• ARGUMENT: IRRESPONSIBLE ENVIRONMENTALISTSRemoving One Dam after Another: Water in the West

    Many of the cities of the American southwest would not exist were it not for dams. Dams come with a cost, but removing them without offering alternatives is a folly, Edward Ring writes. If the proponents of dam removal would simultaneously support practical new infrastructure solutions, then rewilding America’s rivers could happen without impoverishing the farms and cities that depend on water,” Ring writes. “There is naïveté, and also nihilism, in fighting to remove the building blocks of civilization without facing the realities of energy and water economics.”

  • WATER SECURITYParched California prepares for first-ever Colorado River Cuts

    By Jake Bittle

    An emerging deal would cut water deliveries to Southern California — but fall far short of federal demands.

  • WATER SECURITYAs Colorado River Dries, the U.S. Teeters on the Brink of Larger Water Crisis

    By Abrahm Lustgarten

    The megadrought gripping the western states is only part of the problem. Alternative sources of water are also imperiled, and the nation’s food along with it.

  • WATER SECURITYWater Plant Breaks Down in Mississippi’s Capital

    Jackson, the capital city of Mississippi, has been left without safe water to drink and for other uses after its long-neglected water treatment plant broke down Monday.

  • WATER SECURITYLaredo Confronts Drought and Water Shortage with Minimal Options

    By Dylan Baddour

    A mounting water supply crisis in scorching far-South Texas has left local governments pressed to respond. Two major cities, Brownsville and McAllen, rolled out watering restrictions in recent weeks, but leaders in the South Texas city of Laredo are reluctant to impose substantial restrictions on watering lawns even as water supplies near record lows.

  • WATR SECURITYPipe Dreams: Why Far-Fetched Western Water Projects Won’t Go Away

    By Jake Bittle

    There are at least half a dozen major Western water pipeline projects under consideration, ranging from ambitious to outlandish.most of these projects stand little chance of becoming reality — they’re ideas from a bygone era, one that has more in common with the world of Chinatown than the parched west of the present.

  • WATER SECURITYA Water Strategy for the Parched West: Have Cities Pay Farmers to Install More Efficient Irrigation Systems

    By Robert Glennon

    Unsustainable water practices, drought and climate change are causing this crisis across the U.S. Southwest. To achieve a meaningful reduction in water use, states need to focus on the region’s biggest water user: agriculture.

  • FOOD SECURITYAmid Climate Change and Conflict, More Resilient Food Systems a Must: Report

    Increased demand for water will be the No. 1 threat to food security in the next 20 years, followed closely by heat waves, droughts, income inequality and political instability.

  • ENERGY SECURITYGenerating Power at the Point Where Seawater, River Water Meet

    It is theoretically possible to generate electricity through the movement of water in locations where seawater and river water meet. This type of technology is called osmotic power generation or blue energy. Though prototypes of this technology have been built, research is still underway to prove that this technology is scalable and reliable.

  • WATER SECURITYWater Resources to Become Less Predictable with Climate Change

    Many regions of Earth rely on the accumulation of snow during the winter and subsequent melting in the spring and summer for regulating runoff and streamflow. Water resources will fluctuate increasingly and become more and more difficult to predict in snow-dominated regions across the Northern Hemisphere.

  • WATER SECURITYWater Scarcity Drives EU Countries to Restrict Access to Drinking Water

    By Tim Schauenberg

    Climate change is making itself felt across the continent, as severe droughts and scarce rain have forced water restrictions in southern European countries. In northern Italy, more than 100 cities and towns have imposed water consumption limits on residents.

  • WATER SECURITYClimate Changes Lead to Water Imbalance, Conflict in Tibetan Plateau

    Climate change is putting an enormous strain on global water resources, and according to researchers, the Tibetan Plateau is suffering from a water imbalance so extreme that it could lead to an increase in international conflicts.

  • WATER SECURITYCritical Global Water Questions

    Recent intense heatwaves in India and widespread U.S. droughts have highlighted the need for a global approach to tackling chronic water shortages. The problem is that most governments are not equipped to deal with these challenges of water scarcity, sanitation and climate dynamics.

  • WATER SECURITYSustainable Solution for Oil, Gas Wastewater

    As demand for new energy sources grows, the wastewater co-produced alongside oil and gas (produced water) shows no signs of slowing down: The current volume of wastewater - the result of water forced underground to fracture rock and release the deposits - is estimated at 250 million barrels per day, compared to 80 million barrels per day of oil. Engineers are developing a new way to clean the produced water for reuse, and it’s already being tested in Pennsylvania, Texas and North Dakota.

  • WATER SECURITYU.S. Elevates Water Security as Foreign Policy Priority

    By Patsy Widakuswara

    The White House on Wednesday announced the an Action Plan on Global Water Security, drawing direct links between water scarcity and national security and elevating water security to a core foreign policy priority for the first time.