Though it had one serious omission—a balanced and reasoned approach to the use of the Auburn Dam to control American River flood waters—this was an excellent series.
Bee's flood series wins special citation
By Chelsea Phua - Bee Staff Writer
Published 12:00 am PDT Tuesday, August 14, 2007
A team of Bee reporters won a special citation from judges of the 2007 James V. Risser Prize for Western Environmental Journalism for a series about the region's vulnerability to flooding.
Bee staff writers Matt Weiser, Deb Kollars and Carrie Peyton Dahlberg will receive the citation at the Society of Environmental Journalists' annual conference Sept. 5-9 at Stanford University.
"Tempting Fate" was published over several months in late 2005 and early 2006. The stories detailed how no city in America is at greater risk for a catastrophic flood than Sacramento, its levee problems and the lack of protection.
Judy Pasternak, a Los Angeles Times Washington bureau reporter, won for her four-part series, "Blighted Homeland," about how government mining of uranium on Navajo Indian land in Arizona, New Mexico and Utah had left behind wastes that sickened people.
The prize was established in honor of James V. Risser, a two-time Pulitzer Prize winner and director emeritus of the Knight Fellowships program. Risser, a former Washington bureau chief of the Des Moines Register, wrote about environmental issues.
