Circle of Blue

Circle of Blue

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Circle of Blue is informing the world’s most important decisions about water, food, and energy in a changing climate. To subscribe to our newsletters, visit: https://www.circleofblue.org/

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Healthcare. Gasoline. Electricity. Mortgage rates. Water bills. Up. Up. Up. Up. Up. The cost of basic goods and services – now a leading issue in the midterm elections – continues to rise and Americans are feeling pinched. Read Brett Walton's story at www.circleofblue.org #WaterAffordability…

circleofblue.orgDespite Rising Living Costs, Water Affordability Legislation StallsHealthcare. Gasoline. Electricity. Mortgage rates. Water bills. Up. Up. Up. Up. Up. The cost of basic goods and services – now a leading issue in the midterm elections – continues to rise and Americans are feeling pinched. But as the midterms approach and lame-duck sessions follow, advocates are already preparing to make their case to a fresh bundle of lawmakers. Neither in Lansing nor on Capitol Hill has water affordability legislation gained enough support to become law.
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Google’s 1-gigawatt data center near Detroit Metro Airport cleared its final local hurdle this week, making it Michigan’s second hyperscale facility. Boosters welcome the investment, but neighbors say construction dust and noise are already upending daily life, and statewide backlash against data…

circleofblue.orgTownship vote paves way for Michigan’s second hyperscale data centerThis story is a part of the Great Lakes News Collaborative. The Great Lakes region is blessed with an abundance of water. But water quality, affordability, and aging water infrastructure are vulnerabilities that have been ignored for far too long. In this series, members of the Great Lakes News Collaborative, Michigan Public, Bridge Michigan, Great Lakes Now, The Narwhal, and Circle of Blue, explore what it might take to preserve and protect this precious resource.
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Arizona Joins Nevada’s Lawsuit Challenging Federal Colorado River Plan By Stephanie Casanova, Arizona Luminaria Arizona is joining a fight against the Trump administration’s 10-year plan… http://www.circleofblue.org/2026/world/arizona-joins-nevadas-lawsuit-challenging-federal-colorado-river-plan/

circleofblue.orgArizona Joins Nevada’s Lawsuit Challenging Federal Colorado River PlanBy Stephanie Casanova, Arizona Luminaria Arizona is joining a fight against the Trump administration’s 10-year plan for managing the Colorado River that could slash the state’s share of water. The Arizona Department of Water Resources filed a motion Friday to intervene in Nevada’s earlier lawsuit, claiming the federal government’s plan for the shrinking river would “devastate Arizona’s economy,” the agency’s director said in a news release.
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Since 2005, about 60% of print newsroom jobs have vanished. This summer, major networks aired 194 heat wave segments. None mentioned climate change. What’s next for climate journalism? buff.ly/2TnQmP6 #Journalism #ClimateJournalism #EnvironmentalJournalism #News #LocalNews #PressFreedom

circleofblue.orgWho Will Pay for Climate Reporting?The news business, if you haven’t heard, is a mess. Against the worrisome backdrop of a steep drop in newsroom jobs, 38 climate and environment reporters gathered at Flathead Lake Biological Station,…
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Iowa has the nation’s worst water quality and fastest-rising cancer rate. Now farm pollution is on the ballot, with candidates from both parties talking nitrates and cancer. buff.ly/dssm122 #Iowa #IowaPolitics #Election2026 #Midterms #WaterQuality #Water #CleanWater #Nitrate #Agriculture #Farming

circleofblue.orgIowa Campaigns Pivot on Farming PerilsTIPTON, Iowa – Democrats filed into the Cedar County party headquarters late last month to hear Chris Jones, the Democratic candidate for state agriculture secretary, propose the most aggressive…
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Six-inch fish, tiny buckets, and a waterslide into the Maumee River. At the Toledo Zoo’s annual Sturgeon Fest, more than 1,200 people helped release 1,500 baby lake sturgeon to restore a Great Lakes giant that can grow up to six feet long, and females may live for centuries. Each fish carries a…

