Rye is the little grain that could, and it's helping to protect land and increase cash for farmers

While San Luis Valley makes up only a tiny percentage of Colorado's population, the region
contributes roughly 39% of the state's total agricultural economy. (Rye Resurgence Project image)

For farmers grappling with water scarcity in southwestern Colorado, growing rye offers multiple benefits, reports Ilana Newman of The Daily Yonder. "Rye is having something of a renaissance in the San Luis Valley, thanks to its remarkable drought-tolerance, and two women behind the Rye Resurgence Project."

Growing and promoting rye as an aquifer-saving initiative for the San Luis Valley began with Sarah Jones, Heather Dutton and a major dust storm that hit the Valley in 2023, Newman explains. Both women had already started using rye as a cover crop to protect the soil over the winter months, but traditionally, many farms left their soil bare.

After the 2023 duststorm ripped precious topsoil from farmland across the Valley, farmers began looking for ways to save their topsoil. Jones and Dutton offered growing rye as a viable solution, and the Rye Resurgence Project began to take shape.

While rye is a hearty cereal grain similar to wheat and barley, it requires "significantly less water than other common rotational winter crops," Newman explains. For instance, barley requires 18-20 inches of water per acre, while rye requires a mere 10-12 inches. "That’s a huge water savings when multiplied across a standard 120-acre field."

But to get more farmers to plant rye as a cash and cover crop, Dutton and Jones needed businesses to purchase it, which meant overcoming rye's reputation as a strong-flavored grain. "To that end, Jones said they had to do some 'rye reputation rehabilitation,'" Newman reports. 

In fact, rye's flavor is fairly mild, and it "works well in most baked goods, from brownies to pizza to bread," Newman reports. "It also has lower gluten and higher fiber content than wheat."

To date, the project has realized tangible successes. "Heather Dutton said that farmers are now growing 3,000-5,000 acres of rye a year," Newman writes. "And the project has helped them sell 771,409 pounds of rye at an average rate of $0.62 per pound, more than they were aiming for initially." 

Dutton and Jones are working to develop partnerships with bakeries, distilleries, and millers who will purchase rye or use rye flour, Newman reports. They are also sharing the story of how planting or purchasing rye can help the entire state support water conservation and its farming communities. To see a snip of their in-production documentary, click here. 

Stymied Colorado River negotiations may need federal intervention and outside facilitators to reach an agreement

Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, center, meets in January with governors and representatives 
of the seven Colorado River basin states. (Department of the Interior photo)

As negotiations among seven Western states stall over how to share the drying Colorado River, complex water negotiation experts Karen Schlatter and Sharon B. Megdal, writing for The Conversation, believe there is a path to end the deadlock and begin meaningful discussions that could lead to a water division agreement.

Schlatter and Megdal say the way to create successful discussions on contentious issues involves "learning together, understanding one another’s interests, working through conflict and developing inclusive solutions for diverse participants. And that works best with an outside facilitator."

Right now, the states are divided into subgroups "based on whether they are in the river’s Upper Basin – Colorado, Wyoming, Utah and New Mexico – or the Lower Basin, which includes Arizona, Nevada and California," Schlatter and Megdal explain. "Each basin group holds strong positions and has generally been unwilling to shift."

Schlatter and Megdal point out that the Colorado River water conflicts seem like a battle because they are. The Colorado River negotiations include "all five of the most common sources of conflict between people: values, data, relationships, interests and structure."

Over time, negotiations between state water experts have likely become stagnant after so many conflict-filled discussions that a fruitful give-and-take agreement isn't currently possible. Schlatter and Megdal explain, "We believe it’s unreasonable – and unrealistic and unfair – to expect them to be experts at designing and facilitating an effective process for sorting out their differences. . . . Federal officials are not necessarily the best people to run the process either."

Perhaps the most hopeful possibility is for the federal Bureau of Reclamation, which has the authority to decide on water issues for states, to adopt "short-term rules that would give the states another chance to negotiate a longer-term deal – ideally with an unbiased third-party facilitator for support," they explain.

Recent historical water compromise agreements, such as the "collaborative and consensus-based planning process in the Yakima River Basin in Washington state or the Colorado River contingency plans to manage drought in 2019," can serve as examples, Schlatter and Megdal explain. "We believe that an agreement between the seven states is still possible."

Snow drought in Western states adds to regional water supply worries and takes a toll on winter tourism

Western states rely on winter snowpack for community
and farming water supplies. (Photo by Lamar, Unsplash)

Unlike most of the country, Western states are experiencing warmer-than-normal winter temperatures and haven't had enough snow to replenish water needed for drier months or sustain winter tourism, which helps to fuel their economy.

"An extreme snow drought and unusually warm weather are keeping skiers off the mountains, snowmobilers off the trails and water out of the rivers across much of the West," reports Jim Robbins for The New York Times.

Much of the West relies on thawing winter snowpack to provide water for residents, irrigation, trout streams and reservoirs throughout the year.

The lack of snowpack in the Colorado Rockies and the Colorado River Basin "adds to the 26-year-long megadrought in the region, which has led to extremely low levels in the two largest reservoirs on the Colorado River," Robbins explains. "Colorado is having its warmest winter since 1895."

