• Water

American Jobs Plan Aims To Regain Public Trust In Safety of Drinking Water

• American Jobs Plan
• clean water
• Environmental Justice
• Flint
• lead pipes
• safe drinking water
• water

From 2018 to 2020, over 61 million people were exposed to water with more lead than is safe to drink. President Biden’s American Jobs Plan, if funded, would fix this problem by spending $45 billion to replace more than 6 million lead-pipe service lines across the country.  Infamously, in Flint, MI, thousands of children were exposed to water contaminated with lead, in one of the worst public health disasters in recent memory. 

Why this Matters:  Lead pipes predominantly impact low-income, nonwhite communities across the nation — they are a major environmental justice flashpoint.

• Politics
• Water

California to Nestlé: Stop Draining Our Water

• California
• drinking water
• Drought
• Nestlé
• water
• water bottles

As California’s drought conditions are worsening, Nestle is pumping millions of gallons of water from the San Bernardino forest. State water officials have drafted a cease-and-desist order to force the company to stop overpumping from Strawberry Creek, which provides drinking water for about 750,000 people. 

Why This Matters: It’s not the first time – other states have also tried to reign in Nestle for its water grabs.

• Water

Maine’s Lakes on Thin Ice

• algal bloom
• climate change
• fish
• ice-out
• nitrogen
• phosphorus
• toxic algae

The ice-out date for Maine’s Lake Auburn is now three weeks earlier than it was two centuries ago, the Portland Press Herald reports, and other lakes across New England show similar trends. Climate change is not good for ice, and that includes Maine’s lakes that freeze over every winter. 

Why This Matters: A disrupted winter with lakes that “defrost” earlier has multiple knock-on effects for freshwater: in addition to harming fish in lakes, the resulting large cyanobacteria algae blooms that form can be harmful to human health.

• Water

Over 80% of Mexico Affected by Drought Conditions 

• climate change
• Drought
• Mexico
• Mexico City

by Ashira Morris, ODP Staff Writer Drought conditions cover 85% of Mexico as lakes and reservoirs dry up across the country. Mexico City is experiencing its worst drought in 30 years, and the reservoirs and aquifers are so depleted that some residents don’t have tap water. The capital city relies on water pumped in from […]

• Water

Delaware Poultry Plant Agrees to Pay $205 Million After Polluting Groundwater for Years

• clean water
• drinking water
• ground water
• nitrates
• pollution
• wastewater

One of the largest chicken producers in the country — the family-owned Mountaire Corp. — agreed to pay $205 million to settle two court cases that its Delaware plants contaminated water wells, waterways, and the surrounding air with improperly disposed of wastewater.  

Why this Matters: Groundwater contamination affects communities across the country. In Orange County and Oakland, California groundwater polluted with industrial waste is seeping into sources of drinking water.

• Water

Toxins from Decades of Manufacturing Contaminate Orange County’s Water

• drinking water
• groundwater
• PFAS
• safe drinking water
• Superfund
• water wells

By Natasha Lasky, ODP Staff Writer Over 70% of the drinking water in Orange County, California comes from groundwater. But historic manufacturing nearby has polluted it due to the improper discarding of toxic chemicals. The LA Times reports that there are three major cleanup projects involving groundwater beneath 22 Californian cities, including Anaheim, Santa Ana, […]