Circle of Blue informs the most important decisions about global water, food and energy in a changing climate.
You are here.
Each drop of water carries a story. It has been a glacier on a mountain, rain on a field, a river across the desert, an aquifer older than any city, a drink for a dinosaur. Follow it and you discover the story of everything: food, energy, health, climate, and the future of the people and places you love.
Today, we face the ultimate irony: The Blue Planet is thirsty.
Water is also our greatest drama, and we are living in its defining chapter. Great rivers are running low. Cities are rationing supplies. Chemicals are reaching our taps. Farms, industries, and data centers are competing for every drop. And some 2 billion people worldwide still don’t have access to safe water supplies or adequate sanitation. The choices we make today will decide whether civilizations falter or thrive.
We choose thrive.
Get out the map to water’s future.
Circle of Blue is an independent nonprofit newsroom, data innovation studio, and collaborative convener focused on water and all that it touches. The nexus of food, energy, health, climate, infrastructure, environment and economies.
For more than 20 years our reporters, scientists, and data experts have gone where water’s story is breaking: the Colorado River, the Great Lakes, the Mekong, the deserts of India, the Middle East, and Mongolia, and the favelas of Brazil. We’re curious, so we go and find out. We report what we see. Then we bring data, science, and design together to reveal the futures within our reach.
Water is how the world feels climate change: as intensifying droughts, floods, scarcity and contamination. It runs through every meal, every kilowatt, every city, and every watershed. Understanding it is the first step to shaping what comes next, and many of the solutions are already within reach.
Our work has informed national policy and investment and earned the trust of communities, scientists, and leaders around the world. The Vatican, the World Bank, and the World Economic Forum rely on our insights and convening. The Rockefeller Foundation honored this model of information-driven change with its Centennial Innovation Award.
Now we’re opening the map to you. See water. Know your water. Discover. Explore. Join the journey to shape water’s future.
Our mission: to be the world’s trusted compass and map for water and all that it touches, so that you, and everyone, can find your place in water’s story.
What we do.
We seek, find and report. Our journalists go where water’s story is breaking and stay until they understand it. Our daily coverage and newsletters, The Stream and Federal Water Tap, are free.
Our Global Choke Point® series — produced with the Wilson Center, Skoll, Energy Foundation, Rockefeller Foundation and others — traced the collision of water, food, and energy across China, India, and the United States. In China, our work, convenings and scenario sessions motivated changes to China’s national energy and water policy that moved billions of dollars in investment.
We are co-founders of the Great Lakes News Collaborative and members of the Water Desk (Colorado River) and EPIC, the Earth Public Information Collaborative.
We map context. We turn reporting, science, and live data into context you can use.
Situation: Colorado River, built with True Elements and launched on stage at the closing plenary of World Water Week, is the first interactive intelligence system for one of the world’s most contested rivers. It connects reservoir storage, drought, snowpack, runoff, streamflow, fire conditions, shortage status, and community impacts in one live picture, and it is the template for the regional platforms that follow.
The Water Savvy app brings local water quality, news, and information to your phone.
Our data projects with Qlik and Microsoft have revealed water pricing anomalies in Chicago and Detroit, and revealed the highest risk “Day Zero” candidate cities.
We convene. We bring people who rarely share a room to the same table. We produced World Water Day at the Vatican, opened by Pope Francis, with the World Bank, the United Nations, and the Rockefeller Foundation. We have led sessions with the World Economic Forum in five countries, run design challenges with AIGA, the Aspen Design Challenge, and COLLINS, have convened international hackathons with Deloitte and have partnered with the Villars Institute to train the next generation of systems leaders.
What comes next: Designing Water’s Future.
We are designing the world’s situation room for fresh water: a shared, continuously updated picture of where water stands, kept honest by reporting on the ground, and open to the people who can act on it.
It brings together three things: live mapping of water conditions and the people working on them, ground reporting that verifies what the data shows, and convenings that turn shared facts into shared next steps.
Finance, policy, science, innovation, design, and the public, at scale, working from the same map.
By the numbers.
