Author: Julia Apland Hitz3

Julia is currently with the Findhorn Foundation ecovillage in Scotland. For two years she served as Communications Manager for the Columbia Water Center, Earth Institute, Columbia University. She has also worked as a planning consultant and development officer in environment, sustainable development, social services, and health, in Central America, the UK and the USA. Visit website »

Chicago Sanitary Canals, anything but sanitary

A story by Dan Egan in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel on July 6, 2010 pulls together threads of sewage, drinking water, commerce, ecosystem deterioration, politics, health, geography, and Asian carp to create a picture of how big a mess we humans are capable of making for ourselves.
Jamaica Bay, a refuge for wildlife in New York City, gets protection

The good news is that the migratory birds and resident marine life of Jamaica Bay may be getting a reprieve. In February, Mayor Bloomberg, the State Environmental Council and the Natural Resources Defense Council announced an agreement that would improve water quality and preserve the wetlands of Jamaica Bay. The Jamaica Bay Watershed Protection Plan…
How to Clean up the Gulf Coastline after the Oil Spill – EPA Workshop

On June 5th, Columbia Water Center collaborator Ponisseril Somasundaran, an Engineering professor at Columbia University, participated in a workshop organized by the EPA on how to best address the environmental recovery of the Gulf Coast shoreline after the disastrous oil spill. At a later date we will post a conversation with Prof. Somasundaran about the…
Who owns the Nile?

Who owns the Nile? Nine countries want to have a say in answering that question, and they don’t agree. The great river moves through Burundi, Egypt, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, so they all may claim her as at least partly their own.
Asian Carp, Aquatic Interlopers Threaten the Great Lakes

While the nation and the world morns the destruction of marine habitat and the deaths of an untold number of animals, birds, fish, and tiny organisms in the Gulf of Mexico, another battle is being waged, one in which people are desperately trying to find a way to eliminate one type of fish in an…
Water, Another Crisis for Iraq

In a place like Iraq, our attention is on the big issues, and we might forget that life also goes on for regular people. They need to grow crops and wash dishes and make tea. For many people in the country, those mundane things can be every bit as big an issue. If you don’t…
Understanding Water Conflict in Central Asia, and Solutions

A CWC research team is analyzing a complicated issue in a highly conflicted part of the world, and trying to find a way forward. They are taking an in-depth look at Central Asia (Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, and Kazakhstan), and the environmental, political and economic crisis building there.
Losing your glaciers? Build your own.

Scientific American has an interesting photo piece by Gaia Vince about a place in the Himalayas that is adapting to climate change by creating its own glaciers.
Your friendly neighborhood Sinkhole: a sign of things to come?

Your old infrastructure is going to eat you alive. Well, maybe not you, exactly, but it is eating some people alive. I’m talking about the astounding sinkhole that formed in Guatemala City over the weekend.

Chicago Sanitary Canals, anything but sanitary

A story by Dan Egan in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel on July 6, 2010 pulls together threads of sewage, drinking water, commerce, ecosystem deterioration, politics, health, geography, and Asian carp to create a picture of how big a mess we humans are capable of making for ourselves.
Jamaica Bay, a refuge for wildlife in New York City, gets protection

The good news is that the migratory birds and resident marine life of Jamaica Bay may be getting a reprieve. In February, Mayor Bloomberg, the State Environmental Council and the Natural Resources Defense Council announced an agreement that would improve water quality and preserve the wetlands of Jamaica Bay. The Jamaica Bay Watershed Protection Plan…
How to Clean up the Gulf Coastline after the Oil Spill – EPA Workshop

On June 5th, Columbia Water Center collaborator Ponisseril Somasundaran, an Engineering professor at Columbia University, participated in a workshop organized by the EPA on how to best address the environmental recovery of the Gulf Coast shoreline after the disastrous oil spill. At a later date we will post a conversation with Prof. Somasundaran about the…
Who owns the Nile?

Who owns the Nile? Nine countries want to have a say in answering that question, and they don’t agree. The great river moves through Burundi, Egypt, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, so they all may claim her as at least partly their own.
Asian Carp, Aquatic Interlopers Threaten the Great Lakes

While the nation and the world morns the destruction of marine habitat and the deaths of an untold number of animals, birds, fish, and tiny organisms in the Gulf of Mexico, another battle is being waged, one in which people are desperately trying to find a way to eliminate one type of fish in an…
Water, Another Crisis for Iraq

In a place like Iraq, our attention is on the big issues, and we might forget that life also goes on for regular people. They need to grow crops and wash dishes and make tea. For many people in the country, those mundane things can be every bit as big an issue. If you don’t…
Understanding Water Conflict in Central Asia, and Solutions

A CWC research team is analyzing a complicated issue in a highly conflicted part of the world, and trying to find a way forward. They are taking an in-depth look at Central Asia (Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, and Kazakhstan), and the environmental, political and economic crisis building there.
Losing your glaciers? Build your own.

Scientific American has an interesting photo piece by Gaia Vince about a place in the Himalayas that is adapting to climate change by creating its own glaciers.
Your friendly neighborhood Sinkhole: a sign of things to come?

Your old infrastructure is going to eat you alive. Well, maybe not you, exactly, but it is eating some people alive. I’m talking about the astounding sinkhole that formed in Guatemala City over the weekend.