There’s been an increase in the amount of runoff generated from rainfall as land is altered by settlement and deforestation.
Highway 4 crosses Lake Diefenbaker at Saskatchewan Landing Provincial Park. Lake Diefenbaker is a part of the South Saskatchewan river basin which faces unprecedented levels of reduced water flows in 2024.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Michael Bell
Declining precipitation, climate change and governance failures will drive water flow scarcity in 2024 with serious implications across Western Canada.
If not properly managed, heavy metals such as arsenic can accumulate in landfills and leach into soils and groundwater.
Circular irrigation for growing hay and alfalfa near Corcoran, Calif. − a water-intensive system that relies on groundwater pumping.
George Rose/Getty Images
Rapid and accelerating groundwater level declines are widespread in dry climates where groundwater is used for irrigation. But some communities have found ways to turn things around.
What happens underground doesn’t stay underground. If we overexploit groundwater and kill off its species, we put surface species – including us – at risk.
Palestinians fill drinking water containers at a distribution site in Khan Yunis, south Gaza, on Oct. 8, 2023.
Mohammed Talatene/picture alliance via Getty Images
As the war between Hamas and Israel grinds forward, two experts explain how Israelis and Palestinians have cooperated to tackle their region’s water challenges.
In 2022, California built an emergency drought barrier across the West False River near Oakley to protect against saltwater intrusion.
AP Photo/Terry Chea
Saltwater intrusion is bad for human health, ecosystems, crops and infrastructure. Here’s how seawater can move inland, and why climate change is making this phenomenon more frequent and severe.
Groundwater is vital to communities in northern Kenya during droughts.
Tony Karumba/AFP via Getty Images
South-west Australia relies on groundwater for three-quarters of its water use. But a new study of the region’s caves has found a drying climate is having a dramatic impact on this precious resource.
We’ve blown past the safe and just limit for vital Earth systems, from climate change to the biosphere and the use of fertilisers and freshwater. For humans to thrive means living in safe limits
The slow release of information about the chemical spill and results of air and water tests have left many questions about the risks and long-term impact.
Heavy rain from a series of atmospheric rivers flooded large parts of California from late December 2022 into early January 2023.
Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
There are fears the Northern Territory government will allow gas and other industries to extract substantially more water from the environment than is currently allowed.
Hundreds of freshwater basins across the world, including the dried-up Santa Olalla permanent freshwater lagoon, in Spain’s Doñana National Park, are the most likely to experience social and ecological impacts due to freshwater use.
(Donana Biological Station/CSIC)
While we know how global changes in freshwater pose risks to humans and ecosystems, we know less about how people and ecosystems will respond to these global freshwater challenges.