Water & Oceans

"A U.S. judge serving as special master in the legal battle over management of the Rio Grande, one of North America’s longest rivers, has cleared the way for a proposed settlement to be made public."

"Time is running out for coral reefs as the climate gets hotter. So scientists are searching the globe for corals that are better at enduring heat."

"Climate change is contributing to electric-green algae blooms. Massachusetts wants a cleanup of the antiquated septic systems feeding the mess, but it could cost billions."

"In the increasingly dry Southwest, drought and climate change pose a challenge for developers, who need to find creative ways to provide water supply to new communities."

"The U.S. government on Friday received just a single bid, from Hilcorp Alaska, for oil and gas drilling rights off the coast of Alaska the first federal auction in the region in more than five years."

"A new rule revives an older set of protections for rivers, marshes and waterways, setting aside changes in the Obama and Trump administrations that led to years of legal wrangling." "The Biden administration is working to complete a clean water regulation before a Supreme Court ruling that could complicate the government’s ability to protect wetlands and other waters."

"A lungful of air is like a multifunction toolkit for humpback whales."

"The Arizona Department of Water Resources this week put a limit on the amount of land that can be watered, designating the Hualapai Valley as an irrigation non-expansion area. That means anyone who hasn’t farmed more than 2 acres there during the past five years can’t."

"In small coves along Chile's Pacific coast, artisanal fishermen say life is becoming harder as industrial trawling depletes fish stocks even as they struggle to deal with climate impacts and economic headwinds like the high price of gasoline for boats."

"Scientists have discovered that the pace of groundwater depletion in California’s Central Valley has accelerated dramatically during the drought as heavy agricultural pumping has drawn down aquifer levels to new lows and now threatens to devastate the underground water reserves."