LeakBird

(Feb. 14, 2009, The Houston Chronicle)
LUBBOCK, Texas — Reliable sources of clean water are the key to a successful economic future for Texas and without them the state and businesses could suffer billions in losses.
That was the dire message in a recent report from the office of state comptroller Susan Combs, a longtime West [...]

(Feb. 13, 2009, Max Deveson, BBC News)
The arid states of America’s south-west have been getting drier in recent years.
Since 2000, the Colorado River – which provides water for seven US states in the region – has carried less water than at any time in recorded history.
And while the drought is worsening, the demand for water [...]

(Feb. 8, 2008, ABC News)

Fresno, CA, USA (KFSN) — Comments made at a recent debate between farm water officials and environmentalists has sparked an uproar.
In a televised interview at the event, an official from the California Water Impact Network criticized farm workers and their right to work in this country.
Lloyd carter criticized farm [...]

(Feb. 11, 2009, Alternet)

Just as the economic evidence shows that we’re in a recession, the scientific evidence shows that climate change will affect our natural resources.
One logical response to the constant news of the economic recession is cutting back on discretionary purchases and developing a household budget.  That is, if we know that times are [...]

(Feb. 12, 2009, The Miami Herald)

South Florida, where millions of homeowners still are confined to twice-weekly lawn sprinkling, is using a lot less water these days.
The decline stems in large part from tough water restrictions that the South Florida Water Management District will consider making permanent Thursday, and a tougher economy that has emptied [...]

(Feb. 12, 2009, The Deseret News)
The House passed Wednesday a bill by Rep. Jim Matheson, D-Utah, to create new research programs into how to conserve water, use it more efficiently and reuse wastewater.
“Many experts are starting to see water as ‘the new oil’ in terms of what a precious commodity it is,” Matheson said. “The [...]

(Feb. 11, 2009, The Times West Virginian)
FAIRMONT — City council members voted unanimously to pass a 49 percent water-rate increase during Tuesday’s meeting.
Although the council members voted to increase the rate, Fairmont water customers can appeal the decision to the state Public Service Commission.
And Mannington Mayor Frank White, one of the three people who attended [...]

(Feb. 9, 2009, Scoop)
NZWWA CEO, Murray Gibb, is urging government to continue its reforms and rationalise water management in New Zealand.
“The question must be asked why a country of only four million people needs over seventy water utilities and twelve separate regional water regulators,” said Mr Gibb.
“With the imminent release of the Royal Commission’s report [...]

(Feb. 6, 2009, Phoenix Business Journal)

A bill in the Arizona Legislature would allow Colorado River water to be used for municipal and consumer needs in northwestern Arizona.
Current water laws state Colorado River water pumped into Mohave County may be used only for industrial applications such as mines, mills, utility plants and golf courses. The requirement [...]

(Feb. 6, 2009, The Chronicle-Telegram)
NORTH RIDGEVILLE — Every household in town soon will be getting a WiFi-like hook-up, but it won’t be for surfing the Web.
This technology will allow computer software in City Hall to record the amount of water used in each home, apartment and business and to quickly issue an alert about detected [...]

(Feb. 3, 2009, News & Observer)
The Raleigh City Council will receive a report today that recommends creating a three-tier rate structure for residential water customers.
Under the proposal, which is preliminary and likely to be refined, customers would be charged 60 percent less than the current flat rate for the first 3,000 gallons of water. Raleigh [...]

(Feb. 2, 2009, LoHud News)
Peaceable Hill homeowners vehemently protesting an “outrageous” increase in their water bills may have found some relief from the town.
More than a dozen residents showed up at a Town Board meeting last week to vent their frustrations about a $167 spike in their quarterly water bills, arguing many people may have [...]

(Feb. 2, 2009, Standard-Speaker)
The recent announcement of state funding to improve the residential water system at Eagle Rock is good news for residents of the local resort community. And it’s good news for Aqua Pennsylvania Inc. — provider of the community’s drinking and wastewater services.
But for the Hazleton City Authority, the news raises concerns that [...]

(Jan. 27, 2009, The OC Register)
Residents will pay more for every shower they take and every dish they wash starting next month.
On Tuesday night, the City Council voted to approve raising water rates by 20 percent next month. Several council members said they reluctantly supported the raises, and did so only because of the rising [...]

We’ve been watching water rates jump here and there, 5%, 10%, sometimes 20% or 30%, all across the nation for the last year. But shocking news was delivered today that San Diego customers may soon have a 200% to 400% water rate increase on their hands!
There’s some SERIOUS groundwork (or groundwater-work) for water rationing, followed [...]

(Dec. 13, 2008, The Madison State Journal)
The first major test of the Madison Water Utility’s fledgling public participation plan will come this week as the utility hosts a meeting on thorny water supply issues in the city’s Southeast neighborhoods, including an aging well and possible contamination at the site of a proposed new well.

For the first time ever, certain developments are being curtailed or slowed in California because there isn’t enough water to support them, reported The New York Times:
“The water in our state is not sufficient to add more demand,” said Lester Snow, the director of the California Department of Water Resources. “And that now means that [...]

There’s a growing rift between those who set water policy and developers who must follow these policies to the ‘t’, and it’s not going to get any better any time soon. There was an interesting article in the San Diego Union-Tribune on Thursday, titled “Builders Facing Water Pressure“, about this very issue.
When the economy [...]