The News Review:

- $94M for Eastern Wash. water projects
- Feds to release minimal water supplies to farms
- Poison in the well: Crestwood officials cut corners and supplied …
- Pasco water plant to use fluoride
- Regional water official says Marion must address future supply
- Veolia donates $1.5M for water research

$94M for Eastern Wash. water projects
Seattle Post Intelligencer
– The federal government has approved more than $94 million in stimulus money for projects to improve water availability in arid Eastern Washington including $50 million to funnel water from a Columbia River reservoir to farmers who rely on wells that are going dry. Chris Gregoire lauded last week’s move as one that would help address long-term water supply challenges. But some conservation groups say the reservoir project could hardly be called “shovel ready” when the federal Bureau of Reclamation hasn’t even completed its environmental review. Columbia Riverkeeper and the Center for Environmental Law and Policy filed suit in December to block a plan to draw down Lake Roosevelt the reservoir behind Grand Coulee Dam on the Columbia to provide more water for salmon agriculture towns and businesses. A committee of state and local officials environmental groups farm supporters and tribes agreed to the drawdown plan after the Legislature passed a bill in 2006 calling for new ways to ensure water supplies for growing communities in Eastern Washington and to boost summertime stream flows for salmon. The plan would draw down Lake Roosevelt by as much as 132500 acre-feet.

Feds to release minimal water supplies to farms
San Jose Mercury News
March rain and snow storms brought water levels in California’s largest reservoirs—Shasta and roville—to about three-quarters as full as they should be at this time of year. Still state officials warn California remains in a dangerous drought. Water also must be reserved for fish in the fragile delta ecosystem. Last week the state Department of Water Resources boosted its deliveries to 30 percent of the water typically allocated for cities and farms this year.

Poison in the well: Crestwood officials cut corners and supplied …
Chicago Tribune
fficials kept using the well even though state environmental officials told them at least 22 years ago that dangerous chemicals related to a dry-cleaning solvent had oozed into the water records show. The village avoided scrutiny by telling state regulators in 1986 that they would get all of their tap water from Lake Michigan and would use the well only in an emergency. But records show Crestwood kept drawing well water on a routine basis—relying on it for up to 20 percent of the village’s water supply some months. The well wasn’t shut off for good until December 2007 after the Illinois. -environmental-protection-agency-RGV000048.

Pasco water plant to use fluoride
Seattle Post Intelligencer
– Pasco City Council members have voted to accept a $100000 grant to help pay to install fluoridation equipment at the city’s new municipal water treatment plant. The city has put fluoride in its water supply for seven years to bolster oral health. But city officials reconsidered the practice recently because construction is about to start on the second water treatment plant this summer. The state Health Department says that if one plant puts fluoride in the water the other one must too. The council voted 5-2 Monday to accept the grant from the Washington Dental Service Association to help pay for the equipment. The vote came after a lengthy discussion about the merits of fluoridating the water supply. —Information from: Tri-City Herald.
Related from Fathernickthomas: Morton Plant gets K for child/adolescent psych services

Regional water official says Marion must address future supply
cala
Marion County must ratchet up its conservation efforts and turn to alternative water-supply sources sooner rather than later as traditional groundwater sources are drying up. But putting that system in place and thus preserving those resources will not be an overnight venture nor will it be cheap. That assessment was offered Tuesday by Jack Sullivan executive director of the Withlacoochee River Water Supply Authority. Sullivan appeared before the County Commission as part of a tour of the local governments covered by the authority which has reached a “fork in the road” in developing strategies to meet long-range water needs. His overview emphasized the need for coordinated action regionally the necessity of planning over crisis management and the importance of an integrated approach that includes use of surface and desalinated waters. Sullivan’s presentation did not necessarily break new ground. Commissioners even through their own water-supply planning have been previously advised that groundwater alone cannot sustain the county’s future water needs and that conservation is critical to stretching the supply.

Veolia donates $1.5M for water research
Bizjournals.com
5 million in funding for a 10-year research and development program aimed at improving water quality in the Great Lakes watershed and cutting greenhouse gas emissions. Veolia Water is joining with.