|
The Great Lakes states are expected to be among the safest regions of the country. Access to fresh water and moderate temperatures are key ingredients. In the first of a series of articles and broadcasts on the consequences of climate change in the Great Lakes region, the Great Lakes News Collaborative reports that water could make the Great Lakes a climate refuge. Is the region prepared?
|
|
 | | A car covered in snow in downtown Dallas 2021. Photo © Matthew T Rader, License CC-BY-SA |
|
|
After days without power, millions in Texas are now facing a water crisis.
Low water pressure is affecting hospitals in the Austin area. At St. David’s South Austin Medical Center, low water pressure also caused the facility’s heat to fail since its boiler is water powered. Hospital staff are moving some patients to other hospitals until the issues are fixed, but there is little spare capacity for St. David’s 300 patients.
|
|
 | | Detroit residents expressed their views on water access in 2014, when the city began a campaign to disconnect water service to households that were behind on bills. Now, after the pandemic exposed the health implications of water service, Mayor Michael Duggan has suspended water shutoffs through 2022. Photo © J. Carl Ganter/Circle of Blue |
|
|
Low-income neighborhoods and communities of color bear the burden of pollution and endure inadequate public services like water and sewer. These are environmental injustices, and President Joe Biden came into office pledging to correct them.
Circle of Blue reporter Brett Walton spoke with two veterans of the U.S. environmental justice movement — Mustafa Santiago Ali, the vice president of environmental justice, climate, and community revitalization at the National Wildlife Federation, and Monica Lewis-Patrick, the president and CEO of We the People of Detroit, a group looking to build a more just and democratic city — about the opportunities and challenges facing the Biden administration as it focuses on marginalized communities.
|
|
 | | The Deep Ellum neighborhood of Dallas was covered by snow on February 15, 2021. Photo © Matthew T Rader, License CC-BY-SA |
|
|
An unusually severe winter storm that caused rolling blackouts across Texas and left as many as 4.2 million people in the dark is also crippling the state’s water systems.
Residents in cities large and small are dealing with low water pressure, dry taps, and broken pipes. After water has been restored, residents are being told to boil their water before drinking it, even as many homes are without power. The problems span the breadth of the state. As of Wednesday morning, more than 300 public water systems had reported disruptions in water or sewer service, according to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. |
|
 | | The pandemic has resulted in a range of experiences for water utilities in North Carolina and their customers. Photo © Fran Jacquier on Unsplash |
|
|
The story of the pandemic has been its inequality. By almost every measurement — job losses, vaccine distribution, death rates — the public health emergency has resulted in unequal outcomes that have struck hardest against people already on the margins.
So it is for water utilities and their customers. Some have financial aid programs and partnerships with community organizations that will send help to those in need.
These discrepancies are outlined in a new report that depicts the vastly different experiences of several dozen water providers in North Carolina during this period of upheaval.
|
|
|
The collapse of a mountain flank in India’s northern Uttarakhand state last week triggered devastating flash floods in the region and destroyed two hydroelectric projects. Since then, 50 people are dead and over 150 people are still missing.
The landslide flooded the Alaknanda and Dhauliganga rivers, bringing with it debris, mud, and rocks that smashed buildings and trees, swept people away, and forced thousands of people in the narrow valleys to flee. Search and rescue teams were dispatched to look for bodies and survivors, some of whom were trapped in tunnels at the two hydroelectric plants. |
|
For the news you need to start the week, tune into “What’s Up With Water” fresh on Monday’s on iTunes, Spotify, iHeart Radio, and SoundCloud. Featured coverage from this week’s episode of What’s Up With Water looks at: - In research news, a new study is raising questions about the health effects of a contaminant common to drinking water.
- In the United States, hackers broke into the computer network of a Florida water utility and tried to add dangerous amounts of treatment chemicals to the drinking water.
- In Illinois, the town of Joliet has selected a new drinking water provider. Joliet is the fourth-largest city in Illinois and had been using groundwater as its supply source.
This week, Circle of Blue reports on water infrastructure in Michigan. |
|
| The Great Lakes Ready or Not project is produced by the Great Lakes News Collaborative, a partnership between Bridge Michigan, Circle of Blue, Great Lakes Now at DPTV and Michigan Radio that explores an essential question: Are Great Lakes residents and leaders ready for the stirred and shaken conditions that climatologists say we can expect? A new piece will be published every Tuesday over the next four months. |
|
| From Circle of Blue's Archives: |
|
 | | In the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, women transplant rice in a field that is irrigated with industrial wastewater pumped from a nearby canal. Photo © J. Carl Ganter / Circle of Blue |
|
Drought, water scarcity, climate change, extreme weather — these and other environmental factors are among the biggest risks to society and industry, according to the World Economic Forum’s Global Risks Report, an annual survey of nearly 1,000 leaders in business, government, academia, and international organizations.
Each of the five environmental risks listed in the survey — extreme weather, failure to respond to climate change, biodiversity loss/ecosystem degradation, natural disasters, and manmade environmental disasters such as an oil spill — is rated as both highly likely and highly damaging. Water crises, categorized as a societal risk because of their far-reaching consequences, also rated as highly likely and highly damaging. It is the eighth consecutive year that water crises were a top-five most damaging risk. |
|
|
|
