Quick hits: A good job for bots; farm safety for kids; double-dairy delights; blueberry contests; what's in your cart?

Dos Rios is also a destination for migratory birds along the Pacific flyway.
(California State Parks photo)

Filled with sunlight and the sounds of nature, California's newest state park steps back in time and into the future all at once. "The park opened this summer, emerging among the never-ending rows of agriculture the valley is known for. It's a lush 2.5 square miles now bursting with hundreds of thousands of native trees, bushes and animals," report Jonaki Mehta, Christopher Intagliata and Ailsa Chang of NPR. "But it isn’t like most state parks. In addition to bringing much-needed green space to an underserved area, its unusual design uses nature-based climate solutions that reinvigorate native wildlife. . . .By restoring the natural floodplain, the park will also help mitigate flooding that threatens residents in the area."

Busy farms can be full of dangers for adults and children. But particularly for farm kids, safety needs to be stressed and modeled, reports Jennifer Shike for Drovers, a beef industry publication. "The leading cause of injury and death for all ages on farms is large equipment. That's why Tawnie Larson from the Kansas Agriculture Safety and Health program urges farm and ranch owners to allow only youth with proper training and experience to drive large equipment. . . . Her advice to adults is simple. Demonstrate how to do things safely when children are young. Then, as they get older, take them to formal tractor safety training."

Caramel Popcorn Mascarpone Ice Cream Sundaes
(Dairy Farmers of Wisconsin photo)

What does joy in July look like for dairy lovers? Ice cream. What do dairy lovers from Wisconsin do in July? They add cheese to their ice cream! You don't have to be from the dairy state to do it. Go ahead, live large -- combine mascarpone cheese or even a cheddar with delicious heavy cream. Try scoops of cheddar apple pie ice cream or a mascarpone caramel ice cream sundae. Not ready to go that far into your dairy dream? A stop at any dairy shack is a delightful way to revel in summer -- while it lasts. 

Photo by Joanna Kosinska, Unsplash

Summer isn't just for animal fairs, it's time for produce competitions. The states of Maine and New Jersey have their blueberry dukes up and are seeking the "best berry" award. "The small blue fruit known for its antioxidants and other health benefits is New Jersey’s top crop. Meanwhile, nearly 100% of low-bush blueberries are grown in Maine," writes Matt Enright of Lancaster Farming. "But which state has the better berries? It depends on who you ask. . . . Ben Perrin, who’s been growing organic Maine blueberries for over 35 years, says it’s no contest. . . . Bill Mortellite notes New Jersey growers were the first to cultivate blueberries, so their farmers there have the most experience." 

How many of us have stood in a grocery store checkout line convinced that watching paint dry is more interesting -- only to have our eyes and minds wander over to the carts around us, quietly taking inventory of what's in the cart compared to the purchaser? "To better understand our relationship to the food we buy, we asked readers to send us their grocery receipts. . .and selected 27 people from across the U.S. to focus on," report Priya Krishna, Tanya Sichynsky and Aliza Aufrichtig of The New York Times. In combing through their receipts. . . we saw how identity, income and geography inform what makes it into the cart. . . .70% bought at least one bag of chips." Go ahead. Take a look.

Autonomous robots can tackle weeding and other field
work. (Photo by Aigen via The Guardian)

Robots can get a bad rap for stealing jobs humans need, but in the searing heat of summer, some bots are doing jobs no person wants. "Clint Brauer watches a team of bright yellow robots churn up and down the rows, tirelessly slicing away any weeds that stand in their way while avoiding the growing crops," reports Cary Gillam of The Guardian. Standing 4 feet long and 2 feet wide "the battery-powered machines pick their way through the fields with precision, without any human hand to guide them. . . . Baurer sees the robots as critical tools to help farmers reduce their reliance on chemicals and be more protective of their health and the environment."

Climate change, and deforestation from surface mining or wildfires, put mountainous areas at risk of expensive floods

Counties ranked in ranges of percentages of property at risk for flood damage
First Street Foundation map; click the image to enlarge it or click here for the interactive version.

Climate change and deforestation are putting hundreds of small communities at risk of expensive flood damage they can ill afford, according to new data from the First Street Foundation, a nonprofit organization that researches flood risk and housing. Climate change has driven rising sea levels and heavier rainstorms. Areas at the highest risk of flooding are on the coasts and in mountainous areas where surface mining or wildfires have removed the trees that can mitigate flooding.

