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GoGreenNation news

Maryland Gets $144 Million in Federal Funds to Rehabilitate Aging Water Infrastructure

News Feed
Friday, September 23, 2022

Provided under the Biden administration’s infrastructure bill, the EPA grants require the state to ensure that at least 40 percent of the benefits go to disadvantaged communities disproportionately impacted by aging water systems.By Aman AzharResponding to Maryland’s water woes, the Environmental Protection Agency will make $144 million in funds from President Biden’s infrastructure bill available to the state for improvements to drinking water systems and wastewater management.

Responding to Maryland’s water woes, the Environmental Protection Agency will make $144 million in funds from President Biden’s infrastructure bill available to the state for improvements to drinking water systems and wastewater management. The funding includes $76 million being made available now to the Maryland Department of the Environment for distribution to cities and other […]

Provided under the Biden administration’s infrastructure bill, the EPA grants require the state to ensure that at least 40 percent of the benefits go to disadvantaged communities disproportionately impacted by aging water systems.

By Aman Azhar

Responding to Maryland’s water woes, the Environmental Protection Agency will make $144 million in funds from President Biden’s infrastructure bill available to the state for improvements to drinking water systems and wastewater management.

Read the full story here.
Photos courtesy of

Related News

Water shortages could derail UK’s net zero plans, study finds

Tensions grow after research in England finds there may not be enough water for planned carbon capture and hydrogen projectsRevealed: Europe’s water reserves drying up due to climate breakdownTensions are growing between the government, the water sector and its regulators over the management of England’s water supplies, as the Environment Agency warns of a potential widespread drought next year.Research commissioned by a water retailer has found water scarcity could hamper the UK’s ability to reach its net zero targets, and that industrial growth could push some areas of the country into water shortages. Continue reading...