The reason for the drastic change in snowfall and temperature between the last few years and this year "isn’t easily explained," Robbins adds. "Scientists have found that it is difficult to attribute the snow drought entirely to climate change."

Skiing tourism in Oregon has been particularly hard hit because there's been so little snow. Presley Quon, a spokesperson for Mt. Bachelor, a ski resort near Bend, Ore., told the Times, "It’s been a really rough season for ski resorts." Robbins adds, "Last year at this time, Mt. Bachelor had 109 inches of snow at its base; this year it has 27 inches."

At higher elevations, snowpack inches are at a more normal level; however, the runoff most communities rely on for water "comes from the middle and lower elevations, which cover a far greater area than the land at higher altitudes," Robbins explains. 

Despite the abysmal snowfall thus far, there's still time for snowpack levels to rebound. Robbins adds, "February, March and often April are the months when most of the snow usually falls in the mountains."

Data center developments offer plenty of community reporting opportunities

U.S. data center infrastructure, with the relationship between the data center locations, transmission infrastructure and fiber optic networks. (NREL map, click to enlarge)

While rural areas may receive an economic boost from data center development in their community, the sprawling energy and water needs that AI hubs require can impact an entire region.

Data centers are a "relatively new kind of industrial infrastructure that environmental journalists may want to pay attention to," writes Joseph A. Davis for the Society of Environmental Journalists.

In areas that experience extremes of heat or cold, power-hungry AI can strain local electrical grids that may already be struggling to meet daily demand for local businesses and homes.

In addition to energy-gobbling, data centers also require enormous amounts of fresh water. Many communities across the U.S. are grappling with ongoing droughts and depleted aquifers. A data center build could leave its community thirsty.

According to Davis, here are story ideas to consider and ways to gather information:

• Find the data center(s) nearest you. Ask the PR people for a tour. There are helpful maplike resources from the National Renewable Energy Labs, Datacenters.com and Visual Capitalist.
• What is the power situation in your data center region? Do you ever have brownouts or energy conservation requests during AC season? Talk to your nearby electric utilities about load management.
• What zoning and permits do your burgeoning data centers need in order to build and operate? Have they got all the approvals they need? Did local authorities make any concessions to usual rules? Tax breaks?
• Where does the cooling water for your local data center, if any, come from? Are permits needed? What happens to the water that is discharged, and what are the heat effects on aquatic systems?
• How many jobs will be created during the construction of the data center? How many jobs after it is operating? Can local people fill them?
• Is your planned data center creating its own power plants to operate? Are they fossil-fueled? Green-powered? Nuclear? What are the environmental consequences?

Reporting resources:

• Data Center Coalition: This trade and lobbying group calls itself “The Voice of the Data Center Industry.”
• Utility companies: Power for many data centers comes from local electric utilities. Check in with your local utilities to see what requirements they have imposed (or waived) for the data center. Here’s a starting list.
• Zoning or planning boards: Siting of industrial facilities often requires approval from such bodies, or city and county councils. Find out what actions are pending and go to the meetings.
• Public utility commissions: Every state has a PUC that regulates local utilities. Check in with your PUC to see if your data center meets requirements. Here’s a list.

Pilot program that pays irrigating farmers for their water rights helps Nevada aquifers recover from overuse

Retiring groundwater rights helps depleted aquifers 
recover from overuse. (The Nature Conservancy map)

After years of battling water overuse by irrigating farmers, Nevada officials decided to use $25 million in federal funding to launch a pilot program that paid farmers for their water rights," reports Daniel Rothberg of The Daily Yonder. Once the state compensated irrigators for their groundwater rights, the state would retire the rights and no longer allow irrigation from that land, thereby conserving water.

Launched in 2023, the program has proved to be an effective way to protect some of the state's threatened aquifers. In fact, Nevada has used "federal funds to retire about 22,500 acre-feet of water, roughly the same amount of water Nevada was required to cut from its Colorado River allocation last year," Rothberg explains.

State water officials have been pleasantly surprised at how popular the pay-for-groundwater-rights option has become. Rothberg reports, "There was so much demand that two bills, passed unanimously by the Democratic-controlled Legislature and signed by Republican Gov. Joe Lombardo in 2025, allow for the expansion of the program."

After asking lots of questions, alfalfa farmer Denise Moyle decided to sell some of her groundwater rights to the state. Moyle shared the thought process she and many area farmers consider when debating groundwater rights sales: "If I sell a little bit of water and I pay off debt, do I have to farm as hard? Do I have to pump as hard? Do I have to go for three (alfalfa) cuttings? Can I just do two cuttings?"

Meanwhile, state water officials and conservationists are considering how to keep the program going, which could lean on donations and federal funding. "A donation could target a specific area or ecosystem in need of protection from groundwater overuse," Rothberg explains. "But state funding would help to raise matching federal dollars and maximize the program’s value."

