Innovative Ideas

The formal events at this week’s Global Climate Action Summit in San Francisco are closed to the public, but anyone can visit a related pop-up that occupies an unleased storefront at the foot of Rincon Hill. That’s where you’ll find nine detailed visions showing how the likelihood of sea level rise can be seen as not a threat, but a catalyst.

From The New York Times, in a commentary by David Bornstein:

The Environmental Protection Agency estimates that public water systems lose, on average, one-sixth of their water — mainly from leaks in pipes. The E.P.A. asserts that 75 percent of that water is recoverable.

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From CNN, in a commentary by John Sutter:

Three weeks and about 400 miles ago, I started a trip down the “most endangered” river in the United States, California’s San Joaquin. The underloved river is born in the Sierra Nevada and snakes across one of the most productive agricultural regions in the world, California’s Central Valley.

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From NPR:

“The organization WaterisLife is developing a ‘Drinkable Book’ that not only teaches water safety but can actually be used to treat drinking water.”

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From EPA Connect: The Official Blog of EPA’s Leadership, in a post by Bob Perciasepe:

“The EnviroAtlas combines hundreds of separate data layers developed through a collaboration between EPA researchers and their partners from around the country, including the U.S Geological Survey, the U.S. Forest Service, states, and a number of non-profit organizations and universities.”

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From The Fresno Bee:

“Inventor David Malcolm always believed the low-flow showerhead he created would do well. But even he has been surprised by the boost in business his tiny Coarsegold company — High Sierra Showerheads — has been getting lately.”

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From the KQED Science Blog:

“Desperate times call for desperate measures, and California’s severe drought is already inspiring a few.

“Water districts in the San Joaquin Valley are proposing a drought tactic that’s never been tried: they want to reverse the state’s plumbing by running the California Aqueduct backwards.”

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From The Desert Sun:

“Tesla Motors should build its “gigafactory” next to the Salton Sea so it can have easy access to lithium extracted from recycled brine from geothermal plants.”

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