WA tribes crucial to salmon recovery, conservation throughout decades of work with state

Engineers with the Division of Water Resources created a new berm in the Great Salt Lake to help protect the lake’s ecosystem and slow the water exchange and reduce rising salinity between the north and south arms of the lake. Initial findings after the berm’s construction have shown a significant decrease in high-salinity waters, as well as improvements in the lake’s brine shrimp population.

The Chithari River Restoration Project (CRRP) is reviving local aquaculture, biodiversity, and wildlife in Kerala, India. Supported by local community organizing and resources from government-backed Agro Service Centers, the project established a biodiversity management committee responsible for removing invasive species and reinforcing riverbeds with native plants and fertilizers. In its first year, 70% of the planted vegetation has taken root, earning praise from state government facilitators. Kerala is the first state in India to establish biodiversity committees across all 1,200 of its local bodies.

Communities in the Sundarbans have adopted shrimp farming as a sustainable livelihood strategy; the approach has proven successful, with environmental benefits and many farmers earning a good income.

Housing developers are following the Passive House standards to create affordable housing that’s incredibly energy efficient. These buildings are air-tight with efficient ventilation and strategically positioned windows, so they don’t need central heating and cooling systems.

Researchers, conservationists, and shellfish farmers on both U.S. coasts are starting and studying seaweed farms as a way to soak up excess nutrients in acidic water to help shellfish survive and grow.

The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGA) is a job program that employs locals to work on climate resilience projects like building water security infrastructure to support local farms and communities. In the past year, with the help of the work from MGNREGA, local farms have come back to life, wells have been replenished and migratory birds have begun returning to the area.

Medellín, Colombia, is combating the urban heat island effect by creating green corridors across the city. Over 2.5 million plants and trees were carefully selected to maximize impact and planted on buildings and along roads and waterways.

Memphis Gas Light and Water’s weatherization program is helping city residents prepare their homes for increasingly intense storms in ways that also reduce their energy use from fossil-fuel-derived sources and their utility bills. Contractors may install a new air conditioner or repair walls, but the resident is never charged for the services because ratepayers round up their bills to cover the cost.

Farmers around the world are implementing agroecology practices to make their farms more resilient to climate change while promoting climate justice to strengthen farming communities. Agroecology follows 13 principles that include ecological practices, like using organic fertilizers, and political and social values, like embracing land rights.

In the Indian state of Bihar, women-led self-help groups are challenging traditional gender norms and saving money to buy and install solar irrigation pumps. The pumps increase the local agricultural capacity by providing a cleaner, more affordable alternative to the diesel pumps typically used to combat water scarcity in the region.