"More than 4 million houses and small apartment buildings across the contiguous U.S. have substantial risk of expensive flood damage," Rebecca Hersher, Huo Jingnan and Sophia Schmidt report for NPR. "The cost of flood damage to homes nationwide will increase by more than 50% in the next 30 years, the First Street Foundation estimates."

The poor, who often have inadequate or no flood insurance, are the most vulnerable to flood damage, "and the federal government is ill-prepared to address the problem through the current federal flood insurance program," NPR reports. Central Appalachia, which shows significant risk of flooding on the First Street map above, has particularly high poverty rates.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency warns that the foundation's analysis is only an estimate and notes that First Street did not conduct their analysis about financial impacts of flooding with input about the agency's new flood insurance pricing plan. "For homeowners who are currently underpaying for flood insurance, FEMA says it plans to raise rates by up to 18 percent each year until the price is accurate, according to a January report by the Congressional Research Service. The agency will begin rolling out the new pricing in October," NPR reports. "As the cost of insurance goes up, many people who need flood insurance will likely be unable to afford it, leaving them to face lasting damage."

Dozens of levee breaches in Midwest expose a 'Swiss cheese' system of flood protection, aging and under threat

The Missouri River breached this levee near Fortescue, Missouri. (Photo by Tim Gruber, The New York Times)

Hundreds of miles of Midwest levees have been overwhelmed by floods, "leaving 'Swiss cheese' infrastructure and reigniting a flood-control debate," The New York Times reports.

"With dozens of costly breaks across Nebraska, Iowa, Missouri and nearby states, the surging waters have left large areas without even cursory flood protection," Mitch Smith and John Schwartz report. "And with the fear of more floods in the coming years — and perhaps even the coming weeks — many people said living and farming near the water might not be viable much longer without major changes."

The reporters note that the levees are old, "subject to uneven regulation and, in many cases, never designed to withstand the river levels seen in the last decade. . . . The situation has been exacerbated by wetter rainstorms, which are expected to worsen over time and have been attributed to climate change. . . .The recent flooding — which has devastated farms, roads and Native American reservations — has pushed to the foreground a debate that has raged quietly for generations. It boils down to this: How should the rivers be controlled, who should make those decisions and how much protection should be given to those most vulnerable?"

The levees are mainly managed by local levee districts, which "often do not coordinate or even follow the same rules," the Times reports. "With increased flooding in the past few years, the levees are being tested more frequently than ever before, straining the finances and expertise of some of those districts. The levee situation has become so grave that the American Society of Civil Engineers gave the country’s levee system a D grade in 2017, suggesting $80 billion in investment over 10 years."

Flooding and rising seas threaten America's oldest farmland

Fitzgerald stands on a spot where he says floods
have killed 15 acres of soybean crops.
(NPR photo by Jennifer Ludden)

Maryland's Eastern Shore has some of the oldest farmland in America, but it's being threatened by rising sea levels and sinking land. How old are we talking? Bob Fitzgerald, 80, says his farm has been in the family since 1666, Jennifer Ludden reports for NPR.

Fitzgerald said a tidal creek near his fields floods more frequently than it used to, sometimes covering big sections of his land even though he's tried protecting it with a dirt berm. The encroaching salt water has killed 15 acres of his soybean crop so far, he told Ludden. His neighbor Kevin Anderson, a fifth-generation farmer, said he has 20 acres of farmland that's not producing any crops now. Anderson wonders whether it's worth fighting to keep his land or whether he should let it go.

Kate Tully, an agroecologist with the University of Maryland, hopes to answer that question by tracking the impact of climate change on farmland in the area. "Tully says that as the Atlantic Ocean heats up, it's expanding. That means higher tides and more flooding. But that may not be all that's happening," Ludden reports. "Tully thinks the sea is pushing underneath the land and into the groundwater. She worries this briny mix is then rising with sea levels, killing from below. It's a threat that stretches all the way down the Eastern Seaboard to the Florida Everglades."

Tully is testing more salt-tolerant crops like barley, wheat and switchgrass, to see if area farmers could grow those instead, but says farmers need to plan for longterm adaptations to climate change now. As the Earth warms, this low-lying coastal farmland will end up under water.

