Water’s True Cost Photo Essay

Power through the Adirondack Park

$4 billion transmission line to deliver Canadian hydropower to New York illustrates tradeoffs in the energy transition.

Five Fixes for Michigan’s Drinking Water Woes

…

Michigan’s ‘Very Big Opportunity’ in Infrastructure Windfall

More communities gain access to the largest federal infusion in a half-century.

High Cost of Water Hits Home

Rising rates hurt the state’s poorest residents.

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

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Water’s True Cost Photo Essay

Read more

Power through the Adirondack Park

$4 billion transmission line to deliver Canadian hydropower to New York illustrates tradeoffs in the energy transition.
Read more

Five Fixes for Michigan’s Drinking Water Woes

…
Read more

Michigan’s ‘Very Big Opportunity’ in Infrastructure Windfall

More communities gain access to the largest federal infusion in a half-century.
Read more

High Cost of Water Hits Home

Rising rates hurt the state’s poorest residents.
Read more

After Decades of Neglect, Bill Coming Due for Michigan’s Water Infrastructure

Federal and state governments begin to reverse course on underinvestment to address water’s true cost.
Read more

Great Lakes News Collaborative Examines Water’s True Cost

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War in Ukraine, Drought Converge to Worsen Hunger Crises in Horn of Africa

Record-high global food prices coincide with failed harvests
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An Encroaching Desert Intensifies Nigeria’s Farmer-Herder Crisis

How climate change and human activity are driving violence between farming and pastoralist communities.
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Perspective | Water is the New Carbon

Global water security is increasingly threatened. Accounting for water use and risk ought to have the same urgency with which we address carbon.
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Inflation Weighs On U.S. Water Utilities

Water leaders worry that rising prices -- for everything from lead pipe replacements to treatment plant repairs -- will cause a historic federal infrastructure investment to fall short of lofty expectations.
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Arizona’s Future Water Shock

Smaller cities. Soaring water prices. Scorched desert towns. 
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More WaterNews

Water’s True Cost – The Great Lakes News Collaborative

Water’s True Cost Photo Essay

Read more

Michigan’s ‘Very Big Opportunity’ in Infrastructure Windfall

More communities gain access to the largest federal infusion in a half-century.
Read more

Some Michigan Water Systems Are Overbuilt, Underfunded. Are Mergers The Answer?

Customers get cheaper, cleaner water when communities share the cost of infrastructure.
Read more

High Cost of Water Hits Home

Rising rates hurt the state’s poorest residents.
Read more

Short-Changing Michigan Local Governments Has Resulted in Deteriorating Water Systems and Other Services

Many of Michigan’s 1,773 cities, villages, and townships are reaching a water infrastructure crisis point.
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Michigan’s Lack of Septic System Regulations is Causing Problems for Some of its Most Pristine Lakes

Failing systems can allow contaminated water to seep through the earth into nearby bodies of water.
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Michigan’s 20th Century Water Systems Too Big For Its Shrinking City Populations

Cities around the Great Lakes region struggle with the cost of water maintenance and operation as their populations decline.
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Many Rural Towns Have Neglected Drinking Water Systems for Decades

As some rural towns lose population and government funds shrink, some drinking water systems are one failure away from crisis.
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Water Woes Loom for Michigan Suburbs, Towns After Decades of Disinvestment

Michigan cities rich and poor, big and small have been delaying maintenance on their water systems for decades. Now, even wealthy towns are suffering the consequences of past reluctance to pay for water system upkeep.
Read more

After Decades of Neglect, Bill Coming Due for Michigan’s Water Infrastructure

Federal and state governments begin to reverse course on underinvestment to address water’s true cost.
Read more
  • Water scarcity, water pollution, and extreme weather are eroding the value of mines and power plants that rely on water. That’s according to a new report on how banks, investors, and insurance companies are exposed to water-related financial risks.
  • In the United States, a severe drought prompted California officials to encourage residents to save water. Residents did the opposite.

This week Circle of Blue reports on Michigan’s attempt to maximize the benefits of the federal infrastructure bill.