Circle of Blue

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.

#Syria #EnvironmentalConflict #WaterNews

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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#GreatLakes #Environment #WaterNews

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

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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#GreatLakes #Environment #WaterNews

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

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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#GreatLakes #Environment #WaterNews #Freshwater #EnvironmentalNews

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

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.

#Climate #Policy #Biogas

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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Federal Water Tap Weekly water news in the United States

EPA asks federal court to pause part of its regulations for PFAS in drinking water.
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A shuttered nuclear plant on Lake Michigan’s shore is set to restart — the first time in U.S. history — as developers push ahead with new small modular reactors next door. Billions in public funding, rising power demand, and big questions about cost, safety, and radioactive waste are driving it.

Small modular reactors, big dreams: Ontario’s nuclear pitch This story is part of a series called Shockwave: Rising energy demand and the future of the Great Lakes. The Great Lakes region is in the midst of a seismic energy shakeup, from skyrocketing data center demand and a nuclear energy boom, to expanding renewables and electrification. In 2026, the Great Lakes News Collaborative will explore how shifting supply and demand affect the region and its waters.

Ontario is betting big on small modular reactors to meet rising power demand — with billions in public funding and the first SMR in the G7 now under construction. But the technology is unproven and costs are soaring. Here’s what you need to know.
#Ontario #SMRs #NuclearPower

Great Lakes Lawmakers Push Back Against Federal Environmental Rollbacks With Donald Trump, there isn’t the thinnest layer of respect for America’s 60-year legacy of environmental protection. For crying out loud, Richard Nixon, of all the commanders in chief, established the Environmental Protection Agency. In the first hours of his second term Trump signed 40 executive orders. Six of those January 2025 actions were specifically intended to wreak industrial havoc on water, air, wild habitat, and oceans, and…

Great Lakes Lawmakers Push Back Against Federal Environmental Rollbacks

With Donald Trump, there isn’t the thinnest layer of respect for America’s 60-year legacy of environmental protection. For crying out loud, Richard Nixon, of all the commanders in chief, established the Environmental…

A Nuclear Shift Buoyed by Billions, and the Waters of the Great Lakes COVERT TOWNSHIP, Mich. – As a study in troubled operation, the Palisades Nuclear Plant once was ranked by the federal government as one of the four worst-performing nuclear power stations in the country. The 51-year-old facility closed in 2022, joining Big Rock Point near Charlevoix and 11 other nuclear plants decommissioned outside Michigan in what appeared to represent the sunset of the era of splitting atoms to produce electricity.

A Nuclear Shift Buoyed by Billions, and the Waters of the Great Lakes

COVERT TOWNSHIP, Mich. – As a study in troubled operation, the Palisades Nuclear Plant once was ranked by the federal government as one of the four worst-performing nuclear power stations in the country. The 51-year-old facility…

Ohio EPA Considers ‘Lowering of Water Quality’ Necessary for Data Center Growth The Ohio Environmental Protection Agency is considering approving a new permit that would allow data centers across the state to discharge untreated wastewater and stormwater directly into rivers and streams, an allowance that is without precedent across the Great Lakes region. With this permit — which also applies to stormwater associated with on-site industrial activity, including chemical and fuel storage — the Ohio EPA concedes it is willing to sacrifice environmental degradation for the sake of business.

Ohio EPA Considers ‘Lowering of Water Quality’ Necessary for Data Center Growth

The Ohio Environmental Protection Agency is considering approving a new permit that would allow data centers across the state to discharge untreated wastewater and stormwater directly into rivers and streams, an…

“Time to change”- Iowa water quality scientist launches long-shot bid for state office Three years ago Chris Jones was a highly regarded research engineer at the University of Iowa, where he directed stream pollution monitoring work and published details about the state’s dismal water q...

After exposing Big Ag’s toxic impact on Iowa’s water, Chris Jones was forced out of his job.

He didn’t back down. Jones is now launching a long-shot run for state office to combat water pollution.

✍️ @keithschneider69.bsky.social of @circleofblue.bsky.social
www.thenewlede.org/2026/01/time...

A research engineer is taking on Big Ag in Iowa with a long-shot run for agriculture secretary.

Chris Jones is pushing for accountability for pollution and incentives for farmers to adopt more sustainable practices.

@circleofblue.bsky.social
www.thenewlede.org/2026/01/time...

"A Voice in the Middle" with Rich Odell | Roots and Resilience Maddie Yang is joined by Rich Odell, chairman of Circle of Blue, a neutral voice on the issue of water and how it affects communities globally.

Rich Odell is the chairman of @circleofblue.bsky.social, one of the world's premier newsrooms providing policymakers, business leaders, and citizens with a neutral voice on global water, food, and energy. Odell spoke with our Youth Media Program student host Maddie Yang.