The rising seas are already causing record-breaking high-tide flooding along the Atlantic seaboard and Gulf of Mexico, according a new report from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Increased high-tide flooding--also called "sunny-day" flooding--is particularly alarming because it's not caused by storms. "Breaking of annual flood records is to be expected next year and for decades to come as sea levels rise, and likely at an accelerated rate," said the report, which detailed high-tide flooding in 2017 and forecasts the outlook for 2018, Kate Elizabeth Queram reports for Route Fifty.

Levees, built to protect against floods, increase flooding

Floods on the Mississippi River, which are getting more frequent and severe, are worse because of the levees built to protect farms and small towns. "A series of analyses have helped confirm what engineers have posited for more than a century: that earthen levees built along the river are increasing flood risk for everyone, and especially hurting those who live across from them," Rebecca Hersher reports for NPR.

Nicholas Pinter, a geologist and the associate director of the Center for Watershed Sciences at the University of California, Davis, explains the problem with levees: "What you're doing in many cases is taking a flood plain out there — it can be 5 [or] 6 miles wide — and you're forcing the water that would otherwise spread across that area to go through a narrow passageway." The water flows higher and faster as the passageway gets narrower, Hersher reports.

The idea that levees could cause worse problems than they prevent isn't new; in 1852 an engineer's report to the federal government warned that levees on the Mississippi made the waters higher and faster. But after an epic flood in 1927, Congress required the Army Corps of Engineers to build a system of levees and dams on the Lower Mississippi, Hersher reports. A recent report found that more severe and frequent flooding over the past 150 years correlated with levee-building.

Residents near levees can face disastrous consequences if a flood breaches a levee, since they're less likely to have enough flood insurance. The federal government doesn't require homeowners living behind levees to carry such insurance. Likewise, farmers living behind levees are less likely to adequately insure their fields.

Texas paper points out risks of many dams, lack of state inspection, public records and awareness

Federal Emergency Management Agency map; click on it to see a larger version

The near-disaster at California's Oroville dam and the disaster of Hurricane Harvey in Texas prompted the Austin American-Statesman to do what news outlets all over the country should do on a regular basis: alert their audiences to the dangers of dams that are classified as "high hazard" by state and federal officials.

Texas has "several hundred substandard dams upstream of populated areas in Texas that violate state law intended to guard against dam breaching, or failure, in catastrophic floods," Ralph K.M. Haurwitz reports. "The adequacy of hundreds more dams that could put people in harm’s way is unknown because they haven’t been studied. . . . A state law passed by the Legislature and signed by then-Gov. Rick Perry in 2013 permanently exempts 45 percent of the dams in Texas from inspections and other safety requirements because of their relatively small size and rural locations."

Awareness of the risks appears to be low. "Few people who could be at risk are aware of the hazard of living in what engineers call the potential inundation zone, which includes areas well outside the 100-year flood plain," Haurwitz writes. "Lack of public awareness about the hazards posed by dams is no accident. After the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, federal and state officials, citing security concerns, have restricted the ability of news organizations and the public to obtain information about the hazards posed by many dams."

And the problem in Texas is probably worse that it might seem, because the state "applies its strictest safety standards only if a dam’s failure would probably cost seven or more lives," the Statesman reports. Some states doubtless do likewise. What about yours?

Lack of data on number and location of factory farms makes regulation by states difficult

A lack of data on the number and location of factory farms "makes regulatory oversight weak and in some cases, nonexistent," Georgina Gustin reports for InsideClimate News. There has been concern in North Carolina over the unknown number of animal carcasses and levels of animal waste that have flooded waterways in the wake of Hurricane Matthew. North Carolina state regulators exempt poultry CAFOs from public records disclosure.

"These massive farms, or CAFOs—concentrated animal feeding operations—can house hundreds of thousands of animals in confined spaces, creating potent volumes of nutrient pollution that have fouled rivers, lakes and oceans," Gustin writes. "Decomposing manure releases toxic chemicals, mostly ammonia and hydrogen sulfide, into the air. Manure stored in lagoons releases methane and nitrous oxide, global warming gases more powerful than carbon dioxide." (Map of North Carolina's animal feed operations created by nonprofit advocacy group Waterkeepers Alliance. For an interactive version click here)

The Environmental Protection Agency estimates "that about 11 percent of the greenhouse gas emissions in the U.S. come from agriculture and about 12 percent of total methane emissions comes from manure management, a rise of about 65 percent since 1990," Gustin writes. EPA, which regulates CAFOs under the Clean Water Act, estimates there are about 19,200 CAFOs, up from 3,600 30 years ago. "Environmental groups say that number is probably higher, largely because the agency has been unable to get reliable and comprehensive information, thanks to patchy state regulation and years of legal pushback from the livestock industry to keep the information from the public."

