Archived Water News Headlines | Innovations; Research; Developing Science

The archives appearing below were published in 2003 and 2004.  Please read about link decay in case a link to a news story takes you to a 404 page error or "blank" page.

Water Restrictions Spur Fake Grass Popularity | Homeowners Looking For Innovative Ways To Save Water (The Denver Channel, 3/31/04) - Fake turf is becoming more popular along the Front Range as homeowners, schools and cities face water restrictions with another drought. Related interest... Man Fined For Trying To Save Water | Thornton Tells Man To Rip Out Artificial Lawn (The Denver Channel, 3/11/04) - A Thornton, Colorado, man had spent $12,000 installing an artificial lawn and now he may have to rip it out and pay a fine.

Richmond Landfill To Harness Methane Gas For Power (Richmond, Ind. Wave 3, 3/19/04) - Richmond Power & Light and the Richmond Sanitary District have developed two trash cells, which, in effect, are two huge percolators constantly decomposing trash. When they do their work, they produce a gas. It's about 50 percent methane -- a tasteless, odorless, colorless gas. Methane is a potent greenhouse gas, which destroys the earth's ozone layer and is dangerous when released in abundance into the atmosphere. But when captured, it can be a renewable energy source, a source like solar, wind or water power that can produce electric power without polluting the environment.

Scientist Probes Water's Role in Warming (The Charlotte Observer | AP - 3/18/04) - Work by a New Mexico researcher suggests global warming may be less severe than some predictions. But the research by Ken Minschwaner, an atmospheric physicist at the New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology, also undercuts an argument made by global warming skeptics that a lack of water vapor could cool the planet.

Firm to build test center for possible energy plant (The Idaho Statesman, 3/15/04) - IDAHO FALLS — Intrepid Technology and Resources Inc. will begin building a test center this month in what could be the state´s first plant to turn manure into energy.

Dry weather affecting research (The Western Producer, 2/18/04) - Dry weather and drought mean less crop disease for producers to worry about, but those conditions create more challenges for researchers.

Seed Quest announces its development of drought resistant, salt tolerant plants. News Release, February 2004.

Getting Subways Off the Grid (Wired news, 8/28/03) - Fuel cells which combine hydrogen with oxygen in a chemical reaction that produces electrical power and emitting only water as a by-product could make subway systems less dependent on the grid.

Heatwave's warning for future of farming (New Scientist, 08/23/03) - Climate change will have a profound effect.

Volcanic pool enzyme kills prions (New Scientist - 07/29/03) - A new disinfectant, based on enzymes collected from a volcanic pool, is showing promise in destroying the mutated prion proteins that cause vCJD, the human form of BSE.

Exhaust condenser allows drinking and driving (New Scientist, 07/18/03)

A strange phenomenon was shredding Glen Canyon Dam. Here's how it was saved. (Popular Science, March 2003) - Lessons learned from water vapor problem resulted in aeration slots being the standard from the Tarbela Dam in Pakistan to the Infiernillo Dam in Mexico.

Deeper digging for scarce water? (The Washington Post, 03/10/03) - With Earth’s inventory of clean, fresh water dwindling fast, scientists who once looked to the clouds are increasingly looking downward for new sources of the life-giving resource. What’s tempting them is a mysterious world of deep underground aquifers — huge rivers and lakes far beneath the surface, some of them containing “fossil” water as much as a million years old.

Company sets up online water use tracking (03/08/03 - Salon Technology and Business News) - In Aurora, Colorado, City water customers can now track their water consumption online to help them conserve and avoid higher bills this summer.