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The Rapid Rise of Legionella: Q&A with Patrick Breysse of the CDC

September 18, 2019

For public health “you have to confront Legionnaires’ disease,” Patrick Breysse, the director of the CDC's National Center for Environmental Health/Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, said.

HotSpots H2O: In Bahamas, Lack of Toilets and Safe Water Pose Disease Risk After Dorian

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September 16, 2019

The Bahamas are still reeling after Hurricane Dorian caused widespread destruction earlier this month.

Study: Inadequate Groundwater for Current and Potential Demands in Basin Targeted by Las Vegas

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September 15, 2019

Spring, creeks, and wetlands on the Nevada-Utah border are at risk in “worst case” pumping scenario, U.S. Geological Survey finds.

How Terrorists Leverage Climate Change

September 13, 2019

In the era of climate change, the wall between the natural hazards and terrorism is crumbling.

Costs of Water Pollution, a Global Scourge, ‘Underestimated and Underappreciated’

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September 11, 2019

A new World Bank report highlights the extensive damage to health, ecosystems, and economies due to water pollution.

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

Latest Stories

Will Sarni and Action in the Water Sector

September 20, 2019

The Rapid Rise of Legionella: Q&A with Patrick Breysse of the CDC

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September 18, 2019

Study: Inadequate Groundwater for Current and Potential Demands in Basin Targeted by Las Vegas

0 Comments

September 15, 2019

Spring, creeks, and wetlands on the Nevada-Utah border are at risk in “worst case” pumping scenario, U.S. Geological Survey finds.

How Terrorists Leverage Climate Change

September 13, 2019

In the era of climate change, the wall between the natural hazards and terrorism is crumbling.

Costs of Water Pollution, a Global Scourge, ‘Underestimated and Underappreciated’

0 Comments

September 11, 2019

A new World Bank report highlights the extensive damage to health, ecosystems, and economies due to water pollution.

Houston Agrees to $2 Billion Sewer Fix

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September 6, 2019

Houston, the largest city in Texas is the latest to face a federal order to plug a leaky sewer system. Fewer such orders may be coming.

The Transformation and Innovation of Agriculture - Interview with Naty Barak

August 30, 2019

J. Carl Ganter sits down and talks with Naty Barak on the transformation and innovation in the agriculture sector.

A New Layer of Urgency for the Water Sector - Torgny Holmgren, Executive Director of SIWI

August 29, 2019

SIWI's Executive Director Torgny Holmgren discusses the new layer of urgency in the water sector, World Water Week 2019's theme, and much more.

More WaterNews

5 Things You Need To Know About Water

In the World Economic Forum Global Risks Report, which envisions how global risks will evolve and interact over the next decade, the feedback loop between climate and water is made real and profound. At Circle of Blue, we’ve been covering the intersections with front-line reportage stretching from Bangalore to Beijing and the Great Lakes to the Aral Sea.

Chennai

The city’s main reservoirs are dry, depleted by the failure of successive monsoons to provide replenishing rains. The shortfall has crippled the piped distribution network, which is now meeting just half of typical demand through a mix of secondary sources: desalinated water, groundwater, and the impoundments from nearby stone quarries.

Read The Full Series Here

After Fair Bluff Flooded

Flooded by hurricanes twice in three years, the small town of Fair Bluff, North Carolina, is a poster child for the devastation of powerful, slow-moving storms.
The town’s struggle to recover from those storms reflects demographic, economic, and technological changes that are eroding small communities across rural America.

Read The Full Series Here

2019-05-07 USA North Carolina Fair Bluff BWalton IMG_5232-2500

After Paradise Burned

The tragic burning of Paradise represents a new chapter in America’s relationship with fire damage. No contemporary town has encountered a water system so extensively contaminated by chemicals released during a fire. Utility leaders and outside experts say that ridding the pipes of benzene and other volatile chemicals may take years. The health of the water system has emerged as the central tension in the town’s recovery.

Read The Full Series Here

2019-02 California Paradise Fire BWalton IMG_5084

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.

Daily Summary of Global Water News

Chemical contamination in U.S. tap water could cause up to 100,000 cancer cases over a lifetime. Drought and high temperatures cause a large fish kill in Lake Koroneia in northern Greece. Tropical Depression Imelda deluges parts of Texas with heavy rainfall. A report by the Environmental Working Group (EWG) states that algae blooms have occurred in 41 U.S. states so far this year. As rainfall becomes more erratic, indigenous farmers in Costa Rica begin adapting to climate change. Read More

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

The Army Corps and EPA move to reduce Clean Water Act protections. The EPA seeks to define a harmful algal bloom or hypoxia event of “national significance.” Defense Department officials say that PFAS cleanup costs will be bigger than initial estimates. The USDA sets rules and formulas for disbursing $3 billion in disaster aid to farmers. The Senate Appropriations Committee advances a $48.9 billion water and energy budget bill. A USGS study finds not enough groundwater for all permitted and proposed extraction in the Snake Valley, along the Nevada-Utah border. And lastly, Congress holds hearings this week on Michigan environmental justice, young climate leaders, and the administration’s Clean Water Act policies. Read 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: In Bahamas, Lack of Toilets and Safe Water Pose Disease Risk After Dorian

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September 16, 2019

The Bahamas are still reeling after Hurricane Dorian caused widespread destruction earlier this month.

HotSpots H2O: In Somalia, Severe Food Shortages Follow Meager Harvest

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September 9, 2019

Somalia’s cereal production is the worst since 2011, a year when famine killed more than 200,000 people in the East African country.

HotSpots H2O: Water and Conflict Links Discussed at World Water Week

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September 3, 2019

Water shortages and climate change are contributing to a rise in conflict, according to experts at World Water Week.

HotSpots H2O: Hydropower Construction Heightens Political Pressure Along Mekong River

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August 26, 2019

Low water levels are fueling tensions between those living on the Mekong River and those who aspire to wring electricity from the backbone of Southeast Asia by damming it.

What’s Up With Water – September 16, 2019

This week’s edition of What’s Up With Water includes stories on:

Australia, New South Wales, where officials have announced a $10 million rescue effort for native fish in the region’s most important river system.

Turkey, a hotly contested hydroelectric dam is nearing completion, and an ancient city is weeks away from disappearing under the water it will contain.

The Trump administration finalized the repeal of an Obama-era rule that sought to clarify the scope of the Clean Water Act in the United States.

A new World Bank report that highlighting the critical impacts of an under-appreciated threat to the world’s water.

2016-07-01 India Rajasthan Jaisalmer JGanter_G3_5835-Edit-2500 (1)

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