circleofblue.orgSturgeon Fest releases 1,500 fish with hopes of boosting Lake Erie populationThis story is a part of the Great Lakes News Collaborative. The Great Lakes region is blessed with an abundance of water. But water quality, affordability, and aging water infrastructure are vulnerabilities that have been ignored for far too long. In this series, members of the Great Lakes News Collaborative, Michigan Public, Bridge Michigan, Great Lakes Now, The Narwhal, and Circle of Blue, explore what it might take to preserve and protect this precious resource.
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Think 23andMe, but for walleye. Michigan’s DNR spends about a third of its budget raising and stocking fish, more than $11 million last year. Now it’s using genetic testing to find out whether those fish actually survive. In one Upper Peninsula lake, 24 of 25 walleye traced back to stocked fish.…

circleofblue.orgMichigan DNR to track fish stocking using 23andMe-style gene testingThis story is a part of the Great Lakes News Collaborative. The Great Lakes region is blessed with an abundance of water. But water quality, affordability, and aging water infrastructure are vulnerabilities that have been ignored for far too long. In this series, members of the Great Lakes News Collaborative, Michigan Public, Bridge Michigan, Great Lakes Now, The Narwhal, and Circle of Blue, explore what it might take to preserve and protect this precious resource.
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The Rouge River was once so polluted it caught fire. Now people are kayaking on it. Across Michigan, communities are investing hundreds of millions of dollars to restore rivers, from Grand Rapids’ downtown rapids to Flint’s new riverfront state park, betting on both cleaner water and economic…

circleofblue.orgMichigan communities invest millions in their rivers. Will it bring returns?This story is a part of the Great Lakes News Collaborative. The Great Lakes region is blessed with an abundance of water. But water quality, affordability, and aging water infrastructure are vulnerabilities that have been ignored for far too long. In this series, members of the Great Lakes News Collaborative, Michigan Public, Bridge Michigan, Great Lakes Now, The Narwhal, and Circle of Blue, explore what it might take to preserve and protect this precious resource.
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The rush for lithium, a key ingredient in electric vehicle batteries, is colliding with the West’s shrinking water supply. In California’s Imperial Valley, companies plan to extract lithium from brine beneath the Salton Sea. Full buildout could need up to 100,000 acre-feet of freshwater a year,…

circleofblue.orgThe Race for Lithium Is Becoming a Race for WaterBy Johanna Hansel, Carla Samon Ros, Wyatt Myskow This article originally appeared on Inside Climate News, a nonprofit, non-partisan news organization that covers climate, energy and the environment. Sign up for their newsletter here. This investigation was reported in a collaboration between Inside Climate News and Columbia Journalism Investigations. CALIPATRIA, Calif.—On a border-town road surrounded by alfalfa and grain fields, William Cooper stopped before a dusty, vacant lot.
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Who Will Pay for Climate Reporting? The news business, if you haven’t heard, is a mess. Against the worrisome backdrop of a steep drop in newsroom jobs, 38 climate and environment reporters gathered at Flathead Lake… http://www.circleofblue.org/2026/opinion/who-will-pay-for-climate-reporting/

circleofblue.orgWho Will Pay for Climate Reporting?The news business, if you haven’t heard, is a mess. Against the worrisome backdrop of a steep drop in newsroom jobs, 38 climate and environment reporters gathered at Flathead Lake Biological Station, in Montana, in early October for two days of in-depth talks. Representing big metro dailies, national print and radio outlets, and nonprofit pioneers, we had an impossibly large task: discuss the future of climate journalism.
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Iowa Campaigns Pivot on Farming Perils TIPTON, Iowa – Democrats filed into the Cedar County party headquarters late last month to hear Chris Jones, the Democratic candidate for state agriculture secretary, propose… http://www.circleofblue.org/2026/opinion/iowa-campaigns-pivot-on-farming-perils/

circleofblue.orgIowa Campaigns Pivot on Farming PerilsTIPTON, Iowa – Democrats filed into the Cedar County party headquarters late last month to hear Chris Jones, the Democratic candidate for state agriculture secretary, propose the most aggressive agenda for curbing pollution and human disease from the crop and livestock sectors ever uttered by a candidate running for a statewide office in Iowa. In order to sharply reduce the billions of pounds of nutrients causing Iowa’s worst-in-the-nation water quality, and address the fastest-in-the-nation increase in cancer incidence, Jones wants to shrink acres devoted to growing Iowa’s corn and soybean crops, the country’s largest.
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Michigan is the only state in the nation without a statewide septic code. After nearly 40 years of debate, lawmakers are closer than ever to changing that. SB 771 would require inspections of Michigan’s 1.3 million-plus septic systems every 10 years, as fecal bacteria shows up in 78% of the…

