Las Vegas water pipeline fight to go before federal judge.
Environmental groups and American Indian tribes are expected to tell U.S. District Judge Andrew Gordon in Las Vegas on Monday that a proposed 263-mile (423-kilometer) north-to-south water pipeline just west of the Nevada-Utah state line amounts to a city water grab supported by incomplete and inadequate federal environmental studies.
Southern Nevada uses only 5 percent of Nevada’s statewide water resources, the statement said, but is responsible for roughly 70 percent of the state’s economic activity.
Rob Mrowka, a senior scientist with the Center for Biological Diversity, evokes fears that remote springs will wither, rare species of plants and animals will die, and arid scrub brush rangeland in the Spring, Cave, Dry Lake and Delamar valleys will turn to dust if Las Vegas is allowed to tap ancient underground aquifers that don’t naturally replenish every year.
"Their plan to drain ancient aquifers left by the last ice age would cause significant and catastrophic changes across a section of central Nevada the size of Vermont," said Mrowka, whose organization filed a lawsuit in February 2014 against the environmental findings.
But they say it may become essential if drought keeps shrinking Lake Mead on the Colorado River.
The Las Vegas area, home to 2 million people and host to 40 million visitors a year, currently gets almost all of its drinking water from the vast reservoir behind Hoover Dam.
Proponents and opponents also are due later this year to respond to an order by a Nevada state court judge in Ely that rejected findings by the state’s top water official, Jason King, that enough underground water exists to supply the pipeline.
"In practical terms, there will be no way to replenish or recharge these systems."
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South East Water supports charity.
SOUTH East Water and its customers have raised more than £22,000 over the past year for the industry-backed charity WaterAid which has just marked its 36th birthday.
Money for the charity, founded by the water industry, has been raised through a wide range of fundraising activities.
These include a WaterAid lottery, the Severn Trent Mountain Challenge and individual sponsored activities such as staff taking part in the London Marathon.
Boosting the total for this year is a South East Water team which has signed up to the Water Innovators Challenge to solve problems based on real-life water and sanitation issues faced by the WaterAid team in Nicaragua.
There 800,000 people still do not have access to clean, safe drinking water.
As part of the challenge the team needs to raise £5,000 and has got off to a great start by taking part in the in the Severn Trent Mountain Challenge, trekking ten miles through the Peak District.
WaterAid was founded in 1981 when the UK water industry joined forces at the Thirsty World Conference to discuss its response to a global crisis that had left billions of people without clean water or proper sanitation.
Steve George, customer services director at South East Water, said: “WaterAid is very close to our hearts and the fact that our customers so generously support our efforts is a great tribute to the charity and to everyone involved in our fundraising activities.
Its water efficiency trailer tours its supply region in the summer.

South Carolina’s underground water resources get fresh scrutiny as demands increase.
Homeowners like Herrington generally don’t tap the same deep aquifers as water systems and industry, but the nature of the problem is the same.
It was the state’s first groundwater management plan.
Google’s request for permission to pull up to 1½ million gallons per day from the Charleston aquifer, to cool equipment at the company’s large data center in Berkeley County, is still pending.
In Berkeley County, 97 percent of aquifer water is used by industry.
Horry and Georgetown counties could see a management plan approved in September, 38 years after the state declared those counties a "capacity use area" where a groundwater management plan would be needed.
In capacity use areas, anyone wanting to withdraw more than 3 million gallons from an aquifer needs a permit, but there have been no declared limits on withdrawals and no permit request has ever been denied.
According to the U.S. Geological Survey, from 1935 to 1968 in North Carolina "land subsidence measuring as much as 7 inches has been documented in the central Coastal Plain" and water level declines of up to 200 feet were recorded in aquifers.
As a result, in 2002, North Carolina approved a plan for 15 counties that called for eventually reducing demands on that area’s aquifer by 75 percent.
Reducing demand that greatly would impact public drinking water supplies, industries, agriculture and golf courses if South Carolina ever took such dramatic steps.

