Understanding What the ‘New Normal’ Means for Water in the West
By Tara Lohan, Water Deeply
This year, across much of the West, particularly the Southwest, there’s little in the way of abundance. At Lake Powell, the second-largest reservoir in the West, runoff is predicted to be only 43 percent of average. Arizona is looking at one of its lowest runoff years in history. And in New Mexico, stretches of the Rio Grande have already run dry, months ahead of normal.
California Towns Tackle Nitrate Pollution With Local Solutions
By Erica Gies, Tara Lohan, Water Deeply
The state started to get serious about cleaning up nitrates a decade ago. It is now working with growers to stop new pollution and is considering how it might clean up old contamination. But it’s costly to clean an entire aquifer, and even extraordinary efforts would take several decades to pay off. So the state is also focused on funding interim local solutions to supply people with safe drinking water.
Resilience Reflections with Tara Lohan
By Tara Lohan, Resilience.org
I’m driven by the belief that the stories we tell about people and places can help change the world.
Why America’s Deadly Love Affair with Bottled Water Has to Stop
By Tara Lohan, Alternet
This spring, as California withered in its fourth year of drought and mandatory water restrictions were enacted for the first time in the state’s history, a news story broke revealing that Nestlé Waters North America was tapping springs in the San Bernardino National Forest in southern California using a permit that expired 27 years ago.
How Solar Can Help Nepal’s Relief Efforts
By Tara Lohan, Alternet
Following the earthquake, Gham Power provided lights and mobile charging stations for relief workers and the displaced.
Has California’s Fracking Boom Already Gone Bust?
By Tara Lohan, BillMoyers.com
There was a time, just a few years ago, that most news reports deemed a shale oil boom inevitable in California. But now, it’s not looking like such a sure thing after all.
Fighting Back Against Oil Bomb Trains
By Tara Lohan, Faces of fracking
Crude by rail has increased 4,000 percent across the country since 2008 and California is feeling the effects.
You Have to See It to Believe It: What It’s Like to Have Fracking in Your Backyard
By Tara Lohan, Alternet
Fracking takes rural communities and turns them into industrial zones — and citizens have little recourse.