Tensions are growing between the government, the water sector and its regulators over the management of England’s water supplies, as the Environment Agency warns of a potential widespread drought next year.Research commissioned by a water retailer has found water scarcity could hamper the UK’s ability to reach its net zero targets, and that industrial growth could push some areas of the country into water shortages.The government has a legally binding target to reach net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, and has committed to a clean power system by 2030 with at least 95% of electricity generated from low-carbon sources, but the study concludes there will not be enough water available to support all planned carbon capture and hydrogen projects.Development of these kinds of projects, which use significant amounts of water, could push some UK regions into water shortages, according to the analysis undertaken by Durham University and funded by the water retailer Wave – a joint venture between Anglian Venture Holdings, the investment and management vehicle responsible for Anglian Water Group’s commercial businesses, and the Northumbrian Water Group.Led by Prof Simon Mathias, an expert in hydraulics, hydrology and environmental engineering, researchers assessed plans across England’s five largest industrial clusters in Humberside, north-west England, the Tees Valley, the Solent and the Black Country, to determine how much water would be needed to reach net zero and whether the UK’s future water supply could meet this demand.“Decarbonisation efforts associated with carbon capture and hydrogen production could add up to 860m litres per day of water demand by 2050. In some regions, for example Anglian Water and United Utilities, deficits could emerge as early as 2030,” said Mathias.Decarbonisation within the Humberside industrial cluster could push Anglian Water into water deficit by 2030, leading to a shortage of 130m litres a day by 2050, while plans around the north-west cluster could push United Utilities into a deficit of around 70m litres a day by 2030, according to the research.However, a United Utilities spokesperson said the deficit figures were “overstated as regional water management plans already make allowances for the predicted hydrogen demand”, and added that the “drive to net zero is an important issue facing the water sector, with significant work already under way to drive sustainable solutions”.Anglian Water did recognise the deficit figures but said they were at the upper end of a range it had considered. It blamed Ofwat for not allowing water companies to spend more, hindering its ability to secure future supplies.Business demand is often excluded from strategic planning, according to Anglian Water, which it said prevented water companies from making the investments needed, weakening the system’s resilience to the climate crisis and limiting its capacity to support economic growth.A spokesperson for Water UK confirmed water companies’ plans to ensure there were enough water supplies in the future did not take into account the needs of some large planned projects, and blamed the Environment Agency for the omission.“After being blocked from building reservoirs for more than 30 years, we have finally been given approval to build 10. The problem is that the Environment Agency’s forecasts, on which the size, number and locations of these reservoirs are based, do not account for the government’s economic or low-carbon ambitions. Hydrogen energy needs a lot of water, so correcting these forecasts is increasingly urgent.”Nigel Corfield from Wave said he had commissioned the work because “water companies don’t have the same statutory obligations for businesses as they do for households, and we sensed that there was going to be a bit of a problem”.“Government and Ofwat are allowing businesses and these big projects to sort themselves out in terms of how they’re going to get their water,” said Corfield. “We generally don’t think that’s right, because this is about energy security so we think that the best people to provide that and supply that and support that are the water companies.”The government said the UK was “rolling out hydrogen at scale”, with 10 projects said to be shovel-ready. It said it expected all schemes to have sustainable water-sourcing plans and, where required, abstraction licences. Carbon capture schemes would get the green light only if they could prove they met strict legal standards and limits and offered “a high level of protection” for people and the environment, it said.“We face a growing water shortage in the next decade and that is one of the reasons we are driving long-term systemic change to tackle the impacts of climate change,” said a government spokesperson.“This includes £104bn of private investment to help reduce leakage and build nine reservoirs, as well as a record £10.5bn in government funding for new flood defences to protect nearly 900,000 properties by 2036.”But Dieter Helm, a professor of economic policy at the University of Oxford, said England’s water system was stuck in the past and that there was no lack of water, rather that it was badly managed.“It’s worse than an analogue industry,” he said. “Until recently, some water companies didn’t even know where their sewage works were, let alone whether they were discharging into rivers. The information set is extremely weak. But a data revolution now means we can map water systems in extraordinary detail, digitally, at a far finer resolution.”Helm said every drop of water should be measured and reported in real time, and that the data should sit with a new, independent catchment regulator, not the water companies.“You should never be able to have an abstraction without an abstraction meter,” he said. “And it should be a smart meter, automatically reporting. You can’t run a system without data, and you can’t rely on the water companies to hold the data for everyone in the system – they’re just one player.”In his model, the catchment regulator would hold live data on “all the catchment uses of water”, such as abstraction, runoff, water and river levels, sewage discharges, and publish everything on a public website. Anyone, he said, should be able to look up a catchment, see what was going on, and even model the impact of a new project, such as a hydrogen plant, on the system.“That’s how you run an electricity system,” Helm said. “Why don’t we have that in water? And why don’t we have a body responsible for it? There’s an information revolution required here, quite separate from the question of whether we actually run short of water.”The government and the Environment Agency have already warned of an England-wide water deficit of 6bn litres a day by 2055, and have said England faces widespread drought next year unless there is significant rainfall over the winter.

Water
Climate
Government

Brown Grass Cost a Famed Golf Course a Big Tournament and Highlighted Hawaii Water Problems

The Plantation Course at Kapalua Resort on Maui is famous for its ocean views and hosting The Sentry, a $20 million PGA Tour event