8 tips for keeping your dog cool this summer.
"There really is no safe time to leave a dog in the car in the summertime.
Some dogs enjoy cool and even ice water, while others don’t.
If outdoors, make sure they have access to shade and again, plenty of fresh water.
Walk when it’s cool Limit the time of day dogs are exercised, Savidge said.
"Be aware of hot pavement."
Since dogs mostly dissipate heat through panting, and these breeds already can’t pant effectively, they are at high risk of overheating.
"Many dogs love the water, but not everybody does," she said.
"Having a kiddie pool around with some cool water, and maybe keeping it in the shade so it doesn’t warm up, can be a good way for dogs to lay in it and keep cool."
If you see those, seek shade, offer water to drink, douse your dog’s ears, paws and belly with cool water, and seek veterinary care, she said.

HEADS UP!
ODF plans extensive chemical spraying on state lands across the North Coast.
ROCKAWAY BEACH, OREGON July 26, 2017 – The public forests of Oregon’s North Coast are scheduled to be aerially sprayed sometime before August 31, 2017.
Oregon Department of Forestry (“ODF”) has directed employees to avoid exposure to toxic chemicals being sprayed on clearcuts from July 24th to August 31st.
The exact date and time of the application is currently unknown but areas impacted include the Kilchis, Lower Nehalem, Cook Creek, Upper Wilson, and Upper Trask watershed areas.
While ODF has directly notified its employees, ODF has failed to sufficiently notify the public of these toxic spray events despite potential impacts on trails, watersheds and campsites during the peak summer season.
Oregonians and our State Forests deserve better.” Rockaway Beach Citizens for Watershed Protection (“RBCWP”), a citizen group working to ensure that North Coast residents have access to safe drinking water and clean air through education and advocacy, is calling on Governor Kate Brown to order an immediate cease to the toxic sprays on public lands, at a minimum until pubic notification can be guaranteed.
Rockaway Beach Citizens for Watershed Protection is leading a coalition of conservation groups calling on legislators in Salem to reform Oregon’s outdated forest practices laws, the weakest on the West Coast.
The coalition insists that until those laws are improved, ODF broadly notify the public through the media anytime they may be exposed to toxic pesticides while recreating in Oregon’s beautiful public lands and parks.
Contact us at rockawaycitizen.water@gmail.com or call 503-355-2516

Government and First Nations work to end drinking water advisory at Neskantaga First Nation.
OTTAWA, July 27, 2017 : Everyone in Canada should have access to safe, clean, and reliable drinking water.
Today, the Honourable Carolyn Bennett, Minister of Indigenous and Northern Affairs, along with Grand Chief Alvin Fiddler, Nishnawbe Aski Nation and Chief Wayne Moonias, Neskantaga First Nation announced new investments that will lift the long-term drinking water advisory (DWA) in Neskantaga First Nation.
The Government of Canada will invest approximately $8.8 million to help upgrade the community’s water treatment system, including an addition to the existing water plant with new treatment technology and additional reservoir storage capacity to meet the community’s long-term needs, enabling more than 340 residents to access clean water for the first time in more than 22 years.
Quotes "Congratulations to Neskantaga First Nation and Matawa Tribal Council for your leadership on this project that will end the 22 year drinking water advisory in this First Nation community.
Investing in water systems like the one at Neskantaga First Nation represents one more step in renewing our relationship with First Nations and reaffirms our commitment to end all long-term drinking water advisories affecting on-reserve public systems financially supported by Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada (INAC)."
The approval of this project is a strong signal of this government’s commitment to eliminating all First Nation drinking water advisories, and we hope that investment in vital community infrastructure continues across NAN territory."
Water is a basic human right, and it should not have taken this long to provide the people of Neskantaga with access to safe drinking water.
This has been a long and difficult process and has demonstrated the resolve of our members.
Chief Wayne Moonias Neskantaga First Nation Quick Facts •As part of its long-term strategy, the Government of Canada is working with First Nations on sustainable approaches to eliminate long-term drinking water advisories by March 2021, and to prevent new long-term advisories from happening.