Last month "a federal appeals court ruled EPA violated the privacy of CAFO operators by releasing information about their farms, which had been requested by three environmental groups through the Freedom of Information Act in 2013," Gustin writes. "The ruling was a victory for the $186 billion meat-and-poultry industry, but environmental groups say it prevents the agency from better regulating CAFOs, at a time when a boom in construction may be on the way."

Hurricane Matthew flooding leads to renewed scrutiny of factory farms and animal waste lagoons

Washington Post graphic

The large number of animal carcasses and waste flooding North Carolina's waters in the wake of Hurricane Matthew is renewing the criticism of factory farms, Arelis R. Hernández, Angela Fritz and Chris Mooney report for The Washington Post. Flooding is thought to have killed several thousand hogs and several million chickens and turkeys.

Mae Wu, an attorney with the Natural Resources Defense Council, told the Post, “What this flooding does is really bring to light all the human health and environmental consequences of letting them have these open pits of waste just sitting out there."

The North Carolina Pork Council, which accused its most vocal critic, the nonprofit advocacy group Waterkeepers Alliance, of having "deliberately exaggerated the environmental impact" from hog lagoons, "announced on Friday that there’d been zero waste pits breached and just 11 flooded," the Post reports.

"The presence of mass-scale swine and poultry lots and processing plants in a sandy floodplain—a region once dotted by small tobacco farms—has long posed a difficult dilemma for a state where swine and poultry represent billions of dollars a year for the economy," the Post reports. "The sheer size of many operations is mind-boggling; the world’s biggest hog-processing plant, the Smithfield Foods facility located in the town of Tar Heel, slaughters 30,000 animals a day. In a statement, Smithfield said none of its farms had suffered 'a lagoon failure' as of Thursday afternoon."

"During Hurricane Floyd in 1999, hog lagoons across the eastern part of North Carolina broke open and dumped tons of liquid and solid waste into the storm waters," the Post reports. "That material flowed downstream, eventually settling in coastal estuaries."

"State environmental officials insist they learned lessons from Floyd," reports the Post. "The previous year, the state had put a moratorium on building new farms with more than 250 hogs and expanding existing large farms. After the hurricane, it bought out 42 hog operations located in the floodplain, essentially removing 103 waste lagoons. Other lagoons were relocated to higher ground and, in some cases, re-engineered to withstand inundation. Yet the effort remains unfinished, with 'at least' 150 facilities that the state never closed, according to Michelle Nowlin, a professor of environmental law at Duke University. Many critics maintain that the moratorium contains loopholes that have long rendered the bill ineffective." (Read more)

Historically significant town in rural N.C. may be swallowed by flooding from hurricane

Best Places map

Residents of a historically important town North Carolina town that had to be rebuilt after being decimated by Hurricane Floyd in 1999 fear that history is repeating itself, Anne Blythe reports for The News & Observer. Chico Harlan, of The Washington Post, reports that flood water levels in Princeville, believed to be the first U.S. town settled by freed slaves, have reached within a foot of the dike that protects the town, and are climbing.

"Officials in Edgecombe County say they think Princeville will escape without major damage, but water began entering one section of the city Wednesday morning," Harlan writes. "The specter of a new disaster is particularly troubling because the town is only slightly better fortified against flooding than it was two decades ago."

"In the aftermath of Floyd, President Bill Clinton created a new council to draw up a plan to better protect the town, citing its 'unique historic and cultural importance,'" Harlan writes. "The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers made a few modest and immediate improvements, but a more extensive construction plan—detailed in a December 2015 feasibility report—is still awaiting funding from Congress. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers says the dike protecting Princeville is no higher than it was in 1999, when the Tar River crested at 41.5 feet."

Dogs had to be rescued from flooded homes.
(AP photo by Chris Seward)

"After Floyd, up to 20 feet of water covered the town for 10 days. Coffins were dredged up from the soil and floated across the water like canoes," Harlan writes. "Nearly every home was destroyed. The town remained uninhabited for months, with people relocating to FEMA trailers, and residents briefly debated whether to accept a government offer to federalize the property and tear everything down. But they decided not to, and the population rebounded."