Forty-eight states face moderate drought, which affects groundwater supplies, agriculture and river transportation

Drought caused this sunflower crop to fail.
(Adobe Stock photo)

This summer's scorching heat may be over, but across the United States a lack of soil-absorbed rainfall has left most states facing drought conditions. "More than 150 million people in the country – and 149.8 million in the 48 contiguous states – are in a drought this week. That is about a 34% increase since last week and an over 150% increase since last month," reports Marina Dunbar of The Guardian. Drought is present in every state except Alaska and Kentucky, in fact, this is the greatest number of states in drought in U.S. Drought Monitor history.

Drought conditions aren't just about lack of rainfall, they "are driven and exacerbated by abnormally high temperatures that can quickly suck moisture from the atmosphere and the earth," Dunbar explains. "Droughts can occur even when there is slightly more rain than usual, depending on the frequency of rainfall. If there is a lot of rain all at once, it’s difficult for the water to be properly absorbed into the ground."

National Integrated Drought Information System data

When droughts occur, groundwater supplies get tapped, which can take weeks, months or centuries to replenish. "According to the National Integrated Drought Information System, droughts will increase an area’s reliance on groundwater. Groundwater provides more than 40% of the water used for U.S. agriculture and domestic water supplies. Increased pumping during droughts can reduce the future availability of those supplies."

Meanwhile, dry conditions have a domino effect on water sources, agriculture production and commodities trading. "Low water levels on rivers and other waterways [can cause] ports and other water-borne transportation to become limited due to a reduction in available routes and cargo-carrying capacity, which increases transportation costs. . . That cost increase is ultimately transferred to consumers, who see it in the form of higher-priced products, groceries and other commodities."

Public water is tested for toxins, but private well-water is not; some residents push for required testing to save lives

Well water that looks and tastes clean isn't always
contaminant free. (Photo by A. Sikdar, Unsplash)

Water used by public utilities is subject to testing and contaminant limits, but well water from private wells is not. Around 43 million Americans drink, bathe and cook with water from private wells that have never been tested, which often leaves them unaware of what's in their water, reports Silvia Foster-Frau of The Washington Post. "The levels and pervasiveness of some contaminants in [private] wells are increasing, studies show."

Public drinking water is regulated by the Environmental Protection Agency, which sets ceilings for toxins; however, water from private wells is excluded from the agency's oversight. "The agency doesn’t regulate the drinking water of the more than 1 in 10 people who get their water from their own private wells," Foster-Frau writes. Private well owners often believe that their water is fresher and purer than "city water" because it's drawn directly from the earth, but that's often not the case. "Experts say private wells can be a breeding ground for a host of toxins, from dangerous bacteria to known carcinogens."

Especially in rural areas, where residents often want more independence from regulation, conflicts have grown as some individuals want required water well testing and others want it to be their choice. In the case of Cathy Cochrane, a resident in Toutle, Washington, who is struggling with cancer, she would have preferred the county had required private well testing. Foster-Frau reports, "Cochrane discovered that the water she had been drinking for nearly a decade contained 638 parts per billion of arsenic, a toxin that can cause cancer and increase the risk of diabetes and heart disease. . . . There is no reliable way to tell if cancer is caused by arsenic versus other factors."

Arsenic occurs naturally in soil, so many residents don't give it a second thought -- or they don't realize it's there to begin with. Cochrane told Foster-Frau, "Arsenic is the perfect murder weapon. You can’t detect it.” After Cochrane spoke at a Toutle commission meeting, "The commissioners agreed to extend a public water supply line from the town of Toutle to Cochrane’s neighborhood, less than a mile away."

Cochrane's presentation spurred further inquiry. "Central Washington University graduate student William Hays has taken up the issue as his thesis project," Foster-Frau adds. "He has been knocking on doors in the Toutle area where Cochrane lives and requesting samples of water from private wells. He wants to understand just how far the naturally occurring arsenic is spread throughout the county, which would provide insight into the scope of the contaminated water problem."

Opinion: U.S. must invest in water infrastructure or face cities and towns with problems like Atlanta, or worse

Old pipes are just one part of U.S. water infrastructure
that needs repair and redesign. (Adobe Stock photo)

Reflecting on the recent water pipe bursts in Atlanta, Joseph W. Kane discusses the unwanted but predictable tide of water problems that await U.S. cities and towns in his opinion for Brookings.

"The country is once again grappling with an age-old conundrum: how to stay ahead of an increasingly intractable list of water infrastructure challenges," Kane explains. "From Flint, Mich., to Jackson, Miss., to a seemingly unending number of urban and rural communities, the country's water infrastructure is aging and in need of repair."

The "fix-it" list contains a litany of put-off or ignored problems that, should they remain on the back burner, will become an "Atlanta-sized" problem or worse. "Contaminated drinking water, including lead pollution, leaking pipes, sewer overflows, and other chronic issues persist too," Kane writes. "The ripple effects of these failures are also extensive across different systems, leading to network failures across neighborhoods and entire regions."

America's water bill is enormous, and the work that must be undertaken is staggering. "More than $600 billion in investment is estimated to be needed over the next 20 years to keep up with all the necessary improvements, according to the latest EPA national water assessments," Kane adds. "The financial pressure is immense on local utilities — and other state agencies — who are constantly trying to cobble together enough resources to stay ahead of these needs."