HONOLULU (AP) — High up on the slopes of the west Maui mountains, the Plantation Course at Kapalua Resort provides golfers with expansive ocean views. The course is so renowned that The Sentry, a $20 million signature event for the PGA Tour, had been held there nearly every year for more than a quarter-century. “You have to see it to believe it," said Ann Miller, a former longtime Honolulu newspaper golf writer. “You're looking at other islands, you're looking at whales. ... Every view is beautiful.”Its world-class status also depends on keeping the course green.Ultimately, as the Plantation's fairways and greens grew brown, the PGA Tour canceled the season opener, a blow that cost what officials estimate to be $50 million economic impact on the area.A two-month closure and some rain helped get the course in suitable condition to reopen 17 holes earlier this month to everyday golfers who pay upwards of $469 to play a round. The 18th hole is set to reopen Monday, but the debate is far from over about the source of the water used to keep the course green and what its future looks like amid climate change. Questions about Hawaii's golf future There’s concern that other high-profile tournaments will also bow out, taking with them economic benefits, such as money for charities, Miller said.“It could literally change the face of it,” she said, “and it could change the popularity, obviously, too.”The company that owns the courses, along with Kapalua homeowners and Hua Momona Farms, filed a lawsuit in August alleging Maui Land & Pineapple, which operates the century-old system of ditches that provides irrigation water to Kapalua and its residents, has not kept up repairs, affecting the amount of water getting down from the mountain.MLP has countersued and the two sides have exchanged accusations since then.As the water-delivery dispute plays out in court, Earthjustice, a nonprofit environmental legal group, is calling attention to a separate issue involving the use of drinking water for golf course irrigation, particularly irksome to residents contending with water restrictions amid drought, including Native Hawaiians who consider water a sacred resource.“Potable ground drinking water needs to be used for potable use,” Lauren Palakiko, a west Maui taro farmer, told the Hawaii Commission on Water Resource Management at a recent meeting. “I can’t stress enough that it should never be pumped, injuring our aquifer for the sake of golf grass or vacant mansion swimming pools.” ‘This is water that we can drink’ Kapalua's Plantation and Bay courses, owned by TY Management Corp., have historically been irrigated with surface water delivered under an agreement with Maui Land & Pineapple, but since at least the summer have been using millions of gallons of potable groundwater, according to Earthjustice attorneys who point to correspondence from commission Chairperson Dawn Chang to MLP and Hawaii Water Service they say confirms it. Chang said her letter didn't authorize anything, but merely acknowledged an “oral representation" that using groundwater is an an “existing use” at times when there’s not enough surface water. She is asking for supporting documentation from MLP and Hawaii Water Service to confirm that interpretation. In emails to The Associated Press, MLP said it did not believe groundwater could be used for golf course irrigation and Hawaii Water Service said it didn’t communicate to the commission that using groundwater to irrigate the courses was an existing use. MLP's two wells that service the course provide potable water. “This is water that we can drink. It’s an even more precious resource within the sacred resource of wai,” Dru Hara, an Earthjustice attorney said, using the Hawaiian word for water. TY, owned by Japanese billionaire and apparel brand Uniqlo’s founder Tadashi Yanai, doesn't have control over what kind of water is in the reservoir they draw upon for irrigation, TY General Manager Kenji Yui said in a statement. They're also researching ways to bring recycled water to Kapalua for irrigation. Kamanamaikalani Beamer, a former commissioner, said he's troubled by Earthjustice's allegations that proper procedures weren't followed. The wrangling over water for golf shows that courses in Hawaii need to change their relationship with water, Beamer said: “I think there needs to be a time very soon that all golf courses are utilizing at a minimum recycled water.” Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.Photos You Should See – Nov. 2025

Water
Climate
Nature

Violent conflict over water hit a record last year

Violence over water is on the rise worldwide. Researchers counted a record 420 incidents of conflict in 2024, many in Ukraine and the Middle East.

