Blog Action Day - Water

Blog Action Day this year brings us back around to a topic that I should be focusing on more; water.

I still recall the tag line - our most precious resource - whenever the topic comes up and honestly I could ramble on for hours about various water issues and the importance of recognizing the challenges we face and choosing to take action to protect our water resources (I could also go on and on about water and the coastal hazards that it engenders).

Perhaps more so than any other water issue we should be paying attention to our clean drinking water resources.  We need to be planning for a hotter future with more people who need water.  We'll have to change many of our water use habits and landscaping will be important, as will storing water in reservoirs in ways that don't threaten the health of the attached ecosystems (we need to avoid the old canard of biting the hand that feeds us).

The recent scary Hungarian toxic sludge incident should focus our thoughts on protecting our water.  The most recent coverage of that tragedy in the NYT highlights the dangers posed by aging soviet-era facilities that threaten similar incidents.  Closer to home we need to be aware of the dangers posed by coal ash and it's impoundment in similar storage ponds that are equally vulnerable and can also wreak havoc on our water resources.

I don't have the time to get in depth on the issue and Earth Justice does a much better job than I could anyway.  So head over to their site and learn a little bit about the trouble with coal ash and what you can do to help protect your drinking water.