Water News Roundup – March 31, 2010

Ogden Standard Examiner: Court dismisses against Great Salt Lake Minerals – Utah’s Supreme Court dismissed a lawsuit filed against the Department of Natural Resources on Tuesday over plans by Great Salt Lake Minerals to expand its evaporation ponds in Great Salt Lake.  The dismissal means Great Salt Lake Minerals, based in Weber County, has one less barrier in its efforts to expand the ponds.

A collection of new ‘Smart’ design in water tech… if you’ve heard of some other recent water-related tech innovation, post a comment (see link above)!

New York Times: Smart Water Meters Take Hold in California – Smart water meters are taking off in California, according to a forthcoming report from the California Energy Commission.

Water and Wastewater Blog: Could Bloom Box turn wastewater treatment plants into power generation stations? – Bloom Energy Corp. generated lots of high-energy buzz for its fuel cell “energy servers” on “60 Minutes” last month…

Water Online: GE Smart Grid technology enabling customers in Germany to track energy and water consumption – Stadtwerke Erding, the city’s public works department, is implementing a groundbreaking pilot installation that will consolidate and report data to homeowners on energy and utility usage, including electricity, gas, water and heating.

Technorati Tags: Great Salt Lake,Great Salt Lake Minerals,wastewater biogas,Water Conservation,water metering,water/energy nexus

Water News Roundup – January 11, 2010

Salt Lake Tribune:

More dreary days ahead – The prospect of more pollution-filled days along the Wasatch Front next week is worrisome.  First, snowpack totals in northern Utah are about half of normal, causing water managers grief.

Herbert pulling back on water deal – Hand-delivered letters from elected officials in Salt Lake and Millard counties to Gov. Gary Herbert this week apparently have persuaded him to delay signing a Snake Valley water-sharing agreement between Utah and Nevada.

Salt Lake Tribune – Editorial: Don’t sign, Governor – Gov. Gary Herbert apparently has decided to sign off on the proposed Snake Valley water agreement with Nevada. We join the Utah Medical Association, officials of Salt Lake and Millard counties, and members of the Snake Valley Aquifer Advisory Council in urging him not to do it.

KSL:

Water watchers wishing for more snowpack – Utah’s water watchers are warning that this winter is stacking up to be a relatively mild one, which means a meager snowpack. With no big storms on the horizon, the chances of turning that around are slim.

Governor delays signing Utah-Nevada water-sharing pact – Gov. Gary Herbert has delayed signing a water-sharing agreement between Utah and Nevada for Snake Valley.

Deseret News: Water hearing set for proposed nuclear power plant – Protests sparked by a plan to divert river water for a new nuclear reactor in Emery County will be reviewed at a hearing next Tuesday.  The plan calls for the diversion of 53,600 acre-feet of water for use at the nuclear facility planned by Blue Castle Holdings.

New York Times – Environment: Water conservation could limit suburban lawns – …But now a 2006 state law, designed to conserve water by altering landscaping practices, is taking effect, and the changes that began three decades ago are likely to accelerate. One proposal being considered in Menlo Park could restrict lawns on new or reconfigured landscapes to no more than 500 square feet per dwelling unit or to no more than 25 percent of the landscaped area, whichever is larger….