Scott Mattoon

Trump wins the FIFA gold medal for downhill skiing

The Catastrophe on the Potomac Is A Stark Warning to Cities Delaying Water Infrastructure Upgrades The most frustrating thing about all of this is how preventable it all was. That sewer line was built in the early 60’s and it was already known to be past the end of it’s service life. That’s why D.C...

"If only we had invested in repairs ..."

Americans will be hearing this refrain a lot, as cuts to federal funding for sustaining infrastructure force community leaders to become crisis managers, while fed regulators and civil engineers are MIA.

www.americanrivers.org/2026/02/the-...

300,000,000 gallons of raw sewage and still counting. Serious harms due directly to Trump admin's neglect.

The Potomac River Sewer Spill will likely go down as the worst sewage spill in U.S. history.

Remember Trump 1's "Infrastructure Week"? That broken promise and this disaster are intertwined.

Potomac Sewage Spill Becomes Ecological Disaster and Political Fight

Apropos that shit is quite literally flowing out of this president's plumbing into a major U.S. waterway. And he deflects blame onto a governor with no jurisdiction over the pipes. Disgusting.
www.nytimes.com/2026/02/17/c...

Scott Mattoon 🧢 (@dwnstrm) KPFA today ran a great interview with climate scientist Daniel Swain (California’s Climate Whiplash), in which he articulates rational responses to climate-related threats to California. Swain, like ...

@weatherwest.bsky.social lays out practical steps California can take now to build climate resilience, including investing in scientific research once conducted by federal institutions that are now being destroyed.
substack.com/@dwnstrm/not...

The Other Side of the World’s Largest Dam Removal | Hakai Magazine Removing dams from the Klamath River in Northern California seems like a clear win for fish and rivers. Why do some locals hate it?

Dam removal, and the most salient question of our time, "Can we still move at the speed of trust, or does the urgency of our crises condemn us to ignore it?"
hakaimagazine.com/features/the...

Mining in the BWCA watershed is a threat to our clean water AND our national security.

Here's what the Chilean mining company does — they ship copper ore to China, which smelts it and sells it globally, or uses it for their own weapons. H.J. Res. 140 must be defeated.

The BWCA is our nation’s most-visited wilderness area, and its headwaters should be protected from toxic mining. Instead of protecting this national treasure, Republicans voted to put one of the largest reserves of freshwater in the world in the direct path of acid mine drainage.

Anniversary of mining ban, Antofagasta fined for non-compliance

Today marks the third anniversary of the 20-year mining ban, which is under threat in Congress. ⚠️ Also, the Chilean mining giant Antofagasta was just fined about $775,000 for failing to comply with regulations in Chile.

Call your senators now: www.savetheboundarywaters.org/anniversary-...

The world is in water bankruptcy, UN scientists report – here’s what that means Like living beyond your financial means, using more water than nature can replenish can have catastrophic results.

Declaring water bankruptcy doesn't protect water. Landscapes will collect their due.

theconversation.com/the-world-is...

DWR’s “nothing to see here” attempt to issue bonds for the Delta tunnel, as if it were routine maintenance, was rejected in court.

I’m afraid this is not the end of their “Come hell or high water” fight to put another fat straw into this imperiled ecosystem
www.sierraclub.org/california/c...

Dear congress,
DO SOMETHING!

New federal plan for Delta water pumping conflicts with California requirements Federal plan to boost Delta exports could shift burden to California and worsen conditions for already struggling salmon populations.

Money in politics corrodes democracy. Buying votes with water erodes ecology.

www.sacbee.com/news/politic...

You’re Thinking About AI and Water All Wrong Fears about AI data centers’ water use have exploded. Experts say the reality is far more complicated than people think.

Golf courses are water gluttons. But “Big Golf isn’t making headlines about how it’s upending entire industries, or causing mass psychosis, or keeping coal plants open—or how we could all be facing an economic catastrophe if the market for golf bottoms out.”
www.wired.com/story/karen-...

