"In the end, Gov. Charlie Crist’s effort to buy huge swaths of sugar company land for the Everglades restoration was just too much: too much money, too much land to handle, and too much of a fight with critics and the courts."

Scientists are now studying the effects of Prozac in water on shrimp. After being secreted by humans, drugs like Prozac find their way through sewage systems and into waterways. Their effects on shrimp could be fatal.

"Farmers and other pesticide users would not need to secure Clean Water Act (CWA) permits before spraying over water under Senate legislation offered late last week in response to a pivotal federal court ruling."

"With a startling report that some researchers call more spin than science, the government said Wednesday that the mess made by the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico is mostly gone already."

"Pacific oysters in the wild on Washington's coast haven't reproduced in six seasons. Scientists suspect ocean-chemistry changes linked to the fossil-fuel emissions that cause global warming are helping kill these juvenile shellfish. The oceans are becoming more acidic, and that corrosive water is finding its way into Puget Sound."

"Western Lake Erie could be on the verge of one of its worst algae outbreaks in years."

"Locals clamored for information Saturday, asking state and local authorities what sort of chemicals spilled into the North Oconee River, which turned greenish-blue and began to give off fumes that irritated eyes and throats."

"The UN General Assembly on Wednesday recognized access to clean water and sanitation as a human right, a move hailed by water advocates as a momentous step toward a future treaty."

The NRDC released its annual report on the state of U.S. beaches. Tar balls may be the least of our worries. Disease-causing germs from storm runoff and sewage overflows may be more dangerous.

"Despite their tiny size, plant plankton found in the world's oceans  are crucial to much of life on Earth. They are the foundation of the bountiful marine food web, produce half the world's oxygen and suck up harmful carbon dioxide. And they are declining sharply."

"Up to 4 million barrels (167 million gallons), the vast majority of the spill, remains unaccounted for in government statistics."

"Marsh grasses are the tough guys of the plant world. Left alone, they dominate coastal marshes from Texas to Newfoundland. Burn their stems and leaves, and they come back bushier than ever. They help slow down hurricanes and filter pollution. As impenetrable to humans as a green wall, they shelter birds, fish and endangered mammals, and act as nurseries for commercial species like shrimp and crabs. But let oil get into their roots and underground reproductive systems, and they can wither and die."

"The icy Arctic waters around Norway's archipelago of Svalbard may seem pristine and clear, but like the rest of the world's oceans they are facing the threat of growing acidity."

"It's ... difficult to get an absolute answer about just what is, or isn't, in Delaware's water -- difficult enough that some real estate agents routinely suggest water-filter installations even in the absence of known problems."

"A federal judge on Wednesday stopped companies from developing oil and gas wells on billions of dollars in leases off Alaska's northwest coast, saying the federal government failed to follow environmental law before it sold the drilling rights."