skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Thursday, March 28, 2024

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Pulling back the curtains on wage-theft enforcement in MN; Trump's latest attack is on RFK, Jr; NM LGBTQ+ equality group endorses 2024 'Rock Star' candidates; Michigan's youth justice reforms: Expanded diversion, no fees.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg says rebuilding Baltimore's Key Bridge will be challenging and expensive. An Alabama Democrat flips a state legislature seat and former Connecticut senator Joe Lieberman dies at 82.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

Bi-Partisan Support for Protecting the Colorado River

play audio
Play

Thursday, July 26, 2012   

GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. - It may seem in this election year that fiscal conservatives and conservationists are at loggerheads - but the two sides are agreeing on one issue: preserving the Colorado River for future generations.

People from Colorado to California are signing a letter to governors and Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, calling for a common-sense approach.

The problem, says Molly Mugglestone, a coordinator for Protect the Flows, is that western growth and drought are putting undue demands on the river's water.

"The supply and the demand scenarios over the next 50 years, they're not looking good. We're putting strain on the river, and it's challenged in terms of being able to provide for what we need in the future."

The biparitsan coalition Colorado River Day says the river provides drinking water for 36 million people, irrigates 15 percent of the nation's crops, and is part of a $26 billion recreation industry. The group wants a number of conservation recommendations to be part of the Colorado River Basin Water Supply and Demand Study that is under way.

Mugglestone has heard some extreme solutions of how to get water to the arid West, including trucking in a glacier from Alaska or building a multi-billion-dollar pipeline from the Mississippi.

"Spending taxpayer dollars on massive projects is not necessarily the right way to go. There's other things that we need to be doing first before we start spending those types of taxpayer dollars on these massive projects."

She says some of those ideas include using drought-tolerant plants in city landscaping, which can save up to 65 percent of municipal irrigation demands - and using pool covers on outdoor facilities, which can save an average of 16,000 gallons per pool each year.

The letter and more information is online at coloradoriverday.com.


get more stories like this via email

more stories
A report from the Tennessee HealthCare Campaign recommended the federal government needs to strengthen 340B drug pricing and other federal negotiation mechanisms to make needed medicines more readily available and less expensive for hospitals to purchase and administer. (Spotmatikphoto/AdobeStock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

A recent report examined how some rural Tennessee hospitals have managed to stay afloat despite financial challenges. The report includes interviews …


Social Issues

play sound

Earlier this month, a new Arizona Public Service rate hike went into effect and one senior advocacy group said those on a fixed income may struggle …

Social Issues

play sound

Michigan recently implemented a significant juvenile justice reform package following recommendations from a task force made up of prosecutors…


Nearly 13 million Americans receive health coverage through unique plans under both Medicare and Medicaid. They are known as Dual-Eligible Special Needs Plans. (Adobe Stock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

Medicare and Medicaid are key sources of health coverage for many Americans and some people qualify for assistance under both programs. With lagging …

Social Issues

play sound

A mix of policy updates and staffing boosts has helped to put wage theft enforcement on the radar in Minnesota, and officials leading the efforts are …

More than six in 10 Americans favor keeping the abortion pill mifepristone available in the U.S. as a prescription drug, while over a third are opposed, according to a Gallup poll. (Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

New research shows more than six in 10 abortions in the U.S. last year were medically induced, and U.S. Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto - D-NV - is …

Social Issues

play sound

Colorado is working to boost the state's agricultural communities by getting more fresh, nutritious foods into school cafeterias - and a new online …

Social Issues

play sound

Missouri lawmakers are concerned with protecting people from the potential risks of the increasing accessibility of AI-generated images and videos…

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021