Climate “weirding” was on the minds and tongues of attendees at the 2011 River Rally in South Carolina. Four of us from HRWC recharged our batteries last week at River Network’s annual gathering of river and watershed groups in North America. One person after another talked about the strange weather they’re seeing compared to what’s “normal” for their region — longer, more intense droughts; more pounding rainstorms; more flooding; proliferation of tornadoes, wild fires, and the like. Naturally, all of this weirdness impacts our rivers and coastal waters.
Rally brought together leaders from key sectors such as water utilities, watershed groups, federal agencies, and national experts to discuss and plan national initiatives and on the ground strategies. HRWC contributed to these conversations and announced our work on community-based climate response planning and the Saving Water Saves Energy project.
Thanks to the Mott Foundation and the Erb Family Foundation for their support of HRWC and River Rally.