A channelized river flows through Sao Paulo. Photo © J. Carl Ganter / Circle of Blue

Global Rundown

  • More than a foot of rain fell in less than 24 hours across many parts of Argentina’s Buenos Aires province, disrupting lives and crop production. 
  • The water in Brazil’s Jundiai River is flowing bright blue following a chemical spill that stained the habitat’s birds and fish.
  • China’s plans to build the world’s largest hydroelectric dam near its border with India, adding complexity to the region’s geopolitics and water disputes.
  • Invasive suckermouth catfish in Malaysia’s waters are proving detrimental to both riverbank stability and the fishing economy.

The Lead

China’s intentions to dam the Yarlung Tsangpo River in eastern Tibet have been documented for well over a decade, with various iterations of the project proposal holding different timelines, costs, and generating capacity. 

But last December, a final decision appeared to have been made when China officially approved the mammoth hydroelectric dam’s construction, the BBC reported. The $137 billion dam is expected to generate three times the amount of electricity produced by the Three Gorges Dam, the world’s current largest dam, located on the Yangtze River in China.

The Yarlung Tsangpo flows through the world’s longest and deepest canyon — three times deeper than the Colorado River’s path through the Grand Canyon. To corral its flows, the ambitious project will require the building of two separate dams as a barricade, Yale Environment 360 reports. 

The development’s critics are numerous. Ecologists have expressed that the river and its canyon is one of the world’s “most precious biodiversity hotspots on the planet, containing some of Asia’s tallest and most ancient trees as well as the world’s richest assemblage of large carnivores, especially big cats.”

Across the border in India, condemnation is stoked by strategy. Damming the river would give China massive control over India’s economy and an upper hand in territorial conflict. Scientists have also shared concerns that the river’s strong seasonal flows, when impacted by China’s manipulations, would exacerbate the effects of both drought and monsoon-influenced deluges in downstream Indian communities. According to Yale Environment 360, India, angered by China’s plans, is planning to build a “retaliatory dam” on their side of the border. 

Political and water-related tensions in the region have heightened in recent weeks. After India threatened to break its Indus River Treaty with Pakistan, China announced plans of its own to hasten the construction of a dam in Pakistan.

Recent WaterNews from Circle of Blue

This Week’s Top Water Stories, Told In Numbers

8 to 15

Inches of rain that fell in less than 24 hours last weekend across Argentina’s central-eastern Buenos Aires province, forcing the evacuations of more than 2,500 people from their homes in at least 10 communities, the Buenos Aires Herald reports. Photographs show streets turning to rivers, roadblocks, and highways shutting down amidst the deluge, which stranded some drivers overnight on roadsides near the capital. In addition to infrastructure losses, officials are tracking the impact to the region’s soybean harvests. Campana and Zárate, the heaviest-hit cities located just north of the nation’s capital, are a crucial hub for the crop’s production and export. “Argentina is the top global exporter of soybean meal and oil, as well as the third-largest exporter of corn and a major wheat exporter,” Reuters reports. The area’s average monthly precipitation is 1.7 inches.

80

Percent of rivers in Malaysia’s Klang Valley that are now home to suckermouth catfish, an invasive species that outcompetes native fish and has been attributed to a loss of biodiversity in many Southeast Asian waterways, Al Jazeera reports. Originally introduced for sportfishing, the fish lacks natural predators in the region, causing the population to boom. That has upended the local fishing economy. When caught, the “devil fish” — as they are called in India — are unsellable at market and not a common food, especially those pulled from the Klang River. Equally as significant is the bottom feeders’ impact on waterway stability. Catfish tend to burrow into riverbeds and banks, “causing them to erode and collapse, which is a serious environmental issue in flood-prone Malaysia where year-end monsoon winds bring heavy rain.” Grassroots groups of fishers continue to hunt the catfish as they aim to restore the waterways to better health. 

On the Radar

Riparian flora and fauna in and along Brazil’s Jundiai River have been stained blue following an accidental dye spill near São Paulo, BBC reports. A truck carrying the chemical collided with a pole, leaking the product into a sewer that connects to the waterway. Scientists are working to understand the health impacts on the bright blue birds, dead fish, and plants whose surreal images have since circulated online. 

49th State Focus: Treated Water Spill at Red Dog Mine

Pump Failure Prompts Spillage: Some 80 miles north of Kotzebue in northwest Alaska, roughly 400,000 gallons of treated water spilled at Red Dog Mine — one of the world’s largest zinc mines — following a pump failure, Anchorage Daily News reports. The majority of the water “ended up in a protected containment area and a gravel road,” though between 100 gallons and 1,000 gallons flowed into the tundra and Red Dog Creek.

Fresh: From the Great Lakes Region

In Wisconsin, a New EPA Focus: Nine local, state, and tribal groups in Wisconsin will share $12 million awarded by the EPA to clean and redevelop contaminated sites and conduct environmental assessments, Wisconsin Public Radio reports. The grants come from a $267 million national pot allotted “to transform polluted sites into housing and business developments to promote economic growth.” Among the funded projects in Wisconsin are the cleanups of a warehouse “contaminated with volatile organic compounds,” a food pantry, and apartment buildings in Milwaukee. The focus on development-oriented work signals a conspicuous shift away from environmental justice and climate-related projects, which have had their funds halted or canceled in recent weeks. 

Bridge Michigan, Circle of Blue, Great Lakes Now at Detroit Public Television, Michigan Public and The Narwhal work together to report on the most pressing threats to the Great Lakes region’s water. This independent journalism is supported by the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation. Find all the work here.

  • An $80M cleanup made Muskegon Lake trendy. Will ‘eco-gentrification’ follow? — Bridge Michigan
  • Keeping the $5.5 billion Great Lakes fishery afloat as Trump administration considers cuts — Michigan Public
  • Ontario budget weighs tariff threats, ignores climate threat — The Narwhal
  • I Speak for the Fish: Sturgeon vs salmon prioritizing native Great Lakes species — Great Lakes Now

Christian Thorsberg is an environmental writer from Chicago. He is passionate about climate and cultural phenomena that often appear slow or invisible, and he examines these themes in his journalism, poetry, and fiction.