Haaland: ‘Nature is our best ally’

Despite the rushing rapids seen on the nightly news from floods that ravaged New Mexico, Deb Haaland knows that just masks the dwindling water resources her state affords. Haaland, the former secretary of The Department of the Interior, says it's time to rethink how the state manages groundwater, bring its existing water infrastructure more current, and equally as important, begin to discover the best way to harness the power provided by geothermal energy, and caught up with the Driller recently to explain her plans for all of it. 

Prepare for the expected.

Rarely does the job change, but depending on where you are the seasons do. Nights come quicker, mornings are colder. These types of changes can alter jobsite risks even when the work stays the same. In his latest article for The Driller, Michael Coon, a principal advisor at Kyanite Safety Advisor with more than 30 years in drilling and subsurface work, offered some proactive tips to make sure that safety remains paramount even with the job at hand. 

USGS downs Senate bill for aquifers

The TAAP Act, a bill currently in the Senate that supports water programs and projects received bipartisan support, Sarah Ryker, the associate director of the U.S. Geological Survey’s Geology, Energy, and Minerals Mission Area, said the Department of the Interior does not support the bill. Here’s what’s giving the DOI pause and what could come next. 

The groundwater crisis

In keeping with this week’s water theme, we dug up this Driller Newscast from just a few months ago that explored the growing global and domestic water crisis—from unprecedented wildfires and record droughts in the American West to water cutoffs in Puerto Rico, and if the idea of Managed Aquifer Recharge could provide relief to drought-stricken aquifers. Watch here.