Covering the state’s canals with solar panels would reduce evaporation of precious water and help meet renewable energy goals – all while saving money.
Rivers are among the most embattled ecosystems on Earth. Researchers are testing a new, inexpensive way to study river health by using eDNA to count the species that rivers harbor.
During fracking, water is mixed with fluids and injected into the ground.
Wikimedia Commons
Debra Perrone, University of California Santa Barbara dan Scott Jasechko, University of California Santa Barbara
The US has one of the highest groundwater use rates in the world. When wells run dry, households may opt to conserve water, find new sources or sell and move.
New Zealanders pay the costs of poor environmental and infrastructural governance, but have little opportunity to influence policy in the first place. Here’s how that could change.
New Zealand spends about $500m on environmental research each year, but fails to invest systematically in monitoring programmes to track the changing environment.
A long-awaited NZ$700 million package to clean up New Zealand’s rivers and lakes has disappointed some of the government’s expert advisers – especially a delay on setting clear pollution limits.
A new report on New Zealand’s lakes and rivers confirms that many freshwater ecosystems are in decline and warns that climate change will exacerbate existing threats.
If you want to swim in the Yarra River, you can check the water quality to see if it’s safe. If you want to swim in the Nepean River, you can’t – and that’s a problem.
Warnings about poor drinking water quality are in place in some areas affected by the bushfires.
From shutterstock.com
Damage to water supply infrastructure and catchments during and after bushfires inhibits the treatment processes that normally make our water safe to drink.
The New Zealand government has announced a partnership with the farming sector to develop voluntary measures to reduce farm emissions.
from www.shutterstock.com
The New Zealand government’s decision to partner the farming sector to encourage voluntary reductions in farm emissions failed to acknowledge that agricultural emissions also affect water quality.
A researcher completing bleaching surveys in the southern Great Barrier Reef after a major bleaching event.
ARC CENTRE OF EXCELLENCE FOR CORAL REEF STUDIES
Few feel the pain of the Great Barrier Reef’s decline more acutely than the scientists trying to save it. Ahead of a UN climate summit, two researchers write of their grief, and hope.
A helicopter view of Bait Reef in the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park.
Justin Blank/AAP
We all know that climate change is hurting the Great Barrier Reef. But scores of other less-publicised threats also threaten the future of the natural wonder.
After years of delay, the New Zealand government is pushing ahead on a national plan to clean up the nation’s lakes, rivers and wetlands.
from www.shutterstock.com
A proposed plan to clean up New Zealand’s waterways draws clear limits on the expansion of dairy farming and irrigation, as well as on the use of nitrogen fertiliser in some key areas.
Bores with high iron content can be a haven for disease-causing bacteria.
Mirjam Kaestli
Many remote communities in Australia’s north rely on bore water. But a new microbiology analysis suggests that the chemistry of untreated water can allow disease-causing bacteria to grow unchecked.
Fast tests can help keep people out of the water when it’s unsafe, and let them back in sooner once the coast is clear.
Paul Fisher
In many municipalities, aging water infrastructure is serving fewer people than it was built to accommodate. Out of sight has meant out of mind – but resulting changes in water quality may affect safety.