Circle of Blue: Reporting the competition between water, food, and energy in a changing climate

Uniting classic journalism and data literacy, Circle of Blue informs global audiences about the growing competition between water, food, and energy in a changing climate.

Breaking Water News

Waste-To-Energy Tech Could Slash U.S. Water Sector Carbon Emissions, But Its Potential Remains Underdeveloped

August 3, 2021

U.S. utilities have been slower to adopt the energy- and emissions-saving technologies than those in other parts of the world.

Some Chicagoans Wary of Lead Pipe Replacement

July 21, 2021

Mistrust of the government, fears related to immigration, and unclear messaging make the operation a hard sell in some neighborhoods.

Cheap Cybersecurity Defenses Exist, But They’re Not Reaching Water Utilities Who Need Them

July 13, 2021

An era of cyberattacks on critical infrastructure has begun. Rural water utilities have vulnerabilities and advantages.

Dealing With The Soup of Chemicals That Can Get Into Your Drinking Water

July 6, 2021

All the things that go down the drain and end up at the waste water treatment plant are not removed there. It's a soup of chemicals.

Constant, Compounding Disasters Are Exhausting Emergency Response

July 6, 2021

Fires, droughts, floods, power outages. The interval between disasters is shortening, or in some cases disappearing altogether.

Latest Stories

Waste-To-Energy Tech Could Slash U.S. Water Sector Carbon Emissions, But Its Potential Remains Underdeveloped

August 3, 2021

U.S. utilities have been slower to adopt the energy- and emissions-saving technologies than those in other parts of the world.

Some Chicagoans Wary of Lead Pipe Replacement

July 21, 2021

Mistrust of the government, fears related to immigration, and unclear messaging make the operation a hard sell in some neighborhoods.

Cheap Cybersecurity Defenses Exist, But They’re Not Reaching Water Utilities Who Need Them

July 13, 2021

An era of cyberattacks on critical infrastructure has begun. Rural water utilities have vulnerabilities and advantages.

Dealing With The Soup of Chemicals That Can Get Into Your Drinking Water

July 6, 2021

All the things that go down the drain and end up at the waste water treatment plant are not removed there. It's a soup of chemicals.

Constant, Compounding Disasters Are Exhausting Emergency Response

July 6, 2021

Fires, droughts, floods, power outages. The interval between disasters is shortening, or in some cases disappearing altogether.

Detroit Flooding Previews Risks from a Warming Climate

July 1, 2021

Urban infrastructure in many cities was not built for current and future climate pressures.

In Chicago, Flooding Overwhelmingly Strikes Communities of Color

June 29, 2021

Drought, The Everything Disaster

June 24, 2021

When water stops flowing, painful days are at hand.

As a Hot, Dry Summer Begins in California, More Water Wells Are Failing

June 17, 2021

Government agencies and nonprofit groups are preparing for difficult months ahead.

Feds Release First Slice of Water Bill Assistance Funds

June 9, 2021

The Department of Health and Human Services released $166.6 million in federal funds for the new, Low Income Household Water Assistance Program (LIHWAP).

Michigan’s Climate-Ready Future: Wetland Parks, Less Cement, Roomy Shores

June 9, 2021

As climate change alters our world, Michigan’s bounty of fresh water could be the foundation of a thriving state economy and superior quality of life.

Marine Blooms of Harmful Algae Increasing in Europe, Much of the Americas

June 8, 2021

More WaterNews

What’s Up With Water — August 2, 2021

Featured coverage from this week’s episode of What’s Up With Water looks at:

In Iran, human rights groups say they have identified at least nine people killed in July during protests over water shortages.
In Argentina, government officials declared an emergency over the dwindling Parana River, the country’s most economically significant waterway.
In Saudi Arabia, the government suspended a $2 billion sale of a stake in the world’s largest desalination plant.
In the United States, water storage in the country’s second-largest reservoir fell to an all-time low last week, offering yet another example of the drying of the American West.

Circle of Blue · What's Up With Water - 8.2.21

Special Features

Ready Or Not

The Great Lakes region is frequently touted as one of the most climate-resilient places in the U.S., in no small part because of its enviable water resources. But climate change also threatens water quality, availability, and aging water infrastructure by exposing existing vulnerabilities and creating new ones.

Read The Full Series Here

Water Debt

Circle of Blue Investigates
Most Americans give little thought to their water bills, paying them on time and in full. But for a subset of people in this country, water debt is a constant and menacing presence in their lives. Circle of Blue investigated the scale of customer water debt burdens in large U.S. cities.

Read The Full Series Here

WaterPoint: How Communities Deal With an Evolving Pandemic in an Era of Dwindling Water

A pillar of improvements in human health in the last century, water, sanitation, and hygiene are also a foundation of the world’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Read The Full Series Here

Daily Summary of Global Water News

Detroit residents reject a proposal to implement income-based water rates. A water utility in the United Kingdom discharged wastewater into a protected river for more than three years. In an attempt to mitigate drought, Australia will build a massive desalination plant in Belmont, New South Wales. A new study highlights the importance of reducing the risks of water pollution, flooding, and drought globally. Drought is causing a shortage of feed for cattle in parts of Canada and the northern United States. Read More

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

Senators release details of their infrastructure deal.
The EPA offers grant funding to research public acceptance of recycled water.
The EPA also prepares to strengthen pollution limits for coal-fired power plants and outlines its plan for defining waterways protected by the Clean Water Act.
A watchdog agency says FEMA should make better use of updated flood-risk data.
And lastly, federal agencies host a webinar this week to discuss droughts that appear suddenly and intensify quickly.

And lastly, above-average temperatures are expected in the western states this summer, meaning little relief for dry landscapes. Ready more

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: Indigenous Communities, Biodiversity Along Brazil-Peru Border Threatened by Highway Construction

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August 2, 2021

Christian Thorsberg, Circle of Blue Canopied by rubber…

HotSpots H2O: Kazakhstan’s Lake Balkhash Is Disappearing, Continuing a Trend of Desiccation in Central Asia

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July 12, 2021

In 2021, over 3 million people are feeling the effects of a hydrological vanishing act: the shrinking of the blue waters of Central Asia’s largest lake into a dehydrated landscape of greens and browns.

HotSpots H2O: Anishinaabe Activists and Allies Resist Enbridge Line 3 Pipeline, a Project that Threatens Wetlands and Ignores Treaty Territory

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June 28, 2021

In northern Minnesota, the new Line 3 corridor, proposed by the Canadian oil company Enbridge, cuts directly through wetlands and waterways that are already struggling in unusually dry conditions.

HotSpots H2O: Longstanding Drought in Iran Begets Farmer Protests, Power Outages, and Widespread Water Rationing

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June 21, 2021

Lack of water is one of Iran’s biggest environmental and social risks.

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

Uniting classic journalism and data literacy, Circle of Blue informs global audiences about the growing competition between water, food, and energy in a changing climate.

Breaking Water News

Latest Stories

Special Features

Ready Or Not

Water Debt

WaterPoint: How Communities Deal With an Evolving Pandemic in an Era of Dwindling Water

Daily Summary of Global Water News

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

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.

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.

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