Mississippi timber markets disrupted as EU rule takes effect early The European Union’s new deforestation rule is already rippling through Mississippi’s timber industry - creating confusion, restrictions, and growing financial worries for landowners who say they neve...

Mississippi timber grower: “It’s unfair for anybody overseas, especially the EU, to dictate what we can or can’t do with our property.”

lol

www.wlbt.com/2025/12/07/%...

Eighty Percent of U.S. Wetlands at Risk:
Why WOTUS Matters to You

“In November 2025, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers released a proposed revision to the Clean Water Act (CWA) definition of “waters of the United States,” (WOTUS)”

Factory Farms in Iowa Generate 110 Billion Pounds of Manure Per Year. No One Tracks Where It’s Going. - Inside Climate News Manure management planning could prevent fertilizer pollution. But an antiquated system isn’t doing enough to track manure, a former state employee says.

Why are DNR’s so reluctant to control pollution from feeding operations?

It must be something in the water.
insideclimatenews.org/news/0412202...

Dam removal may be the most effective ecological restoration tool of all. It’s finally reaching escape velocity. Rivers want to be free.
observatory.wiki/Why_America_...

New federal plan for Delta water pumping conflicts with California requirements Federal plan to boost Delta exports could shift burden to California and worsen conditions for already struggling salmon populations.

Federal plan to boost Delta exports could shift burden to California and worsen conditions for already struggling salmon populations.

ICYMI: California strongly objects to Trump’s plan to pump more Delta water south

🔗 Read more: bit.ly/48mYL7u

New letters obtained by the LA Times reveal that the Trump administration is pushing a plan to weaken longstanding Delta environmental protections.

State announces new funding for Sites Reservoir Sites Reservoir received a major boost toward construction on Thursday by receiving nearly $220 million in new state funding.

Instead of building another dam to control planetary forces why not enable communities to work with these dynamics and restore water to the land and beneath it. In the face of climate change, the Sites Reservoir is hubris. #cawater

sjvsun.com/ag/state-ann...

Hi, Elon. It’s America. We want our money back. | Opinion Everyday Americans such as myself funded your rise to unprecedented heights on the economic ladder, says Issac Bailey.

Everyday Americans such as myself funded your rise to unprecedented heights on the economic ladder, says Issac Bailey.

Also, how has Saul’s calculus behind Renewistan held up since inception?

How has the electricity market been shaped over time in Australia? What is the trajectory for state-owned vs private T&D and generation? How does AUS regulatory capture compare to U.S.?

This is my seventh year living in the San Joaquin Valley. This past week has given me a new appreciation to the nostalgia for tule fog I kept hearing from locals.

Guest Column: What Personhood Status for the Colorado River means to me The Colorado River is in jeopardy. We have all seen the stories of how the climate is hotter and drier, and under the Post-2026 Process that Arizona will have to

“We must think beyond terms of what [the river] can provide to us; we must think of what we can provide to it.” #RightsofNature
www.nhonews.com/opinion/gues...

This is a very well stated position. Would you like me to elaborate how its veracity will be undermined in the broader culture?

dwnstrm's 2025 iNaturalist Year in Review Scott Mattoon's highlights and stats from 2025 on iNaturalist

Have you checked your @inaturalist.bsky.social year in Review stats? The infographics are amazing. I especially like the "sunburst" chart (though it shames me into making more diverse observations).
www.inaturalist.org/stats/2025/d...

Humility, wisdom, focus. It wasn't performative.
I don't think he would recognize Silicon Valley today.

The big groundwater crisis - food, water, pollution, and social unrest : John Cherry interview Part I groundwater supplies our freshwater, water crisis is based in a groundwater crisis, virtual water hides the groundwater crisis

“Counter to our intuition, dams are contributing to continental drying, not preventing it.” #NoDams
open.substack.com/pub/climatew...