Circle of Blue
- 2005: founded as a fiscally sponsored project of the Pacific Institute; an independent U.S. 501(c)(3) since 2018
- 20+ years of front-line water reporting around the world
- 1 million+ people reached each month across shared platforms and networks
- 6 continents where our work is read and cited (7 on a good day)
- 5 countries where we have led World Economic Forum sessions: Azerbaijan, China, India, Mongolia, and Switzerland
- 500+ independent newsrooms in the Institute for Nonprofit News, our member network
The defining moment
- 4 billion people cope with water shortfalls for at least one month every year
- 40 million people at risk from a shrinking Colorado River
- $1.4 trillion: the regional economy in the crossfire as Lake Powell and Lake Mead hit combined record lows in 2026
- “Global water bankruptcy”: how a 2026 United Nations report describes our era, with water supplies dangerously out of balance with use and climate pressures
Frequently asked questions.
Are you journalists or advocates? Journalists. Our reporting rests on the principle of the Fourth Estate: self-governing societies work best when a free and responsible press informs, engages, and inspires. We report what we find, fairly and fully. We advocate for one thing: that people understand their water and take part in its future.
How do you stay independent? A firewall separates sponsors and donors from content. Donors may fund a program, project, newsletter, or event; every editorial decision belongs to the newsroom. We follow the Society of Professional Journalists Code of Ethics, the American Press Institute’s guidance on philanthropic funding of news, and the standards of The Trust Project.
Who funds Circle of Blue? Readers, foundations, and forward-thinking companies. Supporters include the MacArthur Foundation, the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation, and the Wege Foundation, with project support from the Rockefeller, Ford, Conrad N. Hilton, and Packard foundations. Contributions are tax-deductible to the fullest extent of the law.
Who relies on your work? More than a million readers a month, along with the World Bank, the World Economic Forum, the Vatican, government agencies, and academic institutions. News outlets and journals cite our reporting widely.
What networks do you belong to? The Institute for Nonprofit News, the Rural News Network, and the Great Lakes News Collaborative, which we co-founded. We are a founding member of the Water Resilience Coalition, EPIC, and the Global Commons Alliance, and a long-time contributor to the World Economic Forum’s water programs. We also collaborate with the Stimson Center’s New Security Beat, the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) Project on Water Security and Eurasia Group.
How can I get involved? Subscribe to our free newsletters, look up your water, share a story, give, or reach out to join our widening circle of partners.
New — Situation: Colorado River
Circle of Blue and True Elements – Water Intelligence launched Situation: Colorado River during the closing plenary at World Water Week.
It’s a live platform connecting reservoir storage, drought, snowpack, runoff, streamflow, fire conditions, shortage status, and community impacts across the Colorado River Basin. Real-time intelligence platform delivers key data and information as Lake Powell and Lake Mead hit combined record-low water levels, putting at risk agriculture, industry, and a $1.4 trillion regional economy Want to be part of this critical intelligence community? Here’s another way. Everyone around the world somehow connects to the Colorado River.
Learn more about our history and timeline on Wikipedia.
Join us.
Follow and share our reporting. Know your water. Bring a friend. Support the work. Partner with us. Every map starts with a single point, and your water point is right where you are standing.
You are here. Join us to design water’s future.
Sponsorship
Become a sponsor, convene and explore with us
When you become a Circle of Blue Corporate Sponsor or Advertiser, you’re investing in vital, fact-based reporting, data, and convenings on the world’s most urgent water challenges, their solutions – and all that water touches. We’re trusted by over a million readers each month.
In an era of misinformation and media saturation, Circle of Blue stands apart with deeply researched, high-quality reporting that informs decision-makers, policymakers, and engaged citizens. From in-depth investigations to data-driven interactives and live discussions and convenings, our work is recognized for its excellence and impact.
Through Circle of Blue sponsorship, you connect with a highly informed, influential audience that values sustainability, innovation, and responsible leadership. Our tailored opportunities offer meaningful, uncluttered visibility across our website, newsletters, and events — ensuring your brand reaches key decision-makers who rely on Circle of Blue for critical insights. We also excel in producing large- or small-scale outcome-focused convenings around urgent issues.
