Natural vegetation and irrigated farmland along the Snake River Plain in Idaho use dramatically different amounts of water during the growing season.
Published Jan 26, 2010
The fast-growing city has polluted waterways and a growing demand for clean tap water.
Published Apr 11, 2017
A new study found that the abundance of these floating plants has increased due to urbanization.
Published Sep 2, 2020
For more than 100 years, groups in the western United States have fought over water. During the 1880s, sheep ranchers and cattle ranchers argued over drinking water for their livestock on the high plains. In 1913, the city of Los Angeles began to draw water away from small agricultural communities in Owen Valley, leaving a dusty dry lake bed. In the late 1950s, construction of the Glen Canyon Dam catalyzed the American environmental movement. Today, farmers are fighting fishermen, environmentalists, and Native American tribes over the water in the Upper Klamath River Basin. The Landsat 7 satellite, launched by NASA and operated by the U.S. Geological Survey, documented an extreme drought in the area along the California/Oregon border in the spring of 2001.
Published Sep 8, 2001
New maps show the fluctuating river and lake levels in the Murray-Darling Basin.
Published Jul 16, 2016
Water has stopped pouring from the broken wall of the Sardoba Reservoir, but many areas are still submerged.
Published May 11, 2020
An arid region grew even drier between 2003 and 2009 due to human consumption of water for drinking and agriculture.
Published Mar 13, 2013
Water from the Kaidu River made it possible to turn part of the Taklamakan Desert into an oasis for agriculture, but it has also disturbed the water table.
Published Aug 18, 2012
Acquired February 27, 2011, this natural-color image shows pools of water extending from the Kuiseb River to Walvis Bay, Namibia.
Published Mar 22, 2011
A multi-year drought, a growing population, and management choices have put the city’s water supply in a precarious position.
Published Jan 29, 2018
The Golden State’s largest reservoir has warmed and become depleted over the past decade.
Published Jun 26, 2015
The tiny amount of water vapor in our atmosphere has an outsized influence on the planet as a potent greenhouse gas.
Published Oct 7, 2010