How do we create solutions? "The first step is to establish increased, sustained federal water funding. While the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act pumped about $57 billion into a host of different water infrastructure improvements, this figure still pales in comparison to the price tags noted earlier," Kane writes. "The second step is to support continued local and state experimentation. While many utilities are struggling to simply keep up with existing repairs, that should not be an excuse for failing to test more proactive and collaborative solutions."

A new EPA rule means polluters, not taxpayers, will have to pay for some 'forever chemicals' cleanup

PFAS have been used in the U.S. since 1938.
(Adobe Stock photo)

The presence of PFAS, or "forever chemicals," in U.S. drinking water led the Environmental Protection Agency to issue its first drinking water standards earlier this month. Tagging onto that action, "The Biden administration is designating two 'forever chemicals,' as hazardous substances under the Superfund law, shifting responsibility for their cleanup to polluters from taxpayers," reports Coral Davenport of The New York Times. "The new rule empowers the government to force the many companies that manufacture or use perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS) to monitor any releases into the environment and be responsible for cleaning them up."

Davenport explains, "PFOA and PFOS are no longer manufactured in the United States but can be imported in the form of consumer goods such as carpet, leather and apparel, textiles, paper and packaging as well as in coatings, rubber and plastics; the agency said. . . . Industries that use the chemicals have said that the designation is too expensive and would lead to litigation that could impose new costs on businesses and communities and slow the cleanup of chemicals."

The fact remains that all PFAS are harmful to humans. The compounds "degrade very slowly and can accumulate in the body and the environment. Exposure to PFAS has been associated with metabolic disorders, decreased fertility in women, developmental delays in children and increased risk of some prostate, kidney and testicular cancers, according to the EPA," Davenport writes. "Under the new rule, companies are required to immediately report releases of PFOA and PFOS that meet or exceed one pound within a 24-hour period to the National Response Center, and also to state, tribal, and local emergency responders."

As far as cleaning up PFAS -- it isn't simple or cheap. Even after PFAS are removed from water, there is no easy way to dispose of the products produced by the removal process. "Studies have shown that PFAS can be broken down with energy-intensive technologies," reports Fast Company. "But this comes with steep costs. Incinerators must reach over 1,800 degrees Fahrenheit (1,000 Celsius) to destroy PFAS, and the possibility of creating potentially harmful byproducts is not yet well understood."

Click here to review a study and map of PFAS in U.S. tap water.

EPA issues drinking water standards for toxic 'forever chemicals;' for cities and towns, an unknown price awaits

Removing PFAS from drinking water is
costly. (Photo by Samara Doole, Unsplash)

The Environmental Protection Agency has issued its first drinking water standards for "forever chemicals," which are long-lasting and human-made chemicals found in many commercial and industrial products, including nonstick pans, food packaging and common pesticides.  The slowly degrading chemicals have ended up in U.S. drinking water supplies, reports Elizabeth Daigneau of Route Fifty. "The EPA says the new rule will reduce PFAS exposure for approximately 100 million people, prevent thousands of deaths and reduce tens of thousands of serious illnesses."

The harmfulness of forever chemicals was well documented even as companies continued to use them. Amanda Hoover of Wired reports, "High levels of exposure can cause fertility issues, developmental delays in children, and reduced immune responses, according to the EPA. They can also elevate the risk of several cancers, including prostate, kidney, and testicular cancer."

A striking example of how deadly exposure to these chemicals can be was 20-year-old Amara Strande, who died of cancer about a year ago. Strande "became an activist in her short life after being diagnosed with a rare form of liver cancer five years earlier," Daigneau reports. "The cancer, which eventually spread to her throat and lungs, was attributed to her exposure to a group of toxic chemicals known as PFAS."

While many communities know their water is tainted by forever chemicals, addressing the problem was strangulated by cost. "City and county water districts agree that something must be done, [but] they are worried the new rule will cost them billions of dollars," Daigneau writes. "To allay these concerns, the Biden administration announced nearly $1 billion in newly available funding through the infrastructure law to help states implement PFAS testing and treatment at public water systems." Some industry estimates indicate that $1 billion in funding won't be near enough.

Read Daigneau's full article to learn more about water clean-up and cost concerns. Click here for the National Association of Clean Water Agencies fact sheet on PFAS myths and clean-up price estimates.

Home septic systems need regular care and maintenance to prevent 'seriously unpleasant' and expensive problems

Protozoa, rotifers, and other microorganisms work in
septic systems. (Image via Southern Sanitary Systems)

People who migrate from the city to more remote areas are wise to learn what many rural dwellers already know -- taking care of your home's septic system is serious business.

"You may want to ignore it," writes Kris Frieswick of The Wall Street Journal. "But there is only one thing worse than personally interacting with your septic system and its parts — the septic tank and leach field— and that is ignoring it. . . . [It] demands little except your consideration and maintenance, without which it will make your life seriously unpleasant."