Flooding from Hurricane Matthew leading to mass drownings of chickens, hogs in North Carolina

A flooded poultry operation in Duplin, N.C.
(Waterkeeper Alliance photo by Rick Dove)

Hurricane Matthew's destruction has led to flooding that has decimated livestock in rural eastern North Carolina, one of the top pork producing regions in the state, Kirk Ross and Daryl Fears report for The Washington Post. "Conservationist organizations and government agencies that dispatched surveillance helicopters over Cumberland and Robinson counties on Tuesday reported that waters from swollen rivers and creeks had reached at least a half-dozen poultry houses and possibly some hog houses at animal feed operations."

Brian Long, a spokesman for the North Carolina Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, said they were aware of poultry farms being flooded, but had no confirmation of hog losses, Ross and Fears write. Rick Dove, an environmentalist for the Waterkeeper Alliance who claimed to have seen thousands of floating carcasses, estimated the number of dead chickens “is probably in the millions" and “there could be tens of thousands of dead hogs.”

Another concern is animal waste getting into fresh water, Ross and Fears write. "The state doesn’t disclose the amount of waste the animals produce, but some organization estimate it at more than 15 million pounds of manure annually." (Read more)

Outdated maps fail to account for climate change; 1/3 of La. flooding outside marked floodplain

Outdated Federal Emergency Management Agency flood maps fail to account for climate change, Christopher Joyce reports for NPR. FEMA updates its flood-insurance maps every five years. "People with federally backed mortgages in the highest risk areas have to get flood insurance," Joyce notes. "People outside those areas don't."

That's become a problem in some areas, such as Louisiana, where Gov. John Bel Edwards' office has estimated that last month's flooding damaged 60,646 houses. FEMA says 109,398 people or households have applied for housing help and 25,000 National Flood Insurance Program claims have been filed," Drew Broach reports for The Times-Picayune in New Orleans. An estimated 18,873 houses were damaged by the flood and 50,750 people were caught in the flood or lived in a flooded home, according to DisasterMap.net. (Image: Extent of flooding last month in Baton Rouge)

"Satellite photos show that about a third of the flooding in Louisiana last month was outside the local flood plain," Joyce writs. "The flood plain is the area that historically gets inundated by a once-a-century flood." Nicholas Pinter, a geologist at the University of California, Davis, who researches floods said "floods that occur outside the historical flood plain appear to be happening more often — in Louisiana and elsewhere."

Kathy Schaefer, an engineer who spent 10 years drawing those maps at FEMA, told Joyce. "All of the mapping had to be based on the existing conditions (at the time they were drawn, or many years earlier)." She said "those conditions were rainfall and flooding statistics from the past. Sometimes decades in the past."

Unable to wait for help, rural W.Va. flood victim repairs bridges, roadway to help free neighbor

Flooding in West Virginia has killed at least 23 people and devastated 1,200 homes, Steve Visser and Martin Savidge report for CNN. Timothy Rock, spokesman for the state Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management said that, "As of Wednesday evening, 3,240 residents had registered flood damage with Federal Emergency Management Agency, reports the Charleston Gazette-Mail. State Transportation Secretary Paul Mattox said flooding has caused $16 million in damage to the state's highways, Jeff Jenkins reports for West Virginia Metro News.

With so much damage, some rural residents have taken to making their own repairs. On June 23, the day of most of the flooding, "the people of Granny's Creek outside of Amma watched as two bridges and several sections of the rural roadway were washed away," Sean DeLancey reports for WCHS-8 in Charleston. Local resident "Butch Jett fixed them in less than 16 hours." Jett told DeLancey, "I was born and raised in this hollow. I'm sure it's where I'll be buried." (WCHS image: Damaged bridge)

DeLancey writes, "Jett patched the two bridges and all of the washed out roadways, freeing his neighbor Oral Newsome to get supplies. Jett said he had no choice, but to jump into his miniature bulldozer and help in any way he could." Jett, who said his hollow should stand as an example for others looking to help rebuild rural communities, told DeLancey, "Some of my good friends, I've taken their whole life, put it in a Dumpster, and shipped it down the road. You'd watch people going by and wonder why they wouldn't stop and help. Don't be the passerby—be the helping hand." (Best Places map: Granny's Creek runs through Sutton)

Rural W.Va. sheriff in flood area warns looters that armed citizen patrols might not be taking prisoners

Fayette County (Wikipedia)

Looting in rural West Virginia communities ravaged by floods has led to an increase in armed citizen patrols, leading local law enforcement to issue a warning that crime could be deadly, Erin Beck reports for the Charleston Gazette-Mail. Fayette County Sheriff Steve Kessler, who said the department has received reports of looting in flood areas, said in a statement that “citizens have implemented armed patrols to protect what is left of their homes and possessions. Anyone we catch looting will be arrested and jailed. If the residents of this area catch you first, you may not make it to jail.”

