The IRE Resource Center is a major research library containing more than 23,250 investigative stories — both print and broadcast. These stories are searchable online or by contacting the Resource Center directly (573-882-3364 or rescntr@ire.org) where a researcher can help you pinpoint what you need. Browse or search the tipsheet section of our library below. Stories are not available for download but can be easily ordered by contacting the Resource Center:
Search results for "water rights" ...
-
What Trinity Toll Road Backers Didn't Tell Us
In 2007, Dallas voters rendered a judgement on the largest public works project in city history, casting ballots in a referendum that had become a surprisingly close, all-in-battle between grassroots activists and the Dallas business and cultural establishment. The question- should the city's multi-billion plan to transform Dallas' long-neglected riverfront into a massive series of parks, forests, white-water rapids, and other natural wonders be built, as planned, with a $2 billion high-speed toll road running right through it?
Tags: Dallas; 2007; Toll Road; Grassroots Activist
-
Rohingya: A Forgotten People
This investigation reveals abuse committed by the Thai Military against Rohingya minorities fleeing from Burma. The Thai Military would intercept Rohingya boats with refugees aboard and tow them out to the middle of the sea and leave them without adequate supplies. Being without food and water many of the Rohingya refugees died, but the numbers are unclear as to how many people actually died.
Tags: Thailand; Myanmar; ocean; islands; human rights; Prime Minister; Abhisit Vejjajiva; boatpeople; Muslim; safety; persecution
-
Drill Dangers
Gas industry-funded geologists announced a new estimate of 4000 trillion cubic feet of natural gas beneath the Marcellus Shale in New York, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Ohio and Maryland, enough gas to satisfy the needs of the entire U.S. for up to 40 years. That estimate, combined with escalating natural gas prices, has caused a drilling boom in Pennsylvania. The stories discovered that Marcellus Shale drillers are drawing the millions of gallons of water needed for each well from streams, rivers and reservoirs, with no oversight or regulation. our report detailed how that practice has already caused at least two streams to run dry.
Tags: environment; natural gas; drilling boom; Pennsylvania's Right To Know Law; gas well permits; Marcellus Shale wells;
-
Ameristar/Stack
A Las Vegas-based gaming company purchased an option to buy a plot of river-front land partially owned by a Pennsylvania state senator and his family. Controversy ensued when it was found that the state had sold water rights valued at $1.5 million for $100,000. Federal prosecutors subpoenaed documents on the sale, and real estate option from the state government and the gaming commission. The company reconfigured the option to exclude the senator and his family and then dropped the deal altogether.
Tags: real estate; controversy; water rights; state government; state public records laws; Ameristar Casinos; SEC
-
The Eastern Water Wars
Despite the presence of water throughout the East, states in the area are struggling over the rights to it. Atlanta's rapid growth is causing battles that are reminiscent to the debate in Southern California over the increasing size and resource needs of Los Angeles in the 1920s and 30s.
Tags: water; water rights; farming
-
Colorado Farmers Find Their Water Is Worth More Than Their Crops
The Wall Street Journal reports on new developments of water struggles in the West, as burgeoning urban areas need more and more water. The story reveals that farmers in Colorado are giving up their water rights to the municipalities of Denver and other large cities in the state. The articles looks at how the City of Aurora has taken over the Rocky Ford Ditch, and how ditch shareholders have been forced to sell their water rights and shares to the city. "As more and more Rocky Ford water goes to the city, some fear that the local economy will collapse like a rank melon," the Journal reports.
Tags: farmers; agriculture; ranchers; municipalities; city government; urban development; land; Denver; Colorado Spring; canals; rivers
-
Rollback: A Corporate Feeding Frenzy During Bush's Honeymoon
A Multinational Monitor investigative packet looks at the first hundred days for the George W. Bush administration, and finds that the cabinet has "aggressively carried forward the corporate agenda." The stories within the packet focus on the negative consequences to the environment, workers, public health, consumers, civil rights, mining, etc., resulting from the suspension or rescinding of important regulations. One of the articles sheds light on the new bankruptcy rules that favor the automobile industry and finance companies, while diminishing the chance of financially devastated low-income families to resume "lives as productive members of their community." A separate piece reveals the background and the corporate connections of vice-[president Dick Cheney. The packet includes profiles of the members of Bush's "corporate cabinet," and dissects some possible motives that might have inspired their actions in the first 100 days. The profiled officials are: Secretary of Labor Elaine Chao, EPA Administrator Christine Whitman, Veteran Affairs Secretary Anthony J. Principi, Secretary of the Interior Gale Norton, Secretary of Commerce Donald Evans, Treasury Secretary Paul H. O'Neill, Attorney General John Ashcroft, Secretary of Energy Spencer Abraham, Secretary of Education Rod Paige, Director Office of Management and Budget Mitch Daniels, U.S. Trade Representative Robert Zoellick, Secretary of Transportation Norm Minetta, Secretary of Health and Human Services Tommy Thompson, Secretary of Agriculture Ann Veneman, National Security Adviser Condoleeza Rice, Secretary of State Colin Powell.
Tags: politics; business; money and politics; Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA); musculoskeletal disorders; cancer; drinking water; arsenic; ergonomic injuries; roads; forests; bankruptcy
-
Can Polluters Police Themselves
Governing looks at controversies surrounding businesses' own environmental audits. While state legislators believe companies can and should run their own audits, the Environmental Protection Agency and many environmentalists disagree, the magazine reports. One of the findings is that so far relatively few businesses have take advantage of audit laws that waive to different degree state penalties for companies who have discovered their own violations. The story includes an exhaustive list of pros and cons regarding audit laws.
Tags: lobbyists; lawyers; Coors; Colorado; Michigan; Cincinnati; Ohio; pollution; Clean Water Act; right-to-know laws
-
Against the Workers; Privatization Tidal Wave; Dubious Development; The Power of Protest
The Multinational Monitor examines how poor nations are forced to bear "the burden of the IMF and World Bank." The story package looks at different aspects of the interactions between the international financial institutions and the developing countries governments. The articles give voice to critics who find that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank policies undermine labor power and rights; that the two institutions' common requirement for increasing electricity and water tariffs in loan-receiving countries makes the poor pay the price; that the International Financial Corporation (IFC) "prioritizes the pursuit of profit over economic justice, social or environmental concerns."
Tags: economics; IMF; World Bank; IFC; globalization; economic crisis; privatization; government-owned enterprises; layoffs; unemployment; wages; pensions; utilities; democracy
-
The River's Edge
This Westword story focuses on the "heritage of conflict and litigation over water rights ... on the South Platte river." The reporter finds that "as the South Platte flows out of Colorado, the water wars continue." The investigation explores the irrigation problems that farmers face along the river.
Tags: draught; agriculture; reservoirs; Colorado River Water Conservation D; wells; rivers; courts