Water Resources

Sometimes modern problems require ancient solutions. A 1,400-year-old Peruvian method of diverting water could supply up to 40,000 Olympic-size swimming pools' worth of water to Lima each year. That information comes from a new study published in Nature Sustainability. It's one example of how ancient methods could support existing modern ones in countries without enough water. ...

Officials from a variety of states are continuing to raise concerns over what they say is EPA's failure to consult with them as officials weigh President Donald Trump's recent order requiring EPA to limit states' Clean Water Act (CWA) roles reviewing federal decisions, despite the agency's pledge to “immediately engage with our state and tribal partners.”

The Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) announces the release of A Framework and Tool for Evaluating California's Progress in Achieving the Human Right to Water. This draft report describes an approach for evaluating the adequacy of water quality, accessibility and affordability across California's community water systems. The report also shows how this approach can help water systems, regulators and communities understand and address the challenges their water systems may be facing.

In response to the growing problem of drinking water contaminated with per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), a new analysis shows that many states are establishing their own guideline levels for two types of PFAS—PFOA and PFOS—that differ from federal guidelines. The new study appears in theJournal of Exposure Science & Environmental Epidemiology, which is published by Springer Nature.

Fellow Kimberley Miner has published a new article in Nature. A screening-level approach to quantifying risk from glacial release of organochlorine pollutants in the Alaskan Arctic Abstract

China is the world's biggest polluter -- and now one of its largest producers of clean energy. Which way will China go in the future, and how will it affect the global environment? Data scientist Angel Hsu describes how the most populous country on earth is creating a future based on alternative energy -- and facing up to the environmental catastrophe it created as it rapidly industrialized. Watch the talk