building resilient water systems

Vital Implications on Water Scarcity According to 14 Experts

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With factors as precarious as climate, failing infrastructure, increased global population, pollution, and excessive groundwater pumping, it is no wonder that the concern for water scarcity has garnered the attention of authorities across many agencies and sectors.

10 Critical Water Scarcity Facts We Must Not Ignore

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Water scarcity is real. To ignore it, or to assume that it is only a problem of the developing world is to be blind to the errors our egos have cause. We in the Western world waste more water in a day than some families around the world would see in months. Much of what we use water for is to sustain a lifestyle that we largely take for granted.

Global Water Crisis

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“The global water crisis – caused by drought, flood, and climate change – is less about supply than it is about recognizing water’s true value, using it efficiently, and planning for a different future.” Water is a bit like the tale of Goldilocks.  One size is too big.  One size is too small.  One size is just right. 

Fighting Water Privatization with ‘Blue Communities’

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A Blue Community is an act of hope. Instead of being against the many threats to water, a Blue Community offers a vision for the future based on the belief that water is a human right and a public trust. It also tackles the growing crisis of plastic pollution by committing a municipality (or university or place to worship, etc.) to phasing out bottled water on its premises.

Spring Memories of Why We Must Protect Wetlands and Streams

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In short, try again. EPA should respond to legal challenges to the 2015 Clean Water Rule with targeted refinements of current policy, as opposed to an about-face on the policy that was developed in full compliance with administrative procedures and documented with thorough scientific and legal rationales.

Puerto Rico Teenagers take Post-Maria Water Safety into their Own Hands

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Water activist Steve Tamar expected just a dozen students to show up to his citizen-science training at Maricao High School in western Puerto Rico this past October. Instead, the sweltering hot auditorium was packed with teenagers looking to help test the island’s water.

The Environmental and Human Cost of Making a Pair of Jeans

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Americans do love their denim, so much so that the average consumer buys four pairs of jeans a year. In China’s Xintang province, a hub for denim, 300 million pairs are made annually. Just as staggering is the brew of toxic chemicals and hundreds of gallons of water it takes to dye and finish one pair of jeans.

In Tucson, Subsidies for Rainwater Harvesting Produce Big Payoff

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THE CITY OF Tucson, Arizona, officially got serious about rainwater harvesting five years ago, viewing it as a cost-effective tool to reduce demand for potable water. In 2012, the city’s water utility, Tucson Water, began offering rebates to its residential customers to subsidize installation of rainwater catchment systems, both to divert water onto landscaping and store it in cisterns. Later, it expanded the program to include grants and loans to help low-income households harvest rainwater.