{"id":33593,"date":"2016-02-05T10:13:00","date_gmt":"2016-02-05T10:13:00","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2020-10-23T10:56:48","modified_gmt":"2020-10-23T10:56:48","slug":"8593-us-water-industry-faces-tide-of-scrutiny-after-flint-scandal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/pollution\/8593-us-water-industry-faces-tide-of-scrutiny-after-flint-scandal\/","title":{"rendered":"US water industry faces tide of scrutiny after Flint scandal"},"content":{"rendered":"

In a Congressional hearing this week, US lawmakers<\/a> began to untangle how drinking water laced with high levels of lead was supplied for more than a year to citizens in Flint, Michigan.<\/span><\/p>\n

The crisis, one of the most acute threats to public health the US has faced in decades, is also the focus of a federal investigation involving the FBI, a state probe, and lawsuits brought by citizen and environmental groups. All are demanding answers to the same question: what went wrong in Flint, and could it happen in other cities across the country?<\/p>\n

The answer is yes, according to water experts. Much of the nation\u2019s water infrastructure is nearing the end of its useful life. Landmark laws meant to protect the surface and groundwater reserves that supply US cities are outdated and insufficient to address new threats to water quality. In addition,\u00a0climate change<\/a> and population growth<\/a> are putting pressure on traditional methods of water management.<\/p>\n

In Flint, the story<\/a> comes down to a potent mix of ageing water pipes and government incompetence. Up until the crisis, Flint’s\u00a0narrative had followed the arc of the \u00a0once-mighty industrial towns in America\u2019s northern Rust Belt. Its heyday was \u00a0in the mid-20<\/span>th century as a bastion of Michigan\u2019s auto industry, but its population has declined by half since 1960, and for much of the past decade the city\u2019s public administration has been drowning in debt.<\/p>\n

Problems with the city\u2019s water began in April 2014, when Flint switched water sources from its longtime supplier, the Detroit water system, and began taking water from the local Flint River in an effort to save US$5 million. But a failure to implement proper corrosion control measures when treating the river water left ageing lead service lines vulnerable to deterioration, leaching lead into the system.<\/span><\/p>\n

By September 2015, doctors found unsafe levels of lead<\/a> in the blood of the city\u2019s children, which can cause permanent cognitive and behavioural problems. Flint switched back to Detroit water in October 2015, but the damage was done. Thousands of residents may have been exposed to lead in their drinking water, though the precise extent of lead contamination in the city is still unknown.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou look at these children, and we know from studies and doctors that exposure to lead is irreversible,\u201d said Danyelle Solomon, director of the Progress 2050 programme at the Center for American Progress, a nonpartisan policy institute in Washington, DC. \u201cChildren who are poisoned with lead are seven times more likely to drop out of school, and six times more likely to be involved in the criminal justice system. That\u2019s what\u2019s at stake.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The Flint crisis is symptomatic of the massive infrastructure challenge facing the US. While the vast majority of communities still have clean, safe water, maintaining that level of service could take an investment of more than US$1.7 trillion by 2050, according to a 2012 study<\/a> by the American Water Works Association (AWWA). That estimate only includes repairs and necessary expansions to drinking water infrastructure, not wastewater or storm\u00a0water systems.<\/p>\n

\u201cSystematically in this country, we are underinvesting in our urban water infrastructure,\u201d said Glen Daigger,<\/span> professor of civil and environmental engineering at the University of Michigan. \u201cYou can do that for a while, but you can\u2019t do that forever.\u201d<\/p>\n

Much of the cost will be borne by water customers through higher water rates. Water is currently priced well below its actual value to society, according to Greg Kail, director of communications at AWWA. That is unlikely to change, but rates will almost certainly increase to more accurately reflect the cost of providing water service.<\/span><\/p>\n

As Flint so clearly illustrates, the cost of doing nothing is much higher.<\/p>\n

