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New Plan Approved to Protect Chicagoland Water

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A three-year effort to develop a landmark water plan for the greater Chicago region was unanimously approved by political and environmental stakeholders Tuesday.

Haitian Earthquake Provides Lessons for Similarly Vulnerable Countries

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As recovery efforts in Haiti focus on supplying clean water to a region in which the water infrastructure was destroyed, a Maltese engineer thinks his earthquake-prone country, which sits just south of Sicily, could face a similar crisis

Heart of Dryness: The Rule of Water for Botswana’s Bushmen

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In the fourth installment of Heart of Dryness, author James G. Workman explains the historic transformation of water across Botswana's Kalahari. Workman continues to follow Qoroxloo, showing how the Bushmen have adapted to water scarcity and fluctuating hydrology.

Heart of Dryness: Climate Change Coping Strategies

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Since the dawn of Homo sapiens in arid Africa, nine tenths of our evolution has unfolded as foragers. Only relatively recently did our species embark on agriculture, and recent events suggest certain limits to that extraordinary experiment. Exponential population growth has combined with unprecedented climate change until half the planet’s land surface can now be classified as drylands—arid landscapes inhabited by a third of humankind.

Peter Gleick: Who Is Stealing California’s Water?

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Someone is stealing our water. Many someones. But who and how much? No one knows today, mostly because the agency responsible for keeping an eye on water rights and use--the State Water Resources Control Board--is blind, deaf, and dumb. Blind, because they don't look. Deaf, because they don't listen to or act on most requests to investigate water rights allocations and use. Dumb, because they don't talk about these issues. "Asleep at the switch," as a colleague describes it.