Circle of Blue
banner
circleofblue.bsky.social
Circle of Blue
@circleofblue.bsky.social
Circle of Blue is informing the world’s most important decisions about water, food, and energy in a changing climate. To subscribe to our newsletters, visit: https://www.circleofblue.org/
Michigan’s first hyperscale AI data center is speeding toward approval — and watchdogs say regulators are rushing it through without enough public scrutiny. Here’s why critics warn the DTE contract could set a precedent for Michigan’s energy future. Story by Bridge Michigan.
Michigan data center review looks like ‘rush job,’ Dana Nessel says
by Kelly House; Bridge Michigan Published November 25, 2025 As DTE Energy pushes for swift approval of its plan to deliver power to Michigan’s first hyperscale data center, Attorney General Dana Nessel and other utility watchdogs are criticizing state energy regulators’ handling of the massive contract. Citing “unprecedented political and industry pressure” to “ram through” approvals for a proposed artificial intelligence data center in Saline Township, Nessel said during a press conference Tuesday that she fears regulators will “rubber stamp” the contract without sufficient vetting.
www.circleofblue.org
November 27, 2025 at 2:15 PM
Wetlands — “nature’s kidneys” — may soon lose federal safeguards. MI, MN & WI could see more flooding, wildfire risk, and pollution under the EPA’s proposed rule.
buff.ly/8mEJpMf

#Wetlands #ClimateRisk #Flooding #EPA #EnvironmentalJustice #WaterNews #GreatLakes
November 27, 2025 at 2:11 PM
The Great Lakes are unprotected. Decades of safeguards for rivers, lakes, wetlands & drinking water are being dismantled — leaving the region vulnerable to pollution, economic disruption, and threats that ripple nationwide. Read the series here: buff.ly/HSyh63X
#GreatLakes #WaterCrisis #CleanWater
November 27, 2025 at 2:03 PM
Spain’s hog industry is polluting Catalonia’s waters with dangerous nitrate levels — and citizens are pushing back. A landmark ruling in Galicia says governments can’t put industrial farming above public health. A model for communities everywhere. buff.ly/N4RRsRN
#WaterCrisis #Pollution #Spain
November 26, 2025 at 10:06 PM
Thousand-year floods. Rising rain. Vanishing protections. As the EPA moves to cut safeguards for 85% of U.S. wetlands, Great Lakes states like Wisconsin face a dangerous future.
buff.ly/sV0drk3

#WaterNews #GreatLakes #Wetlands #EPA #Climate #WaterPolicy
November 26, 2025 at 10:01 PM
You count on Circle of Blue, and we are grateful to count on you.

For 20 years, Circle of Blue has delivered trusted water reporting — and none of it would be possible without your support.

Right now, thanks to NewsMatch, every donation through Dec 31 is doubled.

#CircleOfBlue #WaterJournalism
November 26, 2025 at 4:03 PM
Spain’s hog industry has turned Catalonia into a nitrate hotspot—polluting rivers, poisoning aquifers, and threatening millions. Now citizens are fighting back, and a landmark court case is reshaping Europe’s battle over agricultural pollution.
Spain’s Hog Haven Pollutes Catalonian Waters
BARCELONA – Go anywhere in the world, and an agricultural mess awaits. Even here in Catalonia, an autonomous self-governing region in northern Spain bordered by the Pyrenees mountain range and glorious Mediterranean beaches. Catalonia, it turns out, spent two generations developing industrial farm practices that turned it into a hog haven. With 8 million hogs, it is the largest producer in Spain, which itself is Europe’s largest pork producer.
www.circleofblue.org
November 26, 2025 at 12:18 PM
Real-time reporting from the American West: Circle of Blue’s Brett Walton was in Queen Creek, AZ, as the city approved a $244M deal to import groundwater from 90 miles away—a glimpse into how far Western communities are going to secure water. Stay tuned for more.
November 25, 2025 at 10:11 PM
Ontario is Subsidizing an Energy Project in Georgian Bay Despite Expert Advice

