Latest News
California Groundwater Limits
Across the country, water supplies are under duress. Demand of surface water often surpasses availability, compelling the use of groundwater. In California, groundwater normally accounts for 40% of the total...
Top 25 Water-stressed Regions
According to NASA, the summer of 2023 was the hottest on Earth since record-keeping began in 1880. As temperatures continue to rise, increased evaporation and changing patterns of precipitation, ranging from...
Rural Iowa Town Running Short on Water
The list of communities hard-hit by drought continues to grow, and mismanagement of water resources is exacerbating water shortfalls. While these conditions are more pervasive in the western U.S., they are...
Water Shortages Near the Great Lakes
The Great Lakes region is rich in freshwater, yet some communities combat growing water insecurity. The localities in Chicago’s southwest suburbs are searching for alternative water supplies as their...
As the Colorado River Declines, Some Upstream Look to Use it Before They Lose it
After 23 years of unprecedented drought, states along the Colorado River Basin are assessing options to preserve their way of life as water supplies diminish. Since 2000, water levels in the Colorado River have declined 20%...
Saltwater in the Mississippi Threatens Water Supply in New Orleans
Across the country, extensive and extended drought conditions threaten water supplies. Consecutive years of rain deficits in the midwest have caused water levels in the Mississippi River to plummet, decreasing the flow rate...
Reynolds Ground-Breaking
Indicators of climate change foreshadow a looming environmental crisis. Temperatures across the globe continue to rise leading to shrinking glaciers, rising sea levels, and increased prevalence of drought, wildfires...
America Is Using Up Its Groundwater Like There’s No Tomorrow
Groundwater is arguably the world’s most important natural resource. It is vital to all living things, providing drinking water – at least in part – for approximately 50% of the population worldwide. However...
New Mexico Small Water Agencies
With the approaching change of season, the nation is anxious for respite from the record-breaking temperatures of recent months. Higher temperatures mean increased water loss through evaporation which has many states...
Nebraska Water Restrictions and Rate Increase
Nebraska is overflowing with water resources, boasting 23 rivers that encompass 79,056 miles and eight underlying aquifers that afford more groundwater than any other state. Those resources have been essential to the success of...
Huntsville’s Rate Hike
Across the nation, water rates are increasing. Over the last decade, monthly water and sewage bills have increased by approximately 50%. The price hike is due to myriad reasons, including decreased government funding and increased...
Stage 2 Water Restrictions in Austin
Record high temperatures and minimal rainfall have resulted in drought conditions for much of central Texas, categorized as severe to exceptional by the U.S. Drought Monitor (Sept. 7). Lake Buchanan and Lake Travis, part of the Highland Lakes...
Washington Drought Emergency
Rising temperatures due to climate change have induced change in the Earth’s water cycle, increasing the prevalence of drought. Drought has become routine for much of the western U.S., although the winter of 2022-23 produced...
MI Vulnerable Rivers
America’s wastewater infrastructure received a grade of D+ in 2021, according to the American Society of Civil Engineers. Many of the nation’s systems are approaching or are at the end of their lifespans. System failures are often responsible for the...
Chicago's Deep Tunnel
On July 2, Chicago was hit with a severe storm that dumped as much as nine inches in the western suburbs and left thousands of homes and businesses to deal with flooding. Built on a swamp, the city’s topography is low-lying and flat with a history...
Collaboration as a Tool for Future Water
Climate change, overuse and population growth are forcing western states to reevaluate their water usage. Arizona is making do with less, their Colorado River water deliveries were reduced in January of this year and another reduction is scheduled for...
Louisiana Drinking Water Report Cards
Beginning in 1998, the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) has released its Report Card for America’s Infrastructure every four years. Much like a school report card, letter grades are assigned to various infrastructure components based on...
How safe is America’s drinking water?
Across the globe, communities struggle with wide-scale water insecurity, leaving approximately 2 billion people without access to safe drinking water. The U.S. is fortunate to have public water systems that supply 90 percent of the population...