\u201cWater quality and the provision of safe and wholesome water is absolutely essential to a well-functioning society,\u201d said Richard Luthy, professor of civil and environmental engineering at Stanford University,\u00a0and the director of the National Science Foundation\u2019s Engineering Research Center for Re-inventing the Nation’s Urban Water Infrastructure.<\/p>\n

He added: \u201cWhen we fall down on that obligation, then we have serious consequences like Flint, which could have been avoided.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dilapidated infrastructure is not the only threat to safe drinking water in the US. Just as the physical components of clean water systems are ageing, so too are the nation\u2019s water protection laws and traditional management paradigms that are ill-suited to address new water supply and water quality challenges.<\/p>\n

Spills<\/strong><\/p>\n

A toxic algal bloom in Lake Erie<\/a> in 2014, for example, shut down drinking water supplies for nearly half a million people in Toledo, Ohio, about 100 miles from Flint. The bloom was fuelled by agricultural runoff, which is largely unregulated by the federal Clean Water Act, the nation\u2019s most important water protection law. Despite repeated calls to update the act, it has not been significantly revised in nearly three decades.<\/p>\n

Similarly, a chemical spill in a West Virginia river<\/a> in 2014 temporarily poisoned the water supply for 300,000 people near the state capital. The spill, from a chemical tank located just 1.5 miles upstream of the city\u2019s drinking water intake, highlighted weaknesses in source water protections and enforcement under the federal Safe Drinking Water Act.<\/p>\n

Drought<\/strong><\/p>\n

In the western US, an additional problem is apparent in the five-year drought<\/a> gripping California. Wells have gone dry in parts of the state, many in poor farming communities where groundwater contamination is also a public health concern. The state issued mandatory water use restrictions for cities last year.<\/p>\n

\u201cClimate change, population increase, and ever more demands on our water supply have put us at the limits of what our current system can provide in terms of a reliable and resilient water supply,\u201d Luthy said.<\/p>\n

Water trading<\/strong><\/p>\n

The pressure of the drought is forcing cities to rethink how they manage water. Instead of transferring water from far-off sources through miles of state and federal aqueducts, for example, some communities are pursuing ways to capture more stormwater to replenish aquifers.<\/p>\n

Water managers in California are also looking to countries such as \u00a0Australia, which put in place an innovative water trading system to secure water supplies following a severe drought in the early 2000s.<\/p>\n