The Ontario government pushed forward TC Energy’s proposal to build a large pumped storage project on Georgian Bay, despite early expert advice it would be costly and not meet the province’s current energy needs. That…
Ontario is Subsidizing an Energy Project in Georgian Bay Despite Expert Advice
The Ontario government pushed forward TC Energy’s proposal to build a large pumped storage project on Georgian Bay, despite early expert advice it would be costly and not meet the province’s current energy needs. That advice was shared by the provincial Crown corporation responsible for the supply and demand of energy, the Independent Electricity System Operator, in an August 2021 memo obtained via freedom of information laws and shared with The Narwhal.
www.circleofblue.org
November 25, 2025 at 4:31 PM
Feds Eye New Line 5 Option: No Tunnel, Horizontal Drilling

With limited public notice, the US Army Corps of Engineers has placed a new option on the table for the future of the Line 5 pipeline as it prepares to make a high-profile permitting decision about the pipeline’s fate. Rather than…
Feds Eye New Line 5 Option: No Tunnel, Horizontal Drilling
With limited public notice, the US Army Corps of Engineers has placed a new option on the table for the future of the Line 5 pipeline as it prepares to make a high-profile permitting decision about the pipeline’s fate. Rather than replacing the 4-mile stretch of Line 5 that currently rests in the open water of the Straits of Mackinac with a new span buried in a 21-foot-wide concrete tunnel beneath the lakebed, Enbridge could potentially use “horizontal directional drilling” to place the pipeline into a much narrower borehole with no tunnel.
www.circleofblue.org
November 25, 2025 at 4:12 PM
In Burned Forests, the West’s Snowpack Is Melting Earlier

By Mitch Tobin, The Water Desk As the American West warms due to climate change, wildfires are increasingly burning in higher-elevation mountains, charring the watersheds where the region’s vital snowpack accumulates. A new study has found…
In Burned Forests, the West’s Snowpack Is Melting Earlier
By Mitch Tobin, The Water Desk As the American West warms due to climate change, wildfires are increasingly burning in higher-elevation mountains, charring the watersheds where the region’s vital snowpack accumulates. A new study has found that in the immediate aftermath of fires across the region, the snowpack disappears earlier in burned areas. This change can threaten forest health and affect the downstream farms, cities and species that rely on the snowpack for their water, according to other research.
www.circleofblue.org
November 25, 2025 at 11:00 AM
Reposted by Circle of Blue
Clean Water Is a Virtue in Helping Cities Be ‘Livable and Lovable’

BARCELONA – It’s useful to know that the dreadful leadership and debilitating governance that is trying to wreck the American experience is an outlier among the nations of the world. Just as relevant: assuring water supply and…
Clean Water Is a Virtue in Helping Cities Be ‘Livable and Lovable’
BARCELONA – It’s useful to know that the dreadful leadership and debilitating governance that is trying to wreck the American experience is an outlier among the nations of the world. Just as relevant: assuring water supply and quality, not generally viewed as the most alluring feature of urban security, was described here as an essential element of any city’s success in an increasingly warmer and water-stressed planet.
www.circleofblue.org
November 20, 2025 at 10:51 AM
Wetlands saved Wisconsin from even worse flooding — but protections are eroding.
Our latest story looks at the stakes. Read the story here: www.circleofblue.org/2025/water-p...
November 19, 2025 at 11:03 PM
A new bill referred last week to the Michigan Energy and Environment Committee seeks to ban the sale and application of coal-tar-based sealants to the state’s roadways, parking lots, and driveways. www.circleofblue.org/fresh/
#GreatLakes #Environment #WaterNews
Fresh
Discover important Great Lakes environmental news and policies. Subscribe to Fresh for weekly updates delivered straight to your inbox.
www.circleofblue.org
November 19, 2025 at 7:16 PM
For at least 15 years, the century-old dam and its spillway, located on the Au Train River in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, has been unable to control what officials call a “Probable Maximum Flood,” the largest flood possible at its site. buff.ly/fumrj3Y
#GreatLakes #Environment #WaterNews
Fresh
Discover important Great Lakes environmental news and policies. Subscribe to Fresh for weekly updates delivered straight to your inbox.
www.circleofblue.org
November 19, 2025 at 7:06 PM
On Monday, the U.S. EPA and Army Corps proposed new rules redefining “Waters of the United States,” a shift that could leave millions of acres of wetlands and streams without federal protection.
www.circleofblue.org/fresh/
#GreatLakes #Environment #WaterNews
Fresh
Discover important Great Lakes environmental news and policies. Subscribe to Fresh for weekly updates delivered straight to your inbox.
www.circleofblue.org
November 19, 2025 at 6:43 PM
A new bill introduced in the Michigan Senate would ban the sale and use of coal-tar sealants, which are known to be carcinogenic and pollute waterways.
Our Fresh newsletter unpacks news stories facing the Great Lakes region today. buff.ly/fumrj3Y
#GreatLakes #Environment #WaterNews
Fresh
Discover important Great Lakes environmental news and policies. Subscribe to Fresh for weekly updates delivered straight to your inbox.
www.circleofblue.org
November 19, 2025 at 6:06 PM
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission is stripping the license from a hydroelectric dam in Michigan for failing safety tests that could result in massive flooding.
Our Fresh newsletter unpacks news stories facing the Great Lakes region today. buff.ly/fumrj3Y
#GreatLakes #Environment #WaterNews
Fresh
Discover important Great Lakes environmental news and policies. Subscribe to Fresh for weekly updates delivered straight to your inbox.
www.circleofblue.org
November 19, 2025 at 5:46 PM
Restored wetlands saved Wisconsin from even worse flooding this summer. Now the programs that protect them are unraveling. What happens when the next deluge hits? Read the story at www.circleofblue.org
November 19, 2025 at 5:42 PM
The U.S. EPA and Army Corps of Engineers this week proposed revisions to Clean Water Act definitions that would remove protections from an estimated 70 million acres of wetlands.

