Suns River Solar Still

Resurrecting an Old Desalination Technology to Test Desert Agriculture

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At a U.S. desalination research facility this month, a 2,500-year-old…

Food vs. Water: High Commodity Prices Complicate Aquifer Protection in Colorado’s San Luis Valley

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Decades of groundwater pumping have left one of the San Luis Valley aquifers in a perilous state. To restore its health — and the foundation of the local economy — valley leaders are developing a plan to pay farmers to fallow up to 16,000 hectares. But with commodity prices soaring, will anyone go for it, or will the state have to step in?

From Coal Seam to Fracking, Unconventional Gas Industry Faces Opposition in Australia and South Africa

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As an energy boom, propelled by natural gas, continues to gather steam, mining and drilling companies square off with landowners around the globe over who has the right to resources that are located deep below ground.

Supreme Court Ruling Tests Boundaries of Water Supply and Energy Production Along Montana-Wyoming Border

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Montana and Wyoming have taken their transboundary water dispute to the Supreme Court. Wyoming won the first round. But others await in a case that will help decide how much water is really available to generate energy and to produce food in one of the nation’s driest regions, as well as who has access to that water.

Infographic: Wild Rice is Keystone Species for Upper Great Lakes Region

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Wild Rice is an aquatic grass that is harvested annually for…
Wild rice on the Bad River Reservation in northern Wisconsin is in the floating leaf stage by early June, with a single shoot lying on the water’s surface. This is considered one of the most critical—and and dangerous—stages in the rice’s life cycle. The plants are just beginning to change physiologically from exchanging gases with the water column to exchanging gases with the air. Therefore, they are very susceptible to heavy rains and flooding events that can either rip out the young plants by the roots, or drown them. June 6, 2011.

Where Food Grows on Water: Environmental and Human Threats to Wisconsin’s Wild Rice

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For generations, the upper Great Lakes region has boasted harvests of wild rice, growing in Lake Superior and other watersheds within the basin. But disease, dams, and climate change are now endangering the uncultivated bounty.
The Horn of Africa

Worsening Humanitarian Crisis: Unprecedented Drought and Famine in Horn of Africa

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The drought has gripped large regions of eastern Africa, leaving an estimated 11 million people in need of humanitarian assistance, and is likely to continue for much of the year, according to the United Nations.
France Drought Europe

Extreme Weather Hampers Grain Production — Droughts in France and Germany, Floods in Ohio

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Two of the world's most important crops, corn and wheat, are on track to meet global demand, despite water woes.
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China’s Other Looming Choke Point: Food Production

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The Yellow River Basin is the center of a contest over water, energy, and agriculture.

Prompted By Scarcity, Colorado River Basin States Examine Their Lifeline

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The worst drought in the 105-year historical record of the Colorado River has opened a new era of water scarcity that is prompting state and federal water managers to evaluate never before considered options for increasing water supply and reducing demand.

First Approval in India’s National Plumbing Project, Despite Possibility to Endanger Tigers

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The Ken-Betwa canal will transfer water between river basins in southern India.

Arizona’s Gamble — Conserve Water Now, Prevent Deeper Cuts Tomorrow

For years, the state took as much water as it could from Lake Mead; now it plans to leave some in the reservoir.