Blog
A Minnesota Ghost Story
The town of Beaver in Winona County is a Minnesota ghost town. The Dust Bowl—the climate crisis of the decade—set the stage for the town’s demise. It was abandoned after … Read more A Minnesota Ghost Story
How We Treat Water
No one wants to talk about it. We’re often relying on decades to century-old technology. And we are just barely getting by. What am I referring to? Water and wastewater … Read more How We Treat Water
Making headway*
My friend Todd, the barge pilot, says he’s been laid off for over six months. Freeze-up was late on Lake Pepin where he lives and the ice-off time was pretty … Read more Making headway*
Innovation worth its salt (savings)
The Morton Salt Girl helped Mike Gresch crystalize (forgive the pun) some innovative ideas to save both money and impacts on the environment. That iconic image of her with salt … Read more Innovation worth its salt (savings)
Can't you hear it, too?
I’ve been thinking about ways to bridge the communication gap between science and public policy. I recently attended the Water Pavilion in San Francisco. It was an affiliate event of … Read more Can't you hear it, too?
More on Flint… and doing one’s job
We’ve posted several articles and opinions on the long slow story that was and continues to be Flint Michigan’s infamous water failure. Just out is an Environmental Protection Agency review … Read more More on Flint… and doing one’s job
Drought at the doorstep
Those April blizzards are a distant memory after spring whiplashed us into full-on summer in record time. The prairie we are restoring on our farm went from winter drab to … Read more Drought at the doorstep
The Arctic-Minnesota connection
Now that spring has finally arrived (knock on wood), is it safe to talk about what just happened and what it means for our water future in the upper Midwest? … Read more The Arctic-Minnesota connection
A Salted Lake: Lake Johanna
Even after the winter’s snow has melted, our lakes and streams will not forget what we have done to move about at summer speeds during the winter months. Salt we … Read more A Salted Lake: Lake Johanna
It’s complicated
A friend and I took a long walk through Nerstrand Big Woods State Park on the last balmy weekend in December. The 2,884-acre forest straddles Prairie Creek, which is set … Read more It’s complicated
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