Western water experts are working to not only conserve water, but to also reuse as much wastewater as possible, including through direct potable reuse.
By Sharon Udasin for Ensia | @ensiamedia | @sharonudasin
Editor’s note: This story is part of a four-part series — “Hotter, Drier, Smarter: Managing Western Water in a Changing Climate” — about innovative approaches to water management in the U.S. West and Western tribal nations. The series is supported by The Water Desk , an independent journalism initiative based at the University of Colorado Boulder’s Center for Environmental Journalism. You can read the other stories in the series, along with more drinking water reporting, here.
For decades, water officials in San Diego, realizing the city was facing an ever-drier future…
Does this city’s progress on removing lead water lines show the potential for U.S.-wide replacement?
Faced with a lead crisis that drew comparisons to Flint, Michigan’s, some people have called Newark, New Jersey’s response a “national model.” Still, eliminating lead from drinking water nationwide will not be an easy task.
By Lynne Peeples for Ensia | @ensiamedia | @lynnepeeps
Editor’s note: This story is part of a year-long investigation of drinking water contamination across the U.S. The series is supported by funding from the Park Foundation and Water Foundation. Read the launch story, “Thirsting for Solutions,” here. This story is co-published with The Guardian.
In July 2018, tests showed that the drinking water supply serving Yvette Jordan’s home in Newark, New Jersey, contained nearly 45 parts per billion (ppb) of lead — three times the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s action level for the neurotoxic heavy metal. It was a similar…
The Gila River Indian Community is ensuring that its members have long-term access to their own resources while helping solve broader water supply problems in the region.
By Sharon Udasin for Ensia | @ensiamedia | @sharonudasin
Editor’s note: This story is part of a collaboration, Tapped Out: Power, justice and water in the West, in which eight Institute for Nonprofit News newsrooms — California Health Report and High Country News; SJV Water and the Center for Collaborative Investigative Journalism; Circle of Blue; Columbia Insight; Ensia; and New Mexico In Depth — spent more than three months reporting on water issues in the Western U.S. The result documents serious concerns including contamination, excessive groundwater pumping and environmental inequity — as well as solutions to the problems. …
The situation highlights how precarious water has become for this city in western New Mexico and offers a peek inside the creativity that’s required to manage water in the 21st century.
By Elizabeth Miller for Ensia | @ensiamedia | @WroteElizabeth
Editor’s note: This story was originally published in New Mexico In Depth and is republished here as part of a collaboration, Tapped Out: Power, justice and water in the West, in which eight Institute for Nonprofit News newsrooms — California Health Report and High Country News; SJV Water and the Center for Collaborative Investigative Journalism; Circle of Blue; Columbia Insight; Ensia; and New Mexico In Depth — spent more than three months reporting on water issues in the Western U.S. The result documents serious concerns including contamination, excessive groundwater pumping and…
The tiny town of El Adobe exemplifies the state’s struggles with contaminated water and aging infrastructure.
By Claudia Boyd-Barrett for Ensia | @ensiamedia | @reporteratlarge
Editor’s note: This piece was originally published at California Health Report and High Country News, and is republished here as part of a collaboration, Tapped Out: Power, justice and water in the West, in which eight Institute for Nonprofit News newsrooms — California Health Report and High Country News; SJV Water and the Center for Collaborative Investigative Journalism; Circle of Blue; Columbia Insight; Ensia; and New Mexico In Depth — spent more than three months reporting on water issues in the Western U.S. The result documents serious concerns including contamination, excessive…
Not only an aesthetic affront, harmful algal blooms threaten public health, recreation and the local economy, and increase water treatment costs.
By Brett Walton for Ensia| @ensiamedia | @waltonwater
Editor’s note: This story was originally published in Circle of Blue and is republished here as part of a collaboration, Tapped Out: Power, justice and water in the West, in which eight Institute for Nonprofit News newsrooms — California Health Report and High Country News; SJV Water and the Center for Collaborative Investigative Journalism; Circle of Blue; Columbia Insight; Ensia; and New Mexico In Depth — spent more than three months reporting on water issues in the Western U.S. The result documents serious concerns including contamination, excessive groundwater pumping and environmental inequity…
Hannibal, Missouri, and Poughkeepsie, New York, are among the cities that have dropped the controversial chemical in favor of new water treatment systems
By Maria Dolan for Ensia | @ensiamedia | @mariaidolan
Editor’s note: This story is part of a nine-month investigation of drinking water contamination across the U.S. The series is supported by funding from the Park Foundation and Water Foundation. Read the launch story, “Thirsting for Solutions,” here and the other stories in the series here.
First, Crystal Stephens noticed the new, odd odor of her tap water. “It smelled either like bleach or fishy,” says the resident of Hannibal, Missouri. Then, when she showered, she developed a cough, sinus issues and dry skin.
“People called it ‘the crud,’” she says.
Compared to affluent white communities, lower-income communities and communities of color are missing out on the advantages urban greenery provides. What does it take to level the playing field?
By Ambika Chawla for Ensia | @ensiamedia | @AmbikaChawla3
With the arrival of spring, Platte Farm Open Space, located in the diverse, working-class neighborhood of Globeville in north Denver, comes alive with native grasses, pollinator gardens that attract bees and butterflies, and wildflowers, such as Mexican hat, asters, poppies, and Gaillardia.
“This is a beautiful amenity — a beautiful piece of space that was previously being abused,” says Jan Ediger, a longtime resident of Globeville. A former brownfield site, Platte Farm is 5.5 …
OSCs expand the potential applications of solar technology, but there are still challenges to be overcome before large-scale deployment.
By Kellie Stellmach for Ensia | @ensiamedia | @StellmachKellie
When you picture solar power, chances are you conjure up images of large solar panels spanning the length of a rooftop or a large solar farm out in a field. But what if you could put a solar panel in the sunroof of a hybrid car, on a tent or within the windows of an office building? What if you could power a vaccine refrigerator in a remote place with a flexible solar panel that could be shipped in a mailing tube? …
Rejoining the Paris Agreement is just the first step toward U.S. green global leadership
By Clare Fieseler for Ensia | @ensiamedia | @ClareFieseler
A U.S. president announced America’s distancing from the most significant climate treaty in history. Sixteen years later, President Donald Trump followed suit. In other words, whiplash is not new to U.S. environmental politics — and, for decades, it has been at the center of our treaty-making.
Trump took a page out of President George W. Bush’s playbook when he announced in 2017 he was ditching the Paris climate deal. Bush had taken similar action when he refused to move forward with the Kyoto Protocol, the 1990s precursor to the Paris Agreement…
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Ensia is a solutions-focused nonprofit media outlet reporting on our changing planet.