circleofblue.orgMichigan Draws Closer To State Septic Code Michigan lawmakers are the closest they've been in years to passing a statewide septic code that would increase inspections to guard against human fecal waste leaking into the state's lakes, rivers, and groundwater. The Democrat-controlled state Senate is poised to pass the measure after nearly four decades of advocacy and negotiations. But the bill’s future in the state House is unclear, with local officials raising familiar concerns about implementation and private property rights.
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He set out to overturn 10,000 years of farming. Fifty years later, perennial grains like Kernza are taking root on 4,000+ acres in 15 states. [link] #PerennialGrain #Kernza

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Fifty years ago, Wes Jackson set out to replace 10,000 years of annual grain farming with crops that grow back every year. Today, perennial grains like Kernza are moving into the mainstream. #CircleOfBlue #TheLandInstitute #PerennialGrain #Kernza #PerennialAgriculture #RegenerativeAgriculture…

circleofblue.orgKansas Prairie Festival Celebrates Agriculture That Protects Soil, Water, and CommunitiesSALINA, Kan. – In 1976, Wes and Dana Jackson launched The Land Institute as a nonprofit school to teach a small group of students ways to grow food that respected nature, conserved energy and water, and managed wastes. As one of the nation’s first regional nonprofit environmental and farm research organizations devoted to land stewardship, the Institute set sail in the powerful current of alternative ideas and new organizations in that era that were determined to change how America operated.
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2.9 cases per 100,000 people: Legionnaires' disease rates in 2025 were the second-highest on record, up 50% since the pandemic. NYC saw the worst of it: www.circleofblue.org/2026/health/... #Legionnaires #PublicHealth #WaterQuality #DrinkingWater #WaterSafety #WaterborneDisease #NewYorkCity

circleofblue.orgLegionnaires’ Disease Cases Surge Again, CDC Data ShowsLearn about Legionnaires' disease CDC data showing rising cases and what it means for public health in 2025.
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The fight over mining near the Boundary Waters doesn't stop at the border. Fort Frances, Ontario, a town of about 7,500, draws its drinking water from Rainy Lake, which sits downstream of the proposed Twin Metals copper-nickel mine in Minnesota. Its water treatment plant wasn't built to handle…

circleofblue.orgA border town’s drinking water hangs in the balance of a proposed U.S. mineBy Shilpashree Jagannathan, The Narwhal A small town on northwestern Ontario’s border with the U.S. is quietly preparing for a worst-case scenario. It’s one that could mean a dramatic change for the community’s water supply. Fort Frances, home to about 7,500 people, sits where Rainy Lake empties into the Rainy River and flows north into Lake of the Woods. Fort Frances’ drinking water comes from Rainy Lake, which is bisected by the Canada-U.S.
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Legionnaires’ Disease Cases Surge Again, CDC Data Shows Legionnaires’ disease, a deadly respiratory illness spread by inhaling contaminated water droplets, is rising again. Following a pandemic lull,… http://www.circleofblue.org/2026/health/legionnaires-disease-cases-surge-again-cdc-data-shows/

circleofblue.orgLegionnaires’ Disease Cases Surge Again, CDC Data ShowsLegionnaires’ disease, a deadly respiratory illness spread by inhaling contaminated water droplets, is rising again. Following a pandemic lull, the case rate in 2025 climbed to its second-highest level on record, according to provisional data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The U.S. registered 2.9 cases for every 100,000 people, second only to 2018, when the rate was 3.04.
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EPA and HHS Teaming Up on Expanded Review of Glyphosate Weedkiller Safety This article first appeared on The New Lede and is republished here under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 International License…...

