You won’t want to miss this one-of-a-kind breakfast event, but you have to register now to ensure attendance.  The date of the event is Thursday, February 9th and entrance is only $10.  I wouldn’t miss it, and I hope you’ll be able to make it.

The H20 Breakfast is from 8 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. at the Coeur d’Alene Resort Conference Center  in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho.  This is going to be a great networking and Q&A opportunity for purveyors, elected officials, agencies, conservation groups, businesses, and YOU.

Register TODAY.

 Pat Mulroy will share her experience as a principal architect behind development of the  Southern Nevada Water Authority (SNWA) , which has served as a model for other Western water agencies since its creation in 1991.  Currently, SNWA acquires, treats and delivers water to local agencies that server over two million residents.  Mulroy will discuss her perspective on current trends and events in water management.  She serves on the Board of Directors of the Association of Metropolitan Water Agencies and the National Water Resources Association. She is also on the Board of Trustees of the Water Research Foundation.

Joining Mulroy at this great event will be Gary Spackman, Interim Director, Idaho Department of Water Resources and Ted Sturdevant, Director, Washington Department of Ecology.  You can see the whole agenda HERE.

Mulroy plays a key role in many sections of the recent bestseller “The Ripple Effect”, which for my money was the best book released in 2011.  I tell people all the time that it’s the “Inconvenient Truth” for water issues.

This is going to be a great opportunity to hear from someone who has seen firsthand just how important the fight for clean water and enough water can be.  We’re not where Nevada is, but there isn’t a place on Earth right now who can say they are that far off.  I’m really looking forward to hearing what she has to say and to hopefully asking her some questions on how we (Spokane and Washington state) can avoid some of the pitfalls that many in the West and Southwest have faced.

See you there!

In case you missed out a while back on the news, one of the newest Keepers to the Waterkeeper family is the Upper Tigris River

Photo courtesy of the Green Prophet

Waterkeeper in Iraq.  Just saying that line when I give speeches or presentations makes me proud to be part of Waterkeeper Alliance.  But truly, it’s remarkable to think just how deep and diverse the Alliance is, while still so focused and direct on one mission which is clean water for all.  Anyways, the group Nature Iraq which acts as the Waterkeeper on the Upper Tigris River recently started sharing this video. It’s a long film, but it’s well worth the watch.  Plus it’s not every day that you get to see a mini-documentary / art film from Iraq.  I enjoyed seeing the visual imagery of the Upper Tigris River.  As for the people in the masks, I have no idea, but it was certainly an experience.  Enjoy the film, share it around, and feel confident that over 200 waterbodies across the world are being watched over and protected by the Waterkeeper Alliance.

To learn more about the Upper Tigris River Waterkeeper, read this story by Waterkeeper Alliance Western Regional Director Pete Nichols, and check out a recent story posted by the Green Prophet.

The Waterkeeper -the film from Waterkeeper on Vimeo.

Yes – dog poop.

“Dog Poo: The Truth at Last“, an Australian film directed by James Boldiston, plays Saturday, Sunday and Tuesday as part of this year’s Spokane International Film Festival (SpIFF), the 14th installment of this growing and culturally important annual event.  The 90-minute film plays at The Magic Lantern Theater in downtown Spokane (25 W. Main) and costs between $8 and $10 depending on what showing you go to.  So why am I touting this as the most important film you can see?  Good question considering the film subject matter.

You see dog poop is an emerging water quality and human health threat.  In fact, studies done in the last few years put dogs third or fourth on the list of contributors to bacteria in contaminated waters.  Factor that with the fact that there are more than 100,000 dogs in Spokane County alone (going off of ASPCA stat that 63% of households have at least one dog)– not including other counties that the Spokane River flows through, and you can see why the subject of dog poop is one we’re interested in.

That’s why I’ll be turning out for this film.  Here’s what the director has to say:  “The only film you can step in, Dog Poo – The Truth at Last is the first feature film that gets down with poo poo. Shot in 8 countries, the secret life of dog poop is brought out in glorious detail, from Harvey Milk’s pooper scooping laws in San Francisco to poo detection in the outback of Australia, the truth about poop comes to the surface. Poo causes blindness and a higher chance of epilepsy and asthma due to the worm it contains. 12% of children have had this worm from contact with dog poop. And 80 million poos a day in the US to scoop. Strap in and come on a surprising brown journey. You will never walk past a doo doo again the same way.”

Join us on this path to poo enlightenment, and support the wonderful Spokane International Film Festival (SpIFF) while you’re at it.  See you at the movies!

Alex Prud’homme does for water issues what Al Gore did for global warming in this 2011 critically acclaimed book subtitled, “the fate of freshwater in the twenty-first century”.  If you want to know, in terms of water quality and water quantity, how we’ve arrived at the point we’re at and where we’re headed, pick up this book.  In fact, if you really want to read it, swing by the Riverkeeper office at any time and pick up my copy and share it around.

“In short, we must learn to treat deceptively simple H20 for what it really is: the most valuable resource on earth.”

Prud’homme has “The Ripple Effect” broken up in to four main sections, tackling; water quality, water quantity and droughts, floods and the impacts of a warming planet, and water conflicts and innovation in the 21st century.  Where he shines throughout the 300-plus pages is when he intertwines the fascinating historical perspective he no doubt acquired from extensive research with his matter-of-fact narrative.  If you’re interested in all with water resources and water issues, and you should be considering water is everything in our lives, this is a must-read.  Have a watch as Prud’homme is interviewed by the Potomac Riverkeeper in the video below, and enjoy some excerpts I pulled out of the book below the video.  And again, if your’e interested in this read, you can buy the book at Aunties or online, or you can borrow the Riverkeeper copy anytime.

On how important of a resource it is and the tough questions ahead:
“Water is an axis resource as it is central to the production of food, energy, and minerals.Governments, industry and individuals will be confronted by difficult questions, such as, how much water can, or should, man take from the ecosystem? How will we use limited water supplies – for food, power or manufacturing – and what will the result be?  In short, who controls the tap?”

On water pollution:
“Regulators must be given the political and financial backing to curb such practices; industry and individuals should be incentivized to participate in slowing the tide of poisons leaching into waterways; and the nation should make the cleansing of toxic waters a priority.  Without action, human and environmental health will suffer, and the nation will set itself back in many significant ways.  When it comes to personal responsibility for water pollution, it bears repeating that whatever substances we pour into our drains, flush down our toilets, or spray on our lawns end up in the water supply.  According to a study by Johns Hopkins University, 75 percent of ingredients washed from homes survive wastewater treatment.  These chemicals impact the ecosystem, including humans.”

 On climate change:
“Man cannot manufacture “new” water, no can he destroy the planet’s existing supply; when water leaves one place, in one phase (solid, liquid, gas) it simply goes elsewhere, often in another phase; ice melts into liquid water, which evaporates into gas and so on.  As a result, global warming will not change the amount of water in the world, but it will change the distribution of water, which will have many consequences.”

On water and energy:
“To avoid a disastrous water-energy collision and promote a true water-energy nexus, federal and state officials will have to start managing the two resources together, as a holistic system.  If they are going to keep ahead of the mineral and energy industries, which are already planning how to use water in the next century, government agencies will have to become less reactive and learn to think they way business does: long term.”

The photos are included as part of National Geographic’s “Water is Life” initiative.  As it says on their site, “The National Geographic Society’s freshwater initiative is a multiyear global effort to inspire and empower individuals and communities to conserve freshwater and preserve the extraordinary diversity of life that rivers, lakes, and wetlands sustain.”

To view the “Waterscapes” gallery, click HERE.