In Algeria, water shortages left faucets dry, prompting protesters to riot and set tires ablaze.In Gaza, as people waited for water at a community tap, an Israeli drone fired on them, killing eight. In Ukraine, Russian rockets slammed into the country’s largest dam, unleashing a plume of fire over the hydroelectric plant and causing widespread blackouts.These are some of the 420 water-related conflicts researchers documented for 2024 in the latest update of the Pacific Institute’s Water Conflict Chronology, a global database of water-related violence.The year featured a record number of violent incidents over water around the world, far surpassing the 355 in 2023, continuing a steeply rising trend. The violence more than quadrupled in the last five years. In 2024, there were 420 water-related conflicts globally The majority of incidents were in the Middle East, Sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia and Eastern Europe. Russia and Ukraine 51 conflicts Russia and Ukraine 51 conflicts Pacific Institute Sean Greene LOS ANGELES TIMES The new data from the Oakland-based water think tank show also that drinking water wells, pipes and dams are increasingly coming under attack.“In almost every region of the world, there is more and more violence being reported over water,” said Peter Gleick, the Pacific Institute’s co-founder and senior fellow, and it “underscores the urgent need for international attention.”The researchers collect information from news reports and other sources and accounts. They classify it into three categories: instances in which water was a trigger of violence, water systems were targeted and water was a “casualty” of violence, for example when shell fragments hit a water tank.Not every case involves injuries or deaths but many do.The region with the most violent incidents was the Middle East, with 138 reported. That included 66 in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, both in Gaza and the West Bank.In the West Bank there were numerous reports of Israeli settlers destroying water pipelines and tanks and attacking Palestinian farmers.In Gaza the Israeli military destroyed more than 30 wells in the southern towns of Rafah and Khan Younis.Gleick noted that when the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israeli and Hamas leaders last year, accusing them of crimes against humanity, the charges mentioned Israeli military attacks on Gaza water systems.“It is an acknowledgment that these attacks are violations of international law,” he said. “There ought to be more enforcement of international laws protecting water systems from attacks.”Water systems also were targeted frequently in the Russia-Ukraine war, in which the researchers tallied 51 violent incidents. Residents collect water in bottles in Pokrovsk, Ukraine, where repeated Russian shelling has left civilians without functioning infrastructure. (George Ivanchenko / Associated Press) Russian strikes disrupted water service in Ukrainian cities, and oil spilled into a river after Russian forces attacked an oil depot.“These aren’t water wars. These are wars in which water is being used as a weapon or is a casualty of the conflict,” Gleick said.The researchers also found water scarcity and drought are prompting a growing number of violent conflicts. “Climate change is making those problems worse,” Gleick said.Many conflicts were in South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa.In India, residents angry about water shortages assaulted a city worker. In Jammu, India, a woman carries a container of drinking water filled from leaking water pipes in March. (Channi Anand / Associated Press) In Cameroon, rice farmers clashed with fishers, leaving one dead and three injured.At a refugee camp in Kenya, three people died in a fight over drinking water.There’s an increase in conflicts over irrigation, disputes pitting farmers against cities, and violence arising in places where only some water is safe to drink. A man carries jugs to fetch water from a hole in the sandy riverbed in Makueni County, Kenya in February 2024. (Brian Inganga / Associated Press) Gleick, who has been studying water-related violence for more than three decades, said the purpose of the list is to raise awareness and encourage policymakers to act to reduce fighting, bloodshed and turmoil.The United Nations, in its Sustainable Development Goals, says every person should have access to water and sanitation. “The failure to do that is inexcusable and it contributes to a lot of misery,” Gleick said. “It contributes to ill health, cholera, dysentery, typhoid, water-related diseases, and it contributes to conflicts over water.”In Latin America, there were dozens of violent incidents involving water last year.In the Mexican state of Veracruz, protesters were blocking a road to denounce a pork processing plant, which they accused of using too much water and spewing pollution, when police opened fire, killing two men.In Honduras, environmental activist Juan López, who had spoken up to protect rivers from mining, was gunned down as he left church. He was the fourth member of his group to be murdered. A man fills containers with water because of a shortage caused by high temperatures and drought in Veracruz, Mexico in June 2024. (Felix Marquez / Associated Press) “There needs to be more attention on this issue, especially at the international level, but at the national level as well,” said Morgan Shimabuku, a senior researcher with the Pacific Institute. “It is getting worse, and we need to turn that tide.”For 2024, there were few events in the U.S., but among them were cyberattacks on water utilities in Texas and Indiana.In one, Russian hackers claimed responsibility for tampering with an Indiana wastewater treatment plant. Authorities said the attack caused minimal disruption. In another, a pro-Russian hacktivist group manipulated systems at water facilities in small Texas towns, causing water to overflow.The Pacific Institute’s database now lists more than 2,750 conflicts. Most have occurred since 2000. The researchers are adding incidents from 2025 as well as previous years.During extreme drought in Iran worsened by climate change, farmers were desperate enough to go up against security forces, demanding access to river water. Iran’s water crisis, compounded by decades of excessive groundwater pumping, has grown so severe that the president said Tehran no longer can remain the capital and the government will have to move it to another city.Tensions also have been growing between Iran and Afghanistan over the Helmand River, with Iranian leaders accusing their upstream neighbor of not letting enough water flow into the country.Gleick said if the drought persists and the Iranian government doesn’t improve how it manages water, “I would expect to see more violence.”