circleofblue.orgEPA and HHS Teaming Up on Expanded Review of Glyphosate Weedkiller SafetyThis article first appeared on The New Lede and is republished here under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 International License. US officials said this week they are expanding a scientific review of the widely used weed killer glyphosate, a chemical popular in agriculture but also linked for years to cancer and other health problems. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) …
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Wendell Berry spent half a century warning that industrial agriculture's pursuit of ever-higher yields would come at the cost of clean water, healthy soil, and rural communities. He died August 31 at 92. In this reflection, Circle of Blue's Keith Schneider — who interviewed Berry at his Kentucky…

circleofblue.orgWendell Berry’s Water IntelligenceIn the shadow of wooded hills near the confluence of the Kentucky and Ohio rivers is Lanes Landing, the 125-acre farm where Wendell Berry tended the land and published the most trenchant appeals in American letters to tame the damage from industrial agriculture. “No amount of fiddling with capitalism to regulate and humanize it can, for long, disguise its failure to conserve the wealth and health of nature, eroded, wasted, or degraded soils, damaged or destroyed ecosystems, extinction of biodiversity species,” he wrote.
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Federal Clean Fuel Tax Credit Extends to Gas from Animal Manure New Internal Revenue Service (IRS) guidance released last week confirms that gas extracted from livestock manure qualifies for a federal clean fuel tax credit, paving the way for increased investment in biogas projects....

circleofblue.orgFederal Clean Fuel Tax Credit Extends to Gas from Animal ManureNew Internal Revenue Service (IRS) guidance released last week confirms that gas extracted from livestock manure qualifies for a federal clean fuel tax credit, paving the way for increased investment in biogas projects. The move comes as farms increasingly turn to anaerobic digestion to deal with massive amounts of manure. Proponents say the tax credits will bolster an industry that provides a solution to excess waste and turns otherwise emitted methane into a usable fuel.
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At Glen Canyon Dam, Trump Administration Privileges Hydropower over Ecosystems In the struggling Colorado River basin, where water is scarce, the White House has signaled its priorities for how to use the remaining gallons....

circleofblue.orgAt Glen Canyon Dam, Trump Administration Privileges Hydropower over EcosystemsIn the struggling Colorado River basin, where water is scarce, the White House has signaled its priorities for how to use the remaining gallons. Even as scientifically-determined thresholds have been met for releasing water from Glen Canyon Dam for ecological and recreational benefits in Grand Canyon, the Trump administration has decided against those actions in this record-hot year – deciding not to release cold water from deep in Lake Powell to aid the humpback chub, a threatened fish species, and not to authorize a high-volume release of water to rebuild Grand Canyon’s eroded beaches, which are in terrible condition, according to federal monitoring.
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Lake Mead and Lake Powell just hit their lowest combined storage since before Glen Canyon Dam existed. 95% of the Colorado River basin is in drought. Circle of Blue and True Elements just launched a live data platform tracking it in real time. Explore it → circleofblue.org #ColoradoRiver

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Lake Ontario was named centuries before the United States existed. President Trump just ordered it renamed "Lake America" anyway. The August 27 executive order directs federal agencies to rename Lake Ontario across all maps, documents, and communications — but researchers warn it could disrupt…

circleofblue.orgTrump’s ‘Lake America’ Name Change Disrupts Cross-Border Management and Overwrites Native HistoryGreat Lakes researchers warn that changing Lake Ontario’s name is a costly waste of time that complicates longstanding collaboration to manage and protect an iconic water body named by indigenous people before either the United States or Canada were founded. The August 27 executive order signed by President Trump directs the federal government to change Lake Ontario’s name to Lake America across its maps, documents, and communications.
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"Demon Corn" For decades, corn has been framed as the wholesome backbone of American agriculture. Circle of Blue's Keith Schneider argues it's time to rethink that story. Corn is now the country's most subsidized crop — and one of its most water-polluting. Nitrates from fertilizer and manure are…

circleofblue.orgDemon CornIn 2006, in the first chapter of Omnivore’s Dilemma, his best-selling takedown of the American food production system, author Michael Pollan offered a stunning exposé of the havoc that corn caused on water, soil, taxpayers, rural economies, and public health. Really? Corn is a serious problem? Indigenous, peaceable, abundant corn? Twenty years after Pollan’s exposé the wreckage from cultivating and harvesting corn has gotten worse.
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Invasive carp are closer to the Great Lakes than ever before. The Illinois Department of Natural Resources has detected invasive carp just 80 miles from Lake Michigan — the closest they've ever gotten — with officials now monitoring for possible spawning grounds even nearer to the…

