Yesterday the Pacific Institute released the 7th volume of its biennial report, The World's Water.   For more than a decade, The World's Water series has provided important data and expert insights into domestic and global freshwater issues.  

Last month the House passed the "Transparency in Regulatory Analysis of Impacts on the Nation (TRAIN) Act of 2011" (H.R. 2401), a pro-polluter bill that would hinder EPA's ability to keep mercury, smog, and other pollutants out of our air and water.

The bill passed 249-169, largely along party lines. H.R. 2401 would require economic considerations to be a bigger part of EPA's Clean Air Act regulatory process. The bill would set up a new Cabinet-level commission to study the economic effect of EPA rules and delay EPA's implementation of two regulations on air pollution limits for power plants. These new air pollution limits would help reduce the amount of airborne pollutants such as mercury, nitrogen and sulfur compounds and other toxics that eventually end up in our waterways.

It is time to nominate rivers to American Rivers' 2012 America's Most Endangered Rivers^TM report!  Nominations are due Tuesday, November 1, 2011.  If you didn't get to see their 2011 report, please go to: http://www.americanrivers.org/our-work/protecting-rivers/endangered-rivers/. 

Late at night on Friday, June 30^th, a disastrous oil spill occurred in the Yellowstone River in Montana. This was reminiscent of the 2010 BP Gulf Oil Spill. Similar to last year, the conditions got worse before they improved, and clean up was tougher than expected. In Montana, Exxon Mobil, was responsible for the pipeline break that caused the 42,000 gallon oil spill. Exxon Mobil workers attempted to stop the fast spread of oil from a pipeline.

Record flooding on the Mississippi River earns the river "special mention" on American Rivers' annual list of America's Most Endangered Rivers. Full story is below. 

Washington, DC - As floodwaters swelled the Mississippi River to historic levels and overwhelmed communities in 10 states, American Rivers gave a 'special mention' to the river today in its list of America's Most Endangered Rivers TM of 2011.

Sen. Lon Burnam Joins Calling for 'Urgent' Reforms

Joint Release:
EARTHWORKS' Texas OGAP * Public Citizen Texas * Environment Texas * Texas Campaign for the Environment * Clean Water Network * Downwinders at Risk, Texas Drought Project * Argyle-Bartonville Communities Alliance * Dallas Area Residents for Responsible Drilling * Flower Mound Citizens Against Urban Drilling * Wise County Alliance for Responsible Drilling

AUSTIN, TX, APRIL 14 -- State, local and federal officials and regulatory agencies are failing to protect Texans from the health and safety risks of the natural gas boom, according to a report released today by the Texas Oil & Gas Accountability Project (OGAP).

Dereth Glance, Executive Program Director at Citizens Campaign for the Environment and Clean Water Network Board Treasurer, was recently appointed by President Obama to be a Commissioner with the International Joint Commission at the Department of State. In her time with Citizens Campaign as well as Defenders of Wildlife, Citizen Action Coalition of Indiana, the Michigan League for Human Services and a Board member of Clean Water Network, Dereth has been an incredibly effective dedicated servant to bettering the environment and public well being. Dereth has also served

Very early Saturday morning, while most of the nation was sleeping, the U.S. House of Representatives approved an aggressive plan to slash the budgets of critical federal environmental programs.

Clean Water Network has joined a number of other Network member groups in supporting the Smarter Stormwater Coalition's platform for stormwater management. The platform is intended as a touchstone to galvanize support and reflect shared priorities for EPA's stormwater rulemaking. A few of the principles advocated for in the platform include EPA adopting new Objective Performance Standards, EPA requiring retrofits in developed areas to reduce effective imperviousness through green infrastructure-based approaches, the use of Total Maximum Daily Loads to limit pollution loading and writing enforceable permits and plans that are clear, measurable, objective and specific. Click the following link to read the stormwater platform.

Happy Holidays Clean Water Network Community!
Here is the moment you all have been waiting for, CWN's Ten for 2010 dirty (Yellow Snow) and clean (Happy Snowman) water lists. Next stop David Letterman!

Not every good or bad clean water event made our Ten for 2010 Lists. That is why we need your help. Many of you have probably prepared your own end of year top ten lists. Please feel free to share your ideas and lists with us by emailing gordonculver@cwn.org. CWN will post your submissions on a special end of the year page on the Clean Water Network website.

On November 22nd, Clean Water Network joined 22 other groups in support of giving bluefin tuna Endangered Species Act protection. Clean Water Network groups that signed-on to the letter include CORALations and the Gulf Restoration Network. Bluefin tuna are an amazing and magnificent fish that have been threatened by overfishing and pollution over the past fifty years. Overfishing has in fact reduced Atlantic bluefin tuna populations by more than 80 percent since industrial fishing practices were developed. We feel that these important fish deserve all the protection that listing it under the Endangered Species Act can provide. To read the letter, click the following link: Bluefin Tuna ESA Sign-on Letter

Last Friday, October 15th, was national Blog Action Day 2010: Water. The event, organized by change.org, prompted thousands of bloggers from around the world to come together to discuss a broad range of water issues. Issues discussed in various blogs ranged from river conservation and agricultural runoff to the water crisis in Africa and lack of access to clean water in Southeast Asia. A number of Clean Water Network groups partnered in this effort including the Natural Resources Defense Council, National Wildlife Federation and Clean Water Action, and American Rivers. CWN's Executive Director Natalie Roy was featured in a blog post that was part of this effort, "Five Women Water Heroes Worth Watching." US Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lisa Jackson and Senator John Kerry participated in the event as well.