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Lake Powell is nearing a level where Glen Canyon Dam can’t generate power.
Federal officials are considering unprecedented cuts to water releases to keep turbines running — with ripple effects for ecosystems, water users, and the Colorado River Basin.

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Federal Water Tap Weekly water news in the United States

Bureau of Reclamation officials outline options for propping up a shrinking Lake Powell.
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Federal Water Tap Weekly water news in the United States

House Democrats from the D.C. region ask Congress to fund the repair of a major sewer pipe break.
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Indiana is considering one of its biggest environmental rollbacks in years.
A new bill would weaken water protections, limit enforcement, and make pollution easier to ignore — in one of the most polluted states in the U.S.

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Federal Water Tap Weekly water news in the United States

Army Corps directive aims to speed up infrastructure work, prioritize projects.
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Federal Water Tap Weekly water news in the United States

EPA staff decreased 7 percent in the nine months through June 2025, GAO found.
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Federal Water Tap Weekly water news in the United States

Senate passes a bill to allow southern Nevada’s water authority to build a water-supply pipeline beneath a national conservation area.
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Federal Water Tap Weekly water news in the United States

GAO says NOAA, which has oversight authority, should do a better job of tracking cloud seeding and other weather modification.
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Federal Water Tap Weekly water news in the United States

Interior Department overhauls its environmental review procedures.
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Syria’s Environmental Woes Fueled Its Long Conflict. Left Unaddressed, They Will Do So Again. By Peter Schwartzstein Originally published by the New Security Beat; February 23, 2026 I recently returned to Syria for my first peacetime visit. Unsurprisingly, the country is an awful mess. The destruction is somehow slightly more conspicuous than it seemed through a number of trips between 2014 and 2022. People’s exhaustion is palpable, and the economic situation is every bit as bad for many now as it was during the war.

After years of war, Syria’s landscape is in collapse. From vanishing forests and polluted rivers to water shortages fueling new tensions, environmental recovery is now central to peace, stability, and rebuilding the country’s future.

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Big Decisions Loom for a Rapidly Shrinking Lake Powell Officials at the Bureau of Reclamation, the federal agency that manages Colorado River dams, outlined several actions they are considering in the coming months to boost water levels in a rapidly shrinking Lake Powell, which could drop to a record low later this year that would halt hydropower production from Glen Canyon Dam for the first time. The Colorado River’s second-largest reservoir behind Lake Mead is entering one of the most difficult periods in its six-decade history.

Big Decisions Loom for a Rapidly Shrinking Lake Powell

Officials at the Bureau of Reclamation, the federal agency that manages Colorado River dams, outlined several actions they are considering in the coming months to boost water levels in a rapidly shrinking Lake Powell, which could drop to a…

Indiana’s Odd Priorities: Weaken Water Protections, Increase Energy Production INDIANAPOLIS, In. — President Trump’s goal of diminishing environmental regulation while boosting coal and nuclear energy is giving states more opportunity and authority to decide their ecological future, and powerful incentives to produce more electricity. Arguably no state has responded with more speed and latitude than Indiana, which has a long history of advancing industrial interests by paring down environmental protections to legal minimums.

Indiana’s Odd Priorities: Weaken Water Protections, Increase Energy Production

INDIANAPOLIS, In. — President Trump’s goal of diminishing environmental regulation while boosting coal and nuclear energy is giving states more opportunity and authority to decide their ecological future, and powerful…

Fresh Discover important Great Lakes environmental news and policies. Subscribe to Fresh for weekly updates delivered straight to your inbox.

A new study of H2Ohio, the state’s comprehensive plan to improve water quality and mitigate pollution, suggests that its wetland restoration and fertilizer management programs have brought serious economic benefits to the Buckeye state.
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Earlier this month, a judge ruled in favor of a planned $450 million reroute of Enbridge’s Line 5 oil and natural gas liquids pipeline.
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Fresh Discover important Great Lakes environmental news and policies. Subscribe to Fresh for weekly updates delivered straight to your inbox.