circleofblue.orgInvasive carp get closer to Lake Michigan as project to halt their spread is ordered to stopThis story was originally published by Michigan Public | By Anna Barnes The Illinois Department of Natural Resources has detected invasive carp in the Illinois River only 80 miles from Lake Michigan. That's the closest the fish are known to have gotten to the Great Lakes and hundreds were detected. Officials from the department also suspect there could be spawning grounds closer to the Great Lake and are monitoring the area further.
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Situation: Colorado River Water Crisis Circle of Blue and True Elements Launch Situation: Colorado River from Stockholm World Water Week Colorado River faces a “collective nightmare.”... http://www.circleofblue.org/2026/world/situation-colorado-river-water-crisis/

circleofblue.orgSituation: Colorado River Water CrisisCircle of Blue and True Elements Launch Situation: Colorado River from Stockholm World Water Week Colorado River faces a “collective nightmare.” New platform delivers a shared view to help inform decisions and collaboration. Situation: Colorado River is part of Designing Water’s Future, the initiative to create “a new operating system for the world’s fresh water” — aligning across finance, policy, media, and innovation.
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Chippewa Falls, WI built its name on clean water. But while the city treats its own supply, thousands on private wells nearby are drinking rising nitrate levels — "It was 10 when I got there. Now it's 20." buff.ly/FdLn51r #Nitrate #WaterQuality #CleanWater #DrinkingWater #Wisconsin #CornBelt

circleofblue.orgThis American City Perfected Clean Water for Beer — Now It’s Fighting to Keep Cancer-Causing Nitrates Out of the TapLearn about nitrate contamination in water and how Chippewa Falls manages this challenge to protect its residents' health.
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In Chippewa Falls, WI, city water is treated and safe. Just outside city limits, thousands of residents on private wells are drinking water with rising nitrate levels — some tracking straight to farm fertilizer and manure. Nitrates are linked to a 61-73% higher cancer mortality risk, even below the…

circleofblue.orgNitrate Is Poisoning the Corn BeltEver since Jacob Leinenkugel discovered spring waters here that were pure enough to brew his famous beer, this small Wisconsin city’s devotion to clean water has been paramount. That’s why in 1997, when Chippewa Falls utility managers detected potentially dangerous concentrations of nitrates in a well supplying city water, officials acted. They installed new filtration equipment in their treatment system and drilled deeper wells into cleaner aquifers to ensure the water delivered to the city’s 16,000 customers contained nitrates at concentrations less than 10 parts per million, the level deemed safe by federal law.
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Michigan just approved a new 3,450-cow dairy CAFO right next to an existing 8,000-cow operation — same family, same address on the original application. The two farms combined could generate 75M+ gallons of manure a year, flowing into rivers already choking on nutrient pollution. Full story is on…

circleofblue.orgMichigan regulators approve dairy CAFO in pollution hotspotby Brian Bienkowski, The New Lede August 6, 2026 Michigan is giving a green light to a large new concentrated dairy farm that would add millions of gallons of animal waste to a region where water quality is already suffering from manure saturation.  The decision from Michigan’s Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) department is the latest to highlight the uphill battle that communities around the US face in trying to slow or stop the expansion of concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs).
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The EPA quietly shelved its cancer re-assessment of nitrates in drinking water — even as 60M+ Americans are drinking from contaminated sources. Iowa's cancer rates are climbing, and the science connecting nitrates to it keeps growing. So why did the agency stop looking? Full story on our website.

circleofblue.orgEPA stalls long-planned nitrate cancer review as pollution crisis growsby Brian Bienkowski, The New Lede August 4, 2026 The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has backed off its re-assessment of cancer-causing nitrates despite decades of research suggesting the contaminant is more harmful than previously thought and that nitrate pollution is at crisis levels in US drinking water.  The agency would not confirm the assessment was cancelled, but the work has been stagnant for more than two years and the department responsible for it was eliminated.
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Michigan Supreme Court Vacates Key Line 5 Permit The Michigan Supreme Court on Friday ruled that the Michigan Public Service Commission erred when it granted a key permit for the Line 5 petroleum pipeline tunnel under the Straits of Mackinac....

