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What Water Wants

As floods and droughts intensify across the world, our dams, levees, sea walls, and reservoirs are actually making things worse. How can we build a healthier relationship with water? Earth Island Journal editor and Terra Verde host, Maureen Nandini Mitra, talks with Erica to find out.

Yanweizhou Park, Sponge Cities project.

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Cities Are Turning Flood Water Into Freshwater

As a guest on NPR’s “Science Friday,” Erica talks about sponge cities in China and the ways in which several cities around the world are adapting to be more resilient, as climate change begins to have a major effect on water systems.

A flooded farm in California's Central Valley in February 2017. Photo by Erica Gies.

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The Radical Groundwater Storage Test

New tactics for capturing floods and surviving droughts could help communities across California and the world.

Employees of Turenscape in Beijing by the Yongxing River Park project. Photo by Erica Gies.

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Sponge City Revolution

Restoring natural water flows in cities can lessen the impacts of floods and droughts.

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10 Riskiest Places to Buy Your Seaside Dream Home

As sea levels rise, real estate investments in these seaside metropolises could amount to throwing money into the sea

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12 Ways Communities Will Have to Adapt to Handle Climate Change

Whatever your water crisis, whether drought or flood, these DIY solutions will help you adjust to climate change’s new reality.

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Fortresses of Mud

Rising seas threaten the San Francisco Bay Area, home to one of the largest estuaries in North America. But marsh-restoration efforts could hold back the high water. 

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Expanding Paved Areas Has an Outsize Effect on Urban Flooding

Researchers have finally been able to pinpoint just how much impervious surfaces exacerbate flood levels

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Coca-Cola Leaves It to Beavers to Fight the Drought

The soft-drink giant is deploying the dam-building animals to replenish groundwater supplies.

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Tribes Use Western and Indigenous Science to Prepare for Climate Change

Northwestern tribes and the University of Washington climate group have joined forces to help protect salmon, roots, trees, and other important resources.

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With Floods and Droughts Increasing, Communities Take a New Look at Storing Water Underground

Groundwater recharge is the latest wave in water security – though challenges remain.

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The “One Water” Movement Is Helping the Environment and Saving Millions of Dollars

Solutions to floods, droughts, and pollution that look upstream, downstream and everywhere in between save dollars and make sense.

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Cities Are Finally Treating Water as a Resource, Not a Nuisance

From Houston to Melbourne, the surprising way urban areas are dealing with water woes

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As Floods Increase, Cities Like Detroit Are Looking to Green Stormwater Infrastructure:

With climate change bringing more intense storms, urban areas are looking for better ways to manage runoff.

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Ecological Detectives Hunt for San Francisco’s Vanished Waterways

Recovering “ghost creeks” from past landscapes can help protect the city’s
future amid climate chaos.

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