Water
Texas Regulators Won’t Stop an Oilfield Waste Dump Site Next to Wetlands, Streams and Wells
PAXTON, Texas—In the depths of the Piney Woods, a landfill developer wants to build an oil sector dumpsite some 500 yards from this small town’s wells. In Paxton, water lies just a few feet below ground. Ponds and wetlands dot the boggy forests. The East Texas town, population 850, has plenty to drink. But residents […]
Read MoreLocals fight to save ‘a piece of the sea’ in Venezuela’s Andes
When Nelly Flores looks out over the Urao Lagoon, she smiles and asks me: “Do you know what those dots moving in the water are?” Mosquitoes, I guess. Nelly shakes her head and her smile widens. “No. They’re not mosquitoes. They’re, they’re … baby fish. What are they called?” She picks up her cellphone to […]
West Baltimore Residents, Students Have Mixed Feelings About Water Quality After E. Coli Contamination
BALTIMORE—Lily Goldsmith was in her kitchen making soup when she picked up her phone and learned from Twitter that the tap water in her West Baltimore neighborhood was contaminated with E. coli, and residents were being advised not to drink it. A West Baltimore native who always took pride in the quality of the city’s […]
Read MoreRestoring Watersheds, and Hope, After New Mexico’s Record-Breaking Wildfires
GALLINAS, N.M.—On a warm August day, a small crew arranged charred logs and rocks into a structure to slow flooding below a dammed pond in New Mexico’s Sangre de Cristo mountains. Just three months earlier the state’s largest-ever wildfire raged through here, burning over 340,000 acres and leaving behind thick ash, charred debris and unstable, […]
Read MoreClean-Water Plea Suggests New Pennsylvania Governor Won’t Tolerate Violations by Energy Companies, Advocates Say
A settlement of criminal charges against a gas driller that admitted contaminating drinking water in a rural Pennsylvania town suggests that Josh Shapiro will adopt a tougher enforcement policy on the energy industry when he becomes governor in January, environmental advocates say. They welcome a plea deal announced last week by Shapiro, the state’s attorney […]
Read MorePeru is tackling water scarcity with nature-based solutions, leading the way in Latin America
Josefa Mería has lived in the Peruvian city of Moyobamba, where the Andes meet the Amazon rainforest, for more than 30 years. Even in this humid tropical climate, she remembers when some 20 years ago there was such little water that services to the city were frequently cut off, angering the entire city. “There was […]
Water as Part of the Climate Solution
The intersection of freshwater and climate is a frequently ignored but critical element of the climate problem, according to a new study from Sweden that explores the link and offers solutions that will help lower emissions. Two years in the making, the study, “The Essential Drop to Reach Net-Zero: Unpacking Freshwater’s Role in Climate Change […]
Read MoreThe Colorado River Compact Turns 100 Years Old. Is It Still Working?
On a chilly fall day, Eric Kuhn walked along a gravel path above the Colorado River in Glenwood Springs, Colorado. The former head of the Colorado River District, a water agency based on the state’s Western Slope, paused where one of its tributaries, the Roaring Fork, spilled into the river, creating a two-tone stream of […]
Read MoreMicroplastics Pervade Even Top-Quality Streams in Pennsylvania, Study Finds
Scientists have recently become aware that tiny fragments of plastic waste are almost everywhere, from the highest and lowest points on the earth’s surface to beer, tap water, living lung tissue and even human fetuses—all the result of the ubiquitous manufacturing of the material and a failure to seek out alternatives. Now comes evidence that […]
Read MoreWisconsin Advocates Push to Ensure $700 Million in Water Infrastructure Improvements Go to Those Who Need It Most
Even though two of the largest freshwater lakes in the world, Lake Michigan and Lake Superior, border Wisconsin, many of the state’s residents in formerly redlined communities still do not have easy access to clean and safe drinking water. Wisconsin has the highest number of lead pipes per capita nationwide, making lead in drinking water […]
Read More