Blog
Decades of irrigation depleting High Plains aquifer
Irrigation, which transformed agriculture in Kansas into a much more profitable industry decades ago, now is starting to exhaust the groundwater that fed the change. Read, or listen to, a … Read more
Nitrogen flush headed for Gulf
Last summer’s drought in the big parts of the Midwest stunted crops and left lots of nitrogen fertilizer – much of which normally would have been taken up by plants … Read more
Poll backs closing locks
Sixty-three percent of Minnesota voters are concerned about Asian carp spreading into state rivers and lakes, according to a new public opinion poll commissioned by a coalition of groups fighting … Read more
Mercury taints wildlife refuge
Water in the restored wetlands of the Glacial Ridge National Wildlife Refuge near Crookston, Minn., has extraordinarily high levels of toxic methylmercury, according to a new U.S. Geological Survey research … Read more
Plastic pollutes Great Lakes
Millions of tiny plastic particles – some so small they only can be viewed through a microscope – have been found floating in the Great Lakes. Some are suspected of … Read more
Wells vs. lakes in Wisconsin
Wisconsin is embroiled in a controversy pitting irrigators and other owners of high-capacity wells against shore land owners and other users of declining lakes and streams in the state’s Central … Read more
'Streamer' maps Mississippi watershed
Where does Hawk Creek, southwest of Willmar, end up? How about Cherry Creek, north of St. Peter? Or Goose Creek, near Albert Lea? You can probably guess. They all end … Read more
Good for ducks; not so good for water quality
Artificial wetlands, constructed to create wildlife habitat or to mitigate drainage elsewhere, often do little to improve water quality, new research from the U.S. Geological Survey concludes. The problem is … Read more
Video profiles Dave Legvold
Dave Legvold, a Northfield-area farmer, measures his corn crop’s success in dollars, not bushels. And that often means limiting nitrogen fertilizer use in ways that save him money while also … Read more
Chesapeake clean-up planned
Officials of six states and the District of Columbia whose waters flow into the pollution-damaged Chesapeake Bay are working on a bay clean-up plan they expect to complete this fall. … Read more