Rural Community Assistance Partnership

Practical solutions for improving rural communities
front-page-banner-img

water

Circle of Blue: Federal Water Mandates Blowing a Hole in Municipal Budgets, Local Leaders Say

Posted Fri, 2012/08/31 - 10:13am by RCAP

Local government officials and utility leaders ask U.S. Congress to invest in water projects and to provide regulatory flexibility. The framework is part of a broader debate about how to balance ecosystems, public health and financial constraints, in this, the 40th year of the Clean Water Act.

 

An Aug. 23 article on the Circle of Blue website begins:

NYTimes op-ed: 'Don’t Waste the Drought'

Posted Mon, 2012/08/20 - 11:34am by RCAP

An Aug. 16 editorial in The New York Times calls us to not let the opportunity pass us by in the current drought to address water problems and consider how we use and think about water.

The editorial begins:

"We're in the worst drought in the United States since the 1950s, and we’re wasting it.

"Though the drought has devastated corn crops and disrupted commerce on the Mississippi River, it also represents an opportunity to tackle long-ignored water problems and to reimagine how we manage, use and even think about water.

Missouri newspaper: 'Clean water is as much a job creator as any'

Posted Mon, 2012/08/20 - 11:16am by RCAP

The HazlewoodPatch, a local newspaper in Hazlewood, Mo., has an Aug. 16 article with the headline "In Tough Economy, Midwest Businesses Say Jobs Depend on Clean Water."

The article begins:

"As the largest watershed in the United States, the Mississippi River Basin is something of a workaholic.

"The Mississippi River basin drains all or part of 31 states, irrigates the country’s bread basket, attracts hundreds of thousands of tourists, cools several power plants, and supplies drinking water to 15 million people. It also creates jobs.