Economic benefit<\/strong><\/p>\n

Changes, while slow, are occurring in Ohio, too. The state last year passed a law regulating manure spreading and fertiliser applications to cut down on the runoff that drives toxic algal blooms in Lake Erie.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe know we can do this. It\u2019s just that we are not doing it as consistently as we need to from community to community,\u201d Daigger said. \u201cWater is not a cost, it is in fact a benefit when you look at the economic benefit that is created by a good, sustainable, robust system. We definitely want to be efficient in what we do, but the money we\u2019re spending comes back to us, from an economic perspective, many fold. We need to understand that.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Public water supply in the US is in a sorry state, raising fears that Michigan\u2019s lead poisoning scandal could be repeated elsewhere, writes Codi Kozacek \u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2290,"featured_media":58475,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[760],"tags":[556],"hashtags":[],"country":[],"class_list":["post-33593","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-pollution","tag-infrastructure"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nUS water industry faces tide of scrutiny after Flint scandal | Dialogue Earth<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Public water supply in the US is in a sorry state, raising fears that Michigan\u2019s lead poisoning scandal could be repeated elsewhere, writes Codi Kozacek \u00a0\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/pollution\/8593-us-water-industry-faces-tide-of-scrutiny-after-flint-scandal\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"US water industry faces tide of scrutiny after Flint scandal\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Public water supply in the US is in a sorry state, raising fears that Michigan\u2019s lead poisoning scandal could be repeated elsewhere, writes Codi Kozacek \u00a0\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/pollution\/8593-us-water-industry-faces-tide-of-scrutiny-after-flint-scandal\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Dialogue Earth\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-02-05T10:13:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2020-10-23T10:56:48+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/5755687593_e71c2542de_o.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"604\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"453\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Codi Yeager-Kozacek\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/pollution\/8593-us-water-industry-faces-tide-of-scrutiny-after-flint-scandal\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/pollution\/8593-us-water-industry-faces-tide-of-scrutiny-after-flint-scandal\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Codi Yeager-Kozacek\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/712fdf9db9c5429e86a00443e2a4fd01\"},\"headline\":\"US water industry faces tide of scrutiny after Flint scandal\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-02-05T10:13:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-10-23T10:56:48+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/pollution\/8593-us-water-industry-faces-tide-of-scrutiny-after-flint-scandal\/\"},\"wordCount\":1155,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/pollution\/8593-us-water-industry-faces-tide-of-scrutiny-after-flint-scandal\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/5755687593_e71c2542de_o.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Infrastructure\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Pollution\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/pollution\/8593-us-water-industry-faces-tide-of-scrutiny-after-flint-scandal\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/pollution\/8593-us-water-industry-faces-tide-of-scrutiny-after-flint-scandal\/\",\"name\":\"US water industry faces tide of scrutiny after Flint scandal | Dialogue Earth\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/pollution\/8593-us-water-industry-faces-tide-of-scrutiny-after-flint-scandal\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/pollution\/8593-us-water-industry-faces-tide-of-scrutiny-after-flint-scandal\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/5755687593_e71c2542de_o.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-02-05T10:13:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-10-23T10:56:48+00:00\",\"description\":\"Public water supply in the US is in a sorry state, raising fears that Michigan\u2019s lead poisoning scandal could be repeated elsewhere, writes Codi Kozacek \u00a0\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/pollution\/8593-us-water-industry-faces-tide-of-scrutiny-after-flint-scandal\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/pollution\/8593-us-water-industry-faces-tide-of-scrutiny-after-flint-scandal\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/pollution\/8593-us-water-industry-faces-tide-of-scrutiny-after-flint-scandal\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/5755687593_e71c2542de_o.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/5755687593_e71c2542de_o.jpg\",\"width\":604,\"height\":453,\"caption\":\"Entrance to 'Flint vehicle city'\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/pollution\/8593-us-water-industry-faces-tide-of-scrutiny-after-flint-scandal\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"US water industry faces tide of scrutiny after Flint scandal\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/\",\"name\":\"Dialogue Earth\",\"description\":\"Global climate and environment news\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/#organization\",\"name\":\"\u5bf9\u8bdd\u5730\u7403\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Dialogue-Earth-Symbol-Logo_Black-Text.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Dialogue-Earth-Symbol-Logo_Black-Text.png\",\"width\":256,\"height\":256,\"caption\":\"\u5bf9\u8bdd\u5730\u7403\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/DialogueEarth_\",\"\",\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/DialogueEarth.English\",\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/dialogue.earth\/\",\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/dialogueearth\/\"],\"publishingPrinciples\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/about\/\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/712fdf9db9c5429e86a00443e2a4fd01\",\"name\":\"Codi Yeager-Kozacek\",\"description\":\"Codi Yeager-Kozacek is a reporter with US-based environmental news website Circle of Blue, and writes about food security, agricultural runoff, ecology, and mining.