Category: Safe Water

// Written by Brad Walker, Rivers Director        December 6, 2013 When special interests wanted to narrow, dam, shorten and channelize our rivers for their benefit they never had any problem with spending the public’s money with reckless abandon and without regard for any natural resource or fiscal consequences. Those barge, grain, chemical and coal interests…

// Written by Brad Walker, Rivers Director        November 26, 2013 Ever since the “Great Recession” began in 2009 I have wondered whether it might affect the making of important policy decisions. There is some precedence for concern when we look back on some decisions made during the Great Depression, especially regarding large-scale projects. Dams built…

NEWS FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE November 7, 2013 Clean Water Commission Adopts Long Overdue Water Quality Standards (Jefferson City) Wednesday, the Missouri Clean Water Commission approved water quality standards that bring the state closer to compliance with the most basic provisions of federal clean water laws. The Missouri Coalition for the Environment (MCE), a nonprofit, state-based…

Special thanks to Susan Heathcote with Iowa Environmental Council for this Summary. An interesting report was released yesterday by the US Geological Survey about the long-term trends in nitrate levels in the Mississippi River and major tributaries.  The study looked at nitrate trends over the period 2000 – 2010. Overall nitrate concentrations increased 12% at…

Tuesday, October 28, at the Ways and Means Committee Hearing on Board Bill 216 at the St. Louis Board of Aldermen, Mary Ellen Ponder, St. Louis Mayor Slay’s representative, announced that Veolia Water North America was withdrawing from its efforts to secure a contract with the city’s Water Division. The welcome news stunned members of…

// Written by Brad Walker, Rivers Director       October 17, 2013 PDF Version – Both Parts See Part 1 here if you have not read it. Unexpected direct and indirect actions affected the process surrounding the approval, development and construction of a facility to replace the original Locks and Dam 26 on the Mississippi River at…