The News Review:

- Water quality of potential concern in private wells
- Waukesha utility seeks to adjust rate structure to conserve water
- PA DEP Continues to Analyze Dimock Water Supplies
- New water releases to help power drinking water
- Call for widespread water meters
- Part of ND under blizzard watch
- Water Mining: Bad Law Is Still the Law

Water quality of potential concern in private wells
Grand Island Independent
“The results of this study are important because they show that a large number of people may be unknowingly affected” said Matt Larsen USGS associate director for water. “Greater attention to the quality of drinking water from private wells and continued public education are important steps toward the goal of protecting public health. ”The USGS sampled private wells from 1991 to 2004 in 30 of the nation’s principal aquifers used for water supply. As many as 219 properties and contaminants including pH major ions nutrients radionuclides trace elements pesticides volatile organic compounds and microbial contaminants were measured. Sampled water was taken from private wells before any home treatment. ther contaminants found in the private wells were manmade organics including herbicides insecticides solvents disinfection byproducts and gasoline chemicals according to USGS. The study found that few organic contaminants (seven out of 168) exceeded health benchmarks and were found above health benchmarks in less than 1 percent of sampled wells.

Waukesha utility seeks to adjust rate structure to conserve water
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
The newest changes would set a lower water use level to qualify for the lowest rate. Most utilities in the state operate in the opposite way: the more water consumed the lower the rate. Waukesha sought permission from the state Public Service Commission to switch to the conservation rate over concern that the city’s drinking water supply is dwindling and is contaminated with radium a naturally occurring substance linked to certain cancers. The city also is seeking to demonstrate its commitment to conservation as it considers pursuing the purchase of Lake Michigan water. "After the first approval by the PSC for the new rate we were encouraged to make further changes" said Mayor Larry Nelson. "This is the first step in doing that. " The proposal was given initial approval by the Water Utility Board and will be studied by the Public Service Commission which will come back with a recommendation on whether the new rates and rate structures are acceptable.
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PA DEP Continues to Analyze Dimock Water Supplies
FXBusiness
Cabot is providing those homes with alternative water supplies and is monitoring natural gas levels. To date no indoor vapor problems have been encountered. Additionally the company has installed a treatment system at another home where the department concluded the water supply was impacted by drilling activities. DEP is inspecting existing wells in the area and monitoring new drilling activity. The department continues to schedule residential visits to take water samples and monitor for gas. “As Cabot implements its remedial actions DEP will continue to sample home wells to determine if the company’s activities are reducing the dissolved methane levels there” Bedrin said. “This procedure is time consuming and laborious but it is a necessary process for us to get this problem solved.

New water releases to help power drinking water
Minneapolis Star Tribune
Friday Johnston said. The flow should be enough to bring the river’s level back up to the intake pipes at Washburn’s water treatment plant he said. The increased water supply also should help the Stanton and Leland lds electric power plants resume their operations Johnston said. Stanton which is owned by Great River Energy and the Leland lds plant owned by Basin Electric Power Cooperative shut down Thursday because they could no longer draw the river water they needed. Both plants are in Mercer County in west-central North Dakota. Great River spokesman Lyndon Anderson said the Stanton plant which can generate 188 megawatts of power should be fully operational late Saturday.

Call for widespread water meters
BBC News
Its water strategy sets out measures it thinks should be implemented to protect resources up to 2050. The agency responsible for water policy in England and Wales also says there needs to be a complete review of the way the industry is regulated. Rainfall changesIan Barker head of water resources at the Environment Agency said: "We need to use what we have more carefully because the sources on which we currently rely will become less reliable in the future. " He said not all the messages about reducing water use in the home were getting through.

Part of ND under blizzard watch
Minneapolis Star Tribune
"The blizzard was not expected to hit the Fargo area in eastern North Dakota which is dealing with record Red River flooding. Rivers and streams in southwest and south central North Dakota have overflowed banks this month and created numerous problems from swamping the small town of Linton to flooding parts of southwest Bismarck. The blizzard — which the weather service said could have "significant" snowfall with a high moisture content — is forecast to hit just as the high water woes are easing. But Abeling said cool temperatures during the week should keep the snow from melting immediately. When the snow does begin to melt he said "I think the amount of stored water in the river basins will not be as high as it was when the melting started the first time. "However he said if the region gets rain while the snow is melting "then there would be a problem. "The biggest flooding scare happened when an ice jam on the Missouri River south of Bismarck backed up water into the southwest part of the city temporarily forcing 1700 people from their homes.

Water Mining: Bad Law Is Still the Law
The Ledger
“THREE-PRNGED TESTEven Judge David Monaco who voted to uphold the Water District’s permit called the permit “shortsighted” adding “While I concur with the affirmation of the order I do so not because I think it is a good idea to allow this consumptive use of freshwater resources but because I conclude the legislation in place supports the position of the district. “In other words the case follows the letter of the law – but it’s bad law. When an area is faced with water restrictions because of a dwindling supply and increased demand it is a particularly bad law that allows water to be pulled from the ground and shipped elsewhere. The law in this case calls for the issuance of a consumptive-use permit if the applicants meets what is known as the three-pronged test: The water is for a “reasonable-beneficial use” “will not interfere with any presently existing use of water” and “is consistent with the public interest. “The Greene-Hastings application meets that standard. If so the three-pronged test needs to be rewritten. It doesn’t take a hydrologist or a judge to know that draining a half million gallons of water a day from our aquifer for pure avarice is not in the public interest.