While West Virginia law permits deadly force by residents in certain instances where they feel threatened by a home intruder, the law does not apply to shooting someone in another person's home, Beck writes. Fayette Sheriff’s Capt. Jim Sizemore said the department doesn't encourage armed citizens patrols, but are unable to prevent such acts. He told Beck, “That’s a Second Amendment constitutional right, right there. Those folks are not breaking the law by arming themselves and protecting their community. It’s not sanctioned by the sheriff’s department. It doesn’t have to be, but they have the constitutional right to protect themselves and their families and we’re not going to tell them they can’t exercise that constitutional right.”

Sgt. Brian Humphreys, spokesman for the sheriff in adjoining Kanawha County (Charleston), told Beck that the department has received only limited reports of attempted looting in its flood areas. Humphreys, who said that because damage is so extensive police may not be aware of looting yet, told Beck, “I wouldn’t dare tell people don’t protect your property or the property of others. I’m also not going to say you’re justified in whatever means you use because that’s not the case.”

Rural residents in California, West Virginia trying to recover from disastrous floods, fires

Rural residents in California and West Virginia are trying to recover from disasters that have decimated local communities, and reporters in rural areas are chasing many stories. Wildfires ravaged Southern California, causing extensive damage in some towns. While droughts have plagued the West, too much water was the problem in West Virginia, where flooding wrecked havoc.

The 1,212 residents of Clendenin, W.Va., "were finally able to emerge from their homes on Saturday, following the Thursday and Friday floods that ravaged the area, destroying homes, washing out roads and killing at least 24 across the state," Jake Jarvis reports for the Charleston Gazette-Mail. "With all of the roads finally opened, people there started to clean up." (Gazette-Mail photo by Sam Owens: Clendenin)

"All the water had sunk back into the Elk River, leaving behind a slick mud that still covered most of the town," Jarvis writes. "Tires spun as cars and trucks tried to drive over it; rain boots slid as they tried to walk through it. Neighbors waded through the mud, piled ankle deep in some places, to visit their friends and family and help them start to recover from the flood."

"You would be hard pressed to find a place in Clendenin that wasn't affected by the storm," Jarvis writes. "Houses high up in the hills were spared from the floods, but many of their driveways were washed away or covered by small mudslides from the torrential rain. People here say the rain came fast—too fast to react to it. They knew there was a flash flood warning, but that's not out of the ordinary for the town that hugs the Elk River. Occasional floods are commonplace."

In the Southern California town of Erksine, pop. 17,384, there have been two reported fatalities, 200 structures confirmed lost and 36,800 acres burned, Lois Henry reports for The Bakersfield Californian. In South Lake, a tightly packed community of mobile homes, "the fire chewed through them like Pez candies." (Californian photo by Felix Adamo: South Lake)

In South Lake, 45 miles northeast of Bakersfield, residents are frustrated that more wasn't done to save the community's 100 trailers and houses—all located within a square mile—that were destroyed, Ruben Vives, Brittny Mejia and Matt Hamilton report for the Los Angeles Times. "Convinced that protecting wealthier communities was the priority of first responders, angry South Lake residents pressed officials on Monday to explain at a community meeting why firefighters didn’t save more of the town."

South Lake resident Janice Ryan asked during a gathering at a makeshift evacuation center, "We don’t count because we’re poor? Why aren’t we as important as the next town? Why was South Lake bypassed?” Kern County Fire Department spokesman Anthony Romero responded from a bullhorn: “When you have heavy wind going at 40 to 50 mph, there’s not any fire department anywhere in the world that would be able to catch a fire going that fast. No one is less important here. Everybody is important. Unfortunately this fire was too big, too fast for us to get in front of.”

Connecticut reporter takes first-place in SEJ awards for outstanding beat writing

Neena Satija

The Society of Environmental Journalists announced its winners of the 2012-2013 Awards for Reporting on the Environment. Of the 234 entries, 21 winners are being awarded in seven categories. While most of the winners are from major metropolitan newspapers, the lone rural winner was Neena Satija of The Connecticut Mirror, who took first-place for small-market outstanding beat writing for her story collection titled "Shoreline Vulnerability in Farifield County." The awards will be held Oct. 2 at the Chattanooga Convention Center in Chattanooga, Tennessee, in conjunction with SEJ's 23rd Annual Conference. First-place winners receive $500 and a trophy.

