Circle of Blue | Water Reporting, Data & Convening

Utah’s Water Dilemma

November 29, 2021

Record-breaking drought along the Wasatch Front forces tough decisions about water supply.

How a Federal Drought Relief Program Left Southern Oregon Parched—and Contributed to the Ongoing Groundwater Crisis in the West

November 23, 2021

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Where Is The Water Going?

November 22, 2021

Small farmers struggle as ag titans wheel water for profit

Speaking of Water: “How Do We Consider Mass Resettlement Of The World Population?” With Parag Khanna

November 18, 2021

Reduce Flooding From Backed up Sewers? There’s an App for That

November 11, 2021

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

Latest Stories

Utah’s Water Dilemma

November 29, 2021

Record-breaking drought along the Wasatch Front forces tough decisions about water supply.

How a Federal Drought Relief Program Left Southern Oregon Parched—and Contributed to the Ongoing Groundwater Crisis in the West

November 23, 2021

…

Where Is The Water Going?

November 22, 2021

Small farmers struggle as ag titans wheel water for profit

Speaking of Water: “How Do We Consider Mass Resettlement Of The World Population?” With Parag Khanna

November 18, 2021

Households Still Have Not Received Aid from New Federal Water Bill Assistance Program

November 10, 2021

A new federal assistance program is slow to launch.

2021 Election Recap: New York Voters Approve Clean Water Constitutional Amendment

November 3, 2021

High-profile water-related issues were also on the ballot in Maine, Boise, and Virginia Beach.

Climate Change Grips Trout Streams Across the Nation:

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November 2, 2021

Across the country, anglers have watched as droughts, floods, and high temperatures batter the rivers they depend on.

2021 Election Preview: The Expensive Battle in Maine over Hydropower Imports

October 28, 2021

The second-most expensive campaign in Maine history is a debate over energy infrastructure.

2021 Election Preview: Two Cities, Facing Floods and Aridity, Eye Big Public Works

October 27, 2021

Boise and Virginia Beach ask voters to approve infrastructure plans that exceed a half-billion dollars.

2021 Election Preview: New York Considers Right to Clean Water

October 26, 2021

Voters will decide on a constitutional amendment for environmental rights.

In Benton Harbor, Residents’ Complaints of Lead-Tainted Water Carry Echoes

October 20, 2021

Water samples from Benton Harbor homes since 2018 consistently revealed elevated levels of lead

Water Groups Lauded a Side Agreement at the Paris Climate Conference. Then It Languished.

October 5, 2021

The fate of the Paris Pact reveals the difficulties in incorporating water into global climate agreements.

What’s Up With Water — November 29, 2021

In South Africa, cities in Eastern Cape province are once again facing the threat of water shortages.

In South Sudan, the coronavirus pandemic is a secondary concern these days.

In the United States, a battle over renewable energy in New England has taken another turn.

Circle of Blue · What's Up With Water - 11.29.21

Daily Summary of Global Water News

Recycling water technology could help U.S. agriculture operations use less of the resource.
Snowpack in western Colorado mountain ranges are dangerously low, threatening runoff in the spring.
Iranian security forces crack down on water shortage protesters.
The Biden administration recommends raising costs for oil and gas companies to drill on public lands and waters in the United States.

A Russian company single-handedly destroys much of the environment that surrounds it.

Read more here.

Weekly Digest of U.S. Water Policy and Trends.

The Supreme Court issues a ruling in Mississippi v. Tennessee, a first-ever case over an interstate groundwater dispute.
The U.S. Geological Survey compiled a national map showing the depth from which groundwater is withdrawn for drinking water.
The USGS also is sampling river systems for cyanobacteria and the toxins they produce.

And lastly, the EPA extends a deadline for deciding the fate of a proposed mine in the headwaters of Alaska’s Bristol Bay watershed.

Read more here.

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: Unusually Powerful ‘Atmospheric River’ Pummels British Columbia and Pacific Northwest

November 22, 2021

This summer’s heat wave and wildfires weakened the landscape’s ability to absorb rainfall, further contributing to the destruction.

HotSpots H2O: In Afghanistan, Political Upheaval Aggravates Drought-Fueled Famine

November 15, 2021

Drought, a financial crisis, and political collapse are accelerating the country’s decline into all-out famine.

HotSpots H2O: World Spending on Climate Adaptation Must Increase Five- or Tenfold

November 8, 2021

While climate adaptation planning is more widespread than ever, the U.N. says the gap between current spending and needed funding is enormous, and widening.

HotSpots H2O: The Philippines’ Largest Wetland Faces Prospect of Drilling

November 1, 2021

The newly autonomous Bangsamoro government has invited investors to pursue drilling projects in a marsh critical for both Indigenous peoples and wildlife.

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