News & Commentary

Ohio Gains Ground on a Hidden Hazard: More Than a Century’s Worth of Abandoned Oil and Gas Wells

March 26, 2019 DispatchOhioAustyn Gaffney

Forgotten, derelict, and often leaky, these so-called orphan wells could number in the thousands.

The Problem with California's Watered Down Farmgate Data

March 22, 2019 Expert BlogArohi Sharma

Even though the law requires water delivery reports, too many are missing. Water data is a public resource, and the agency responsible for collecting FGDRs, the Department of Water Resources (DWR) is not doing enough to fill the water use…

Missing the Forest for the Toilet Paper

February 27, 2019 Expert BlogShelley Vinyard

The loss of the world’s remaining intact forests is devastating our efforts to avoid cataclysmic climate change. Yet Procter & Gamble (P&G), whose tissue products take an outsized toll on these intact forests, is ignoring this dynamic.

City of Los Angeles Announces Bold Recycled Water Plan

February 21, 2019 Expert BlogTracy Quinn

Today the City of Los Angeles announced a bold plan to recycled 100 percent of the 260 million gallons of wastewater currently being discharged to the Pacific Ocean through the Hyperion Treatment Plant. The project will improve local climate resilience…

Local Water Reliability Act Boosts CA Coastal Water Supplies

February 20, 2019 Expert BlogDrevet Hunt

Every year, more than 400 billion gallons of water are diverted from California’s rivers, streams, and groundwater aquifers, used once, treated at a wastewater plant, and then dumped into the ocean. SB 332 would require California’s coastal communities to reduce…

I Dig You…Just Not Literally

February 14, 2019 Expert BlogArohi Sharma

You are powerful, miraculous, and we’re starting to learn. How to care for you, heal you, for the near and long term. But before we go further, I should call you by name.You are our precious Soil, Nature’s sexiest claim…

These Montanans Don’t Want an Industrial Slaughterhouse in Their Backyard

February 1, 2019 DispatchMontanaLora Shinn

In the small city of Great Falls, residents push back against a Big Ag plant that would consume 3.5 million gallons of water—and produce 102,995 pounds of waste—per day.

Will State Agencies Let CA's Bay-Delta Estuary Get Trumped?

January 28, 2019 Expert BlogCaliforniaDoug Obegi

On January 31, the Trump Administration is scheduled to release its new proposal for the operations of the federal Central Valley Project and State Water Project under the Endangered Species Act (known as a biological assessment). It’s widely expected that…

New Disaster Bill Includes $849M for Water Infrastructure

January 18, 2019 Expert BlogRob Moore

A new disaster supplemental appropriations bill (H.R. 268) was passed by the House of Representatives this week. It included $849 million for drinking water, wastewater, and stormwater systems,more resilient and less vulnerable to storms in the future. Typically, federal disaster…

Recycle More Water: New Year’s Resolution for Latin America

January 17, 2019 Expert BlogErika Moyer

As growing populations demand more water, freshwater supplies are expected to dwindle due to climate change. Wastewater recycling presents an important opportunity in an uncertain future.

A Small Town’s Battle Against Radioactive Fracking Waste

January 9, 2019 DispatchKentuckyAustyn Gaffney

After an illegal dumping of close to 2,000 tons of dangerous sludge and contaminated materials across the street from two schools, a Kentucky community struggles with what to do next.

Protecting Chihuahuan Grassland Habitat of Migratory Birds

December 17, 2018 Expert BlogCarolina Herrera

NRDC’s new Story Map celebrates the extraordinary Chihuahuan Desert Grasslands and highlights the need to protect this natural habitat and its water resources for generations to come.

Trump Administration Moves Forward in Rolling Back Clean Water Protections

December 11, 2018 Expert BlogNRDC

The EPA’s new definition of the Obama-era safeguard would allow polluters to dirty our critically important streams, tributaries, and wetlands—and threaten the water supply of millions of Americans.

Key Questions about a Potential "Grand Bargain" on CA Water

December 10, 2018 Expert BlogDoug Obegi

For several years, state and federal agencies, local water districts, and a few conservation groups have participated in negotiations regarding potential voluntary settlements on Delta flows.

California Seeks to Fortify Against Federal Rollbacks

December 6, 2018 Expert BlogAnnie Notthoff, Jon Colmenares

Building Roots for a More Water Secure California

December 5, 2018 Expert BlogArohi Sharma

After 140 Million Years, the Chinese Sturgeon May Soon Be Extinct

November 20, 2018 ExplainerChinaJason Bittel

As dams have popped up in the Yangtze River, one of the world’s biggest freshwater fish is running out of room—and time.

Congress Reverses: Will Protect Waters from Invasive Species

November 14, 2018 Expert BlogScott Slesinger

Congress reverses course and will not gut laws to protect our waters from invasive species.

Plastic: What Gets Thrown in the Great Lakes, Stays in the Great Lakes

November 5, 2018 DispatchMidwestSusan Cosier

We need to take control of the 10,000 tons of plastic entering the lakes each year—whether we recycle, reuse, or just outright ban the stuff.

Her Stand-Up Paddleboard Is a Platform for Campaigning Against Plastic Pollution

October 18, 2018 DispatchUnited States, InternationalPatrick Rogers

Lizzie Carr is shining a light on what is floating through the world’s waterways, and breaking athletic records along the way.