Elena Bruess
Circle of Blue
Chicago, IL, United States
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Past articles by Elena:
Treaty Rights Acknowledged For First Time in Oil Pipeline’s Controversial History
Michigan’s Indigenous communities hold long-standing legal rights to protect lands and waters. → Read More
HotSpots H2O: Florida-Georgia Water Dispute Returns to Supreme Court
The long-running dispute between Florida and Georgia over water resources reached the U.S. Supreme Court last week. The court will decide whether Georgia must cap its water use from the Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint basin and allow more water to flow downstream to Florida. The dispute began in the 1990s and has been entangled ever since by contentious … → Read More
HotSpots H2O: Minnesota Rolls Out Plan for PFAS Contamination
Minnesota officials announced a multi-step strategy to address PFAS contamination in the environment. → Read More
Boil-Water Advisory in Effect, Low Water Pressure Impacts Austin Hospitals
By Elena Bruess, Circle of Blue After days without power, millions in Texas are now facing a water crisis. Freezing temperatures have caused pipes to burst. Power outages have halted water treatment plants and decreased water pressure in distribution systems. City officials in Austin, Abilene, Houston and elsewhere are alerting people to boil their water … → Read More
HotSpots H2O: Amid Water Crisis, Recent Storms Provide Some Relief to Istanbul
Recent storms provided relief to drought-stricken Istanbul and surrounding areas, leaving parched reservoirs in better shape than in mid-January, when water levels fell dangerously low. After several seasons of limited rainfall, reservoirs in Turkey dropped last month to their lowest levels in years. In Istanbul, the country’s most populated city with 15 million people, dams … → Read More
Tribal groups fight fracking: 'Why we don't drink the water'
North Dakota’s water supplies are at risk from contaminants from fracking wastewater. → Read More
HotSpots H2O: Wetland Restoration in India Aims to Prevent Human-Animal Conflict
In Assam, a state in northeastern India, authorities at Kaziranga National Park are restoring six wetlands and collecting rainwater to prevent human-animal conflict during the water-scarce winter months. Seasonal shortages push wildlife toward nearby hills in search of water, where settlements and villages are located and confrontations normally occur. Some animals can cause large amounts … → Read More
HotSpots H2O: U.N. and Ethiopia Reach Aid Deal After Weeks of Conflict
After thousands of Eritrean refugees were stranded for weeks without food, clean water, and supplies in the northern Ethiopian region of Tigray due to conflict, the Ethiopian government and the United Nations reached a deal to allow unobstructed humanitarian access to areas under federal control last week. The deal comes after a month of misery … → Read More
HotSpots H2O: Water Scarcity in Palestinian Territories Puts Farming at Risk
Water scarcity in occupied Palestinian territories continues to put health and agriculture at risk as conflict over water supplies between Jordan, Israel, and Palestinians flares. Palestinians depend on Israeli-controlled underground water sources and rain, according to The Jerusalem Post, and in order to solve scarcity, the Palestinian Authority says the territories need control. Water has … → Read More
HotSpots H2O: Months of Flooding and Violence Force South Sudanese from Their Homes
Nearly a half million people have been displaced due to abnormally heavy rainfall and flooding in South Sudan this year. → Read More
HotSpots H2O: In a Year of Unrelenting Floods, Yet Another Storm Hits Central Vietnam
After months of intense storms and flooding, Tropical storm Etau is the twelfth to hit the country this year and the eighth in the past month. → Read More
HotSpots H2O: Honduran Mine Protestor Shot and Killed, Others Continue to Await Trial
A man who protested against a mining development in Honduras was shot and killed inside his home last week. Arnold Joaquín Morazán Erazo was one of 32 people from the community of El Guapinol charged with criminal offenses for protesting an open-pit iron oxide mine that the community claims threatens its land and water supply. … → Read More
HotSpots H2O: Fires in the World's Largest Wetlands Decimate Wildlife and Livelihoods
The Pantanal wetlands are on fire. Since early this year, nearly a fifth of the Brazilian ecosystem, over 14,000 square miles, has burned in wildfires. → Read More
HotSpots H2O: As Tensions Rise in the Southern Caucasus, Water Shortages Continue
Tensions are rising again between Armenia and Azerbaijan after an escalation at the border killed at least 16 service members in July. The decades-long conflict has left water supply networks in disrepair and exacerbated water shortages for civilians in both countries. The two countries — part of the Soviet Union before its collapse — fought … → Read More
Kenya Looks to Sustain Health Focus Beyond the Pandemic
As Covid-19 cases continue to rise in Kenya, a coordinated effort by the government and aid organizations addresses water, hygiene, and sanitation. → Read More
In Burkina Faso, Clean Water Was Scarce. Then the Pandemic Hit.
The most vulnerable people to the new coronavirus are those without clean water access. In Burkina Faso, that’s about half the country. → Read More
In Nigeria, Doctors Turn to Basic Hygiene to Slow Covid-19
As the coronavirus pandemic spreads through Africa’s most populous country, a health foundation pushes for better access to water, sanitation and hygiene. → Read More
Slimy happy people
Inside the Slime Bash, the largest slime convention in the world. → Read More