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WATER SECURITY
The world’s groundwater aquifers are taking a beating. Decades of unrestrained pumping by thirsty farms and fast-growing cities have drained these underground rock beds, which hold more than 95 percent of the planet’s drinkable water. New research shows how to protect the aquifers that hold most of the world’s fresh water.
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WATER SECURITY
Researchers achieved a major breakthrough in Redox Flow Desalination (RFD), an emerging electrochemical technique that can turn seawater into potable drinking water and also store affordable renewable energy. Researchers achieved a major breakthrough in Redox Flow Desalination (RFD), an emerging electrochemical technique that can turn seawater into potable drinking water and also store affordable renewable energy.
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WATER SECURITY
Houston’s water and wastewater system could be more resilient with the development of hybrid urban water supply systems that combine conventional, centralized water sources with reclaimed wastewater. Reclaimed wastewater could make supply systems more resilient.
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WATER SECURITY
Restored floodplains in the state’s agricultural heartland are fighting both flooding and drought. But their fate rests with California’s powerful farmers.
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WATER SECURITY
Engineers have refined a model that not only cultivates green energy, but also desalinates ocean water for large, drought-stricken coastal populations.By pumping seawater to a mountaintop reservoir and then employing gravity to send the salty water down to a co-located hydropower plant and a reverse osmosis desalination facility, science can satisfy the energy and hydration needs of coastal cities with one system.
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WATER SECURITY
Twenty families in the Imperial Valley received a whopping 386.5 billion gallons of the river’s water last year — more than three Western states. Century-old water rights guarantee that supply.
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WATER SECURITY
Global water resources are stretched by climate change and human population growth, and farms and cities are increasingly turning to groundwater to fill their needs. Unfortunately, the pumping of groundwater can cause the ground surface above to sink. A new study maps, for the first time, the permanent loss of aquifer storage capacity occurring globally.
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WATER SECURITY
Working closely with local conservation group, researchers develop new model to predict climate-change driven saltwater intrusion that is transferable to other vulnerable coastal communities.
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WATER SECURITY
A looming depletion of groundwater across the U.S. has drawn nationwide attention in recent years, as local officials in states from Kansas to Arizona struggle to manage dwindling water resources even as homes and farms get thirstier. With little fanfare, the administration is using infrastructure funding to revive dormant plans for pipelines and reservoirs in rural areas across the U.S. West.
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WATER SECURITY
Following growing concerns about the cybersecurity of the U.S. water infrastructure, the EPA announced this week it will no longer require cybersecurity audits of water utility facilities through sanitary surveys.
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WATER SECURITY
Political leaders in the Mississippi River area are looking to form a multistate compact to manage threats from climate change, water pollution and drought-affected regions elsewhere. Twenty million people drink from the Mississippi River and its tributaries every day, and the river has led to more than 350,000 jobs and generates more than $21 billion in annual tourism, fishing and recreation spending.
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WATER SECURITY
The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam conflict has lasted for more than a decade without a resolution. Some experts warn that any further delays in settling the outstanding issues could have dire consequences.
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WATER SECURITY
Increased demand for water due to global population growth, coupled with the increasing frequency of extreme weather events, endangers our water security. Nonetheless, little is known about the relationship of water use by sectors and the occurrence of drought-heatwave events, particularly at the large scale.
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WATER SECURITY
Researchers are aiming to turn seawater into drinking water with a completely passive device that is inspired by the ocean, and powered by the sun. They developed a solar-powered device that avoids salt-clogging issues of other designs.
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WATER SECURITY
Researchers are developing advanced automation techniques for desalination and water treatment plants, enabling them to save while providing affordable drinking water to small, parched communities without high-quality water supplies.
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WATER SECURITY
Europe has experienced severe heat and drought over the last few summers, and 2023 has been no different. Vast swathes of Central and Southern Europe are simply too dry from a lack of rainfall. Water shortages are causing tensions in some countries. But, for now, there’s enough water to go around. Using the precious resource more efficiently is key.
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WATER SECUERITY
As rural Arizonans face the prospect of wells running dry, foreign firms are sucking up vast amounts of the state’s groundwater to grow hay for Saudi Arabia and other wealthy nations. The state’s retirement system invested heavily in a private land deal that allowed a foreign company to effectively ship Arizona’s scarce water supply overseas.
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WATER SECURITY
The water shortage crisis on the Colorado River is improving, but it’s far from over. The water levels in the river’s two main reservoirs have begun to stabilize, lessening the need for states in the Southwest to cut their water usage. This year’s wet winter helped save the river from collapse, but a reckoning is on the horizon.
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WATER SECURITY
Diminishing springs and aquifers due to heat, drought and high for demand water highlight the urgency for Central Texas conservation districts to prioritize climate-focused management, potentially involving reduced pumping for sustainability.
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WATER SECURITY
The Ogallala Aquifer serves farming communities in multiple states. When it runs dry, the agriculture industry in Texas and the nation is in jeopardy.
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More headlines
The long view
Water Is the Other U.S.-Mexico Border Crisis, and the Supply Crunch Is Getting Worse
The United States and Mexico are aware of the political and economic importance of the border region. But if water scarcity worsens, it could supplant other border priorities. The two countries should recognize that conditions are deteriorating and update the existing cross-border governance regime so that it reflects today’s new water realities.