Water

76 Stories

Bremerton treats Kitsap Lake to tackle toxic algae

Ever heard of lanthanum? The city of Bremerton plans to use a powdered form of lanthanum to lower levels of phosphorus in the city’s only lake, Kitsap Lake.
John Ryan
National

Military families in Hawaii spark trial over 2021 jet fuel leak that tainted water

A trial for a mass environmental injury case begins in Hawaii on Monday, more than two years after a U.S. military facility poisoned thousands of people when it leaked jet fuel into drinking water.
The Associated Press
How beverage battles undermined the tap and gave rise to bottled water

Dip into your average grocery or convenience store, and you’ll have your pick of at least a dozen different brands of bottled water. But despite being so ubiquitous in American culture today, the meteoric rise of bottled water isn't by coincidence -- and your average bottle and average tap have more in common than you might think.
Libby Denkmann

Alec Cowan
Drought emergency declared for Washington state ahead of warm summer

A drought emergency was declared for the entire state of Washington Tuesday, as state officials face low water supply ahead of an expected warmer-than-normal summer.
Dyer Oxley
Washington's snowpack is suffering this winter. It's not going to get much better

State climatologist Nick Bond was expecting a lower snowpack this year — but not this low.
Katie Campbell
Crowds of costumed crazies take a slightly less freezing plunge in Seattle to mark 2024

Brave Seattleites jumped into Lake Washington New Year's Day for the annual Polar Bear Plunge! Organizers estimated about 2,000 people crowded along the shore of Matthews Beach in North Seattle as they got ready to run into the water.
Natalie Akane Newcomb
Seattle's rain is changing

The rain is sticking around today, although it likely won’t be as heavy as it was earlier this week. Two atmospheric rivers broke rainfall records across Western Washington. Flood , wiping out Seattle to Portland Amtrack services and drenching anyone trying to get around on foot. Rain like we saw this week is probably going to be more common as our climate changes.
Patricia Murphy

Clare McGrane
New culverts in Washington state cost $20 million each. The DOT needs to replace 400 of them by 2030

The Washington State Department of Transportation has a lot of very expensive projects it has to manage in order to keep people moving around, and legislators recently got some pretty massive sticker shock for a different project — one that’s aimed at improving the way salmon move around.
Libby Denkmann

Noel Gasca
Seattle got dark and rainy again. Do we still need to conserve water?

Seattle-area officials are still asking the public to use less water, even as autumn storms have been refilling the city’s reservoirs.
John Ryan
Want some good news? King County streams are getting healthier

Several 20-year long studies show that King County streams have fewer pollutants compared to previous samples, despite a population boom. In one study, a quarter of sites improved in water quality while only 3% declined in health.
Natalie Akane Newcomb

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