Blog

Is it Really Worth the Trouble?

Lynn — Mon, 26 Sep 2011 23:09:25 +0000

Some things are hard for me to understand. Like why it's easier to dig iron ore from deep within the earth than to mine our nation's refuse heaps and scrap piles for discarded iron.

Hydraulic Fracturing Comes to Wisconsin

Lynn — Fri, 23 Sep 2011 00:11:35 +0000

As someone who follows U.S. water issues fairly closely, especially those associated with the water-energy "collision" as the Union of Concernced Scientists so aptly calls it, I thought that hydraulic fracturing was a distant concern for those of us who live in Wisconsin. The latest newsletter of the River Alliance of Wisconsin has corrected my error.

What's Food Got To Do With It?

Lynn — Thu, 15 Sep 2011 00:43:42 +0000

What does access to healthy food have to do with clean water? Bear with me for a minute, but hopefully you'll agree that there's a link.

Water Conservation at Wingspread

Lynn — Wed, 07 Sep 2011 00:38:15 +0000

Those of you who live in arid climates may find this hard to believe, but in the parts of Wisconsin that lie along Lake Michigan, water conservation isn't talked about much. Milwaukee is working hard to be an international water technology hub, supplying innovation to industry around the globe. But at the same time, the city is trying to attract water intensive industry by greatly reducing the price of its water for new industrial users and the closest that we come to hear

The Value of Clean Water: A Superior Perspective

Lynn — Wed, 31 Aug 2011 23:27:51 +0000

What’s water worth? It’s a frequent topic of conversation in my professional circles and perhaps yours as well.

Why Isn't Our Water That Clean?

Lynn — Tue, 23 Aug 2011 15:38:47 +0000

I recently returned from one of those magical summer vacations, this one catalyzed by the goal of reconnecting with Ingrid and Signe, our exchange student ‘daughters’, in their home countries of Norway and Denmark. I’m embarrassed to say that, with our family’s hectic schedules, the only advance planning we did focused on fundamentals like plane tickets and passports. The rest of our research was done literally ‘on the fly’, hovering over the Atlantic Ocean. Fortunately for us, it all worked wonderfully well.

Big Vision: Re-inventing America's Urban Water Infrastructure

Lynn — Wed, 29 Jun 2011 17:21:31 +0000

I can't help but be hopeful about our ability to solve our country's overwhelming water challenges when I see the extraordinarily gifted and committed people trying to tackle these problems. It's one of the great parts of my job - to find these experts and to try to figure out how to help them advance their ideas.

Water-related Illness at Home

Lynn — Tue, 21 Jun 2011 18:52:10 +0000

If Janisse Ray was ‘poetry on fire’, Marc Gorelick was science on fire. Last Monday night, to a crowd of about 40 river lovers (aka, supporters of Milwaukee Riverkeeper®), Marc presented an overview of his research on whether or not the quality of our water and our infrastructure are making kids sick.

With Thanks to Janisse

Lynn — Wed, 08 Jun 2011 03:34:40 +0000

Poetry on fire. That’s the way Janisse Ray caught our attention, we 450 water warriors and river rats, assembled for the 2011 River Rally in Charleston, South Carolina. She stopped us cold with her poem, accelerated by passion. Seated with our lunches in the Charleston Convention Center ballroom, forks arrested mid-way to mouths, it would have been blasphemous to chew while the oracle dispensed manna from the river gods.

Slogging Through My Water Bill

Lynn — Tue, 31 May 2011 04:43:05 +0000

I’ve got water rates on my mind. I recently heard Sheila Olmstead, Fellow at Resources for the Future, speak on water pricing and she reminded me of Circle of Blue’s recent update of their survey on US water rates. And recently I was in Denver, having conversations about long-term water planning – something that is very much on Governor Hickenlooper’s mind.

So I got to thinking about my own water use, and dug out my most recent water bill from the City of Wauwatosa, WI where I live. I know that the city gives a nod to water conservation, but it isn’t high on the list of priorities for our municipal leaders, nor for the Milwaukee Water Works that supplies Wauwatosa’s water, and it is evident in the way we get billed for water. For starters, we are billed only once every three months: in May I received the bill for my water use from mid-December to mid-March. Definitely not designed to give the kind of feedback that gets customers to modify their behavior.