Water
Activism
Crisis

EPA to Provide $3 Billion to US States to Reduce Lead in Drinking Water

(Reuters) -The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said on Tuesday it would provide states with $3 billion in funding to reduce lead in drinking...

(Reuters) -The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said on Tuesday it would provide states with $3 billion in funding to reduce lead in drinking water.The money will go toward finding and removing lead pipes that deliver water to homes, schools, and businesses, the agency said in a statement.(Reporting by Christian Martinez in Los Angeles and Ryan Patrick Jones in Toronto; Editing by Doina Chiacu)Copyright 2025 Thomson Reuters.

Water
Business

Slight improvement in water quality at bathing sites, new figures show

The annual figures from the Environment Agency show 93% of sites met minimum standards, up from 92% last year.

The number of monitored bathing sites in England meeting minimum standards for water quality has risen slightly since last year, according to new figures from the Environment Agency.Out of the 449 sites regularly tested this summer, 93% met minimum standards for levels of bacteria in the water, linked to sewage spills, agricultural pollution and other factors. That is better than the 92% of 2024. Overall, 32 sites were rated "poor" - down from 37 in 2024, which was the worst year since the new measurement system began in 2015. The government said its reforms to bathing water rules will help further, but campaigners said that swimming in England's rivers was still too often risky to health.Water Minister Emma Hardy said: "These changes sit alongside our wider action to clean up our waterways so communities across the country can enjoy the places they care about most."A spokesperson for industry body Water UK said that the quality of England's bathing water remains high and that companies have a plan to reduce sewage spills.Alan Lovell, chair of the Environment Agency (EA), said: "Bathing water quality in England has improved significantly over recent decades, and this year's results show the continued impact of strong regulation, investment and partnership working.""But we know there is more to do, and the new bathing water reforms will strengthen the way these much-loved places are managed," he said.The EA monitors levels of bacteria at bathing water sites in rivers, lakes and the sea across England between May and September each year. Levels of bacteria are affected by pollution from sewage spills, agriculture and other sources - but can also be affected by the weather.The latest figures cover the period from 2022 to 2025, where measurements are available. More bathing sites have been added in recent years, effectively requiring more places to meet the highest standards for people to be able to swim. A large chunk of the sites added in 2024 were rated as poor last year, which can complicate comparisons. But there has been mounting criticism of water quality in rivers in particular, as more data has become available.James Wallace, chief executive of River Action UK, described the results as "deeply concerning"."Despite being our most protected river sites, the government's own data shows that swimming in our inland bathing waters carries significant health risks, underlining the failure of regulators to hold polluters to account," he said.A spokesperson for Water UK said: "These results show that the quality of English bathing water remains high with 87% achieving a 'good' or 'excellent' rating. This is a stark contrast to the 1990s when less than a third of bathing waters would have met today's standards."Water companies have a plan and are investing a record £12 billion over the next five years to end sewage entering our rivers and seas, with a 50% reduction in spills into bathing waters."The latest figures come after the EA gave England's water companies their worst ever combined marks last month for their environmental performance in 2024, amid a spike in serious pollution incidents.And in July a landmark review of the "failing" water sector in England and Wales recommended stronger regulation to hold water companies to account. But it warned that there would be no quick fixes to improve the state of our rivers or bring down bills.

