Water & Oceans

After years of effort, and despite a last-minute gambit by the outgoing President Bush, US policy for offshore energy development is going back to the drawing board. DOI is extending by six months the public comment period on the country's 5-year plan.

USGS is scheduled to release on March 27, 2009, a report on the agency's analysis of 219 contaminants and physical and chemical properties that it investigated in 2,100 private drinking water wells in 48 states.

 

 By ROBERT McCLURE
 

The fastest-growing water pollution threat in my region – and probably in yours, too – is stormwater, that filthy mixture that results when rain or melting snow washes away oil, antifreeze, dog poop, fertilizer, pesticide and anything else on the ground. It is truly foul stuff.

All that ends up somewhere. Usually, that's your nearest stream, wetland or bay. And the rainwater running off streets and other hard surfaces tends to come in big surges that gouge out stream bottoms.

A recent CERES/Pacific Institute report identifies water-related risks specific to eight key industries, and offers good sources on calculating and using water footprints.

Now journalists can explore the ocean deeps with Google Earth's newest tool.

A decades-old controversy continues to hound the issue of fluoridated drinking water, which is consumed by a little over half of the US population.

A rainstorm can do far worse than dampen your mood.

The next 6 weeks or so will see the peak of the hurricane season along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers adopted new internal guidelines on Oct. 31, 2001, to standardize management of wetlands mitigation projects.

Flood maps for riparian areas and coastal zones are in need of significant improvement, according to a new National Academies report. The benefits of implementing the improvements would substantially outweigh the costs.