 | | A resident of Detroit displays a past-due water bill. Photo © J. Carl Ganter/Circle of Blue |
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| State-ordered shutoff protections have expired, customer debt is rising, and some utilities face revenue shortfalls. Tens of millions of dollars in financial aid has been approved, but it may take weeks to arrive. |
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 | | Melissa Wiatrolik walks along Lake Michigan. She often monitors the shoreline by Cross Village for Odawa remains. Photo © J. Carl Ganter/Circle of Blue |
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| Indigenous burial grounds line the Michigan coast. But centuries after the ceremonies that put the dead to rest, their physical remains are making their way back to the people. Each of the five Great Lakes broke monthly high-water records in the last two years, an upwelling that has scoured beaches and bluffs. Erosion from high water levels is not just endangering public infrastructure and private property. Along with a burst of lakeshore construction, it is also pulling up the bones that have long been buried. |
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 | | The U.S. Coast Guard conducted a post-storm aerial assessment over Lake Charles, Louisiana, after Hurricane Laura made landfall on August 27, 2020. Photo courtesy of U.S. Coast Guard/Petty Officer Third Class Sydney Phoenix |
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| A week after Hurricane Laura, dozens of water systems are not operating, and about 20 suffered significant damage. It may be weeks before they are repaired. |
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 | | One big change in conserving water in Texas is the transition from thirsty fossil fuel electrical generation to renewable energy, which use scant amounts off water. Texas is a national leader in renewable energy. Photo © Brian Lehmann/Circle of Blue |
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| The annual $1.89 trillion Texas economy, the second largest state economy and ninth largest in the world, is entirely dependent on access to adequate supplies of water. All 29.5 million Texas residents, and 13.7 million workers, rely on access to clean fresh water. Supplying drinking water and treating wastewater is such a big industry in Texas that it employs 10,300 people, according to federal figures from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
This is part five of Water, Texas, a five-part series on the consequences of the mismatch between runaway development and tightening constraints on the supply and quality of fresh water in Texas. |
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The volume of Covid-19 news can be overwhelming. Our live blog, updated throughout the day, helps you sort through it. It's a library for how water, sanitation, and hygiene connect to the pandemic — in the US and around the world.
Featured Covid-19 + water coverage from this week include: |
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Gaza authorities announced last week the first Covid-19 case in the Palestinian enclave was spread through the community, raising fears that a larger outbreak might occur, the Associated Press reports. Earlier cases were linked to quarantine facilities for travelers returning from abroad. |
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What's Up With Water - August 31, 2020
For the news you need to start the week, tune into “What’s Up With Water” fresh on Monday’s on iTunes, Spotify, iHeart Radio, and SoundCloud.
This week's episode features coverage on the World Health Organization, which made a welcome announcement in the global fight against disease. The organization declared that Africa is free of wild poliovirus after decades of effort to eradicate the preventable but debilitating and incurable waterborne disease.
Additional international coverage looks at how researchers from the UK are using satellite data to provide a more nuanced assessment of the world’s groundwater.
For news in the U.S., Iowa residents are facing the threat of cyanobacteria in the Des Moines River. You can listen to the latest edition of What's Up With Water, as well as all past editions, by downloading the podcasts on iTunes, following Circle of Blue on Spotify, following on iHeart Radio, and subscribing on SoundCloud. |
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| From Circle of Blue's Archives: |
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 | | The sewer system in Fair Bluff, a town in eastern North Carolina, has been plagued by financial problems that stem from a loss of population and high infiltration of groundwater that caused treatment bills to spike. The town, which was flooded by hurricanes twice in three years, relied on state and federal grants for repairs. Photo © Brett Walton/Circle of Blue |
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| North Carolina officials are working to develop a rating system that would identify public water and sewer providers at risk of financial failure. The ratings would allow state funding and technical assistance to target the most distressed communities.
At a June 25 committee meeting of the North Carolina Water Infrastructure Authority, staff from the Department of Environmental Quality outlined draft criteria that will form the backbone of the rating system.
Kim Colson, the director of the water infrastructure division, said that 183 water and sewer systems out of 499 that were analyzed in the draft review could be considered distressed. |
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