Circle of Blue | Water Reporting, Data & Convening

Road Salt, A Stealthy Pollutant, Is Damaging Michigan Waters

January 26, 2023

Rivers and lakes are becoming saltier while law and practice limit effective responses.

Federal Government Advances Big Water Projects

January 17, 2023

Congress focuses on flood protection and disaster recovery.

New Mexico Town, Still Reeling from Historic Fire, Receives Federal Aid to Repair Drinking Water System

January 12, 2023

The town of Las Vegas is eligible for up to $140 million for drinking water treatment facilities.

As Planet Warms, Water Risks Abound

January 11, 2023

Ahead of a high-profile UN conference, political forecasters issue water warnings.

Perspective | Giant Catch in the Mekong Reveals Mysteries of Biodiversity Hot Spot

January 10, 2023

Fish tracking project builds the case for international conservation cooperation.

Award-winning nonprofit journalism from the frontlines of water, food, and energy in the changing climate.

Latest Stories

Road Salt, A Stealthy Pollutant, Is Damaging Michigan Waters

January 26, 2023

Rivers and lakes are becoming saltier while law and practice limit effective responses.

Federal Government Advances Big Water Projects

January 17, 2023

Congress focuses on flood protection and disaster recovery.

New Mexico Town, Still Reeling from Historic Fire, Receives Federal Aid to Repair Drinking Water System

January 12, 2023

The town of Las Vegas is eligible for up to $140 million for drinking water treatment facilities.

As Planet Warms, Water Risks Abound

January 11, 2023

Ahead of a high-profile UN conference, political forecasters issue water warnings.

Perspective | Giant Catch in the Mekong Reveals Mysteries of Biodiversity Hot Spot

January 10, 2023

Fish tracking project builds the case for international conservation cooperation.

20 Years of Severe Drought Impede Huge Developments in Southwest

January 6, 2023

The Year in Water, 2022

December 13, 2022

Sharpening the Shark's Teeth

Opposition to CAFOs Mounts Across the Nation

December 1, 2022

New Satellite Will See Water’s Big Picture

November 14, 2022

SWOT mission aims to fill global gaps in key water data.

2022 Election Recap: Landslide Victory for Florida City’s ‘Right to Clean Water’ Amendment

November 10, 2022

Voters approved most water-related initiatives on the November 8 ballot.

Slow to Start, Federal Water Bill Assistance Program Ramps Up

November 3, 2022

New program encounters many hurdles.

2022 Election: Water Regulation and Spending Punctuate State and Local Ballots

October 26, 2022

Groundwater regulation, legal rights to clean water, and spending measures highlight this election cycle.

What’s Up With Water — January 24, 2023:

Honduras is one of the world’s deadliest countries for environmental activists, and two water defenders were killed earlier this month, according to Al Jazeera and WBUR. The victims were Aly Dominguez, age 38, and Jairo Bonilla, age 28. Since 2018, the two men had been organizing and leading peaceful protests against an open-pit iron oxide mine that was operating in a nearby national park.

In China, state media say that trial operations have begun in a massive water diversion from the country’s largest river. This project, nearing completion, involves a 450-mile-long canal connecting the Yangtze River to basins in China’s drier regions.

In the United States, Pennsylvania state regulators have adopted new drinking water standards for two toxic “forever” chemicals. Long-term exposures to the compounds PFOA and PFOS have been linked to a cluster of health problems, including high cholesterol, kidney cancer, low birth weight, and weakened immune systems.

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Circle of Blue · What's Up With Water - 1.23.23 Mixdown

Weekly Summary of Global Water News

Your Global Rundown:

Activists call on Bolivia to regulate the mining industry’s use of mercury, which continues to pollute biodiverse watersheds, rivers, and drinking water.
The San Carlos Apache Tribe announces a tentative one-year deal to provide water to an unincorporated residential community outside of Scottsdale, Arizona.
Hundreds of Chinese migrants, seeking refuge in the United States, risk their lives to cross the Darién Gap’s watershed at the Columbia-Panama border.
A nationwide analysis of American public drinking water found heightened concentrations of arsenic and uranium in communities with higher Black, Latino, and/or Indigenous populations.
Teff, a crop native to Ethiopia, is emerging as a water-smart alternative in Nevada’s high desert.

