DOI Removes References to Climate Change from WaterSMART Program Webpage

DOI Removes References to Climate Change from WaterSMART Program Webpage

In a report released on July 22, 2019 the Environmental Data and Governance Initiative (EDGI) released its latest report “The New Digital Landscape” detailing changes to government websites between 2016 and 2018 that reflect the Trump Administration’s anti-science agenda.

The report discusses how the Department of the Interior (DOI) removed mentions of climate change from its WaterSMART program webpage. The program focuses on water conservation and water use planning and its page previously featured discussion of how the program would address climate change and its impact on future water demands, as well as links to various documents about the program that also referenced climate change. The current version of the page has minimal information (half the content was removed completely) and no reference to climate change.