Category: Solutions
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Government is Scaling Back Water Quality Protections. Surfers are Picking up the Slack.
Photo: A surfer rides a wave against the industrial backdrop of Lake Michigan. (Credit: Mike Killion/Courtesy of Surfrider) Decades ago, California surfers decided to fight coastal pollution. Today, their massive network of citizen scientists is monitoring water quality in places the government doesn’t. In 1984, a small group of California surfers were fed up with…
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When dams cause more problems than they solve, removing them can pay off for people and nature
Photo: Maine’s Penobscot River flows freely where the Veazie Dam once stood. Dam removals have reopened the river to 12 native fish species. Credit: Gregory Rec/Portland Portland Press Herald via Getty Images Across the United States, dams generate hydroelectric power, store water for drinking and irrigation, control flooding and create recreational opportunities such as slack-water…
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Sinking Lands, Damaged Infrastructure: Will Better Groundwater Management End Subsidence?
In the midst of the COVID-19 crisis, work continues on managing groundwater for long-term sustainability, as required by California’s landmark Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA). In January, water users in 21 critically overdrafted basins delivered their groundwater sustainability plans to the state Department of Water Resources. In this series , we examine the 36 plans…
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Will Groundwater Sustainability Plans End the Problem of Dry Drinking Water Wells?
In the midst of the COVID-19 crisis, work continues on managing groundwater for long-term sustainability, as required by California’s landmark Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA). In January, water users in 21 critically overdrafted basins delivered their groundwater sustainability plans to the state Department of Water Resources. In this series, we examine the 36 plans submitted…
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Filtering toxic hexavalent chromium from water
Photo credit: Alain Herzog / EPFL Hexavalent chromium continues to contaminate water sources around the world, with one US company fined just this February for putting employees at risk. Hexavalent chromium is considered to be extremely toxic, especially when inhaled or ingested, and its use is regulated in Europe and in many countries around the…
