from Water Tech Online.com- Looming "National Freshwater Crisis"

WASHINGTON — A report outlining the challenges facing the U.S. freshwater supply was presented to the Obama Administration during a meeting of federal agencies convened by the White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) on Sept. 15, according to a press release.

The report, titled “Charting New Waters: A Call to Action to Address U.S. Freshwater Challenges,” represents consensus recommendations of diverse interests convened by The Johnson Foundation at Wingspread in Racine, Wisc.

The report identifies serious challenges to the quality and supply of freshwater, such as pollution and scarcity; competing urban, rural and ecosystem water needs; climate change; environmental and public health impacts; and a variety of economic implications.

The document offers actions to confront these threats and a plan to ensure that the nation’s freshwater resources are secure for the 21st century, the release stated.

“There was broad consensus among participants that our current path will, unless changed, lead us to a national freshwater crisis in the foreseeable future,” the Call to Action reports. “This reality encompasses a wide array of challenges … that collectively amount to a tenuous trajectory for the future of the nation’s freshwater resources.”

The document is believed to be the first such comprehensive, cross-sector examination of U.S. freshwater challenges and solutions.

to read the full article, click here.

HYDROFRACTURE!

Miracle at The Berkeley Pit, and musing on the Gulf

I recently heard this story on a Radiolab episode entitled "oops". They were talking about accidents and unintended consequences, and this story stuck out as an amazing demonstration of divine providence and Creation's amazing ability to take care of itsself.

The Berkeley Pit, in Butte, Montana is the site of what was the richest hill on earth, producing over one billion tons of ore, including copper, lead, zinc, gold, and manganese over a 27 year period. It was closed in 1982, and when the owners of the mine shut off the groundwater pumps, it began filling up with groundwater. It now holds about 40 Billion gallons of water, making one of the largest lakes in North America.

It began leaching pyrite out of the earth, which reacted with water and air, creating sulfuric acid which hastens the removal of metals from the earth, turning all this water an iridescent shimmering red and green and brown and orange. It is now part of the largest federal Superfund cleanup site in the United States. The pH of this lake is an amazing 2.5 (rain is about 5.6, and drinking water is around 7.0)

Back in the mid 1990's, 342 Snow Geese landed on the shimmering lake overnight. The next morning they were all dead, having drunk some of the water. It was a notorious tragedy.

So, here's the story:

It seems this couple, Professors Don and Andrea Sterley moved from California to the University of Montana to take a job studying microorganisms growing on Caribbean sponges.

They began finding microorganisms in the nasty, uninhabitable water of the pit, which have found uses in all sorts of medicines and industrial applications. Cool? Yes, but wait...

A few years after they got into their research, a new yeast showed up: a gooey, black thing that is able to absorb metals out of the water 900-times more effectively than any other till-then known organism. They began searching for it in nature, and finally found the ONE place in all of nature where this organism occurs:

in the rectal tracts of geese.

OK sure, this was on National Public Radio, and it was on Radiolab, not Speaking of Faith, so we don't expect them to look at it through the eyes of someone seeking any sort of spiritual insight. But, when you do look at it that way; when you consider that this mess was created by men who had no real viable solution to deal with it.

That the ONE thing we now know will clean it was in the ONE bird that landed on the lake that fateful night.

That only through that bird's death was the healing power released to that lake...

You sort of have to pause

and ask yourself "just who is in control, here?"

and look outside yourself for answers to your own "pit".

and perhaps, even for an answer on global catastrophes, including our Gulf oil spill.

Now, I'm not saying that we should not make an effort. But perhaps we should take a broader view as we move forward, to see how we might align ourselves with what is already all around us. If we draw first on that, we might find our efforts greatly multiplied. We might find a solution to even our most daunting problems.

We might find God.

Water Bills Move thru Georgia General Assembly

Georgia Governor Sonny Purdue issued the following statement yesterday, as 2 separate bills moved through the Georgia General Assembly. Both bills mandate increased restrictions on Georgians' access to water. Neither asserts the State's right to the water in Lake Lanier.

“Both the House and Senate took major steps today towards our goal of creating a true culture of conservation in Georgia. This legislation promotes water conservation in Georgia and shows our neighbors that we are serious about being good stewards of our natural resources. Both Senator Tolleson and Representative Smith have done outstanding work putting this bill together and balancing the interests of all Georgians. I want to thank members of both parties from the General Assembly for their hard work on the legislation and I look forward to putting my signature on it once it receives final passage.”