While waste management discussions may feel unseemly, the topic is so essential that even the Old Testament gives instructions. Frieswick explains, "Deuteronomy 23:12-13 commands: 'Designate a place outside the camp where you can go to relieve yourself. As part of your equipment, have something to dig with, and when you relieve yourself, dig a hole and cover up your excrement.'. . . Bet you didn't know you had a big old hunk of Moses-approved engineering history buried next to your rhododendron."

Septic systems are more complex than a hole in the ground, but the idea is the same. Frieswick reports, "Your effluent flows through pipes into your oxygen-free septic tank, where bacteria (most of which is thoughtfully provided by your gut) eats undigested material, explains Robert Rubin, emeritus professor of biological and agricultural engineering at North Carolina State University. . . . Once those little bacterias in the tank get to work, the solids float or drop and the watery part drains off via pipe to a leach field." The leach field is the magical place where bacteria work pays off.

But things can go awry. "Septic tanks can get cracks in them. . . . Or they can back up if the pipes get clogged with grease," Frieswick writes. Inorganic material flushed accidentally can wreak havoc as well.

Before buying a new home, have the system separately inspected. Remember that tanks are built for bedroom capacity of a home. Capacity could be an issue if bedrooms are added to a house after its septic system. Use liquid detergents instead of powder, and fix water leaks that could stress the system. Plan on regular maintenance to avoid blockage headaches and pricey repairs.

      Knowing how a septic system works helps inform homeowners and renters on how to care for it.

U.S. beef herd hits a dramatic low as ranchers face repeated droughts and extreme weather

Graph by John McCracken, Investigate Midwest,
from USDA data

More prolonged periods of drought paired with extreme weather swings have reduced U.S. beef cattle herds to their lowest numbers since 1963. "Droughts starting in 2020 are a contributing factor in the nation's historically low beef inventory, according to Department of Agriculture research," reports John McCracken of Investigate Midwest. "Nebraska and Missouri — two of the top 10 beef-producing states — experienced the largest decline in the quality of June pastureland since 2020 compared to the other top states, according to an Investigate Midwest analysis of USDA data."

Since 1975, the decrease in U.S. beef herd numbers were attributed to "increased global beef production and cattle imports," McCracken explains. However, more recent shifts in livestock numbers have been partly caused by beef producers' response to a lack of water and grazable pasture. During droughts, livestock ranchers are more likely to wean calves off milk earlier than usual, "a common practice in dry years, but one that can also put young cattle at higher risk of dying." Ranchers also cull more cattle and spend more money on feed.

Higher costs to raise a beef herd end in fewer cattle on the market and higher beef prices. "Currently, cattle market experts report that the price paid by meatpackers to beef cattle ranchers is expected to be an all-time high," McCracken reports. "Food industry experts told various media outlets in late 2023 that this price increase would translate into sticker shock for consumers. . . . At the end of last year, the price of beef per pound peaked at $5.35, a 40-year high."

Midwestern agriculture depends on rain and groundwater. Dennis Todey, climatologist and director of the USDA's Midwest Climate Hub, noted how much "climate change has complicated the region's drought realities," McCracken reports. "Livestock producers now deal with weather whiplash — the result of climate change — of severely wet years, followed by intense, dry seasons." This past winter's snowfall across the Midwest is "expected to bring relief from the recent run of drought years," McCracken reports. "Despite forecasts of reduced drought levels for 2024, ranchers will continue to recover from previous drought years."

Quick hits: Are media outlets ready for an 'extinction-level event'? A new National Park; the best rural water

Photo by Yosh Ginsu, Unsplash

Are media outlets ready to rethink and reinvent themselves to survive? That's a big question with so many possible answers. In her commentary for The New Yorker, Clare Malone recounts the rise and fall of U.S. news outlets and asks, "Is the Media Prepared for an Extinction-Level Event?" Malone writes, "Even as outlets have tried to complement news coverage with other offerings, they've faced a fresh dilemma: news subscriptions —the great hope of media — are now directly competing with entertainment ones."

Wikipedia map

America's National Parks are a source of national unity alongside land and historic preservation. The Amache National Historic Site officially opened as the newest national park this year. Amache is in southeastern Colorado, one mile outside of Granada. "It was one of 10 incarceration sites used to detain thousands of Japanese-Americans during World War II," reports Lauren Penington of The Denver Post. The park is meant to remind us of past injustices and provide a place of reflection and healing for our country's past mistakes.

With all the twists and turns life can throw at us, sometimes words of wisdom can give us peace and reassurance that this, too, shall pass. Progressive Farmer's "Faith" section reaches out this week with quotes to ponder and embrace, such as this one from Martin Luther King Jr.: "Faith is taking the first step even when you don't see the whole staircase."

Kobu photo, Unsplash

Water, water everywhere, and the best sips are in Columbus, Wisconsin. "Many people know Wisconsin for its milk or beer, but did you know that the state is also home to some of America's best-tasting water? Earlier this year, Columbus Utilities in Columbus, a small city northeast of Madison, won the gold medal at the National Rural Water Association's 25th Annual Great American Water Taste Test," reports Claire Reid of The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. The taste test and awards ceremony took place at the NRWA's annual Rural Water Rally in Washington, D.C."

