The state will monitor water quality from more than 50 sites along the Mississippi River in Minnesota this year in an effort to get a broader picture of the health of the waterway.

The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency announced on Monday that water as well as aquatic life samples at locations from Bemidji to the Iowa border will be analyzed to provide data the 650-mile length of the river in the state. Previously, the state gathered data from designate spots along the waterway but never the entire length during a year.

“Water monitoring is critical to clean water. By monitoring our lakes and rivers, we are supporting safe drinking water, enjoyable recreation, tourism, and Minnesota’s strong economy,” MPCA Commissioner Katrina Kessler said in a statement. “Our work protecting the Mighty Mississippi from its headwaters here in Minnesota is critical to maintaining a healthy river downstream, all the way to the Gulf of Mexico.”

The announcement was made Monday in recognition of Earth Day at an event along the river in St. Paul attended by leaders from the MPCA, the Department of Natural Resources, the Department of Agriculture and the Metropolitan Council.

Information from the monitoring efforts will be used to direct funding and other resources for clean-up and quality improvements, according to the state.

Key points on the water monitoring announcement included:

• Monitoring helps the MPCA to find and and deal with emerging pollution issues before they turn into bigger problems. This year, for the first time. the state also will screen water samples from the Mississippi for per- and polyfluoroalkyl (PFAS) presence. The hope is it will allow the state to identify and stop contamination of so-called “forever chemicals” in the river.

• Samples are collected to measure things such as temperature, transparency, and the levels of pollutants such as phosphorus, nitrogen, and ammonia. Also, the state uses electrofishing to collect fish, measure them, note abnormalities, and then release them back into the river. The agency also gathers insects from river areas — among them, bottom sediment and stream banks — for lab evaluations.

• The monitoring of the Mississippi is paid for with funds from Minnesota’s Clean Water Fund. The fund was created in 2008 when Minnesota voters approved the Clean Water, Land, and Legacy Amendment, which was paid for through an increased sales tax through 2034. Clean Water Fund money also goes for watershed studies and restoration projects.

• Those interested in taking part can join the Volunteer Water Monitoring program. For more than 50 years, volunteers have collected water clarity information from their local bodies of water that are submitted to the state to be used for decisions about watershed protection and restoration.

For more information and to take part in the program visit pca.state.mn.us/get-engaged/volunteer-water-monitoring.

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By TIA GOLDENBERG (Associated Press)

TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — The head of Israeli military intelligence resigned on Monday over the failures surrounding Hamas’ unprecedented Oct. 7 attack, the military said, becoming the first senior figure to step down over his role in the deadliest assault in Israel’s history.

Maj. Gen. Aharon Haliva’s decision could set the stage for more resignations among Israel’s top security brass over Hamas’ attack, when terrorists blasted through Israel’s border defenses, rampaged through Israeli communities unchallenged for hours and killed 1,200 people, most civilians, while taking roughly 250 hostages into Gaza. That attack set off the war against Hamas in Gaza, now in its seventh month. Hamas has been designated as a terrorist organization by the United States, Canada and the European Union.

“The intelligence directorate under my command did not live up to the task we were entrusted with. I carry that black day with me ever since, day after day, night after night. I will carry the horrible pain of the war with me forever,” Haliva wrote in his resignation letter, which was provided by the military.

Haliva, as well as other military and security leaders, were widely expected to resign in response to the glaring failures that led up to Oct. 7 and the scale of that attack’s ferocity.

But the timing of the resignations has been unclear because Israel is still fighting Hamas in Gaza and battling the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah in the north. Tensions with Iran are also at a high following attacks between the two enemies. Some military experts have said resignations at a time when Israel is engaged on multiple fronts is irresponsible and could be interpreted as a sign of weakness.

Shortly after the attack, Haliva had publicly said that he shouldered blame for not preventing the assault as the head of the military department responsible for providing the government and the military with intelligence warnings and daily alerts.

While Haliva and others have accepted blame for failing to stop the attack, others have stopped short, most notably Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has said he will answer tough questions about his role but has not outright acknowledged direct responsibility for allowing the attack to unfold. He has also not indicated that he will step down, although a growing protest movement is demanding elections be held soon.

Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid welcomed the resignation, saying it was “justified and dignified.”

“It would be appropriate for Prime Minister Netanyahu to do the same,” he wrote on X, formerly Twitter.

The Hamas attack, which came on a Jewish holiday, caught Israel and its vaunted security establishment entirely off guard. Israelis’ sense of faith in their military — seen by most Jews as one of the country’s most trustworthy institutions — was shattered in the face of Hamas’ onslaught. The resignation could help restore some of that trust.

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The resignation came as Jews around the world prepared to celebrate Passover, a weeklong holiday that begins Monday evening and marks the biblical exodus of Jews from slavery in Egypt. With roughly 130 people still held captive in Gaza, Passover is certain to take on a more somber hue this year: for many Israelis, it’s hard to fathom a celebration of freedom when dozens of people are still being held hostage.

Hamas’ attack set off the devastating war that has killed more than 34,000 Palestinians in Gaza, according to the local health ministry. The ministry’s count doesn’t distinguish between combatants and non-combatants, but it says at least two-thirds of the dead are children and women.

