is awarding $1.17 million in grants to Iowa, Kansas, Missouri and Nebraska for wetland restoration and management. From river health to pesticide assessment, and wetland management in the face of climate change, the projects will span three years and give officials in each state improved data and recommendations for utilizing and protecting […]

Compact Impact: Great Lakes Legislation Now Active

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As the Great Lakes Compact goes into effect to protect Midwest waterways, some politicians call for unquestioning support, while others insist that its weaknesses must be addressed. Environmental attorney and activist Jim Olson continues his participation in the Michigan Citizens for Water Conservation, as Michigan State Senator Patty Birkholz rallies for unanimous acceptance. Source: Progress […]

Everglades Get Sweet Deal in U.S. Sugar Contract

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The U.S. Sugar Corporation has approved a $1.34 billion sale of 180,000 acres of land to the South Florida Water Management District. The management board is set to vote on the contract mid-December. According to the South Florida Business Journal, the deal should allow the creation of a waterway running from Lake Okeechobee to the […]

Fuel Worth Its Saltwater: Could Saline Solve the Ethanol Controversy?

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Desalination remains an expensive solution to water scarcity, but what if self-desalinating plants could take advantage of ever-encroaching sources of saltwater, and produce both biofuels and foodstuffs? Wired Science talks to several scientists who debate the merits of farming on an oceanic scale. One believes that saltwater cultivation could be the solution to a spectrum […]

Opinion: Water, Water, Not Quite Everywhere?

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Canadians who view the world through blue-tinted glasses need to remove their shades, suggests Toronto Star columnist Carol Goar. Goar pits one expert against another in her coverage of a working breakfast on water resources hosted by the Canada Institute on North American Issues, the Canadian arm of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars […]

Can Colorado Bureaucrats Reincarnate their River?

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While accepting a conservation award for his work in natural resource policy, U.S. Representative George Miller, D-Calif. lassoed the chance to comment on the way the federal government approaches water. “The Bureau of Reclamation has to reinvent itself,” he said. “It has to address the future in an innovative way and not be tied so […]

Trickle Down Effect: Aussie Dollars to Hydrate Basin

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Years of drought have left the state government of South Australia feeling a bit too brittle for comfort. In fact, it just tipped its fiscal bucket by tens of millions of dollars to purchase water for next year. The state should be 61 billion gallons wetter for 2009-10, water security minister Karlene Maywald told the […]

South African Scientist Suspended for Water Quality Research

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South Africa’s Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) recently suspended scientist and fellow Andy Turton for a controversial paper he was to deliver on water quality. In the paper, Turton criticized the manner in which the council handles its funding. The CSIR Spokesperson Christa van der Merwe said that within the paper “certain statements […]