circleofblue.orgMichigan Supreme Court Vacates Key Line 5 PermitThe Michigan Supreme Court on Friday ruled that the Michigan Public Service Commission erred when it granted a key permit for the Line 5 petroleum pipeline tunnel under the Straits of Mackinac. Among other findings in its 58-page ruling, the majority found the commission’s permit review was overly narrow, failed to consider whether the tunnel project would harm public rights to the Great Lakes, and failed to study whether Line 5 would shut down if the tunnel isn’t built.
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The Supreme Court just ruled in Bayer's favor on Roundup — but 60,000+ pending cancer cases say the fight isn't over. Keith Schneider on how Big Ag's biggest players (Bayer, Deere, Tyson, Cargill) are facing unprecedented scrutiny for the first time in a century. #Bayer #Roundup #Glyphosate…

circleofblue.orgDespite Supreme Court Decision, Bayer Faces More Challenge Over RoundupTop executives of Bayer, the German chemical maker, were understandably elated on June 25, the day the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in their favor in a product injury case involving the company’s Roundup herbicide. The high court reversed a state court decision and dismissed the legal theory that prompted a jury to award $1.25 million to a Missouri man who accused Roundup of causing his non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.
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This week in water: UK says it lacks enough water for its AI data center boom, Canadian wheat farmers eye their best harvest in a decade, 40K acres return to a tribe in the Klamath basin, and the Okefenokee Swamp earns UNESCO status. #WaterNews #ClimateChange #AI #WaterCrisis #DataCenters

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Canada is burning — and for two decades, politicians from Harper to Carney have offered the same answer: carbon capture. The track record tells a different story. The Narwhal breaks down the gap between the rhetoric and the results. #CarbonCapture #ClimateChange #Wildfires #Canada…

circleofblue.orgAs Canadian politicians promise a carbon emissions fix, the country burns. Here’s what you need to knowBy Carl Meyer; This article was originally published by The Narwhal Wildfires are raging in every province and territory across Canada, leaving entire First Nations communities burnt, upending the lives of thousands of evacuees and creating plumes of toxic smoke dirtying the air in major cities like Toronto and New York. While some politicians claim the out-of-control wildfires are being primarily caused by improper forest management, scientists agree that climate change, driven by greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuels, is the main culprit.
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For decades, Iowa's farm pollution crisis stayed buried. Our 2-year Toxic Terrain investigation helped change that — connecting nitrate contamination to the state's 2nd-highest, fastest-rising cancer rate, and reshaping the 2026 governor's race. #ToxicTerrain #Iowa #WaterQuality #Cancer #Nitrates…

circleofblue.orgToxic Terrain: How Journalism Helped Break Iowa’s Farm Pollution AcquiescenceReal change occurs in America when civic pressures from outside the centers of influence force insiders to retreat. Arguably the most compelling example of systemic change in how a state could operate is now unfolding in Iowa. Severe water contamination from crop and livestock production linked to the nation’s second highest and fastest rising incidence of cancer developed into the election year issues of their time in Iowa,
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Inside America’s First Data Center-Only Utility NORTHWEST INDIANA — The defining scenes of the era of artificial intelligence look nothing like science fiction.... http://www.circleofblue.org/2026/world/inside-americas-first-data-center-only-utility/

circleofblue.orgInside America’s First Data Center-Only UtilityNORTHWEST INDIANA — The defining scenes of the era of artificial intelligence look nothing like science fiction. They are bright yellow, neon orange, dusty, sweaty, greasy, and loud. They are excavators parked in a tallgrass field in rural Indiana. They are backhoes trundling down an Ohio farming town’s lone road. They are the neon vests worn by sunburnt utility workers raising power lines in a Wisconsin county where cows outnumber humans tenfold.
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Ohio Scraps Controversial Plan to Ease Data Center Wastewater Discharges COLUMBUS, Oh. — After months of deliberation, Ohio’s Environmental Protection Agency (OEPA) has… http://www.circleofblue.org/2026/supply/water-quality/ohio-scraps-controversial-plan-to-ease-data-center-wastewater-discharges/

circleofblue.orgOhio Scraps Controversial Plan to Ease Data Center Wastewater DischargesCOLUMBUS, Oh. — After months of deliberation, Ohio’s Environmental Protection Agency (OEPA) has decided not to move forward with a proposed general permit that would have allowed all data centers across the state — regardless of their size, location, or type — to discharge untreated waste- and stormwater directly into waterways.  The decision follows a recent slew of state-level orders — including those from New York, Michigan, Illinois, and Nebraska — meant to curb the data center industry’s growth, which so far has proceeded largely unchecked. 
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50 years after the first outbreak in Philadelphia, Legionnaires' disease is still America's deadliest waterborne illness — and cases have jumped 5x since 2000. Brett Walton digs into why it's so hard to stop, and where regulation still falls short.