The fighting has devastated Gaza’s two largest cities, and driven 80% of the territory’s population to flee to other parts of the besieged coastal enclave. The war has sparked a humanitarian catastrophe that has drawn warnings of imminent famine.

The attack also sent shock waves through the region. Beyond Hezbollah and Iran, tensions have rocked the Israeli-occupied West Bank, as well as cities and towns within Israel itself.

On Monday, Israeli police said that a car had slammed into pedestrians in Jerusalem, wounding three lightly, and security camera video showed two men exiting the car with a rifle before the fleeing the scene. Police later said they arrested the two men.

This story has been edited to correct the spelling of Maj. Gen. Aharon Haliva’s surname.

Associated Press writer Julia Frankel contributed to this report from Jerusalem.

“Setting our sights on the future, I am confident in the city’s ability to not only catch up with, but actually surpass Local Law 97’s next target: a 50 percent carbon emission reduction goal by fiscal year 2030.”

CityViews are readers’ opinions, not those of City Limits. Add your voice today!

As Earth Week celebrations begin anew, and the eyes of the world once again turn towards our collective progress in the fight against climate change, for me and for my staff at the Department of Citywide Administrative Services (DCAS), it’s a time for not only great optimism, but also celebration and renewed commitment to environmental stewardship.

Since joining DCAS as the city’s chief decarbonization officer eight months ago, it feels as though I have arrived at an opportune moment, on the verge of accomplishing something remarkable. In spite of unprecedented challenges, this team has remained steadfast in our mission to promote sustainability and combat climate change in New York City.

To address one of our most pressing concerns head-on, we expect to reach the first of Local Law 97‘s emissions targets―a 40 percent reduction below 2006 levels―in fiscal year 2027, two years behind the 2025 deadline.

When LL97 was passed in 2019, which set carbon emission reduction targets for privately owned buildings and city government buildings, we knew we had little time to scale up our project pipeline and lay the groundwork for change. We could not have predicted, however, that a global pandemic would occur less than a year later, and that its impacts would be seismic, and still felt today.  

Setting our sights on the future, I am confident in the city’s ability to not only catch up with, but actually surpass LL97’s next target: a 50 percent carbon emission reduction goal by fiscal year 2030.

Part and parcel of this mission, and in addition to our standard renewable energy projects such as electric vehicle infrastructure expansion, and solar panel installations on rooftops–which are undeniably crucial―we are also, quite literally, getting our hands dirty like never before, ripping out fossil-fueled building systems and installing new, high-efficiency electric equipment across the city. This work isn’t just about meeting targets; it’s about reaping tangible benefits for our communities by creating cleaner air through the phasing-out of fossil fuel infrastructure and making our buildings cleaner and more comfortable for their occupants.

Looking forward to 2030 and beyond, we need to keep several critical points in mind. First, to achieve our goals at the necessary scale, we need to continue investing in our green workforce, which has been a priority under this administration. Programs like the Agency Energy Personnel (AEP) initiative, which brings on energy management professionals at agencies to spearhead energy and emissions reduction efforts, and the Energy Management Institute (EMI), which trains city staff on energy management best practices, ensure that the city’s energy professionals are equipped with the knowledge and skills needed to drive meaningful change.

Second, we must shift away from business as usual and commit ourselves to phasing-out fossil fuel infrastructure. Take, for instance, our commitment to electrifying existing schools through the Leading the Charge program. This $4 billion initiative signifies a departure from fossil fuel dependency, setting the stage for a cleaner, more sustainable future, particularly in disadvantaged communities (DACs). To date, nearly 60 percent of emissions reductions from city government operations have been in designated DACs.

Finally, in order to sustain energy and emissions reductions and ensure the longevity of energy systems, the city’s buildings must be operated and maintained effectively. We must continue to put our efforts into preventative and predictive maintenance, rather than reactive maintenance only when equipment breaks. In response to this challenge, DCAS is increasingly prioritizing the implementation of advanced building controls and analytics to get a clearer understanding of the performance of building equipment at any given time, and to optimize the functioning of building systems so they run as efficiently as possible.

So far, these tactics are working, and have yielded significant results, not just in terms of emissions reductions but also in job creation and cost savings. Since 2014, we have completed over 5,000 energy projects, and over 14,000 energy conservation measures across more than 2,300 unique buildings. These projects are estimated to have created 5,300 jobs in the construction industry and related sectors, and saved New York taxpayers over $125 million in energy costs.

Looking ahead, our commitment to sustainability and carbon reduction remains resolute, as we work towards 50 percent reduction by 2030 and set the pathway for the long-term goal of carbon neutrality by 2050. These goals will also only further benefit from continued support from the state in the form of authorizing the use of progressive design-build in emission reduction projects.

While the road ahead may be challenging, with continued determination and collaboration, we are building a greener, more sustainable city for generations to come. We all have an important role to play and together, we can turn challenges into opportunities and pave the way for a brighter, more sustainable future for all. I for one, am excited by this progress, and the promise of a greener New York City for all.

Sana Barakat is New York City’s chief decarbonization officer and the deputy commissioner for energy management at the NYC Department of Citywide Administrative Services.