Judge's wrote of Satija: "With deft, detailed writing, for instance, she tactfully balances the plight of a low-income community, built in a flood plain and still recovering from major storms, with the struggles of an overtaxed housing department without the resources to truly fix the problem. Then Satija turns around and explains why it’s problematic that a $120 billion investment company, with enough money to build anywhere, would choose to locate its new headquarters in the middle of another high-risk flood zone."

"Truly jaw-dropping, however, was Satija’s two-part series on problems at Stamford’s Water Pollution Control Authority. Satija spent four months digging into public records and tracking down dozens of current and former employees to show readers how infrastructure problems fell by the wayside as former leaders – including Connecticut’s current governor – pushed ahead with an expensive and poorly-planned waste-to-energy project. The stories do what every good investigation should: hold public officials accountable." (Read more)

To read Satija's stories click on the links:
"Bridgeport residents still suffering from Sandy's hardships"
"Bridgewater plan faces another potential setback: climate change"
"Striving for innovation, spending millions, Stamford leaders ignored major problems"
"Stamford's failed attempt at energy innovation cost taxpayers tens of millions"
"Public housing residents nervously await next storm -- with good reason"

Feds find many poor levees; repairs are up to locals

Hundreds of flood-control systems overseen by the federal government are at risk of failing and endangering people and property in 37 states, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers inspectors have found. Deficient levees are in every region, in large cities and small towns, Cain Burdeau and John Flesher of The Associated Press report. The corps hasn't yet issued ratings for more than 40 percent of the 2,487 federally-inspected levees; of those it has rated, 326 covering more than 2,000 miles were deemed in urgent need of repair.


"The problems are myriad: earthen walls weakened by trees, shrubs and burrowing animal holes; houses built dangerously close to or even on top of levees; and decayed pipes and pumping stations," Burdeau and Flesher report. The Corps denied to give AP details about specific levees, saying such information could heighten terrorism risks. But the reporters did find some specifics from federal and state records, and through interviews with officials in more than a dozen cities and towns. The most widespread deficiencies were design and construction flaws, inadequate or crumbling infrastructure, failure to control vegetation and invasive species, and building encroachment.

Localities are responsible for upgrading deficient levees, and some local officials told AP that the corps is exaggerating the danger. They said some deficiencies were approved or not objected to by the federal government, and repairs would likely be too costly for them to make. "It's just not right to tell a little town like this to spend millions of dollars that we can't raise," said Judy Askew, mayor of Brookport, Ill., population 1,000. (Read more)

Small towns watch as lower Mississippi's heavy traffic is slowed by near-historic low water levels

A year after near-historic flooding affected some of America's legendary small towns, water levels on the lower Mississippi River are at near-historic lows. In July, water levels in Vicksburg, Miss., Memphis, Tenn., and Cairo, Ill. (at the confluence with the Ohio), dipped below those of the historic drought of 1988. That’s affecting everything from recreation to commerce on the maritime superhighway to rthe drinking water in Louisiana. The biggest impact, reports NBC News, may be on shipping. “It’s getting near critical,” said Austin Golding, a third-generation co-owner of Vicksburg-based Golding Barge Lines. “Without more rain, we’re heading into uncharted territory.” (Associated Press photo, near Vicksburg Aug. 6)

Barges on the lower river carry about $180 billion worth of goods and 500 million tons of the basic ingredients for much of the U.S. economy, according to the American Waterways Operators, a trade group. The river carries 60 percent of the nation’s grain, 22 percent of the oil and gas and 20 percent of the coal, according to the trade organization. The low water levels force barge companies to lighten their load by about 25 percent so barges ride higher in the water. In some places, the Mississippi is a one-way river, as barges heading north have to wait for traffic headed south, adding to the costly delays. The result: Millions of dollars in higher shipping costs, ultimately paid by consumers. (Read more)

Army Corps ignores ecologists' call not to rebuild Mississippi River levees it blew up

Missouri farmers lost millions last spring when the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers dynamited levees holding back the swollen Mississippi River to save many more millions in flood damage in more populated areas along the river. Though soybean crops have rebounded in the Birds Point-New Madrid Floodway, farmers are still angry and have filed lawsuits against the corps, and pressure from lawmakers has forced the corps to rebuild levees taller than it had planned. However, Paul Quinlan of Energy & Environment News reports a plan from ecologists about not rebuilding the levees at all has been largely ignored. (E&E photo: levee blows)

