Remembering and learning from a historic tragedy: After a hard rain in the spring of 1889, a man-made lake burst through a dam. A wall of water three stories high ripped through Johnstown, Pennsylvania, destroying the town and killing more than 2,000 people. Jed Shugerman, a law professor at Fordham University, says attempts by townspeople …
Category Archive: Development
Permanent link to this article: http://www.currentcast.org/development/legacy-of-the-johnstown-flood/
Mar 30
Butterflies and bogs
In some northeastern wetlands, tiny brown butterflies called Bog Coppers feed on wild cranberry flowers. Their habitat requirements are very specific: “You not only need a bog, but you need the host plant, which is cranberry. They rarely move more than just a few meters away from their host plant,” says naturalist Jerry McWilliams. …
Permanent link to this article: http://www.currentcast.org/development/butterflies-and-bogs/
Mar 19
This (Wet)land Was Made for You and Me
The benefits of swamps, marshes, and other wetland wonderlands are worth singing about. Join the chorus: People once considered wetlands useless, as little more than soggy ground waiting to be drained and put to better use. Now we recognize wetlands as the croon-worthy areas they are. Besides being quiet places of safety and serene seclusion …
Permanent link to this article: http://www.currentcast.org/stormwater-management/wetland-wonderlands/
Mar 02
Water awareness through art
If you walk through Milwaukee, you may not notice if you pass a water cistern or cross a watershed boundary. But that may soon change, thanks to a project called ‘Watermarks.’ “It’s a series of physical markers that will serve as these marking points for where conversations around water can begin,” says project designer Aaron Asis. …
Permanent link to this article: http://www.currentcast.org/stormwater-management/water-awareness-through-art/
Feb 28
Human waste in water
In many parts of Milwaukee, stormwater is shuttled directly to rivers and Lake Michigan. Wastewater is dealt with separately and sent to a treatment plant for processing. But Sandra McLellan of the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, says the infrastructure is aging. “Many of the pipes that are taking waste from our homes that should be …
Permanent link to this article: http://www.currentcast.org/stormwater-management/human-waste-in-water/