Connecticut Green Living

Starting today in Austin a conference designed to bring a confluence of parties together, from environmentalists to business leaders, hopes to make a dent in the nation's water crisis. It is not just our country, of course, that is suffering myriad challenges when it comes to water. One Water Summit 2019 is being billed as "the premier national conference focused on sustainable, integrated, and inclusive approaches to managing water, our most precious natural resource," according to Water Research Foundation. The new mindset or movement aims to change "siloed" thinking and make it a more "holistic" concept. For example, waste water and storm water should not be wasted and in many cases in 2019 are not. Laura Huffman, Texas State Director of The Nature Conservancy , spoke to me by phone yesterday and shared that "waste water can be refillable" and that in places such as Las Vegas, fountains have reused such water. In San Antonio at the Ri...

EPA’s Office of Water today announced its fifth annual Campus RainWorks Challenge for undergraduate and graduate students. Campuses nationwide will participate in the challenge to divert stormwater runoff away from the built environment. The EPA notes that green infrastructure strategies "use or mimic natural processes to manage stormwater. They use vegetation, soils, and rainwater harvesting to reduce or eliminate stormwater runoff, help maintain water quality, and create healthier urban environments." So called “gray” stormwater infrastructure—which the EPA notes is catch basins, drain pipes, and ponds—moves urban stormwater away from the built environment and funnels it toward nearby waterways. The runoff carries all sorts of gunk, such as trash, bacteria, heavy metals, and other pollutants, thereby degrading water quality. The challenge will reward the winning school with prizes in two categories - one for the so-called "master plan" and another for the ...