Rural Community Assistance Partnership

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drought

New York Times blog: Via YouTube, a New Conservation Genre

Posted Mon, 2012/09/24 - 4:42pm by RCAP

The New York Times Green blog, a blog "about energy and the environment," reports on Sept. 20:

"The drought of 2012, which continues to spread westward, is making its mark on the national consciousness in many ways. Rising food prices. Interrupted livelihoods. Fields of stunted, desiccated crops.

"All of this dryness has resonance in our video culture. Just go to YouTube and look at the proliferation of public service announcements on water conservation. Making one of these seems to be the school project du jour."

Protecting groundwater protects public health, the environment

Posted Thu, 2012/09/06 - 9:21am by RCAP

RCAP encourages the public to protect public health and the health of the environment by protecting groundwater beginning on Protect Your Groundwater Day, Sept. 11.

In the United States, 88 million Americans rely on groundwater-supplied community water systems, while another 42 million Americans rely on individual household water wells.

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.