circleofblue.orgLegionnaires’ Disease Surfaced 50 Years Ago. It’s Still Killing People.When members of the Pennsylvania American Legion gathered in Philadelphia on July 21, 1976, they were unaware that their organization’s annual conference would enter the epidemiological history books. America was in a celebratory mood that month. The country had just marked the bicentennial of the nation’s founding, and Philadelphia, as a leading player in the revolutionary drama, was a center of revelry.
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Salt water from the Atlantic used to stop 150 km from the mouth of the Gambia River. Now it intrudes 300 km or more — turning farmland into "wet deserts" and forcing families to buy the rice they once grew. A firsthand look at climate change's leading edge.

circleofblue.orgIn Gambia, Salt Water Intrusion Is the Leading Edge of Climate ChangeBy Phred Dvorak July 12, 2026 This article originally appeared on Inside Climate News, a nonprofit, non-partisan news organization that covers climate, energy and the environment. Sign up for their newsletter here. BANTANG KILLING, Gambia—In this little village in West Africa, Ebrima Nyan is watching his farmland slowly wither away. When Nyan, 47, was a teenager, the village grew all the rice it consumed, in a field alongside the Gambia River.
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A coal plant in rural Indiana was set to close in 2025. Instead, it's being kept running — to power AI data centers. Residents who fought decades of coal ash contamination now face a new industrial wave, and their water is caught in the middle. buff.ly/s8XPSAd #WaterCrisis #DataCenters #AIWaterUse

circleofblue.orgThe AI Boom Is Prolonging Indiana’s Fossil Fuel Era, With Hidden Costs for WaterLearn how AI is influencing fossil fuels and water resources in Indiana, shedding light on local environmental issues.
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The AI Boom Is Prolonging Indiana’s Fossil Fuel Era, With Hidden Costs for Water JASPER COUNTY, IND. — Growing up in the shadow of a coal plant in rural Indiana gives a… https://www.circleofblue.org/2026/water-energy/the-ai-boom-is-prolonging-indianas-fossil-fuel-era-with-hidden-costs-for-water/

circleofblue.orgThe AI Boom Is Prolonging Indiana’s Fossil Fuel Era, With Hidden Costs for WaterJASPER COUNTY, IND. — Growing up in the shadow of a coal plant in rural Indiana gives a child a unique relationship with the passage of time. As a little girl in the small town of Wheatfield, population 900, Barb Deardorff recognized the months by the height of the cornstalks and beansprouts which grew on her family’s farmland. The years were marked by what loomed beyond these fields — the R.M.
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A Canadian military base used PFAS foam for decades. Now North Bay's drinking water is nearly double Health Canada's safety guideline — and a PFAS factory just moved in next door.

circleofblue.orgNorth Bay’s PFAS problem: 5 things to know about a ‘forever chemicals’ hotspot in OntarioBy Leah Borts-Kuperman; June 26, 2026 This article was originally published by The Narwhal Gathered in an arena in North Bay, Ont., in summer 2024, federal officials told hundreds of concerned citizens how they planned to remediate longstanding contamination of the city’s waterways left behind by the Department of National Defence. A few months later, officials gave a similar presentation to a packed hotel conference room.
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Lake Mead: 24% full. Lake Powell: 28%. State negotiations: deadlocked. But local water managers across the West aren't waiting — they're striking deals, sharing water, and keeping taps running. The quiet story of neighbors helping neighbors: www.circleofblue.org/2026/solutio...

