Water Resources

Fellow Story

Hansen quoted on continuing chemical spills in West Virginia

Earlier this week, the DEP revealed that its work so far in implementing the above-ground storage tank safety provisions of the landmark legislation have led to the discovery of 1,100 tanks that are “not fit for service” and need to be replaced or eliminated. “This is a great illustration of the above-ground storage tank act working,” said Evan Hansen, of Downstream Strategies. “It’s encouraging to see [the] DEP taking action on the tanks that present the highest risk to the state’s drinking water supply.”
January 27, 2015
Fellow Story

Quinones quoted on Klamath River salmon problems, climate change

The Klamath’s problems will get worse with climate change and increasing river temperatures, says Rebecca Quiñones, a U.C. Davis researcher who has extensively studied the Klamath ecosystem. “All the climate models show that the main stem of the [Klamath] river is going to be really Some conservationists say hatchery production is making Chinook salmon more vulnerable to warming trends. inhospitable to salmon,” Quiñones says. Read more
January 26, 2015
Leadership Grant Grant

Supporting Wetlands Managers - Year Two

This grant will support a second year of Brenda Zollitsch's work as Policy Analyst at the Association of State Wetland Managers (ASWM). Last year, ASWM was awarded a $30,000 Switzer Leadership Grant to create this new position for Brenda...
December 23, 2014
Fellow Story

Vorster interviewed for CNN's in-depth look at Calfornia's San Joaquin river

Peter Vorster is a spritely hydro-geographer (“I invented that term!” he told me, beaming) from the Bay Institute, a group that studies this watershed “from the Sierras to the sea.” I’d asked him to join us on the mountain. He arrived a shaken-up soda can of a person -- just literally bursting with stories. It was easy to see how much he loves this river; his enthusiasm was infectious.
December 23, 2014
Fellow Story

Antos quoted on how Los Angeles County uses storm runoff

While rainfall can be a welcome sight in the dry Southland, when water hits the region’s concrete and blacktop landscape, it turns into a giant headache for beachgoers and environmentalists: untreated storm water or urban runoff.
December 22, 2014
Fellow Story

Lightbody catches construction workers dumping in local creek

On Monday morning, the Madbury Commons construction site was seen dumping sedimentation into the Pettee Brook in Durham. The brook appeared extremely polluted and murky; quite different from its natural state. Several passersby noticed a green hose that was pumping into the brook. The town was immediately contacted. Anne Lightbody, a resident of Durham and a University of New Hampshire earth sciences professor, observed the incident when she left the dentist’s office located on Mathes Terrace.
December 16, 2014
Fellow Story

Zollitsch connects wetlands, climate change, and Jurassic Park

Wetlands, climate change, and Jurassic Park-- what do they have in common? Brenda Zollitsch recently published a piece on The Wetland Wanderer blog, "Wetlands, Climate Change and Jurassic Park: Thoughts about Wetlands as a Climate Resiliency Tool in a Rational yet Unpredictable World". Read the piece
December 8, 2014
Fellow Story

What?! Fish Can’t Be Organic?

That’s right. Neither wild fish nor farmed fish can be certified organic because no organic standards exist in the U.S. to regulate them. But that may be about to change—for the worse. Why? The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is currently proceeding with the development of organic aquaculture regulations that could allow wild fish and ocean-based fish farms to be certified organic. Read a Switzer Fellow Thought Leadership piece by 1994 Fellow Lisa Bunin of the Center for Food Safety.
December 6, 2014
Foundation News

Webinar: Water Quality and Environmental Justice in the Central Valley

The Switzer Foundation seeks to protect, improve, and sustain our natural environment for the well-being of people and the planet. We have provided funding to 2009 Fellow Carolina Balazs for her ongoing work on historical inequalities in distribution of clean water to disadvantaged communities in California's agricultural Central Valley. Watch our recent webinar with Carolina, and read more about how her work has expanded recently to strengthen engagement between California’s Integrated Regional Water Management (IRWM) and communities facing environmental injustices.
November 19, 2014
Fellow Story

Kapnick study tries to resolve Karakoram glacier anomaly

Researchers from Princeton University and other institutions may have hit upon an answer to a climate-change puzzle that has eluded scientists for years, and that could help understand the future availability of water for hundreds of millions of people.
October 30, 2014