Catch of the Day!
"Colorado law has dibs on snowmelt and rainwater runoff" by Nicholas Riccardi, Los Angeles Times | March 22, 2009
DENVER - Every time it rains here, Kris Holstrom knowingly breaks the law.
Holstrom's violation involves the fancifully painted 55-gallon buckets underneath the gutters of her farmhouse on a mesa 15 miles from Telluride. The barrels catch rain and snowmelt, which Holstrom uses to irrigate the small vegetable garden she and her husband maintain.
But according to the state of Colorado, the rain that falls on Holstrom's property is not hers to keep. It should be allowed to fall to the ground and flow unimpeded into surrounding creeks and streams, the law states, to become the property of farmers, ranchers, developers, and water agencies that have bought the rights to those waterways.
I'm with Native Americans on this one: how can one own the rain that falls from the sky?
What Holstrom does is called rainwater harvesting. It's a practice that dates to the dawn of civilization and is increasingly in vogue among environmentalists and others who pursue sustainable lifestyles. They collect varying amounts of water, depending on the rainfall and the vessels they collect it in. The only risk involved is losing it to evaporation. Or running afoul of Western states' water laws.
Those laws, some of them more than a century old, have governed the region's development since pioneer days. "If you try to collect rainwater, well, that water really belongs to someone else," said Doug Kemper, executive director of the Colorado Water Congress. "We get into a very detailed accounting on every little drop."
Driving you to thirst with your own money?
Frank Jaeger of the Parker Water and Sanitation District, on the arid foothills south of Denver, sees water harvesting as an insidious attempt to take water from entities that have paid dearly for the resource.
"Every drop of water that comes down keeps the ground wet and helps the flow of the river," Jaeger said. He scoffs at arguments that harvesters take only a few drops from rivers. "Everything always starts with one little bite at a time."
Increasingly, however, states are trying to make the practice more welcome. Bills in Colorado and Utah, two states that have limited harvesting, would adjust their laws to allow it in certain scenarios. Organic farmers and urban dreamers aren't the only people pushing to legalize water harvesting.
Developer Harold Smethills wants to build more than 10,000 homes southwest of Denver that would be supplied by giant cisterns that capture the rain that falls on the 3,200-acre subdivision. He supports the change in Colorado law.
"We believe there is something to rainwater harvesting," Smethills said. "We believe it makes economic sense." Collected rainwater is generally considered "gray water," or water that is not reliably pure enough to drink but can be used to water yards, flush toilets, and power heaters.
In some states, developers try to include a network of cisterns and catchment pools in every subdivision, but in others, those who catch the rain tend to do so covertly....
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"Critics say US agency unable to protect Michigan wetlands; In budget pinch, governor wants EPA to take over" by John Flesher, Associated Press | March 22, 2009
TRILLIONS for WARS and BANKS.....
TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. - Governor Jennifer Granholm's proposal to hand over protection of Michigan wetlands to the federal government comes as critics in Congress and elsewhere say federal agencies are falling down on the job.
A muddled US Supreme Court ruling on two Michigan cases in 2006 has caused general confusion about which wetlands the government can regulate. Since then, there has been "drastic deterioration" of wetland protection under the Clean Water Act, a congressional memo said in December.
Not only are the Environmental Protection Agency and the Army Corps of Engineers uncertain about their jurisdiction, the report said. The court rulings have piled more work on field staffers who inspect wetlands, process applications to develop them, and investigate possible violations, causing lengthy delays. Hundreds of violations have gone unpunished.
"It's a terrible time" for Michigan to drop its program and rely on the feds, said Jan Goldman Carter, a National Wildlife Federation wetlands attorney. "Clean Water Act enforcement at the federal level has been seriously undermined."
David Evans, EPA's wetlands division director, declined to comment on specific criticisms in the memo but acknowledged that the court ruling has created uncertainty about federal authority. Things have improved more recently as agencies have made adjustments, he said.
Michigan's wetlands program is successful and abandoning it is "not something that we would suggest they pursue," Evans said. "On the other hand, we do understand their budget situation has put them in a position where they have to consider things like this."
The governor's office believes the federal agencies would adequately protect Michigan's wetlands. "We would not be recommending it if we weren't confident of that," said Liz Boyd, spokeswoman for Granholm.
Michigan's law protecting wetlands such as swamps and marshes was enacted in 1979. The state has lost about half the 11 million acres it had prior to European settlement. Wetlands are valued for qualities such as absorbing floodwaters, removing pollutants, and providing fish and wildlife habitat.
In 1984, the state was granted permission to administer the section of the federal Clean Water Act dealing with wetlands. New Jersey is the only other state with that authority. That put Michigan regulators who issue state permits for altering wetlands in charge of making sure the projects also meet federal requirements.
In her budget proposal last month, Granholm called for transferring federal wetland regulation back to the federal government to save money as the state grapples with a $1.6 billion budget deficit. Regulating wetlands costs about $4 million a year, of which $2.1 million is appropriated from the general fund to the state Department of Environmental Quality. The rest comes from the federal government and permit application fees, which legislators have refused to increase.
Granholm also is expected to seek repeal of Michigan's wetlands law. Bills to do so have been introduced in the Legislature. That would require that people seeking to develop wetlands for houses, commercial buildings, or other purposes obtain permits from the Army Corps, with EPA providing oversight.
The Army Corps had no immediate reaction to Michigan's plan, but EPA's Evans said it would dump a heavy burden on the Corps' workers. They would have to process a larger volume of new applications and monitor compliance with existing permits issued by the Department of Environmental Quality, he said.
Aside from staffing issues, environmentalists also worry that the Clean Water Act - as presently interpreted - would protect fewer wetlands than the state law.--more--"
And why is water important, readers?
The WARS of TOMORROW (if not today):
ISTANBUL - Worldwide demand for water is rising just as access to safe drinking water and sanitation remains inadequate in much of the developing world, the United Nations said yesterday, calling for better management to alleviate water shortages.
Population growth and mobility, as well as increased energy production, especially of biofuels such as ethanol, are contributing to the high demand for water, UNESCO said on the first day of a global water forum in Istanbul, Turkey's largest city.
ABOUT ETHANOL: U.S. Wants to Starve You and Ruin Your Car Engine at the Same Time
Yeah, but the politicians are looking out for you, yup!
"With increasing shortages, good governance is more than ever essential for water management. Combating poverty also depends on our ability to invest in this resource," said Koichiro Matsuura, director general of the UN agency. He urged leaders who will gather for the G-8 summit in Italy in July to pledge investment in water resources to help prevent a "major water crisis."
To help the poor? By doing what, privatizing the stuff for profit?
Also see: The MSM and the Meal
Thousands of activists, entrepreneurs, mayors, parliamentarians and business executives have gathered for the weeklong World Water Forum. Climate change and the impact of the global economic meltdown are key issues on the agenda this year.
Pfffft!
Earlier yesterday, police used truncheons and tear gas to disperse a small group of Turkish demonstrators who rallied outside the conference center to protest what they said was the forum's promotion of water as a commodity. The protesters said big water companies benefit from privatization, and that the poor are entitled to clean water as a "human right."
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Related: Shitting On Gaza, Parts I and II
Gaza Diary: Sewage on our Doorstep