Pending Colorado River negotiations
In May, the Lower Basin states proposed to cut water allocations from the Colorado River by 13 percent through 2026 when current river management guidelines expire. The agreement allows the Bureau of Reclamation to shift its focus from...
AZ Groundwater Shortage
Arizona is one of the fastest-growing states in the country. Phoenix, located in Maricopa County, was the fastest-growing city in the state from 2010 – 2020, and the county led...
Value of Water
Water is vital to all living beings, but how much is it valued in the U.S.? Historically, the U.S. has not invested sufficiently in infrastructure to guarantee its resilience and availability for all; federal spending over the years has decreased while the needs have increased.
Short-sighted in Utah?
When Utah’s legislative session commenced in January, the state had a budget surplus of $1.25 billion.
New Tactics in Texas
According to the EPA, there are more than 148,000 public water systems in the U.S., charged with providing safe and reliable water to its customers.
Conservation Easements
Colorado is confronting the reality of a warming climate, and greater percentages of the state’s rain and snowmelt are being lost to evaporation.
Fed’s options to save the Colorado River
The relentless losses to the Colorado River and its reservoirs, Lake Mead and Lake Powell, present a challenge to the seven states who rely on them: They must decide how to navigate those losses...
Most Endangered Rivers
The U.S. has more than 3.5 million miles of rivers and streams. Rivers are intimately tied to our freshwater needs providing drinking water, irrigating crops, producing hydroelectric power along...
Costly and Uncertain Reservoir
California is looking for ways to optimize its water supplies while confronting opposing factors of increasing demand and decreasing availability. The past winter was a boon to parts of the state when...
Building Reuse
Increasing strain on water resources is evident across a vast swath of the country, and large-scale water users are coming under heightened scrutiny. According to the U.S. Green Building Council...
Taking a Hike in Phoenix
Inflation has driven costs up for many everyday items. We see evidence of it on our grocery bill and at the gas pump. The impact has spread through many industries, including the...
Scottsdale Banking Water
When it comes to water, there are the “haves” and the “have-nots.” Much of the Western U.S. is in the “have not” category, including Scottsdale, Arizona. The city faces...
Las Vegas Water Limits
As the Bureau of Reclamation considers imposing further water reductions of the Colorado River on the basin states, the Nevada legislature is proactively taking measures to reduce...
Call to Collective Action
In 1992, the UN adopted a resolution to declare March 22 World Water Day to raise awareness and inspire action to address global water and sanitation needs in support of the...
Texas House Water Caucus
In a time when many issues prompt divisiveness, one issue that supersedes many of those divides, bringing together people of different cultures, geography, and socioeconomic backgrounds, is...
States poised to invest in water
This year, all 50 state legislatures convene; most are already in session and nearly all are celebrating being in the black. According to the National Association of State Budget Officers...
Lake Powell drops to a new record low as feds scramble to prop it up
Since 2000, the west has been under siege from climate change and drought with increased temperatures and decreased precipitation. The impacts are significant on the region’s...
Billions for clean water on Cape Cod
Cape Cod evokes images of quaint villages, lighthouses, and the seaside. While much of the Western U.S. faces water vulnerability, it is favored with ample water resources, both salt and...
California Water Management
In late December, California was swamped by atmospheric rivers, columns of water vapor that come from the tropics. The ten storms that resulted brought a reported 24 trillion gallons of water...
The Best and Worst in Water
Water is essential for all living beings, yet its availability is often taken for granted. Now, as water vulnerabilities stemming from climate change and failing infrastructure are commonplace...
A Reality Check on Development in AZ
According to the U.S. Census annual state population report for July 1, 2021 to June 30, 2022, Arizona was the fifth fastest growing state; however, the state faces a confluence of water issues stemming from...
5 Billion People Will Face Water Shortages by 2050, U.N. Says
Currently, 3.6 billion people around the world experience water shortages lasting at least one month each year. The State of Global Water Resources report published in November 2022 by the World...
