Rivers

To keep those Glen Canyon turbines spinning, Lake Powell needs more water. But without big cuts in consumption, the obvious solution for filling the reservoir is stealing the water from somewhere else in the system. Flaming Gorge reservoir on the Green River, which also happens to be the habitat for the razorback suckers raised at the hatchery, is one of the few reservoirs in the basin that is anywhere near capacity, and thus a ripe target for state agencies looking to avoid other, painful cuts to water consumption.The…

The Maroni River on the Suriname-Guyana border was relatively unaltered in 1993, but by 2021, deforestation caused muddy flows. Credit: NASA Landsat/U.S. Geological Survey The way rivers function is significantly affected by how much sediment they transport and deposit. …

This aerial photograph shows makeshift tents for people displaced due to the floods after heavy monsoon rains at Sohbatpur in Jaffarabad district of Balochistan province on September 4, 2022Photo: Fida HUSSAIN / AFP (Getty Images)A third of Pakistan is covered in floodwaters as the country suffers a devastating monsoon season. An inland lake seems to be forming around the southern Sindh province, satellite images show, while an existing lake has swelled dramatically. Images taken by NASA’s MODIS satellite sensor in late…

Graphical abstract. Credit: Science of The Total Environment (2022). DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.156879 Riverine floodplains are among the most species-rich ecosystems on earth. Because they form the interface between land and water, they are hotspots of nutrient turnover and biodiversity. Along many rivers, however, numerous floodplains have been cut off from waterways or converted to other uses. At the same time, too many…

As a result of climate change, the regional landscape water balance has reached the kipping point in many places: Due to falling groundwater levels, flowing waters are seeping into the subsoil and polluting the groundwater with their contaminants. Credit: Sina Hurnik Increasing drought, less precipitation, rising water demand in agriculture—climate change is causing problems for our groundwater. In Germany and around the…

One hundred miles north of Philadelphia, the Billion Oyster Project has been restoring the bivalves in New York Harbor since 2010, engaging more than 10,000 volunteers and 6,000 students in the project. Oyster nurseries are being installed in Belfast Lough in Northern Ireland, where until recently they were believed to have been extinct for a century. And a hatchery 30 miles west of Chicago has dispersed 25,000 mussels into area waterways, boosting the populations of common freshwater mussel species.Underwater vegetation…

Credit: Curioso.Photography/Shutterstock Seen from above, the world's greatest rivers can be recognized by their serpentine curves. But how do these shapes form, do they alter over time and does this matter? We turned to our river system expert, Carmelo Juez. …

If somebody yells, “Snake!” are you more likely to jump back in fright or say, “Ooh, where?” Fear of snakes (ophidiophobia) is one of the most common phobias: plenty of species are venomous, and in some religious traditions snakes are the embodiment of evil. It's no wonder they're unpopular. But advocates using social media are helping people identify and learn to live with snakes and even become fascinated with them. Author Emily Willingham introduces a cast of funny and charming converts who have gone from “Eek!” to…

Cargo ships travel on the Rhine River on August 10, 2022 near Bonn, Germany. The ongoing hot weather and lack of rain have caused water levels on the Rhine to fall, which is complicating shipping.Photo: Andreas Rentz (Getty Images)A record-breaking hot, dry summer in Europe has lowered the Rhine River’s water levels so much that it has threatened shipping in the region. The Rhine is a critical commercial corridor. The river connects mega-ports in Germany’s industrial area, transporting goods to nearby landlocked…

Something happens to our brains when we stare at moving water: a sort of broad, effortless attentiveness. Psychologists call this state “soft fascination” and suggest that in it we might find relief from anxiety and mental fatigue, an opening up to freewheeling patterns of thought. Spend a quiet hour on a riverbank watching water slide by and you might find yourself wondering where it comes from, and where it might be going. You might even ask yourself What is a river? The answer is simultaneously simple enough that it is…