Water & Oceans

"Even before the drought, the southern San Joaquin Valley was in big trouble."

"Sick and confused sea lions convulsing with seizures are being found in increasing numbers along the California coast, suffering from what Stanford University scientists say is a form of epilepsy similar to the kind that attacks humans."

"ARLINGTON, Wash. — Hopes dimmed Sunday for finding survivors in the nearly one square mile of muck and debris left by a mudslide that killed at least eight people and demolished dozens of houses."

"The Japanese whaling fleet has left the waters of the Antarctic Treaty Zone, ending whaling in the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary for this season, according to data from the whale defense organization Sea Shepherd Australia."

"Rising demand for energy, from biofuels to shale gas, is a threat to freshwater supplies that are already under strain from climate change, the United Nations said in a report on Friday."

"Drought-plagued California will ease some protection for fish in the fragile San Joaquin-Sacramento River Delta, officials said Tuesday, a move expected to make more water available for farming and ease political tensions in an election year."

"CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Continued reports from residents about licorice-smelling water long after the region's water system was flushed are a clear indication that chemicals from the January leak into the Elk River haven't been completed cleaned out, experts said Tuesday."

"Years of pushing for action by property owners along Lakes Michigan and Huron have finally prompted the federal government to explore an engineering fix to the low water plaguing the lakes for the past 15 years."

"While some areas of California face supply cutbacks because of the drought, the Imperial Valley has all the water it can use, thanks to senior rights on the Colorado River established decades ago."

"B.C. fishermen are struggling to deal with catastrophic losses as millions of scallops and oysters are dying off in record numbers along the West Coast -- a crisis experts suggest is being caused by an increase in fossil fuels in the atmosphere, leading to a rise in ocean acidity."