Western Water Project’s Post

Kudos to Alice Volpitta, the Baltimore Harbor Waterkeeper at Blue Water Baltimore, who has dedicated nearly a decade to monitoring water quality in Baltimore's watershed. The city's waterways grapple with various challenges, including stormwater runoff, trash, toxins, and sewage overflows. These overflows underscore the climate injustice and lack of infrastructure investment in Baltimore's black neighborhoods, where homes become temporary cesspools for excess sewage. Recently, Alice played a pivotal role in negotiating a consent decree with the Maryland Department of the Environment and Baltimore City. This agreement addresses violations at the state’s two largest wastewater treatment plants, resulting in nearly $5 million in penalties. It stands as the largest clean water enforcement action in Maryland in the last 25 years. Learn more about Alice and Baltimore Harbor Waterkeeper below. #water, #wateraction, #climatechange, #climateaction, #SDG6, #environment, #climatejustice

Water, water everywhere....or maybe not! The war in Cambridgeshire is heating up but it won't be the only or last area where we see major problems with water supply, just look at Horsham and neighbouring areas in Sussex. The South East Plan had 2 reservoirs proposed, neither of which happened because strategic infrastructure like this fell between the cracks of national and local planning. We need to join up the dots between where we direct growth, the natural constraints/resources (not just now but in the future as a result of climate change) and invest in infrastructure for our natural resources (p.s that also includes minerals!). #Bringbackstrategicplanning

At Decking Canberra, we understand the unique demands of Canberra's climate and its impact on decking materials. Decking Canberra 26 Barry Drive, Canberra ACT 2601

Fixed Supply, Increasing Demand: Navigating the Water Paradox ⏳ Member of Parliament Earl Dreeshen, Committee Member of the Standing Committee on Natural Resources, met with our operators. With half of Alberta bracing for significant drought in 2024 and an expected rise in drought frequency and intensity on the Canadian prairies due to climate change, the pressure on water resources is mounting. Meanwhile, community and business water demands continue to grow. Operators, with their on-the-ground experience, are crucial in bringing insights to the policy table to strategize effectively for these challenges. #OperatorsStormOttawa #NationalIndigenousWaterOperatorDay #Mar21 #OperatorsFirst

The creep of sea water is poised to exert profound changes in Florida. By 2045, some $26 billion in residential real estate is projected to face chronic flooding, with Miami, the Florida Keys and the Tampa-St. Petersburg area especially at risk, according to the Union for Concerned Scientists. A separate study from the same group predicted the number of critical infrastructure assets in the state facing disruptive flooding will double by 2050. The infrastructure assets include public housing buildings and affordable housing units, as well as public health and safety buildings.

Not to detract from the fun and general good feeling of the Paris Olympics, I wanted to raise awareness about the wildfires in California which are becoming worrisome. So far this year, there have been a total of 91 large wildfires in the state, representing an increase of more than 500% from the last five years! It is not an overstatement to say that California is becoming engulfed by wildfires. The primary factor contributing to more frequent and larger wildfires in California has been human-caused climate change arising from the use of fossil fuels. So regardless of who wins the U.S. presidential election in November, it is critical for the country to remain steadfast in its commitment to a clean energy transition. For more on California’s wildfires, please see the dashboard below.

A former Florida Public Service Commission chair shares lessons learned about grid hardening investments in Florida and recommends that neighboring Louisiana take steps to make its electric grid more storm resilient. See Ronald Brisé's article on NOLA.com.   "Given the increase in frequency and intensity of storms, Entergy Louisiana and Entergy New Orleans have proposed significant investments over the next decade to make their electric grids stronger to help get power back on more quickly after storms. The proposed plans include actions that have proven successful in Florida — for example, moving overhead power lines underground and replacing wooden poles with structures that are capable of withstanding hurricane-force winds." #undergrounding #powerlines #underground #powerdelivery #power #gridhardening #power #electricity #gridresilience #gridreliability #florida #louisiana #extremeweather #electricgrid #damageprevention #criticalinfrastructure #powergrid #criticalinfrastructureprotection #gridmodernization #PDi2 https://lnkd.in/eVTG53yZ

New Columbia River Treaty Must Prioritize Local Tribes and Ecological Concerns A 60-year-old treaty between the U.S. and Canada to jointly manage the Columbia River is being renegotiated. Canada and the United States met in October for their 19th round of negotiations to modernize the Columbia River Treaty. The 60-year-old Columbia River Treaty is an engineering agreement between the two countries to jointly manage the international Columbia River to reduce flood risk and optimize hydropower production. The river runs through the heart and history of the U.S. Northwest and plays a vital role in all aspects of life in the Northwest. The river system is also under grave threat from the climate crisis and pollution, as well as many dams built on its mainstem and tributaries.In an historic announcement this fall, President Joe Biden committed $200 million over 20 years to support tribal-led efforts to reintroduce salmon above the Grand Coulee Dam in Washington State. In order to uphold our nation’s tribal treaty and trust responsibilities, the administration issued a presidential memorandum to protect the Columbia River watershed and to restore “healthy and abundant” salmon and other native basin fish. Read more: #cdnpoli #USpoli #ColumbiaRiver #Indigenous #salmon

Last week I stood next to the Klamath River as water was released from the Iron Gate Dam reservoir in preparation for dam removal. This historic moment was more than two decades in the making and is part of the country's biggest dam removal and river restoration project. Building on this momentum, next week American Rivers will discuss how we can work together to remove 30,000 dams by 2050. The impacts of climate change, dams, and habitat fragmentation have created a crisis in the decline of freshwater species and threaten the health and safety of communities. By expanding dam removal work nationwide, we can work together to address the climate crisis through river restoration. https://lnkd.in/dKMjMVWu

Hello coastal engineers, geologists and other practitioners of the trade, I am curious: do these devices work? Are "wave attenuation devices" (WADs) like this advisable on ocean beach shorelines? And if so, under what conditions generally? In this case, the WADs are part of a strategy that includes living shorelines and seagrass enhancement but I have not seen the detailed site plan. The NC Coastal Federation is involved in this project as well. As I recall, my former colleague at Coastal Tech, Dr. Cliff Truitt, examined the Palm Beach Florida Prefabricated Erosion Prevention (P.E.P.) Reef project -- another type of offshore submerged breakwater -- and reached the surprising conclusion (at least to me) that the project actually increased shoreline erosion and sand losses in the project area. Cliff's 1992 conclusions were verified by later investigations. https://lnkd.in/gdPN9u6v Has the engineering improved? Have the designs of these devices changed recently so they work better? Just curious.