August 2022 Newsletter

Hello from The Grey Water Project

Editorial
Just over a week ago, the US Senate passed the single biggest investment to fight climate change and reduce carbon emissions in history. The Inflation Reduction Act contains $370 billion in funding for clean energy and electric vehicle tax breaks, domestic manufacturing of batteries and solar panels, and pollution reduction. While there is still more to be done to reach the 2050 target of net zero emissions, one notable bright spot is the $4B allocated for drought relief. This money is a crucial lifeline to stabilize water levels in the Colorado River, which supplies many western states. We will be discussing more in our next newsletter about how the bill will affect water in the west. Meanwhile, I hope you will enjoy this month's newsletter.

Water Hero of the Month
 Every month we will interview a water hero to connect us to pioneering conservation projects around the world.
 
We’d like to introduce
Dr. John Cherry
Creator of the academic field 'Contaminant hydrogeology'
Founder of  'The Ground Water Project' and Recipient of the  2020 Stockholm Water Prize 
Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada and The Geological Society of America

Protecting our Ground Water
The theme of this year's World Water Week is  'Seeing the Unseen: The Value of Water'.
 This is the life work of Dr. John Cherry. Groundwater is the most important vital resource providing more than half of all drinking water worldwide, about 40% of water for irrigated agriculture, and about 1/3 of water required for industry (source UN Water).
Groundwater is the go-to solution for people in many countries for people without access to water. Groundwater depletion leads to land subsidence, a gradual settling or sudden sinking of the Earth's surface due to removal or displacement of subsurface earth materials. Groundwater also contributes to the baseflow of rivers. Groundwater is also threatened by pollution from agriculture and industry, 
Unfortunately, because it is out of sight and out of mind, the role of groundwater is often ignored by people when thinking about climate change. The work of Dr. John Cherry puts a spotlight to this invisible resource and enhances our knowledge and helps us to take action.
 
Watch my interview with Dr. Cherry in the link below

    
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Droughts around the world
 As well as the water heroes, we bring you the stories of droughts around the world. Here are our first two one from California and another from Italy. The causes, impacts and the mitigation efforts are the same no matter where we live.

California is in a drought for the third consecutive year. Take a look at why and what to do about it.

Read More

If you see an increase in olive oil, risotto rice and pasatta supplies, drought in Italy is to be blamed.

Read More

Creating a Wildlife Habitat Garden
 
With summer in full swing in the Northern Hemisphere, this would be an excellent time for students to start a wildlife habitat garden in their own backyard, school or in the community.

One way to create a habitat garden, is to look at the National Wildlife Federation’s web page for creating and certifying a residential habitat garden (www.nwf.org/certify). The NWF has created 5 actions that need to be implemented that will not only attract wildlife to an urban garden but greatly increase their survival rate.

Read On

If you love these stories and have an incredible story of your own or would like to share your achievements or challenges -- send us an email to rshreya@thegreywaterproject.org
 
Thank you for your continued support, helping us to drive awareness, action and education around environmental issues.

Together we can protect the planet.
Conserving Water Starts with Us
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