Habitat and flow impairments are often seen as untouchables in the Clean Water Act's Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) world. This example from Ohio shows this doesn't have to be true.
An exciting recent (2011) example of the power of 401 water quality certification to address flows involves Fay Creek, a tributary to the South Fork of Kern River in California.
Are you a state, tribe, irrigation or water district working on water reclamation, conservation or other water efficiency projects that address water supply sustainability in the Western United States? You might be eligible to receive significant funding from the Bureau of Reclamation and WaterSmart. There are two types of projects being funded, smaller projects over a duration of two years are eligible for up to $300,000 in funding, and larger projects over a duration of up to three years are eligible for up to $1,500,000 in funding. Project Proposals must be submitted by January 19th, 2012. See details here.
The Nanticoke River is the healthiest of all the major tributaries of the Chesapeake watershed. The Nanticoke Watershed Alliance is made up of 44 Partners in Conservation. In 2005, the board decided that the organization could and should do more, and thus began their journey into organizational capacity building.
Atchafalaya Basinkeeper has always gotten a lot done, but they were spending so much time protecting their watershed that very little went into securing the budget from one year to the next. With assistance from River Network's Diana Toledo, Atchafalaya Basinkeeper increased their business donations from $3,500 in 2009 to about $35,000 in 2010.
The North Fork John Day Watershed Council views its strategic plan as the channel which guides their active stream of activities. In developing their strategic plan, the organization needed a framework that would be stout enough to to withstand major events, robust enough to encourage activity and sinuous enough to connect with all of their diverse undertakings.
The Bad River watershed is a large, sparsely populated and beautifully forested area in northern Wisconsin. Over the years, the Bad River Watershed Association has proven resourceful and have tapped many different sources for capacity-building assistance, increasing the size of the small staff beyond what other rural groups have been able to sustain.
Two years after taking the leap into the business of restoring unhealthy creeks and streams, the Clark Fork Coalition now has a roadmap for getting this job done in one of the most critical reaches of the watershed — its headwaters.
Thermoelectric power plants account for approximately 53% of all fresh surface-water withdrawals in the United States - sucking up approximately 136 billion gallons of freshwater each day and killing billions of fish and other river species annually in the process.
EPA recently proposed a new ruling on power plant cooling water intake that falls staggeringly short of properly regulating outdated and inefficient technologies. Help protect America's waterways by submitting comments on this proposed ruling, urging the EPA to implement a stronger cooling water ruling that eliminates the use of all inefficient and destructive once-through technology. The deadline for public comment on the ruling is July 19th, 2011. Click here to read the full alert.
In an article from a recent River News publication distributed by the Westport River Watershed Alliance, Betsy White paints a beautiful picture of what a watershed is, how they are affected, and through which means the protection and restoration of a watershed may be accomplished. Click the title, or here to read Betsy's article.
The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) has proposed new rules to allow the reuse of graywater in homes and commercial facilities. Oregon DEQ is seeking public comment on the newly proposed rules through Friday, March 11. Folks who have seen similar graywater reuse laws passed in other states, please leave comments at the bottom of this blog post in regard to which strategies and mechanisms have worked to pass the laws in your state! We need to do everything we can to get this new ruling passed in Oregon!
In December, River Network hosted it's annual winter conference, Winter Training 2010, in Waynesboro, PA where we gathered with some of our closest friends from some of the leading local and national environmental groups. In Track A - Organizational Development, presenters and participants discussed self care, burn-out and strategic planning. Download Track A materials here!
Waynesboro, PA – Nestled beside Comet Lake in the rolling hills of southern Pennsylvania, River Network convened a select group from some of the nation’s leading environmental organizations working to protect rivers and communities from climate change. After two-and-a-half days of intensive cross-training and coordinating sessions, a national strategy for grassroots action on climate change and the water-energy nexus began to take shape. See below for presentation materials and more details from the Warming Watersheds; Water & Energy Track at Winter Training 2010.
Apply today for the Warming Watersheds; Water & Energy track at River Network's Winter Training 2010, a two and a half day intensive workshop taking place December 6-8 with a focus on building local and national campaigns around water, energy and climate change issues.
We all know pollution and toxins are bad for you. But the Environmental Working Group has conducted perhaps the deepest analysis of this issue on the most vulnerable demographic on the planet.
On Friday, September 10th, 2010, River Network taught students at Rosemont Ridge Middle School about the connections between water, energy and climate change. Students got to learn first hand about all of the energy it takes to provide drinking water, and were even given the opportunity to take political action by writing letters to their elected officials.
The Winter Training is organized by River Network and many allied organizations. The purpose of the event is to help you develop the skills you need -- as a trainer, leader and organizer -- to help grassroots groups and communities. The Winter Training will use a “cross-training” format so that individuals from a variety of backgrounds can come together, develop our skills and share experiences. Participants will primarily include organizers and trainers working with local and regional non-profit organizations and municipalities across the country.
Our colleagues at the Safer Chemicals Healthy Families coalition seem to have stumbled on a top secret meeting of some of the most dangerous chemicals out there. They even caught it on tape!
This year’s National River Rally took place May 21-24 at Snowbird, UT and was a huge success. Here we have collected the materials from workshops in our Warming Watersheds track, which covered a range of issues related to water, energy and climate change.
SOLV volunteers remove 72,000 pounds of trash and debris from the Oregon coastline during their spring cleanup. Watch their fun and inspirational photo slideshow!
A few months ago we helped spread the word about the $300 million made available through the Department of Energy’s State Energy Efficient Appliance Rebate Program, and asked our Partners to contact their state energy offices to urge them to prioritize water using appliances, such as clothes washers and dishwashers, with the highest rebates. Now you can find out what rebates are available in your state.
The US Geological Survey made headlines last month with the release of a multi-year study reporting that 100% of fish sampled throughout the country contained mercury in their bodies. The Ogeechee-Canoochee Riverkeeper is on the forefront, taking action to reduce levels of mercury in their Basin through monitoring and public awareness campaigns.
Once fenced off and polluted, the Chicago River is now more familiar for sailboats and moveable bridges. Yet there is still a great opportunity for riverfront redevelopment that includes great public access and quality habitat, and Friends of the Chicago River is leading the way.
Mark your calendars for an upcoming River Network event, Saving Water, Saving Energy: Integrated Approaches to Addressing Climate Change and Protecting Rivers, an exciting half-day workshop taking place October 26th in Portland, Oregon.
In Michigan's Clinton River watershed, more than 40 municipalities, four counties and dozens of other public entities banded together to meet stormwater permitting requirements.
The Beachkeeper program is a volunteer water quality monitoring program that involves the local community in identifying and monitoring sources of urban runoff in Santa Monica Bay. Data collected by these volunteers helped identify the Bay as impaired, and was critical to the design of the cleanup plan.
If you could hire an enforcement officer to protect your watershed, would you do it? Amigos Bravos of New Mexico found a creative way to do just that…and more.
Ohio EPA developed an innovative program that combines conventional sewers and wastewater treatment with “green infrastructure” projects to increase water quality protection.
In 2004, members of the Northwest Environmental Defense Center were patrolling the Columbia River in kayaks when they witnessed murky, foul-smelling water pouring out of a pipe directly adjacent to a trash-hauling company.