Water Rate Hikes - A Tale of Two Cities
Aging water infrastructure is a huge challenge facing the U.S. The average system age is 45 years, and some systems have pipes dating back a century. As systems continue to age more issues arise, jeopardizing...
MA Wastewater Discharge Settlement
Wastewater systems are a critical component of the health and safety of a community. The U.S. has more than 16,000 wastewater treatment plants, and according to American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE)...
Household Water Wells Drying Up In CA
Confronting the fourth consecutive year of drought, California faces extensive water shortfalls, and the visible impacts are everywhere, from dry vegetation and stream beds to dwindling reservoir levels and river...
Rescuing an aquifer
Leonardo da Vinci is noted for saying, “Water is the driving force of all nature.” It is so important and blankets most of the Earth but only a small percentage is available for our use. Groundwater, water that is...
Grass Gets the Cut
As water in the Colorado River continues to dwindle, the region dependent upon it is scrambling to find ways to curtail its decline. Seven states rely on water from the river, the amounts governed by the...
Desal Scores Again
As California searches for ways to mitigate its growing water vulnerability, the state has turned to desalination as a means of increasing its water supply with four currently in operation that produce...
1 in 10 unable to pay for water in CA
When prices of commonly used items go up, consumers must make decisions as to the value of those items and whether they are affordable; but what if water is the item in question? Water is arguably...
Desalination to help fight Drought in Orange County
All living things need water to survive, and as drought conditions grip more of the world, it becomes vitally important to find ways to extend resources. Earth is comprised of 70% water which should be...
Nonprofits Incentivizing Conservation
Climate change creates a vicious cycle for water: Increased temperatures and prolonged drought lead to less precipitation and increased reliance on groundwater; reliance on groundwater leads to over-pumping...
Waiting for Deadpool?
One of the greatest challenges facing our country is the growing water crisis in the western states. Years of drought and overuse have created vulnerability in the water systems throughout the...
Baltimore Water Contamination
Stories of cities reeling from catastrophes stemming from aging and underinvested water infrastructure have riddled the news: Contamination from lead pipes in Flint and Benton Harbor, Michigan...
Texas Water Crisis
Climate change impacts are posing escalating threats to rivers throughout the western U.S., endangering their existence along with that of the communities they serve. The crisis facing...
Jackson, MS Water Crisis
Approximately 90 percent of Americans receive their water from public drinking water systems; however, the country’s water systems are aging and failing, showing the consequence of...
Climate Change Impacts
Water infrastructure is vital to everyone, yet nationwide it has not been given proper care. Hidden underground, these systems have gone largely unattended and have been allowed to deteriorate...
California’s Quest for Water
California is leaving no stone unturned in its quest to generate water; the Golden State has considered ways to conserve, store, reuse, and desalinate water. As it continues to experience...
California’s Water Supply Strategy
The Western U.S. keeps getting hotter and drier. According to the EPA, since 2000 the Southwest has experienced an increase in average temperatures by as much as...
Feds cut Colorado River allocation again
In 1922, as part of the Colorado River Compact, the Colorado River was divided into two basins: The Upper Basin comprised of Colorado, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming and the Lower Basin...
Decades of Disinvestment in Michigan
We all rely on water and on the infrastructure that transports it to satisfy countless daily needs - drinking, cooking, bathing, agriculture, manufacturing, waste transport, and fire...
Piping Mississippi River water to the west
The ominous water circumstances facing the Western U.S. are prompting many to look for other means to accommodate the water needs of the region’s population. As the Colorado River continues to...
Cities activate water management plans
For much of the country, summer means higher temperatures and decreased precipitation. According to the U.S. Drought Monitor, more than 122 million people across the U.S. and Puerto Rico are facing abnormal dryness ...
Interstate Water Battles
The value of water is indisputable, and that point is demonstrated worldwide in countries that struggle to maintain adequate and clean water supplies. In the U.S., there are ...