On Saturday, she inaugurated the Dhaka Water Conference at the Hotel Pan Pacific Sonargaon in Dhaka.
The three-day summit features Delta Conference and a meeting of High-Level Panel on Water representatives, to design future strategies to face the challenges of safe water management, sewerage and sanitation.
Addressing the inaugural session, Hasina said Bangladesh ensured access to safe water for 87 percent of its population by 2015 and that her administration was working for full coverage by 2030.
She hoped interactive expert dialogues at the Dhaka Water Conference, Delta Conference and other sessions would help make future strategies on water, sewerage and sanitation.
Water accounts for 90 percent of disasters in the world and almost 70 percent of deaths in natural calamities are linked to floods and water-related diseases, according to Hasina.
"Access to safe water could not be ensured for about 1 billion people in the world until now as less than 1 percent water resource of the earth is considered safe for drinking,” she said.
The water usage pattern has changed significantly due to population growth and fast urbanisation but "the threat to the availability of drinkable water still persists", she said.
About 40 percent of people in the world are suffering more or less from a lack of safe water, she said.
Hasina said her government successfully spearheaded the campaign for safe water bringing 87 percent people under safe water coverage while the figure was 98 percent in urban areas.
Moreover, 99 percent of the population is now under sanitation coverage, she added.

Public health care unfortunately has remained in unenviable state.
Amidst this the NITI Ayog (NY) has pitched for public private partnership (PPP) model to improve health services in the country against the back drop of dismal performance of public hospitals at district level.
Despite the State governments spending, hospital services have not improved the way these should.
Economic deprivation in a large segment of population results in poor access to health care.
The pharmaceutical industry, it has become obvious, has been fleecing the people.
The sector needs large funding.
But it is too inadequate for the 125 crore people.
The benefits in a PPP model go to the so-called service providers.
Unless India produces more doctors, whether for the public or private sector, healthcare delivery will not improve.
The number of users at any government hospital is high and so is the workload on the skeletal medical staff, even at medical colleges set up in remote districts of UP, including the VIP district of Kannauj.

He’s seen how changes in farming practices can have a big impact on the creek’s health.
"It’s helping demonstrate that the farmers who are doing those practices are making a difference, and I think that’s positive to encourage that," Gossman said.
Mark Dayton hosts a town hall in Rochester focused on how to improve the region’s water quality by 25 percent by 2025.
In Southeast Minnesota, pollution due to the runoff of phosphorus and sediment remains a major challenge.
Terry Lee, Olmsted County’s water resources manager, said nitrate pollution is a huge problem.
An estimated 900 people in Olmsted County are drinking from water sources that don’t meet federal safe drinking standards for nitrate concentration, according to Lee.
In Southeast Minnesota, Lee said, most of the nitrates found in drinking water come from fertilizer use.
On it, the county grows corn and soybeans using a no-till method.
He also has started using these techniques on his own farm west of Rochester.
At this point, he estimates only 5 percent to 10 percent of the area’s farmers practice no-till farming.

President Kuczynski shares Peru’s progress in "Social Revolution".
In "Despite several difficulties, we are making progress in its four cornerstones: health, education, sanitation and rural agriculture," the President underscored during his annual Address to the Nation.
Poverty reduction, ultimate goal As a socially-driven initiative, the Social Revolution primarily seeks to reduce poverty in the Inca country.
Government measures also include reforestation programs, seed and cattle enhancement, credit facilities to small-scale producers and market improvement.
Health In terms of health, the 78-year-old leader listed government actions like the influenza vaccination campaign, as well as the multisectoral strategy against anemia and child stunting.
He also underlined the ongoing re-structuring of the Health Ministry’s Comprehensive Health Insurance (SIS), improvement of healthcare services and plans to offer healthcare staff more benefits.
Education As for education, the President addressed the Andean nation’s maths and reading comprehension improvements in the Programme for International Students Assessment (PISA).
Likewise, he mentioned the recently implemented 16% pay rise for teachers.
Water and sanitation Concerning water and sanitation, Mr. Kuczynski reiterated his administration’s commitment to providing drinking water access, assuring coverage in all urban areas and in 84% of rural areas by the end of his term in office (2021).
This will require a total investment of S/50 billion [about US$15.38 billion]."