Circle of Blue | Water Reporting, Data & Convening

UN Conference on Water Aims to Rally Support for Ambitious Goals

March 20, 2023

Global water challenges headline gathering in New York City this week.

Multi-Million Dollar Restoration Projects Proposed for the Saginaw Bay Watershed; Paid With Settlement Money From Corporate Polluters

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March 20, 2023

Lester Graham, Michigan Radio Monday, March 20, 2023 A…

Majority Say Water Supply and Pollution ‘Very Serious’ Problems

March 15, 2023

Global public opinion poll measures views on freshwater challenges.

Perspective | How Water Partnerships Can Yield Better Results

March 15, 2023

Avoiding four common pitfalls for water-sector partnerships.

Tax Incentives Find New Purpose for Conserving Water in American West

March 9, 2023

Conservation easements protect the region’s depleted groundwater.

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

Latest Stories

UN Conference on Water Aims to Rally Support for Ambitious Goals

March 20, 2023

Global water challenges headline gathering in New York City this week.

Multi-Million Dollar Restoration Projects Proposed for the Saginaw Bay Watershed; Paid With Settlement Money From Corporate Polluters

/

March 20, 2023

Lester Graham, Michigan Radio Monday, March 20, 2023 A…

Majority Say Water Supply and Pollution ‘Very Serious’ Problems

March 15, 2023

Global public opinion poll measures views on freshwater challenges.

Perspective | How Water Partnerships Can Yield Better Results

March 15, 2023

Avoiding four common pitfalls for water-sector partnerships.

Tax Incentives Find New Purpose for Conserving Water in American West

March 9, 2023

Conservation easements protect the region’s depleted groundwater.

Ongoing Battle to Keep Toxic Chemicals at Bay

February 15, 2023

Outdated federal water laws and chemicals that were approved for industry without assessing for risk leave Ann Arbor and other communities struggling to ward off water contaminants before they foul drinking supplies.

Flush with Cash, State Lawmakers Consider Water Risks

February 13, 2023

Water is poised for prominence this year in state law and policy.

Right To Water: Could 2023 Be The Year Michigan Ends Shutoffs?

February 10, 2023

New U.S. Climate Law Will Make Water Contamination Worse

February 8, 2023

Billions in clean energy incentives rely on raw materials from polluting corn and livestock.

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.

What’s Up With Water — March 14, 2023:

India intends to tap the power of flowing water to meet its energy needs as the country transitions away from fossil fuels. It’s looking to building new hydropower dams in remote valleys, although the geologically unstable terrain poses environmental risks.

Cyclone Freddy has swirled around the southern Indian Ocean for more than a month and is now one of the longest-lived tropical storms on record. Freddy hit Mozambique this weekend – that’s the second time the storm made landfall in the country.

Halfway across the globe, a different weather pattern is in a transition period. The latest measurements of ocean temperatures in the tropical Pacific indicate that the surface waters have warmed to the point that La Niña conditions are no longer present.

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Circle of Blue · What's Up With Water - March 14, 2023

Weekly Summary of Global Water News

Your Global Rundown:

The derailment of a train carrying toxic chemicals earlier this month in eastern Ohio has put water utility and river-watch groups on high alert.
In response to heavy rains and extensive flooding, the South African government has declared a national state of disaster.
A new study finds high levels of toxic PFAS chemicals in icebergs floating near Norway in the Arctic Ocean.
Fishing and farming communities in Nigeria’sNiger Delta have collectively sued the oil company Shell for contaminating drinking water and aquatic life.

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:

President Biden highlights water infrastructure in the State of the Union.
The GAO explains how federal agencies can better implement cybersecurity laws.
A Department of Energy lab offers grant funding for treating oil and gas wastewater.
In Congress, lawmakers introduce bills on tribal water rights settlement, a water-supply tunnel in California, and animal feeding operations.
The Justice Department objects to a state-led settlement of a Rio Grande lawsuit.
The U.S. begins reporting methane emissions from reservoirs and dams.

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

Biweekly Breakdown of Great Lakes Region News

This Week’s Watersheds:

In Ontario, a plan to develop York Region includes what many say is a detrimental — and illegal — water transfer from Lake Huron watersheds to Lake Ontario.
A new report finds that three Chicago-area facilities are among the nation’s top water-polluting oil refineries.
A bipartisan congressional task force requests $425 million in federal funding for the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative.
The White House announces new actions to protect against lead pipes and paint in four states, including Wisconsin and Pennsylvania.
The U.S. government halts new mining leases in a northeast Minnesota national forest for 20 years.

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

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