The Rural Blog

A digest of events, trends, issues, ideas and journalism from and about rural America, by the Institute for Rural Journalism, based at the University of Kentucky. Links may expire, require subscription or go behind pay walls. Please send news and knowledge you think would be useful to benjy.hamm@uky.edu.

The Rural Blog

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National Park Service let go its last engineer who monitored abandoned wells, which pose a 'significant threat'

As the Trump administration pushes coal energy, now is a good time to report on coal ash

'Orphan' gas and oil wells are found 'everywhere,' as the federal government aims to plug these hidden polluters

Groundwater group urges owners of water wells to prepare for drought by getting their systems inspected

Infrastructure bill has provisions for abandoned mine and well reclamation, dangerous dam removal, and more

Residents in town of 300, without public water for over a year, getting it after investigative reporter sounds alarm

USDA opens applications for rural water well system grants

Farm safety experts share tips for recovering from flooding

Record-dry February in California raises wildfire risk; could worsen well access for small farmers and rural residents

Fertilizer use poses environmental risks, even climate change, but state-based regulation hasn't proven effective

Industrial farms draining Arizona aquifers; state lawmakers try to figure out a way to help family farmers

Report: more than 2 million Americans lack clean water

Water wells go deeper; makers of unique map say that won't solve supply problems; 120 million in U.S. rely on wells

Private wells, Superfund sites at risk from Midwest flooding

Emails show Florida officials delayed informing rural residents about potentially contaminated well water

Series explores rural water quality issues – supply, quality, management and more – in the Upper Midwest

Many drinking-water wells in Southeast could be polluted by flooding from hurricanes, but very few have been tested

U.S. has less and shallower fresh groundwater than believed; fracking wells may be contaminating some of it

With 43 million in U.S. on private wells, 1/5 of which are polluted, rural residents wonder about lax regulation

Minnesota governor has plan to protect water from pollution by nitrate fertilizers; apparently first in Mississippi watershed