As younger Americans weigh the costs versus benefits of a college degree, some opt to work for companies that offer great-paying jobs that don't need a degree. "Walmart is giving bigger bonuses and adding stock awards to their annual pay packages, pushing the total compensation for the best ones to more than $400,000 a year," reports Sarah Nassauer of The Wall Street Journal. "The retail giant has thousands of store managers who act as midlevel executives. Each can often oversee a store with 350 workers and $100 million in annual revenue. Many start as clerks and climb the ranks without college degrees."

Case backlogs are a major source of criminal trial delays.
(Tingey Law Firm photo, Unsplash)

The case backlog in U.S. courts increased during the pandemic years, but the shortage of attorneys and judges pre-dates Covid-19. "The pandemic worsened problems that already had caused state and local court delays, legal experts say. The hurdles include insufficient funding, judicial vacancies, lawyer shortages and delays processing digital and physical evidence," reports Amanda Hernández of Stateline. In rural Vermont, "There were over 35,500 pending cases statewide, according to data from the Vermont Judiciary. About 42%, or 15,294 of those pending cases, are criminal cases. That's double the amount of pending criminal cases pre-pandemic."

A plan to restore and protect the Mississippi River is getting another chance in Congress

The Mississippi River basin, its major tributaries and the hypoxic "dead zone" in the Gulf of Mexico. (EPA map via WJS)

After centuries as a mighty force, the Mississippi River needs planned protection to keep it viable. "Democratic Sen. Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin announced that she plans to introduce the Mississippi River Restoration and Resilience Initiative in the Senate. Democratic Rep. Betty McCollum of Minnesota will bring the same bill forward in the House," writes Report for America correspondent Madeline Heim for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. The proposal is "modeled after programs that protect other major bodies of waters across the U.S., like the successful Great Lakes Restoration Initiative and the Chesapeake Bay Program."

Over the past two decades, Mississippi waters have included record highs and lows as drought and flooding have taken a toll. Despite the river's environmental traumas, it remains a vital part of U.S. infrastructure. "Millions of Americans rely on it for drinking water, commerce and recreation, and its floodplains provide food and habitat for hundreds of fish and wildlife species," Heim writes. "But it's facing a multitude of challenges, from extreme weather to habitat loss to persistent agricultural and industrial pollution. That pollution contributes to the Gulf of Mexico's dead zone, which last year was almost as big as Yellowstone Park."

Heim reports, "Even in the past few years, the river has experienced the impacts of a changing climate, said Kelly McGinnis, the Mississippi River Network executive director. Last spring, communities along the upper river saw near-record floodwaters, book-ended by severe droughts that slowed shipping traffic to a crawl."

The Mississippi River's restoration plan would be housed within the Environmental Protection Agency, but input and problem-solving data from the 10 states the river touches would be used. Program funding "would fall into four main buckets," Heim explains. "Those include improving water quality, restoring habitats, reducing the presence of invasive species and creating natural infrastructure to protect against flood damage."

Beyond the four focus points, the program includes a "science plan," which "would create three regional hubs at universities in the 10 border states for research on the river's challenges," Heim reports. While the Mississippi plan is based on the success of The Great Lakes Initiative, it faces a far more partisan Congress for passage. "Baldwin said that she plans to have discussions with senators from across the aisle whose states border the river and that she believes bipartisan support is possible. . . . Its supporters believe that its reintroduction will help remind people of the threats the river faces."

A new EPA app helps journalists who are looking for local water quality data that's easy to understand and share

Eighth graders collect samples from the Pigeon River in N.C.
(Photo by G. Peeples, FWS, Flickr Creative Commons via SEJ)

If you're a journalist who wants water quality data that's for "non-geeks. . . The Environmental Protection Agency is offering a 'How's My Waterway?' web app that makes the sophisticated stuff simple," reports Joseph A. Davis of the Society of Environmental Journalists. "If you are, indeed, a geek and want to jump ahead, you can start exploring it here. . . . This app is a portal for people who just want to know whether they can drink from or swim in their local river. It's hyperlocal and practical. It's presented graphically and intuitively."

Where did the data come from? "The good news is that the EPA answers the question. The other good news is that it comes from multiple authoritative datasets," Davis explains. "Much of that data is required by law to be collected by government agencies and is therefore fairly good. Those datasets include ATTAINS, a collection of water quality data posted by the states, and BEACON 2.0, a collection of state data about beach closings. . . . It also includes discharge permit information, as well as permit violations. And drinking water information. And, yes, more. Here's the full list."

Using the app is as easy as downloading it on your smartphone and entering your ZIP code. The app then shows a map. "Like a good pair of binoculars, it allows you to zoom in or out or to ask about water quality at the local, state, or national level. In the process of describing state and national-level water quality, it actually provides some meaningful overview analysis," Davis reports. "The data is not up-to-the-second, but it is pretty current. The time frame differs for each kind of data, which is only the beginning of the story — a launch pad for shoe-leather and phone reporting."