A bill introduced in the Michigan House proposes to change the state’s definition of “wetland,” which its authors say has become “confusing, inconsistent, and overly burdensome” for both residents and developers.
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A new analysis suggests that every dollar spent on wetland restoration under Ohio’s H2Ohio program yields an eight-fold return in public benefits.
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The Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa have petitioned to challenge a judge’s ruling that the Line 5 pipeline’s new route does not threaten environmental harm.
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North America’s nuclear power push is gaining steam | The Narwhal A new nuclear power plant on the shores of Lake Michigan is just the beginning of nuclear expansion in the Great Lakes basin

On the U.S. side of the Great Lakes, a nuclear revival is putting added pressure on the critical freshwater resources — just as Ontario also increases its nuclear fleet. Via @circleofblue.bsky.social thenarwhal.ca/nuclear-powe...

Ohio EPA Considers ‘Lowering of Water Quality’ Necessary for Data Center Growth Discover the potential consequences for Ohio water quality with the proposed permit for data centers and its environmental impact.

Over 7,000 public comments sent to Ohio EPA expressed concern over proposed general wastewater permits for Ohio data centers. Christian Thorsberg @circleofblue.bsky.social: bit.ly/4qSVGC7

@saveohioparks.bsky.social: Alleviate anxiety; take action.

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A new bill proposed in the Michigan Legislature would redefine “wetland” to match the new federal standard under the Clean Water Act.
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The U.S. Senate is moving to undo protections near the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, using a little-known legislative shortcut. Supporters say it’s about minerals and jobs. Critics warn it could weaken safeguards for public lands nationwide. Read the story at buff.ly/W0hzquV

Senate Vote Tests Future of Boundary Waters Protections The U.S. Senate this week is poised to vote on a narrowly-cast resolution intended to clear a new pathway to eventually open a long-disputed copper mine close to the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness in northeast Minnesota. There’s a lot more, though, riding on the Senate vote, and not just for a region of the American north country adored for its towering pines, and deep, clear waters.

Senate Vote Tests Future of Boundary Waters Protections

The U.S. Senate this week is poised to vote on a narrowly-cast resolution intended to clear a new pathway to eventually open a long-disputed copper mine close to the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness in northeast Minnesota. There’s a lot…

Wisconsin manure digester at the center of USDA loan trouble by Brian Bienkowski, The New LedeFebruary 23, 2026 Five years after the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) guaranteed more than $100 million to what’s billed as the “world’s largest manure biogas project”, the loans are in delinquency, which, along with operational failures and underperformance at such plants, has seemingly prompted an agency-wide pause on loan guarantees for such projects, according to The New Lede’s analysis of federal data. 

A $100M USDA-backed manure biogas project billed as the world’s largest is now in loan delinquency. Operational failures and weak performance appear to have triggered a federal pause on new guarantees, raising new questions about farm biogas as climate policy.

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Federal Water Tap Weekly water news in the United States

White House promotes domestic phosphorus mining and glyphosate production by conferring “immunity” under the Defense Production Act.
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Federal Water Tap Weekly water news in the United States

FEMA continues to be slow in approving disaster declarations in Democratic-led states.
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Federal Water Tap Weekly water news in the United States

EPA seeks comments on ways to reduce regulatory burden for hazardous substance spill response plans.
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Federal Water Tap Weekly water news in the United States

U.S. Supreme Court will hold oral arguments this week for the Line 5 oil pipeline case.
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Federal Water Tap Weekly water news in the United States

Congress will hold hearings this week on safe drinking water, water-related legislation, and an Army Corps authorization bill.
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Federal Water Tap Weekly water news in the United States

DOE once again orders a Michigan coal plant to continue operating.
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Federal Water Tap Weekly water news in the United States

EPA also says it will uphold Biden-era lead pipe replacement requirements.
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