By Joanne Richardson The PulseMay 25, 2016

Should farmers or city pay to clean the water? Iowa may decide

A stream flows through some grasslands. A drainage pipe flows into the stream.

The legal case described here could be pivotal for agriculture-clean water conversations going forward. The City of Des Moines IA has filed suit against upstream counties because of increased water purification costs associated with ag chemicals.

Tags

Legal Mississippi River Basin Planning / Policy Policy

About the Author(s)

Issue Contents

Introduction

Introduction to Issue 25 | Rivers & Borders

On a map, the defined line of a river makes a compelling case for becoming a border. The line crisply delineates one space from...

By Laurie Moberg, Editor

Feature (Peer Review)

Socio-Ecological System of Flooding in Bucksport, South Carolina

There is growing awareness that climate change has the potential to deepen inequalities, especially regarding the threat of riverine flooding. For example, the United...

By Geoffrey Habron and John Roper

Feature (Peer Review)

A Fluid Border: The River Tamar and Constructed Difference in Travel Writing of Cornwall

The Tamar is a relatively modest river. With a length of just 61 miles, and an average discharge at the upper tidal limit of...

By Tim Hannigan

Feature (Peer Review)

The Backbone of America: A New River with the Same Ol’ Bones

The Mississippi River, among many names, is known as “The Backbone of America,” and has played a major role in shaping the lives of...

By Michael O. Johnston

Feature (Peer Review)

Not a Border, But a Path: Swimming Across the Rio Grande

On a cool November day, I floated in the middle of Amistad Reservoir, a lake formed by a dam on the Rio Grande. I...

By Melinda J. Menzer

Geographies

When the Border is a River: A Journey Along the Salween River-Border

Rivers might appear to be a natural or even an expedient way to demarcate political borders. Yet rivers are always in flux as flows...

By Zali Fung and Vanessa Lamb

In Review

The Great Displacement: Climate Change and the Next American Migration by Jake Bittle

Abandoned homes with boarded up windows. Mold growing up the walls of houses flooded under five feet of water. The charred remnants of entire...

By Julia Oschwald Tilton

Perspectives

A Small but Ultimate Presence

This year the heat of the desert grew, and the absence of water only became more stark against that rapidly rising contrast. Tucson, my...

By Isaac Espósto

Primary Sources

How much is the world’s most productive river worth?

How much is the world’s most productive river worth? Here’s how experts estimate the value of nature: Southeast Asia’s Mekong may be the most important...

By Stefan Lovgren

Teaching and Practice

Creative Connections with Rivers: A Toolkit for Learning and Collaboration

We are three people who draw on research and practice to create arts-based learning, engagement materials, and interventions with and for diverse audiences. We...

By Stephanie Januchowski-Hartley, Ioanna (Daphne) Giannoulatou, and Merryn Thomas

More Stories

People walking between sites at Oheyawahi/Pilot Knob . Photo by Michael Murray; courtesy of the Minnesota Humanities Center.

Toward a Pedagogy of Place: the Bdote Field Trip and Absent Narratives in the Classroom

At the Minnesota Humanities Center, we have long sought to empower educators to create lessons that recognize and amplify absent narratives, the stories that have been systematically marginalized or left out in classrooms and curricula for generations.