Water
Agriculture
Health

Suggested Viewing

The Fellowship of the Springs

Florida’s artesian springs are a natural wonder of the world. As unique as the geysers of Yellowstone and as mesmerizing as Vernal Falls in Yosemite, these blue jewels surrounding the north Florida landscape are considered a treasure by many who see them. The state contains the largest and highest concentration of fresh water springs on earth. But today, the future of Florida’s springs is uncertain. With flow levels declining and nitrate pollution on the rise, the springs today bear the scars of a profound struggle. Florida's own government continues to approve permits for large companies that want to pump water from the springs and their springsheds, for nominal permit fees that often cost less than a day pass to Disney World. The Fellowship of the Springs takes viewers behind the scenes of the fight to save Florida's springs, from the halls of the state capitol in Tallahassee to deep caves of Ichetucknee spring.

Water
Government
Business

Wastewater: A Tale of Two Cities

The other tale of two cities - both plagued by decades of lack of investment and racial discrimination in their wastewater infrastructure and facing further challenges amidst climate change - told by community members, advocates, utility operators, and elected officials. As the nation grapples with how to fund long overdue infrastructure needs, this film brings to light the need for urgency and equity in these decisions.

Social Justice
Waste
Water

The Great Divide

Twenty minutes outside of Visalia, amidst the seemingly endless rows of citrus trees, Yolanda Cuevas packs enchiladas with shredded chicken for her husband Benjamin, their adult daughters and two teenaged grandchildren in her modest single-story home. Their house is the first one off the main drag, one of 83 lining the two crumbling roads that comprise the tiny town of Tooleville. Yolanda must wash the tomatoes for the salsa first in the sink and then again with a splash of clean water from a 5-gallon jug. The process is arduous, and though she’s resigned to do it, she’s not happy about it. Along with Tooleville’s several hundred other residents, Yolanda’s family has survived on bi-weekly delivery of water to their homes for the past 12 years. It’s an annoyance for the family, and it’s expensive for the State of California, which has been paying for the replacement water since the discovery of Chromium-6 (the same chemical featured in Erin Brokovich) in the water. The simpler solution would be to consolidate the town’s water system with that of its larger, affluent neighbor to the west, Exeter. And for this purpose, Yolanda has become a reluctant activist, attending community meetings in Tooleville and lobbying for consolidation at Exeter’s city council meetings under the expert guidance of Pedro Hernandez, an organizer with the Leadership Counsel. While Exeter has resisted the consolidation since it was first proposed, organizers like Pedro feel that this could be the year Exeter finally succumbs to the growing community pressure and brings Tooleville into the fold. The decision will echo around the Central Valley and across the state, as hundreds of similar community water systems find themselves in a nearly identical predicament.

Water
Activism
Documentary

From Land to River: The Journey of Resources

In this film, we’ve created a snapshot of the work of the Subalusky Lab at the University of Florida, showcasing the research team’s insights on animals and their greater impacts on various ecosystems. Ultimately, the film calls on viewers to consider the broader implications of environmental research and conservation, and how they can support or contribute to the cause even if it just means adopting a new perspective. We aim to inspire, inform, and ignite a commitment to environmental stewardship among our viewers.

Water
Conservation
Science

Cracked

A little girl lives in a village with her mother where water sources are dwindling by day. Drought effects her imagination, even her doodles and drawings. Not only people but the nature struggles with the unrelenting aridness. This little girl though, never loses hope. She tries to do as best she can, sacrificing from herself for her beloved nature.

Water
Youth
Family

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