Water
Water laws have more loopholes than a monopoly board: regulator
Forecasters are predicting an even chance of El Nino in 2023, but already concerns are being raised about water theft and illegal water trading.
- by Harriet Alexander
Latest
Venice’s waters turn fluorescent green near Rialto Bridge
Local authorities have called an emergency meeting to determine the cause and look at ways to change it back.
Why are mangroves suddenly dying? This council thinks it has the answer
Mangroves along a major Sydney waterway are dying off and locals are calling for a state government investigation to assess whether overflows are to blame.
- by Mary Ward
Wall Street ‘worried’ about Alcoa’s operations in WA
US bauxite miner Alcoa is having to reassure US investors that its crucial WA operations are not imperilled by concerns its land clearing threatens Perth’s water supply.
- by Peter Milne
Exclusive
Floods
Emails reveal Melbourne Water ignored conflict advice before flood inquiry scandal
The emails also show the state government has been involved with Melbourne Water’s response from behind the scenes, despite repeated insistence that the water authority’s inquiry is independent.
- by Sophie Aubrey and Clay Lucas
Fears cockatoos will starve as state of WA drags feet on pine logging freeze
The WA government’s response to calls for a moratorium on logging the Carnaby’s black cockatoo habitat has been less than ideal, despite its own numbers forecasting a major decline in the species’ northern population.
- by Holly Thompson
Exclusive
Science
The $1.5 million trial aiming to purify NSW’s sewage water
Macroalgae is being used by Sydney Water as a way to cleanse the sewage water in NSW.
- by Angus Dalton
Exclusive
Warragamba Dam
‘Big weight off the shoulders’: Warragamba Dam wall-raising shelved
The controversial proposal is dead after the NSW government decided not to proceed with the project due to huge costs and environmental and heritage concerns.
- by Laura Chung
Consumer watchdog urged to step in on so-called ocean plastic
Some brands boast their products are made from recycled plastics dredged from the ocean. But there’s little to stop them using that label for plastics picked up on land.
- by Tracey Ferrier
The town where Coca-Cola runs more freely than drinking water
In the northern NSW town of Walgett, the tap water is too salty and smelly to drink, forcing families to spend up to $50 a week on bottled supplies.
- by Anna Patty