(This is indeed terrific news. Bring this sucker east!)
Being our semi-regular weekly survey of what's goin' down in the several states where, as we know, the real work of governmentin' gets done, and where the red lights are flashing in the hot New Jersey night.
We begin in the wilds of Montana, where things are getting a mite thirsty, according to The Great Falls Tribune.
Chippewa Cree tribal officials implemented water restrictions more than a week ago prohibiting residents of the Box Elder area from watering their lawns, filling swimming pools or even washing their vehicles, but demand for water during the recent heat wave continues to significantly outpace inflow from the system's four drinking water wells. Tribal Water Resources Director Dustin White warns that unless residents significantly reduce their water usage, as many as 3,000 people could be completely out of water within the next week.
This is not the first of these we've had, and it damn sure isn't the last. The other day, I was skimming through a book called Thirst, by a British expert in pre-history named Steven Mithen. It describes in detail how water first became used to build civilizations, how it was used as a weapon in the wars between these early civilizations, and how a lack of it led to the disappearance of said civilizations. Mithin points out that the Sichuan Valley in China is still using a water infrastructure first developed in 256 B.C.
Infrastructure, did you say?
Completing repairs to the tribes' largest drinking water system took roughly two weeks. The water department began refilling the New Town Water System's four storage tanks in mid-February, but were unable to fill one of the 300,000 gallon tanks more than half way. When crews went to inspect the tank they found a puncture on one side and a three-foot wall of ice encircling the tank. "What we're assuming is that a six- to eight-inch layer of ice formed at the bottom of that tank when the water was drained out," White explained. "When we started to refill that tank that ice cap broke loose and punctured the side of the tank. That tank has been out of service since that time." The Chippewa Cree tribes have applied for a federal grant to replace the punctured tank, but have yet to obtain any funding for the project. In the meantime the Tribal Water Resource Department has had to operate with only 75 percent of its previous water storage capacity.
We really shouldn't fck with water. There are hundreds of little Flints out there, waiting to happen. If you don't believe me, ask the Nabateans. They built a rich civilization largely through their ability to source water and manage its supply in the middle of the Arabian desert. They built their great capital, Petra, and in it they used various cisterns and pools to capture every drop of rain that fell. They used their water management infrastructure as decoration as well, as a celebration of their civilization. The Nabatean civilization got itself annexed by Rome, but it fell also because of a devastating earthquake after which its water infrastructure was allowed to decay. Come to think of it, you can't ask the Nabateans. There aren't any.
We move along to Wisconsin, where the new Trump-Pruitt age of environmental protection has gotten off to a flying stop. From The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel:
Two federal inspectors became ill earlier this year while investigating a chain of industrial barrel refurbishing plants in Wisconsin, reporting nausea, dizziness and difficulty breathing as they spent several days talking to residents near one of the facilities. A month earlier, other inspectors were inside the plants but said they didn't get to see regular activities as required by law. Instead, it appeared the company was staging operations to make it look like regulations were being followed. Concerned that the company engaged in a cover-up and that the plant's true operations presented a risk to residents, federal prosecutors took the unusual step of asking a federal magistrate judge to approve search warrants authorizing surprise inspections to collect samples.
It's hard to make the case that your plant is up to specs if you have EPA inspectors puking in the foyer. I'm sure this is merely another example of the tradeoffs we have to make to create a business-friendly environment, but, seriously, you can't be making the EPA dudes sick. That's a tough one to explain.
And we conclude, as is our custom, in the great state of Oklahoma, whence Blog Official Mirage Critic Friedman of the Plains brings us the saga of how budget-conscious Governor Mary Fallin has budget-conscienced her state right down the drain. From the Oklahoma Policy Institute:
For several years now, Oklahoma has led the nation in cuts to state aid funding of K-12 schools by reducing state aid per student 26.9 percent since 2008. That's almost twice as much as the next worst state, Alabama. The results are clear. Many of our state's best teachers are leaving for other states, nearly one in five of the state's school districts are going to 4-day weeks, class sizes are growing, arts, athletics, and STEM programs are being cut, and more. These problems have gotten attention in state and national media — so much that Governor Fallin says she is having trouble convincing businesses to come to Oklahoma because of them. Less attention has gone to higher education, because even though higher education funding also saw deep cuts, those cuts weren't leading the nation.
That has changed, according to a new report from researchers at Illinois State University. Over the past five years, Oklahoma has cut state funding for higher education by 17.8 percent, the most in the nation. As with K-12 funding, our cuts have been much deeper than the next worst state (Louisiana with 11.5 percent cuts). We are one of only seven states that didn't increase funding over this period and one of only three states that cut funding by more than 10 percent.
Being six percent worse than Louisiana in something is a considerable achievement. Well done, Governor.
This is your democracy, America. Cherish it.