HB 1049, Stephens (R) 164, passed by a vote of 166-5, while SB 370, Tolleson (R) 20, was unanimously adopted in the Senate. The bills are aimed at appeasing federal courts and neighboring states, eying the water in Lake Lanier, and were lobbied heavily by Purdue's office.

In fact, HB 1049 was one of just a few bill handpicked by Speaker Ralston (R) 7 on behalf of the Governor which were allowed to be heard over the recent 2-week House recess in response to the State's budget crisis.

One house member said this bill made the state the "toilet police". The bills certainly do nothing to make water more accessible to Georgians, but perhaps Sonny can work out a deal with our benevolent federal lords.

In the mean time, the citizens of Georgia may want to consider how they might protect their own access, either through private wells, or basins and reservoirs. Of course, if the State would allow the feds to lay claim to Lanier, they may not stop them from coming after your well, either...

Up to $11,000 @ 1% Toward Your Well!

Southeast Rural Community Assistance Project, Inc.’s Loan Fund is now able to provide funding for individual household wells due to funding from USDA-Rural Development. Applications are available on the company website at www.SoutheastRCAP.org. We are dedicated to improving the quality of life for low to moderate income persons rural area in the southeast Region (DE,MD,VA,NC,SC,GA, and FL). Qualification: An eligible individual means an Individual who is a member of a household in which all members have a combined income ( for the most recent 12 month period for which the information is available) that is not more than 100% of the median Non-metropolitan household income for the state or territory in which the individual lives.

In most of our service areas, that means around $61,200 per year!

Other restrictions:

Loan recipient must either own or occupy the home or be occupying the home as the purchaser under a legally enforced land purchase contract which is not under default by the seller or the purchaser. The home must be located in a rural area. The water well system may not be used to substitute water service available from collective water systems. The water well system may not be associated with the construction of a new dwelling. Loan recipient must not be suspended or debarred from participation in Federal programs.

Southeast RCAP, Inc. is a private non-profit company and their Well Loan Program is "an effort to help so many of the people who are without water obtain such a necessity."

Please contact Daniel Lawson at 540.345.1184 ext. 135, or Sharon Thomas, Loan Fund Coordinator, ext. 122 for more information.

Giving Away Our Water

Imagine the civil government issuing you an order to pump water out of your well, on your property, to your neighbors' homes.

Imagine that same government agency telling you that you had no right to the water in that well, and that you needed to find another source of water for your home, and compliance to their orders would be at the point of a gun if you could not "work it out."

What would you do? How would you react?

The State of Georgia, where I reside, is in that very situation, and our leaders are not reacting the way you might in the above "imaginary" example.

Yesterday, the Governor of Georgia, Sonny Purdue, met with the Governors of Florida and Alabama, our State's neighbors in Montgomery, AL to discuss how we might comply.

Please don't get me wrong: I'm not suggesting that we should ignore the needs of Florida and Alabama. Going back to our "imaginary" scenario, and removing the outside influence of the civil government; who among us would be so uncaring as to not give that needy neighbor a gallon or bucket or whatever we could spare? Who would not help their neighbor build their own water system?

Yet meetings like this, under the misplaced thumb of an out-of-control government not only undermine any good and positive relations we might have been able to build with our neighbors, it also puts them in a tough spot: they asked the feds to rule here, so when the feds come after their States' natural resources, they'll have a much harder time saying no.

Unintended Consequences.

Now, this may be a bit of a strong position for your taste, but States' Rights advocate and 2010 Georgia Gubernatorial candidate Ray McBerry's position on water is certainly closer to my sentiments than that of the current administration. Have a listen.

The notion that neither the federal government nor the state own or have rights to natural resources seems primary to our nation's founding.

Maybe we'll get some leadership in Georgia who agrees with that position, for a change.

One in Ten Americans Drink Contaminated Water

According to a New York Times report, 10% of Americans drink water that contains dangerous chemicals or fails to meet a federal health benchmark in other ways. The report found that Charleston, VW, for example, has significant levels of lead, nickel, and other heavy metals, causing- in the worst cases- customers to develop painful rashes and significant loss of tooth enamel. The report also notes wells, both private and public, are often the most dangerous water sources, because they are the least regulated. It should be noted that no distinction was drawn between bored wells, which pull heavily on the water table, and properly constructed drilled wells, which are sealed against surface water. As a water consumer, the bottom line is whether you choose to trust water safety to an outside provider- even the government, or would prefer to take the responsibilty yourself.