Water & Oceans

"CANNES, France -- The leaders of the G-20 group of major economies wrapped up their two-day annual meeting on Friday with promises to finance the fight against climate change through the Green Climate Fund, protect the marine environment from oil spills, and promote low-carbon development strategies.

In their joint Communique, the government leaders said, 'We are committed to promote sustainable development and green growth and to continue our efforts to face the challenge of climate change.'

"At the Conowingo Hydroelectric Dam in northeast Maryland, the barbarians are at the sluice gates.

Sediment, millions of tons of it, has flowed down the 440-mile Susquehanna River for more than 80 years and massed at the dam. And now a reservoir built to hold it is filling up.

"Efforts to reduce pollution of the Chesapeake Bay are starting to pay off, a major new study says, finding that despite weather-driven ups and downs, the 'dead zone' that stresses fish and shellfish every summer has actually shrunk, on average, in recent years."

"The Environmental Protection Agency on Thursday released the outlines of its long-awaited probe into whether hydraulic fracturing -- the unconventional drilling technique that's led to a boom in domestic natural gas production -- is contaminating drinking-water supplies. Investigators will try to determine the impact of large-scale water withdrawals, aboveground spills of drilling fluids, and the fracturing process itself on water quality and quantity in states where tens of thousands of wells have been drilled in recent years."

A new EPA guidance promises flexibility in enforcing sewage overflow limits on cash-strapped cities who can not afford to upgrade their systems.

"The Supreme Court [Monday] decided -- for now -- not to get involved in ongoing litigation over California's endangered delta smelt."

"After a celebrated comeback from abysmal water conditions and high pollution levels in the 1970s, Lake Erie is regressing to the highest levels of phosphorous contamination in 40 years, a Great Lakes expert said on Thursday."

"The Army Corps of Engineers says it desperately needs about $1 billion to repair the damage from this year's catastrophic flooding in the Missouri and Mississippi basins."