Farmers in a California region created a system to address water scarcity; it could be a national conservation model

Pajaro Valley lost its precious strawberry crops
40 years ago. (Photo by Nathan Weyland, NYT)

As groundwater becomes more challenging to source, farmers are pressured to find ways to supply and reduce water for valuable crops. A community along a 10-mile stretch of California's central coast known as Pajaro Valley may have some water preservation answers for the rest of the country, reports Soumya Karlamangla of The New York Times. "Farmers must pay for the precious resource through a system that creates an incentive to conserve water, and that also raises revenue that goes toward recycling water to use on crops. . . .The system has reduced groundwater usage in the valley by 20 percent".

Pajaro Valley farmers designed the system, which experts believe could serve as a national water conservation model. Coral Davenport of The New York Times has covered the unique system including new supporting research. Karlamangla interviewed Davenport for her insights. A brief version of their Q&A is below.

Wikipedia map

Why are people looking to the Pajaro Valley right now? For one, Pajaro Valley already faced its groundwater debacle "when the groundwater levels fell so low that its famous strawberry crops were destroyed by saltwater intrusion. . . . Farmers there banded together and came up with a solution that isn't perfect and has cost a lot of money and legal battles, but in the long run has saved the aquifer and the agricultural economy of the region. So a lot of experts and executives say it could offer a road map to avert the coming crises elsewhere."

Why hasn't this model spread more? "Politics. The politics of compelling American farmers to pay a tax on groundwater — a resource that has been free basically forever — are incredibly difficult. One thing I learned from reporting this story is that many farmers don't even want the government to put groundwater meters on their land just to measure the amount that they're using. Overcoming these deeply held political views is a huge challenge."

What consequences could charging for water in more places have on farmers and shoppers? "Experts said that pricing groundwater for agriculture across the country could profoundly change American agriculture. In some places, adding a charge for water would increase the cost of the crops and thus of the food or textiles produced by the crops — or it could cause farmers to change what they grow."

Read Davenport's full story here.

Read the case study here.

Transforming wastewater directly into drinking water might sound 'yucky,' but experts say it could work well

A wastewater purification system.
(Photo by Matt Vasilogambros, Stateline)

Toilet water repurposed as drinking water has one major challenge -- the 'yuck' factor. "After an Orange County resident flushes her toilet, the water flows through the Southern California community's sewer system, meanders its way to the sanitation plant, has its solids removed, is piped to a wastewater recycling facility next door and undergoes three different purification processes until it is clean enough to drink," report Matt Vasilogambros and Kevin Hardy of Stateline. After some sips from the sampling station, Mehul Patel, executive director of operations for the Orange County Water District's project, told Stateline, "It tastes like water. . . . It's just like any other water, but it's gone through a lot. People shouldn't judge where it came from, but where it is now."

Patel's sanitized water is not being sent as drinking water to any customers. "No large community in the U.S. is taking water from toilets and transforming it directly into clean drinking water right now," Vasilogambros and Hardy explain. "But the demonstration might offer a glimpse of the future, as states and communities across the country design new plants that will do just that, giving communities more control over their water supply as the climate gets drier. . . . And officials face some pushback from skeptics concerned about the high costs of advanced purification systems and from a public not used to the idea of drinking what was once their own waste."

The town of Castle Rock, Colorado, which lies east of the Rocky Mountains, has been using the technology and is on a path to sending it to consumers. "Directly recycling wastewater into drinking water will eventually allow residents to hold onto more of their precious water supply. . . . The town will be able to recycle its municipal water over and over at a water treatment plant that was upgraded in 2021," Stateline reports. "While the plant already has the capability, it's not sending treated wastewater directly to customers yet; it will likely take three to five years to meet new regulations on potable reuse announced by the state in January. The rules include a full year of water quality monitoring and a community awareness campaign before implementation."

In parched Kansas, the idea may take a while to gain traction. Jason Solomon, a technical assistant at the Kansas Rural Water Association, thinks "direct wastewater recycling is likely a ways off in Kansas given its stigma and costs," Stateline reports. "But [he thinks] it's an idea worth considering with recent droughts threatening drinking water supplies even in the traditionally wettest part of the state." He said, "Why don't we just take it directly from the wastewater plant? Why would we put it back in the river? It's going to get dirtier in the river."

States that share water from the Colorado River are working to balance the needs of farmers and cities

Upper Division: Colo., N.M., Utah and Wyo.
Lower Div.: Nev., Ariz. and Calif. (Wikipedia map)

Contention over how to share water from the Colorado River has rankled seven Western states and the federal government for more than 100 years. The stakes have only increased in recent years. "The future of the American West is quietly being hashed out in the conference rooms of a Las Vegas casino this week," reports Annie Snider of Politico. "Just across the strip from the Bellagio's fountains, in the shadow of an enormous Eiffel Tower-knock-off, negotiators from the seven states that share the Colorado River are racing to reach a deal on how to share the West's most important — and shrinking — waterway."

Over the past 20 years, climate change and drought have shrunk the river's flow by more than 20 percent, and "the only question now is how much worse things will get," Snider writes. "The negotiations over how to share the pain of bringing water use in line with the shrunken waterway will have huge implications for the 40 million people who rely on it at their taps in metro areas. . . as well as for the powerhouse farming operations that use roughly three-quarters of the river's water to irrigate some of the country's most productive agricultural land. Also on the line are the interests of 30 federally-recognized tribes along the river and the 11 national parks and monuments it courses through, including the Grand Canyon."

