water quality

Kansas City’s water was last tested for toxic chemicals by the Missouri Department of Natural Resources in 2013 and found to be safe. But the new EPA rules would set higher standards for what is considered “safe.”

The rooftops, pavement and lawns surrounding the Blue River and its creeks take a toll. Efforts to clean it up and restore native vegetation could help.

The dead zone encompasses thousands of acres in the Gulf each summer and results in a significant impact to marine life.

A Nebraska regulator is asking a news organization to pay thousands of dollars for the to compile a public records request.

Environmentalists have asked the state Administrative Hearing Commission to overturn a water permit for a silica mine in Ste. Genevieve. Residents and environmentalists say the permit would allow the mine to release contaminants in the local water supply.

A survey from Waterkeeper Alliance found chemicals known as PFAS were found in surface waters across the United States with particularly high concentrations found in some rivers in the Midwest.

Blue-green algae appears in lakes all over the Midwest during the summers and can make both people and animals ill. Few states have routine testing programs to check for the toxic algae, but some local and volunteer groups are stepping in to fill that gap.

Many residents took to social media on Friday to complain that the city's tap water started tasting like "the shallow end of a kiddie pool." But Kansas City officials assure that it's still safe to drink.

Young Jews in Kansas City hoped their generation wouldn’t have to worry about discrimination, but anti-Semitic incidents are only increasing. Plus, getting dangerous chemicals out of drinking water could just about bankrupt small towns in Kansas.

The water in the Ogallala aquifer is worth billions of dollars to western Kansas, but it’s rapidly disappearing. And it's been a challenge to find ways to slow the depletion.

For towns with only a few hundred residents, keeping tap water clean and safe can pose a crippling expense. The predicament is likely to become more common in western Kansas as farm chemicals seep into dwindling water supplies.

Midwestern lakes have become a hotbed of toxic algae blooms, largely caused by agricultural runoff. Without regular testing, visitors to lakes in many states have no idea what they're getting into.