Water/Drought - Inside Climate News

In Idaho, Water Shortages Pit Farmers Against One Another

By Daniel Rothberg — Sat, 20 Jul 2024 09:15:00 +0000

This summer, a short-lived curtailment order brought a dispute to a head between farmers irrigating from the Snake River and those dependent on groundwater. Without a long-term plan to share water, the cuts could come back next year.

By Daniel Rothberg

TWIN FALLS, Idaho—Along the banks of the Snake River, below the Magic Valley’s fields of barley, wheat and corn, groundwater from a massive aquifer springs from steep, dark rock and crashes down the cliff to the river.

Lithium Critical to the Energy Transition Is Coming at the Expense of Water

By Wyatt Myskow — Thu, 18 Jul 2024 18:45:00 +0000

A new study finds that the mining and processing of the metal critical to EV batteries and renewable energy storage projects depletes and contaminates surface water, often in already vulnerable communities.

By Wyatt Myskow

Lithium needed for batteries that power electric vehicles and store electricity from renewable energy projects is likely to deplete—and in some cases, contaminate—local water supplies, according to a new paper published this week.

In the South, Sea Level Rise Accelerates at Some of the Most Extreme Rates on Earth

By Amy Green — Thu, 11 Jul 2024 09:05:00 +0000

The surge is startling scientists, amplifying impacts such as hurricane storm surges and nuisance flooding and testing mitigation measures like the Resilient Florida program.

By Amy Green

JACKSONVILLE, Fla.—For most of his life, Steve Salem has led an existence closely linked with the rise and fall of the tides.

New NOAA Initiative Will Provide $60 Million in Funding to Train Workers for Green Jobs

By Ruchi Shahagadkar — Mon, 08 Jul 2024 09:00:00 +0000

The Climate-Ready Workforce initiative will prepare workers to fill vacant jobs and support coastal regions of the country to speed resilience to climate change.

By Ruchi Shahagadkar

In American Samoa, sea level is rising at four times the global average. This increases the Pacific Ocean island’s risk of saltwater intrusion, which can contaminate freshwater supplies, a problem it currently faces.

Facing Climate Gentrification, an Historic African American Community Outside Charleston, S.C., Embraces Conservation

By Daniel Shailer — Sun, 07 Jul 2024 09:05:00 +0000

After emancipation, freed slaves bought marshy land along the coast that white landowners weren’t interested in. Now, big developers covet such waterfront property, despite rising sea levels, threatening historic Black communities.

By Daniel Shailer

Flooding the Market: First in a series about climate change and coastal threats in South Carolina.

The Minnesota Dam That Partially Failed Is One of Nearly 200 Across the Upper Midwest in Similarly ‘Poor’ Condition

By Kristoffer Tigue — Fri, 05 Jul 2024 14:30:00 +0000

Especially in the Midwest, climate change presents a growing threat to the nation’s nearly 92,000 dams, many more than 100 years old, as heavy rainfall, flooding and other forms of extreme weather become more common and severe.

By Kristoffer Tigue

ST. PAUL, Minn.—Minnesota’s century-old Rapidan Dam captured the national spotlight last week when its partial failure destroyed a home and prompted county officials to demolish an adjacent store. Yet it’s just one of hundreds of dams across the Upper Midwest in similar or worse condition, according to an analysis of federal data by Inside Climate News.

First Heat Protection Standards for Workers Proposed by Biden Administration

By Marianne Lavelle — Tue, 02 Jul 2024 21:01:56 +0000

The rule, which had been promised early in the Biden administration, faces legal and political challenges.

By Marianne Lavelle

President Joe Biden’s administration unveiled its long-awaited proposal to protect workers from extreme heat at what might appear to be an appropriate time—amid a record-hot summer with millions of Americans sweltering under heat advisories.

Widespread Flooding in Upper Midwest Decimates Farm Towns

By Nina Elkadi — Mon, 01 Jul 2024 09:00:00 +0000

Rain came when farmers needed it most, but it came at a catastrophic rate, destroying crops and shaking communities.

By Nina Elkadi

Bob Hilt was in the fourth grade when his family’s farm, perched along the Big Sioux River in southeastern South Dakota, flooded in 1969.

Q&A: What’s in the Water of Alaska’s Rusting Rivers, and What’s Climate Change Got to Do With it?

Interview by Jenni Doering, Living on Earth — Sat, 22 Jun 2024 09:00:00 +0000

Once clear waters in Alaska that recently turned orange show high levels of iron and other metals, as well as increased acidity. In at least one stream, the fish vanished.

Interview by Jenni Doering, Living on Earth

From our collaborating partner “Living on Earth,” public radio’s environmental news magazine, an interview by managing producer Jenni Doering with Jon O’Donnell, ecologist for the Arctic Inventory and Monitoring Network at the National Park Service.

Effort to Save a Historic Water Tower Put Lead in this North Carolina Town’s Soil

By Lisa Sorg — Fri, 21 Jun 2024 17:00:00 +0000

Chatham County officials didn’t require the company cleaning the tower to capture the flakes and dust that testing shows contain toxic lead and hexavalent chromium. Now the community garden below is closed to protect the public.

By Lisa Sorg

BYNUM, N.C.—Pitted with rust, an empty water tower looms over this old mill village. In its short shadow rests an organic community garden, where overripe tomatoes dangle from dying vines and pepper plants droop, yellowed and parched.