Water

After debates where local dentists made the case that fluoridated water was a crucial part of dental health, and out-of-town opponents argued it was dangerous, Rolla City Council has postponed a vote on a measure to remove fluoride from the drinking water.

Midwesterners typically head to the woods to find morels because the mushrooms have a lifecycle that’s hard to replicate at farms, but that could change. Plus: Why it’s so hard for the farming industry in Kansas to switch crops.

Missouri lawmakers are making it more difficult to take water out of the state without a permit, after raising concerns about drought and water scarcity in the west.

Western Kansas is running out of the water needed to fuel irrigated agriculture. Why is it so hard for farmers to switch to alternative crops?

For more than 50 years, the Columbia Environmental Research Center has produced research about contaminants and their effects in the water and on land. President Trump's proposed funding cuts to the U.S. Geological Survey would lay off all of its employees.

The Trump administration wants to rewrite the definition for what counts as protected ‘waters of the United States.' The rule has caused frustration among farmers, but environmental attorneys worry a change could lead to more pollution.

Utah's governor recently signed a bill into law banning the addition of fluoride into the state's public water systems. City councils in Rolla and Hannibal have proposed banning fluoride in response to unsubstantiated claims from Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.

Almost half of the nation's tap water is estimated to contain PFAS, or "forever chemicals." University of Missouri associate professor Frank Xiao and his team believe they’ve found a partial solution.

The tension over water for Quivira National Wildlife Refuge has lasted for decades. But recently, water users made progress toward using less groundwater in the area that impacts Quivira.

Missouri state Sen. Mike Henderson said the bill protects farmers’ privacy. Public information advocates and environmental groups worry about the loss of transparency.

New Madrid, Missouri, seems obsessed with the fault lines under its surface, but few residents in the area have insurance in case a big earthquake hits again. Plus: Some places in southwest Kansas may only have 25 years of water left. One proposal to help would take river water from near Kansas City and move it to western Kansas.

The Ogallala aquifer that sustains parts of western Kansas has been declining rapidly, and some farmers want to take water from the Missouri River and route it west as a solution. The aqueduct would start north of Kansas City. But critics of the idea say it isn’t practical.