The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently announced that an old metal recycling plant in Oxnard, California, now a federal Superfund site, was leaking lead, zinc, and other dangerous chemicals into nearby wetlands; when the plant closed, it left nearly 700,000 cubic yards of unattended waste laden with heavy metals and small amounts of radioactive thorium; high costs have hindered cleanup efforts and local residents have become frustrated with the drawn out efforts; the wetlands that are endangered by the old metal recycling plant are located in Ormand Beach and are home to several rare and endangered species

Most threatening to California’s water situation is the vulnerability of the hub of the state’s fresh water system, the Sacramento-San Joaquin delta, which drains water from the northern Sierra mountains; over the past century, farmers have built a network of more than 1,700 kilometers of levees to protect farmland in the delta from floodwaters; those levees are weak and vulnerable to earthquakes, seasonal floods, and rising waters expected as a result of climate change; the failure of even a fraction of the levees would draw massive amounts of saltwater in from San Francisco Bay, forcing the state to shut off the pumps, cutting off water supplies for many months, and costing the state’s economy billions of dollars

Laws designed to protect the U.S. water supply are making it difficult for communities to maintain proper oversight over water companies and their use of water; the DHS has evidence that al Qaeda was looking to disrupt or contaminate the U.S. water supply; environmentalists who are concerned over water shortages or resource usage are having difficulty obtaining any information; officials admit that the laws are clumsy and are currently reviewing a system to make more data publicly available while protecting sensitive information like the location of wells

A mutant plant gene discovery by researchers at Purdue could lead to major breakthroughs in farming that would allow plants to be grown with less water without compromising growth; the mutant gene GTL1 reduces water loss without sacrificing carbon dioxide intake which usually affects growth negatively; tests show that the mutation reduced water loss by 20 percent; researchers are in the process of determining how this gene can be applied to crops

U.S water infrastructure is rapidly aging and causing disease outbreaks, water loss, and property damage; these problems primarily owe to ancient water pipes, many of which have not been repaired or upgraded since they were first installed in the years following the Second World War; some are over eighty years old; on average 700 water mains break a day flooding homes and causing thousands of dollars in property damage; a 2008 salmonella outbreak in Colorado that sickened 250 people was linked to poor water infrastructure; an estimated seven billion gallons of water is lost due to leaky pipes

Philippine officials hope to divert another crippling water shortage this summer; officials decreased the water supply to Metro Manila and Central Luzon to slow usage and ensure water supplies will last until the rainy season; last year Manila faced a crippling water shortage that left millions with only a few hours of water a day and some villages entirely without water; officials resorted to cloud seeding to alleviate the water crisis with some success

China will invest $30 billion in water conservation projects this year to mitigate climate change’s effects on grain production; last year floods and droughts destroyed crops, increased food prices, and drove up inflation; climate change is projected to cause a 10 percent decline in grain production by 2030; China has already spent $100 billion on water conservation projects and hopes to double its annual investment

A 45 million grant from the National Science Foundation will allow University of Wisconsin-Madison researchers to turn a comprehensive lens on Madison’s water in all its forms — in the lakes, streets, faucets, ground, and atmosphere; the study will examine the complex links between the water system and factors such as land use, climate change, human activities, development, and ecosystems

The Taiwanese government reports that experiments in potty-training pigs proved successful: a breeder of 10,000 pigs has established special pig “toilets” on the farm; the toilets were smeared with feces and urine to attract the pigs; within weeks, 95 percent of all pig waste was collected in the toilets, making the farm — as well as nearby rivers and fields — much cleaner; additional benefits: the cleaner farm helped reduce illness among the pigs and boosted their fertility by 20 percent