Global Rundown
- Freshwater mussels, which are declining globally, are of particular concern in the American South, where massive die-offs have evaded scientific explanation.
- In the communities along Cambodia’s Tonle Sap, the effects of climate change are endangering health, fisheries, and childrens’ journeys to floating schools.
- Water shortages in Iraq have more than halved the country’s population of buffalo over the past decade.
- Communities living along Brazil’s Madeira River are bracing for lower flows amid extreme drought and heat in the Amazon basin.
The Lead
Covering an area of more than 1,000 square miles, Cambodia’s Tonle Sap is Southeast Asia’s largest freshwater lake and one of the most biodiverse ecosystems in the world. For the communities who have lived in floating houses along its shores and within its waters, Tonle Sap is also a crucial fishery, source of water, and highway — each morning, children steer boats and pick up their classmates as they make their way to school.
But the lake and its inhabitants are vulnerable to seasonal weather shifts, which are becoming more extreme due to climate change, Deutsche Welle reports. Droughts during the dry season often bring extreme heat, meningitis outbreaks, and depleted fish stocks. Excessive rains in the wet season have triggered floods that damage homes and imperil children on their school commutes. These stressors affect household finances and physical health, often causing children to miss days of school or drop out entirely.
Recent WaterNews from Circle of Blue
- Utah’s Fluoride Ban in Drinking Water Won’t Settle Dispute on Safety — New legislation reflects influence of citizen movement to check government health directives.
- Trump’s Earth Day Purge — Two generations of public interest safeguards confront reckless policy and political test.
This Week’s Top Water Stories, Told In Numbers
70
Percent of the more than 300 freshwater mussel species endemic to North America that “are either endangered, threatened, or of special concern,” Yale Environment 360 reports. Across much of the continent, the threats driving the species’ decline are well-known: pollution, dammed rivers, disease, warming waterways, and invasive species. But in the American South, where mussel diversity has historically been the highest, the causes behind die-offs are evading scientific explanation. The trend is concerning not only for the bivalves themselves, but for the rivers and streams they inhabit — mussels clean water, support biodiversity, and stabilize riverbeds. Globally, the picture for the freshwater invertebrates isn’t much better. South American mussels are faring about as well as those to the north, and seven of Europe’s 16 mussel species are threatened. Researchers are raising threatened species in labs as they continue to learn more about what is driving their decline in specific waters.
65,000
Number of buffalo, farmed for their milk, currently living in Iraq — compared to at least 150,000 that roamed the country just 10 years ago, Reuters reports. The impacts of drought, upstream dams, intensive irrigation practices and increasing water salinity in both the Tigris and Euphrates rivers have made water scarce and undrinkable for livestock on many marshy pastures. Ahead of the summer, farmers are worried their herds will again dwindle in number.
On the Radar
The Brazilian portion of the Madeira River — the Amazon River’s largest tributary — has been losing about 10 percent of its flow per decade over the past 20 years, Mongabay reports. The decrease in discharge has coincided with severe droughts, fishery losses, and warmer atmospheric temperatures. Last September the Madeira, whose health is also being threatened by mining operations, fell to its lowest level ever recorded. Communities were forced to acquire drinking water in cities. “Banana, watermelon, pumpkin, and pepper crops were lost and the few items harvested couldn’t be moved as riverbeds went dry,” Mongabay reports. As river communities continue to adapt, they are bracing for future extremes and greater changes to their freshwater sources — it is likely that the next decade brings another 10 percent decrease in flow, or more.
Fresh: From the Great Lakes Region
Michigan’s Septic Systems: Michigan’s Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) is seeking support to map and create a database for the state’s 1.3 million septic systems, of which 25 percent are estimated to be failing, Michigan Public reports. Michigan is the only state without a septic code, and regular inspections “aren’t required.” The database would require about $12.5 million in state funding.
Mining Moves Forward: Two proposed mining projects in northeastern Minnesota received federal support last week and are one step closer to breaking ground. The House Committee on Natural Resources published its portion of the budget reconciliation bill, and included language that would “rescind a 20-year mining moratorium that covers a large swath of federal land south of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness,” including the area near Ely where the Twin Metals mine would be built underground, Minnesota Public Radio reports. The Trump administration’s National Energy Dominance Council also designated a second mining effort, the NewRange Copper Nickel’s Northmet project, as “a priority for federal permitting.”
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.
- Tribar pleads guilty for violating federal Clean Water Act — Michigan Public
- More Fire, More Water — Great Lakes Now
- Study: Washing machines send ‘toxic stew’ of microfibers into Great Lakes — Bridge Michigan
- A dam destroyed their river. 61 years later, two First Nations fought for justice — The Narwhal