The plan calls for buying out landowners at high cost, but ecologists say taxpayer money would be saved long-term because flood-related property damage payments would be avoided. Ecologists say the levee system doesn't allow natural flood basins to absorb periodic floods. They also say removing levees would provide pollution control and wildlife habitat. The levee system makes the river more prone to frequent and intense flooding, they say. Quinlan reports calls to change management of the river have been ignored or met with hostility from Congress, which would have to pass legislation to open the floodway. (E&E News map of Birds Point-New Madrid Floodway)

Quinlan reports the Corps considers the levee, pump and reservoir system for the Mississippi River and its tributaries one of its greatest accomplishments. It was built after massive floods in 1927 took 256 lives and caused the modern equivalent of $5 billion in damage. Before floods last spring, the system had brought a 27 to 1 return on investment to taxpayers, according to the corps, and prevented an estimated $350 billion in damage. Critics such as Robert Criss, earth and planetary science professor at Washington University in St. Louis, say the benefit analysis ignores levee-building and channelizing, which is making flooding worse.

The corps predicted blowing the levees would cost $314 million in damages and prevent $1.47 billion in destruction elsewhere. Ecologists' proposed buy-out would cost about $582 million. The corps has chosen to rebuild levees to pre-demolition height for about $30 million. Quinlan reports the corps has failed to assign a dollar value to avoided flood costs and enhanced ecological benefits of not rebuilding levees and restoring floodplains. (Read more) For a New York Times story on Birds Point, click here.

Va. coal town turns to higher education for growth, puts a Walmart on top of downtown parking garage

After decades of decline in the local coal industry, Grundy, Va., has become home to a redeveloped and flood-protected downtown and, most notably, two professional schools -- and is about to get another, Brad Parke reports for the Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues and The Rural Blog. (Yahoo! map)

"Suffering a substantial outmigration, especially of young adults, local leaders are looking elsewhere for ways to establish sustainable economic development," Parke writes. "The steep topography and narrow valleys have contributed to several detrimental floods that devastated its downtown. Leaders knew they had to tame these waters for the downtown to remain viable and realize its potential, but realized they ultimately had to take a new approach: higher education."

In 1997, the Appalachian School of Law opened in Grundy. In 2005 came the Appalachian College of Pharmacy. And in 2013 the Appalachian College of Optometry is scheduled to open.

Recent improvements include "a floodwall topped by a four-lane highway bypass replacing a winding, two-lane road," Parke reports, and across the river is "the Grundy Town Center, which includes a new Walmart. The steep topography forced an innovative approach. The Walmart, which opened in September 2011, sits atop a two-level parking garage, enabling developers to avoid using the limited available flat land for a conventional parking lot."

"Similar rural communities should take note of this town’s innovative approach to development," writs Parke, a student at the law school. "If ultimately successful, Grundy may become not only a model for strategic economic diversification in Appalachia, but rural America." (Read more)

Stream gauges may be turned off, leaving communities at greater risk for flooding

Floods are hard to predict, but the U.S. Geological Survey attempts to warn of them through the National Streamflow Information Program, which enlists a system of stream gauges to track water levels of rivers, lakes and streams. The program is running out of money, though, and if the survey can't get funding by March 1, they will likely shut down 580 gauges, leaving communities with less warning about the possibility of major floods.

Jim Malewitz of Stateline reports the program is a partnership between all levels of government, costing a total of $146 million to operate. If all 580 stations are closed, it would save about $8.9 million, but some hydrologists and weather experts say the savings aren't worth putting communities at risk. In recent years, floods across the country have caused billions in damages, and flash floods have great potential to take lives; but National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration studies show warning systems greatly reduce both economic and human risk. Malewitz reports an hour of lead time can reduce damage by 10 percent and save an estimated $163 million annually.

The gauges also provide long-term data about weather patterns and changes, Malewitz reports. Losing older gauges is difficult, researchers say, because long-term data is "essential for documenting slowly developing climate changes." Shutting off gauges leaves gaps in data, making it less precise. Experts fear lawmakers won't see the importance of gauges, and say to open their eyes, another flooding disaster the magnitude of Hurricane Katrina will have to happen. (Read more)