"Manatees were taken off the U.S. Interior Department's list of endangered species on Thursday and reclassified as threatened, a move condemned by conservationists who say it weakens protections for the giant marine mammal, also known as a sea cow."
"Rain-fed wildflowers have been sprouting from California's desert sands after lying dormant for years — producing a spectacular display that has drawn record crowds and traffic jams to tiny towns like Borrego Springs."
"The safety of drinking water is causing growing concern in Houston's neighborhoods after a series of Channel 2 investigations."
"Michigan and the city of Flint agreed Monday to replace thousands of home water lines under a sweeping deal to settle a lawsuit by residents over lead-contaminated water in the struggling community."
"Millions of gallons of raw sewage and untreated runoff have poured into the United States' second-largest estuary since a massive sewage treatment plant experienced equipment failures that forced it to stop fully treating Seattle's waste."
"On a day of cozy coastal grays — soft cloud cover, a silver foil-wrap sea — a dozen gray fur balls brought visitors the most comfort. Bobbing 20 feet from a harbor walkway, the sea otters were part of a record number in California. They once were believed to be as extinct as the dodo bird or the Tyrannosaurus rex."
"Salty soil in California’s Central Valley spurs sacrifice zones, solutions and, in some cases, solar panels."
"RICHMOND, Va. — Arsenic is illegally flowing out of one of the sites where Virginia's biggest utility stores coal ash, polluting surrounding waters, a federal judge ruled Thursday."
"On a rainy winter evening, biologist Kristin Aquilino was rummaging through the trunk of her pickup truck in the Bodega Marine Lab parking lot. She was looking for a rubber spatula—a tool she needed to pry a recently captured white abalone from inside an ice chest brimming with seawater."
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