\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/author\/codiyeager-kozacek\/\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/author\/codiyeager-kozacek\/\"]}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"US water industry faces tide of scrutiny after Flint scandal | Dialogue Earth","description":"Public water supply in the US is in a sorry state, raising fears that Michigan\u2019s lead poisoning scandal could be repeated elsewhere, writes Codi Kozacek \u00a0","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/pollution\/8593-us-water-industry-faces-tide-of-scrutiny-after-flint-scandal\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"US water industry faces tide of scrutiny after Flint scandal","og_description":"Public water supply in the US is in a sorry state, raising fears that Michigan\u2019s lead poisoning scandal could be repeated elsewhere, writes Codi Kozacek \u00a0","og_url":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/pollution\/8593-us-water-industry-faces-tide-of-scrutiny-after-flint-scandal\/","og_site_name":"Dialogue Earth","article_published_time":"2016-02-05T10:13:00+00:00","article_modified_time":"2020-10-23T10:56:48+00:00","og_image":[{"width":604,"height":453,"url":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/5755687593_e71c2542de_o.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Codi Yeager-Kozacek","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/pollution\/8593-us-water-industry-faces-tide-of-scrutiny-after-flint-scandal\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/pollution\/8593-us-water-industry-faces-tide-of-scrutiny-after-flint-scandal\/"},"author":{"name":"Codi Yeager-Kozacek","@id":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/712fdf9db9c5429e86a00443e2a4fd01"},"headline":"US water industry faces tide of scrutiny after Flint scandal","datePublished":"2016-02-05T10:13:00+00:00","dateModified":"2020-10-23T10:56:48+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/pollution\/8593-us-water-industry-faces-tide-of-scrutiny-after-flint-scandal\/"},"wordCount":1155,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/pollution\/8593-us-water-industry-faces-tide-of-scrutiny-after-flint-scandal\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/5755687593_e71c2542de_o.jpg","keywords":["Infrastructure"],"articleSection":["Pollution"],"inLanguage":"en"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/pollution\/8593-us-water-industry-faces-tide-of-scrutiny-after-flint-scandal\/","url":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/pollution\/8593-us-water-industry-faces-tide-of-scrutiny-after-flint-scandal\/","name":"US water industry faces tide of scrutiny after Flint scandal | Dialogue Earth","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/pollution\/8593-us-water-industry-faces-tide-of-scrutiny-after-flint-scandal\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/pollution\/8593-us-water-industry-faces-tide-of-scrutiny-after-flint-scandal\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/5755687593_e71c2542de_o.jpg","datePublished":"2016-02-05T10:13:00+00:00","dateModified":"2020-10-23T10:56:48+00:00","description":"Public water supply in the US is in a sorry state, raising fears that Michigan\u2019s lead poisoning scandal could be repeated elsewhere, writes Codi Kozacek \u00a0","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/pollution\/8593-us-water-industry-faces-tide-of-scrutiny-after-flint-scandal\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/pollution\/8593-us-water-industry-faces-tide-of-scrutiny-after-flint-scandal\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en","@id":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/pollution\/8593-us-water-industry-faces-tide-of-scrutiny-after-flint-scandal\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/5755687593_e71c2542de_o.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/5755687593_e71c2542de_o.jpg","width":604,"height":453,"caption":"Entrance to 'Flint vehicle city'"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/pollution\/8593-us-water-industry-faces-tide-of-scrutiny-after-flint-scandal\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"US water industry faces tide of scrutiny after Flint scandal"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/#website","url":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/","name":"Dialogue Earth","description":"Global climate and environment news","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/#organization","name":"\u5bf9\u8bdd\u5730\u7403","url":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en","@id":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Dialogue-Earth-Symbol-Logo_Black-Text.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Dialogue-Earth-Symbol-Logo_Black-Text.png","width":256,"height":256,"caption":"\u5bf9\u8bdd\u5730\u7403"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/twitter.com\/DialogueEarth_","","https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/DialogueEarth.English","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/dialogue.earth\/","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/dialogueearth\/"],"publishingPrinciples":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/about\/"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/712fdf9db9c5429e86a00443e2a4fd01","name":"Codi Yeager-Kozacek","description":"Codi Yeager-Kozacek is a reporter with US-based environmental news website Circle of Blue, and writes about food security, agricultural runoff, ecology, and mining.","url":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/author\/codiyeager-kozacek\/","sameAs":["https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/author\/codiyeager-kozacek\/"]}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33593","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2290"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=33593"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33593\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/58475"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33593"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=33593"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=33593"},{"taxonomy":"hashtags","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hashtags?post=33593"},{"taxonomy":"country","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/country?post=33593"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}