Water & Oceans

"Close to 40 percent of Puget Sound's shorelines have been covered in concrete or otherwise walled off from the tides. State officials say restoring the health of Puget Sound will require removing some of those walls. But it's local governments that control the shore, and property owners want to build more seawalls as coastal developments expand."

"Human beings are flushing millions of tonnes of solid waste into rivers and oceans every day, poisoning marine life and spreading diseases that kill millions of children annually, the U.N. said on Monday."

"The Environmental Protection Agency announced on Monday that it would overhaul drinking water regulations so that officials could police dozens of contaminants simultaneously and tighten rules on the chemicals used by industries."

"The federal government is doing what once had been unthinkable: Building a new stretch of pipeline and draining more water from the Columbia River system to aid farmers. The pipeline is approved to carry just a trickle, but will be designed to handle much more water than that. New proposals would dramatically increase the amount of river water provided to Columbia Basin farmers."

"People along the Clark Fork River are still getting used to the removal of Milltown Dam. But as far as the fish are concerned, it's history."

"San Joaquin Valley farmers hope for $3.3-billion dam and reservoir at Temperance Flat, but they need help paying for it."

"Scientists say global climate change may be contributing to the increased appearance of dead zones in the Pacific, Atlantic, and Indian Oceans where low oxygen levels are damaging the undersea ecosystem."

"A group of 19 House Democrats is asking the Minerals Management Service to investigate whether BP PLC has the required engineering documents to safely operate its Atlantis oil and gas platform in the Gulf of Mexico."