To have new, international water news delivered to your inbox, sign up for Circle of Blue’s The Stream.

Weekly Digest of U.S. Water Policy and Trends

The Rundown:

The EPA expects draft rules for two PFAS in drinking water to be published in March.
President Biden signs three bills related to tribal water rights in Arizona.
The Census Bureau identifies the number of U.S. residents displaced last year by weather disasters.
An EPA draft report outlines the damage that federal biofuels policy has wrought on land and water.
The White House issues new climate accounting guidelines for environmental impact statements.

For this and more of the latest U.S. government water policy news, read Federal Water Tap.

Biweekly Breakdown of Great Lakes Region News

This Week’s Watersheds:

Climate change could hike the cost of maintaining Ontario’s transportation infrastructure by over $1.5 billion annually.
Michigan’s attorney general sues a company for leaving behind hazardous substances in the state.
Indiana regulates the underground storage of carbon dioxide.
Wisconsin’s environment agency once again begins drafting rules to limit PFAS pollution.
New data out of Chicago shows high levels of lead in Black and Hispanic neighborhoods.
In central Illinois, residents are reluctant to make way for an underground carbon dioxide pipeline.

For this and more of the biggest international, state, and local policy news stories facing the Great Lakes region, read Fresh.

hotspots3

HotSpots H2O examines regions and populations that are most at risk from water-related unrest and conflict. It reveals the challenges individuals confront — and the solutions they discover — as they face the greatest challenge of the 21st century: water.

HotSpots H2O: As Floods Subside, Pakistan’s Economy Is on a Knife-Edge

September 12, 2022

Monsoon rains arrive as the country battles a financial crisis.

HotSpots H2O: In Northern Mexico, Harsh Drought Compounds Water Inequality

August 15, 2022

Poor residents in Monterrey are buying bottled water from companies that extract groundwater from beneath their feet.

HotSpots H2O: What’s Driving Vulnerability Behind South Asia’s “Biblical” Floods?

July 19, 2022

Regional experts point to deficits in local institutions and risk planning.

HotSpots H2O: “Day Zero” Looms for South African Province

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June 20, 2022

Government dysfunction has multiplied drought risks.

Circle of Blue is a partner of Covering Climate Now, a global collaboration of more than 250 news outlets covering climate

How the world responds to water challenges in the next months and years will have effects for generations.

Delhi is thirsty, even parched. As the 3rd largest population center in the world, its 25 million people need water, and lots of it, to survive. It’s clear that how India responds in the next months and years will have effects for generations. How will it manage the intensifying competition between water, food and energy in a changing climate?

It’s clear that getting enough water day-by-day is foremost on people’s minds. When the challenge is so great and children so thirsty, people often take their water sources into their own hands. Some entrepreneurs bring water by tank pulled by a tractor, and sell at an inflated rate. Others drill their own unsanctioned wells, some even in the middle of the street.

ChokePoint:

The conflicting demand for water, food, and energy is the defining challenge of our century. Global Choke Point, a collaboration between Circle of Blue and the Wilson Center, explores the peril and promise with frontline reporting, data, and policy expertise.

No one is better positioned to deliver groundbreaking knowledge on the critical resource of global water than Circle of Blue.

Ian Bremmer, President, Eurasia Group

Changing the face of journalism.

American Academy of Arts and Sciences

The combining of journalism, science, data, design and convening power is an innovative model that works.

Hon. Jane Harmon, President, Wilson Center

To respond to the world’s greatest, most urgent challenges, we need trusted information, clear context, and solutions-focused dialogue. Circle of Blue cuts through the complexities of global development. Through knowledge and informed action, we can make a better future.

Henrik Skovby, Executive Chairman, Dalberg Group

I am happy that this meeting is taking place, for it represents yet another stage in the joint commitment of various institutions to raising consciousness about the need to protect water as a treasure belonging to everyone, mindful too of its cultural and religious significance.

Pope Francis