In a defeat for environmental groups, the Supreme Court ruled on Wednesday that the Environmental Protection Agency may use cost-benefit calculations to decide whether to require power plants to make changes that could prevent the destruction of billions of aquatic organisms each year.

The decision affects more than 500 power plants that are collectively responsible for more than half of the n ... read more >>

President Barack Obama today nominated a key U.S. Senate staffer to serve as assistant secretary of the Army for public works, a position that oversees the Army Corps of Engineers.

Jo-Ellen Darcy is senior environmental policy adviser to the Senate Finance Committee, where she has worked on energy, environmental and conservation initiatives using the tax code. Earlier, she served as senior pol ... read more >>

A compilation of research papers suggests that climate change will mean the state will have less water, experience a loss of cropland and see soaring wildfire rates. ... read more >>

The downturn in construction has spurred builders to search for a “green lining.” Luckily for them the industry is full of possibility.

Contractor Robert Bothman believes he has found one in pervious or permeable concrete, a product that has had widespread use in Europe and the Southeastern United States but has yet to make a significant mark in the Bay Area.

“Business i ... read more >>

At the Fifth World Water Forum (5WWF) I co-convened a session (3.4.1) on "A Hidden Resource: Sustainably Managing Groundwater for the Future", along with Katharine Cross and Peter Laban of IUCN. Here are all (but one) of the presentations as pdfs. ... read more >>

Reporting from Denver -- In rural Chaffee County, Colo., one of the world's largest beverage companies has discovered water it deems fit for a bottle: clean and crisp, with the mountain spring flavor people are willing to pay for.

Nestle Waters North America wants to tap an aquifer feeding a pair of springs near Salida southwest of Colorado Springs and draw 65 million gallons of water per year ... read more >>

New research has possibly given a boost to the idea of carbon capture, indicating that CO2 is sometimes held dissolved in underground water for millions of years. However, it is acknowledged that CO2 contained in subterranean water is prone to bubble out again, and often does so - famously at naturally-sparkling springs, for instance.

The new information comes from a novel carbon-sequestration ... read more >>

Last week, the University of Winnipeg became the first university in Canada to ban the sale of bottled water on its campus, and campuses in Montreal are taking steps to do the same.

The ban came after almost 75 per cent of students voted in favor during a recent referendum held by the University of Winnipeg Students’ Association.

However, the ban is not yet being implemented, as the Univers ... read more >>

The St. Lawrence Seaway, an engineering marvel that linked the Great Lakes to the global shipping trade 50 years ago, has been an economic bust and an environmental disaster for the region, environmentalists said Monday.

The Seaway is a series of seven locks and three dams in the St. Lawrence River, between Lake Ontario and Montreal. The $1 billion project, which gave ocean freighters access t ... read more >>

HIGHLIGHTS

- On Friday morning, 27th of March 2009, at about 5:00 hours local time, Situ Gintung dam burst out in Cirendeu, Ciputat, Tangerang, Banten Province, triggered by the heavy torrential rains.

- 10 foot-high wave of water flushed into a crowded neighborhood, submerging hundreds of houses.

- 50 persons died, hundreds of persons injured and missing.

- At least 400 houses had be ... read more >>