If you're struggling with how to fund the development and maintenance of environmental systems--like drinking and waste water systems--the How To Pay: Challenges and Solutions Of Environmental Protection is for you and your local government team.

The Cochise County (Ariz.) Board of Supervisors has approved what is a first in the state - an amendment to the zoning regulations that stipulates water availability within any subdivision has to meet Arizona Department of Water Resources criteria for 100-year adequacy. Any proposed subdivision that cannot prove water adequacy will be denied.

The Brisbane (Australia) City Council's Climate Change and Energy Taskforce report, released on 12 March 2007, included 31 recommendations across eight strategy areas having to do with how this large, coastal, sub-tropical city can face the challenges of climate change and peak oil.

United by the fact that climate change poses a major long-term challenge to delivering high-quality drinking water, eight of the nation’s largest water agencies announced the formation of an unprecedented coalition, the Water Utility Climate Alliance (WUCA). The alliance will work to improve research into the impacts of climate change on water utilities, develop strategies for adapting to climate change and implement tactics to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions.

Stormwater tunnels under Minnesota's Twin Cities, mostly built with unreinforced concrete or masonry, collect storm water from streets and rooftops and take it to the Mississippi River. Increased urban runoff and heavy rains frequently fill some tunnels to capacity, creating pressures they weren't designed to handle. With greater demands expected due to climate-change weather patterns, this aged infrastructure is a looming, though unseen, problem.

The city of Fort Collins, CO wants to become more energy independent and be involved in the production of "zero-carbon" energy. But they find themselves weighing energy options that may conflict with their convictions and intentions.

As the U.S. Southwest grapples with historic drought, water supply depletion and the creeping sense that things can only get worse, concerns are rising that long-term climatic shifts may eventually force major regional population shifts across North America. This may be good news, however, for older Rust Belt cities in more temperate climes, like Cleveland, Buffalo and Toronto.

China recently broke ground on Dongtan, which it calls the world’s first eco-city. A ferry ride away from central Shanghai, Dongtan will ban all polluting cars, forcing people to get around using electric cars, bicycles, or just their legs. It will recycle as much as possible, including all its wastewater; grow food on its own environmentally sensitive farms; and create all its own energy in nonpolluting ways—wind, solar, and the burning of human and animal wastes. It will encourage, and in some cases require, the use of local labor and local, green building materials.

Most of these technologies are not new, and many are commonly used in Western Europe. What will make Dongtan unique are the integration of environmentally friendly practices and the strict exclusion of older, polluting ones.

This well-grounded report report by the City-sponsored Sebastopol Citizens Advisory Group on Energy Vulnerability (CAGE) reviews municipal energy vulnerabilities and makes policy recommendations for maintaining municipal services in an energy-constrained future.

In Malmo, Sweden, a former shipyard and industrial site is being turned into a green residential area based on 100% use of renewable energy. Eventually the area will accommodate 10,000 residents and 20,000 employees and students.