circleofblue.orgForget Western Water War: Local Managers Choose PartnershipExplore the Colorado River water sharing agreements and their impact on agriculture, industry, and climate challenges.
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Forget Western Water War: Local Managers Choose Partnership The Colorado River, from one viewpoint, is a mess. The iconic waterway, fundamental to the region’s modern existence – its desert… https://www.circleofblue.org/2026/solutions/forget-western-water-war-local-managers-choose-partnership/

circleofblue.orgForget Western Water War: Local Managers Choose PartnershipThe Colorado River, from one viewpoint, is a mess. The iconic waterway, fundamental to the region’s modern existence – its desert metropolises, its high-tech industries, its agriculture, and its recreation economy – is on the verge of crashing. A two-decade drying trend, aided by carbon pollution in the atmosphere and water use that exceeds supply have nearly drained the basin’s liquid savings accounts.
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Native American tribes came together to secure their rights to Colorado River water. 4 states are stalling the deal By Alex Hager/KJZZ and Mark Olalde/ProPublica; Photography by Sharon Chischilly for ProPublica; June 29, 2026 This story was originally published by…...

circleofblue.orgNative American tribes came together to secure their rights to Colorado River water. 4 states are stalling the dealBy Alex Hager/KJZZ and Mark Olalde/ProPublica; Photography by Sharon Chischilly for ProPublica; June 29, 2026 This story was originally published by ProPublica and KJZZ Reporting highlights ▪ Certainty on the River: Tribes have negotiated a settlement to resolve the largest outstanding claim to the Colorado River, while providing billions of dollars for water infrastructure. ▪ Upper Hand: Colorado, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming — the Upper Basin states — are resisting the deal because it allows the Navajo and Hopi to lease water outside their reservations.
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Betting on Lake Mead’s Demise Gamblers now have a chance to put their money where the water isn’t. Kalshi, an online prediction market, is offering wagers on Lake Mead’s water level at the end of June.... https://www.circleofblue.org/2026/supply/betting-on-lake-meads-demise/

circleofblue.orgBetting on Lake Mead’s DemiseGamblers now have a chance to put their money where the water isn’t. Kalshi, an online prediction market, is offering wagers on Lake Mead’s water level at the end of June. Prediction markets like Kalshi and its competitor Polymarket allow users to bet on the outcome of events – things like elections, interest rate decisions, the winning couple on Love Island, and even whether the U.S.
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Want to Predict Wildfires? The Key May Be Underground By Annie MacKeigan, The Water Desk Western wildfires start and spread because of a whole host of factors—wind, temperature, drought, forest health.... https://www.circleofblue.org/2026/world/want-to-predict-wildfires-the-key-may-be-underground/

circleofblue.orgWant to Predict Wildfires? The Key May Be UndergroundBy Annie MacKeigan, The Water Desk Western wildfires start and spread because of a whole host of factors—wind, temperature, drought, forest health. But scientists are finding that the most important indicator of where the next big fire might ignite isn’t held in the trees themselves, but in the soil their roots are buried in. Recent studies demonstrate how soil moisture data can help wildfire experts predict a potential fire’s location and severity.
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For 25 years, the roadless rule kept 58.5 million acres of wild forest off-limits to bulldozers. Trump wants to end that — before the end of 2026. What's at stake, and why it matters for every American who's ever set foot in a national forest.

circleofblue.orgTrump Moves to Open America’s Wildest Forests to the BulldozerDawn is most memorable, the awakening hour in Bear Swamp, a 3,915-acre expanse of the Huron-Manistee National Forest in northern Michigan. Even after the somnolence of night, morning light is not nudged by the sound of anything connected to industrial America. Such tracts of backcountry forest, unreachable on any road, are features of America’s grand necessity to honor and safeguard its wilderness expanses.
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U.S. Homes Show Three-Decade Decline in Indoor Water Use Decades ago, before it was much of a concern, water moved through the average U.S. home in enormous quantities.... https://www.circleofblue.org/2026/supply/u-s-homes-show-three-decade-decline-in-indoor-water-use/

circleofblue.orgU.S. Homes Show Three-Decade Decline in Indoor Water UseDecades ago, before it was much of a concern, water moved through the average U.S. home in enormous quantities. Toilets pulled 3.5 gallons per flush or more. Washing machines filled like tiny swimming pools. Water flowed and flowed. Things have tightened considerably since then. New data shows that U.S. homes are becoming ever more efficient in their water use. Between 1999, when the first residential end-use study was released, to the…