Fire and Water
Climate change spawns evident consequences to the environment: glaciers are melting, sea levels are rising, seasonal and precipitation patterns are changing, and temperatures are climbing. As less rain falls and droughts amplify ...
Water security is now a key US foreign policy priority
The U.S. faces a myriad of water challenges, many of which are related to climate change; others are the result of inaction over the course of decades to appropriate funding toward infrastructure maintenance and upgrades. ...
CA Desalination Plant Rejected
Water scarcity, a growing global phenomenon, has compelled mankind to seek additional water sources, and many are turning to the most abundant water source on the planet—the ocean ...
Aquifer depletion in the high plains
America’s high plains often evoke images of fields of crops that stretch as far as the eye can see, but that was not always the case. Having a semi-arid climate, the region was initially brown grasslands, only becoming the breadbasket of the world after World War II when technologies such as diesel-powered pumps were developed that vastly increased water extraction capabilities from deep within the ground ...
MRI for California Groundwater/Electromagnetic surveying
California is thirsty and needs all the help it can get toward saving and extending water supplies ...
So Cal Water Restrictions
The coming months will pose challenging water conditions for California. The Drought Monitor data dated June 7 puts 98 percent of the state in severe drought. Drought has become commonplace for the state in the past 22 years, earning the moniker “megadrought,” which signifies dry conditions lasting two decades or more....
Arizona’s Uncertain Water Future
The Colorado River Tier 1 water shortage declaration in August of 2021 and the recent actions by the Bureau of Reclamation to protect Lake Powell’s water level are stark reminders that water isn’t guaranteed, especially in the desert ...
Minnesota Water Supply Legislation
White Bear Lake, Minnesota suffers the same predicament as many other communities across the country: growth that challenges resource availability, specifically water ...
Lake Powell Emergency Actions
The Colorado River often headlines the news with stories related to declining water levels, climate change, and megadrought. Those levels have reached 1200-year historic lows, prompting American Rivers, a conservation group, to rank it as the most endangered river in the U.S. ...
Well Water Fees for California
The importance of groundwater cannot be overstated. Globally, as much as 50 percent of the population gets a portion of its drinking water from groundwater. As the world population continues to swell and these water sources become increasingly vulnerable, sustainable water management has become key to securing long-term availability ...
Municipal Investments
The nation’s water and wastewater infrastructure systems are in trouble. According to the American Society of Civil Engineers, the country’s drinking water infrastructure system is comprised of 2.2 million miles of pipes; the wastewater infrastructure has over 1 million miles of public and private sewers ...
New Direction for Farms
The world population is growing by approximately one percent each year, and feeding the swelling numbers is problematic and will become more so in the future with climate change and water scarcity driving the dilemma ...
Hope is Drying up in California
After a series of storms in December, Californians were hopeful that the drought beleaguering the state would be alleviated. Unfortunately, that hope dried up when precipitation slowed, and January and February were the driest in over 100 years ...
Introducing NextEra Distributed Water
In 2020, Sustainable Water proudly became a part of NextEra Energy Resources, a clean energy leader and one of the largest wholesale generators of electric power in the U.S. We’re pleased to announce the next step in our journey: Sustainable Water is now NextEra Distributed Water. “NextEra Distributed Water...
Water Problems in Pittsburgh
Throughout the country, states are beset with issues related to water, stemming not only from drought but also from failing water systems, for both drinking and sewage. Lack of funding and mismanagement are often at the heart of these issues resulting in a national grade of C- from the American Society of Civil Engineers ...
Utah City Looks for Water
Utah is the second driest state in the country based on state-wide average participation, and according to U.S. census data Utah is tied for second for the fastest growing population. In times of climate change and extended drought, the combination of these characteristics is unsettling...
Data-challenged in New Mexico?
Living with water insecurity is a reality to which much of the country is adjusting. Climate change and extended periods of drought lead many to turn to conservation and water projects to provide solutions to the problem...