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Wild rice on the Bad River Reservation in northern Wisconsin is in the floating leaf stage by early June, with a single shoot lying on the water’s surface. This is considered one of the most critical—and and dangerous—stages in the rice’s life cycle. The plants are just beginning to change physiologically from exchanging gases with the water column to exchanging gases with the air. Therefore, they are very susceptible to heavy rains and flooding events that can either rip out the young plants by the roots, or drown them. June 6, 2011.

Where Food Grows on Water: Environmental and Human Threats to Wisconsin’s Wild Rice

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For generations, the upper Great Lakes region has boasted harvests of wild rice, growing in Lake Superior and other watersheds within the basin. But disease, dams, and climate change are now endangering the uncultivated bounty.
Shanghai Drought

Rains Bring Relief For Six-Month China Drought, But Chronic Water Problems Loom

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Although now satiated, the dry spell is the latest in a growing trend of severe water shortages threatening China's food production, energy generation, and accelerating modernization.

Australia Builds Desalination Plants and Pipelines to Bring Water to Mines

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To feed water-hungry mining industries, similar plans are in the works to supply drought-ridden regions of Australia and China.

India and Pakistan Dispute Water Use for Hydropower, Agriculture

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India strives to redirect water, currently used for Pakistani agriculture, on the Kishanganga River for 330 megawatts.

The Price of Hydropower Pursuits in Patagonia

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In Chile’s Trackless Mountain Wilderness, A Clash Between Pristine Rivers and Hydropower Prospects

Venezuela to Ration Water Because of Low El Nino Rainfall

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Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez urged citizens to cutback on showering time as the country’s electric and water supply problems mount.