The Nepal Flood Looked Fake. It Wasn’t
Situation: Colorado River Water Crisis
Real-time intelligence platform delivers key data and information as Lake Powell and Lake Mead hit combined record-low water levels, putting at risk agriculture, industry, and a $1.4 trillion regional economy
Situation: Colorado River Water Crisis
This American City Perfected Clean Water for Beer — Now It’s Fighting to Keep Cancer-Causing Nitrates Out of the Tap
HotSpots H2O: Scenes From an Overheating, Drying World
Despite Supreme Court Decision, Bayer Faces More Challenge Over Roundup
Toxic Terrain: How Journalism Helped Break Iowa’s Farm Pollution Acquiescence
Inside America’s First Data Center-Only Utility
Ohio Scraps Controversial Plan to Ease Data Center Wastewater Discharges
Legionnaires’ Disease Surfaced 50 Years Ago. It’s Still Killing People.
The AI Boom Is Prolonging Indiana’s Fossil Fuel Era, With Hidden Costs for Water
Forget Western Water War: Local Managers Choose Partnership
Betting on Lake Mead’s Demise
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The Stream, September 8, 2026: Federal Judge Affirms U.S. Constitution Does Not Enshrine Right to Safe Drinking Water
● A federal appeals court affirmed the dismissal of a water pollution lawsuit on the grounds that the U.S. Constitution does not enshrine the right to safe drinking water.
● Thailand has issued a temporary nationwide data center moratorium as it establishes stricter water and energy-use standards for hyperscale projects.
● The United Nations has warned that a “supersized” El Niño phenomenon, which will increase the likelihood of extreme weather globally, will persist through February.
● Experts predict France will experience its smallest grape harvest in 30 years as a result of heatwaves, drought, and wildfires in wine…
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Federal Water Tap is a weekly digest spotting trends in U.S. government water policy. Get it delivered to your inbox every Monday.
Federal Water Tap, September 8, 2026: EPA, Army Corps Propose Narrower Clean Water Act Definitions
The Rundown And lastly, the Bureau of Reclamation objects strongly to California’s proposed water quality standards for the Bay-Delta watershed. “The standard for any Bay-Delta pathway is straightforward: water for people, gold-standard science, adaptive management, and measurable results – not process, delay, or undefined flow targets presented as progress.” – Letter from Aubrey Bettencourt, principal deputy commissioner of the Bureau of Reclamation, to the California water board objecting to the state’s water quality plan for the highly contested Bay-Delta watershed. A switchyard for major state and federal canals, the Bay-Delta connects San Francisco Bay to the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. It…
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The biggest international, state, and local policy news stories facing the Great Lakes region today.
Great Lakes States Face a Data Center Governance Gap
Opinion
Trump Moves to Open America’s Wildest Forests to the Bulldozer
Ethanol Was Marketed to Help Agriculture. But It Fouled Our Water and Injured Our Health.
Political Surprise in the Corn Belt
Solar, Wind, and E.V.s Rise from Shadow of Trump’s Iran War
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Learn about the future today
Brett Walton’s 2020 investigation uncovered a hidden danger beneath U.S. coasts: rising groundwater threatening homes, infrastructure, and public health. Now, that reporting is helping shape action in Washington. The bipartisan Groundwater Rise and Infrastructure Preparedness Act would task the U.S. Geological Survey with mapping groundwater rise through 2100 and recommending solutions to protect communities before it’s too late. Read the story below.
The Mekong River
In the heart of Phnom Penh, Cambodia, the muddy flow of the Mekong River is a lifeline—for fishermen, farmers, families. But this ancient river system is being pushed to the edge.
The World Economic Forum Water Systems Map
Water is a system of systems. From rainfall to rivers, infrastructure to policy, local use to global consequences, every part is connected. This interactive map reveals how water flows through everything, particularly a nexus of water, food and energy. It reveals where risks emerge, where solutions intersect, and why informed decisions about water matter everywhere. Curated by Circle of Blue with the World Economic Forum.
The Blue Planet: Quarterly Report
A World on Fire Is a Water Risk
The world is awash in flames. Nearly 22 million acres in Canada have burned this year, the second highest annual total for the country in the last four decades. The European Union is experiencing its worst fire year in the last two decades. Much of the damage has occurred in Portugal, where three times more acres have burned than average. In July, large fires…
Keep readingPOLICY AND ECONOMICS
Illinois Fails to Pass Landmark Act Requiring ‘Responsible’ Data Center Energy and Water Use
QUALITY AND SUPPLY
U.S. Homes Show Three-Decade Decline in Indoor Water Use
CLIMATE AND ECOSYSTEMS
Why Wildfire Experts Are So Worried About This Year’s Fire Season
The Drying American West
At Phoenix’s Far Edge, a Housing Boom Grasps for Water
HotSpots H2O
Snowfall in Hindu Kush Himalaya In Steep Decline
In response to critically low snow cover in the Hindu Kush Himalaya region, and the potential for serious water shortages in downstream communities, experts from the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) have called for immediate action…
The Blue Economy
Water Determines Great Lakes Region’s Economic Future
A Great Lakes News Collaborative series on the relationship between the region’s economy and its most abundant natural resource: water.
This multi-part series revisits a vision set forth a decade ago by Great Lakes leaders to reshape the region’s economy around the stewardship of its most vital asset—water. Through original reporting across the Great Lakes basin, the GLNC newsrooms assess the current state of the “blue economy” and how it has evolved over the past ten years.