www.circleofblue.org/fresh/
#GreatLakes #Environment #WaterNews
Fresh
Discover important Great Lakes environmental news and policies. Subscribe to Fresh for weekly updates delivered straight to your inbox.
www.circleofblue.org
November 19, 2025 at 5:31 PM
A coalition of anti-nuclear groups is suing to halt the Palisades plant’s historic restart, alleging dangerous regulatory shortcuts as Michigan lawmakers weigh new subsidies to lure more nuclear development.

Read Kelly House's investigation at www.circleofblue.org
Anti-nuclear groups file suit against Palisades restart in southwest Michigan
by Kelly House; November 18, 2025 Originally published by Bridge Michigan The Great Lakes News Collaborative includes Bridge Michigan, Circle of Blue, Great Lakes Now at Detroit PBS, Michigan Public and The Narwhal who work together to bring audiences news and information about the impact of climate change, pollution, and aging infrastructure on the Great Lakes and drinking water. This independent journalism is supported by the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation.
www.circleofblue.org
November 19, 2025 at 2:01 PM
Tensions mount as data centers eye ‘sleepy’ Michigan farm towns

by Kelly House; November 10, 2025 Originally published by Bridge Michigan The Great Lakes News Collaborative includes Bridge Michigan, Circle of Blue, Great Lakes Now at Detroit PBS, Michigan Public and The Narwhal who work together…
Tensions mount as data centers eye ‘sleepy’ Michigan farm towns
by Kelly House; November 10, 2025 Originally published by Bridge Michigan The Great Lakes News Collaborative includes Bridge Michigan, Circle of Blue, Great Lakes Now at Detroit PBS, Michigan Public and The Narwhal who work together to bring audiences news and information about the impact of climate change, pollution, and aging infrastructure on the Great Lakes and drinking water. This independent journalism is supported by the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation.
www.circleofblue.org
November 19, 2025 at 4:30 AM
Michigan OKs landmark regulations that push up-front costs to data centers

by Kelly House; November 6, 2025 The Great Lakes News Collaborative includes Bridge Michigan, Circle of Blue, Great Lakes Now at Detroit PBS, Michigan Public and The Narwhal who work together to bring audiences news and…
Michigan OKs landmark regulations that push up-front costs to data centers
by Kelly House; November 6, 2025 The Great Lakes News Collaborative includes Bridge Michigan, Circle of Blue, Great Lakes Now at Detroit PBS, Michigan Public and The Narwhal who work together to bring audiences news and information about the impact of climate change, pollution, and aging infrastructure on the Great Lakes and drinking water. This independent journalism is supported by the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation.
www.circleofblue.org
November 19, 2025 at 4:20 AM