Colorado River Basin (Wikipedia map)

Politically, the conflict is a "landmine for the Biden administration, which has taken a much more aggressive approach with the affected states than its predecessors," Snider reports. "The sharpest pain will be centered on the three lower river states: Arizona and Nevada — two crucial political swing states – and California, home of the Democratic Party's most deep-pocketed donors and whose governor is widely believed to harbor presidential ambitions."

The roil doesn't stop there. "Especially contentious is the fault line between farmers, who typically hold the most protected rights to the river," Snider explains, "and the urban areas that are states' economic engines and are home to their voting bases, but are first in line for water delivery cuts under the century-old legal regime that governs the river."

This past year's record snowpack melt, paired with a three-state agreement to "conserve water over the next three years in exchange for $1.2 billion in federal funding, have headed off the disaster for now," Snider reports. "But crafting new rules to govern the river through a much drier future beginning in 2026 will be exponentially harder." 

Mussels -- 'the unsung heroes of river life' -- are finally making a comeback in the Apalachicola River

The ACF River Basin watershed.
(Wikipedia map)

It's a success story with muscle, or should we say mussels? "Some good news for the Apalachicola River," reports Dan Chapman from U.S. Fish & Wildlife. "After centuries of pollution, drought, sprawl, dredging, straightening, dam-building, and a 'water war' between Florida, Georgia, and Alabama, the iconic river whose headwaters reach into the Appalachian Mountains has something to brag about. . . . Seems the most vulnerable of its riverine residents, the freshwater mussels, are making a comeback. Scientists say the federally endangered fat threeridge, for example, 'is far more abundant and widely distributed … than previously thought.' The same can be said for the Chipola slabshell, a threatened mollusk that lives along a major Apalachicola tributary with headwaters in Alabama."

Fat threeridge mussels
(USFWS photo)

The fat threeridge has come a long way. "In 1981, a biologist certified the last living fat threeridge in a major Apalachicola tributary," Chapman writes. But the river, which has been in distress for over a decade, needs all the mussels it can muster. "Freshwater mussels are the unsung heroes of river life. They suck up water to feed and, in the process, filter out bacteria, pollutants, and sediment. The 'livers of the river' also serve as keystone species, indicators of a river’s health, and the quality of its water. When they’re in trouble, we’re in trouble."

The return of the fat threeridge and the Chipola slabshell mussel means efforts to restore the river are working. Chris Metcalf, who coordinates the federal-landowner Partners for Fish and Wildlife Program with multiple other services, "has worked on 20 projects on five private properties across the Chipola River watershed," Chapman reports. "They’ve protected 74 acres of stream-side habitat, planted 4,000 trees, installed 16 miles of cattle fencing, and restored 10 miles of stream buffers."  Metcalf told him, "All that work has helped to increase the population of mussels and created more habitat for them to thrive and survive."

Chris Metcalf has worked on 20 projects to help improve
mussel water environments. (Photo by Dan Chapman, USFWS)

Not all of the reasons for the mussel's surprising comeback are clear, but the "recovery of the at-risk species is a success story worth celebrating, especially during the 50th anniversary of the landmark Endangered Species Act," Chapman adds. "It is also a much-needed win for the Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint river basin, which, for decades, has dealt with hydrologic, economic, and political decisions beyond its control."

Two years after passage of Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, billions of dollars remain available for projects

Brookings Institution graph

Roughly two years ago, the $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill was signed into law. The bill included $550 billion in new spending through the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. This month, the IIJA is about 40% complete, and the time is ripe to take "stock" of what the bill has achieved so far, reports Adie Tomer for the Brookings Institution. "Based on our analysis of published White House data, IIJA implementation is now hitting its stride. Formula and direct federal spending continue to move at a steady pace, already pumping $306 billion into state coffers and direct investment projects."

Grantmaking is a large chunk of the act, which is "steadily increasing, with 80% of all competitive funding still left to be awarded," Tomer explains. "Overall, state and local stakeholders should feel motivated to keep pursuing federally funded projects. . . . Eligible entities of all sizes can find programs that fit their needs and capacities. Yet, with high inflation and interest rates, infrastructure builders must be careful to prioritize projects that can deliver the most value in the long run. There's more money than usual, but it's far from infinite."

The need for construction and skilled labor is expected to increase as grant money materializes into projects. "Construction of IIJA-funded projects will last well beyond 2026, when the legislation expires, and Inflation Reduction Act tax credits will support energy-related projects for another nine years. America needs to get serious about growing and diversifying the infrastructure talent pipeline because time is running out," Tomer reports.

Over the next two years, federal awards will continue, and "federal agency staff will continue to accelerate their administration of competitively awarded programs," Tomer adds. "And there will be plenty of more awards to build passenger rail corridors, make streets safer, address sewer overflow, manage orphaned oil wells, and grow digital equity. The sheer volume of opportunities will test applicants' capacities to win federal awards."