Inspired by indigenous views of nature, a movement to grant a form of legal “personhood” to rivers is gaining some ground — a key step, advocates say, in reversing centuries of damage inflicted upon the world’s waterways.

The long read: When the people of Flint, Michigan, complained that their tap water smelled bad and made children sick, it took officials 18 months to accept there was a problem

For city planners, the yearslong dream of a bustling waterfront may have finally become a reality. Mayors and city planners have long dreamed of making the Chicago River a busy, dazzling waterfront. It might have finally happened. This summer, I explored the riverfront in Chicago’s Loop to see the transformation.

From thundering falls to placid-looking shallows, deadly hazards lurk in water all along the Potomac River Gorge.

So much goes through, that there is garbage islands forming on a regular basis.

Words can't describe this. Source unknown.

The fish species in the upper branches of the Yangtze River have declined dramatically in recent years, imposing a severe warning on the river’s ecological system which has been much endangered, the Ministry of Agriculture revealed recently.

When George Loegering saw a large spinning circle of ice in the Sheyenne River while out hunting with relatives, the retired engineer couldn't believe his eyes.

La Seine, immortalized by artists and adored by lovers dangling their feet over the quay, harbours a dark secret. Under the fifth and thirteenth arrondissements grumbles la Bièvre, the Seine’s younger sibling who was banished to the netherworld exactly one hundred and one years ago.

Pewit’s Nest by David Barthel -This little canyon along Skillet Creek in south-central Wisconsin, known as Pewit's Nest, is a photographer's paradise

Photographer: Dave Lynch; Dave’s Web site Summary Author: Dave Lynch When two rivers flow together, there’s usually a difference in water color that persists downstream of their confluence until the color of the large river comes to dominate.

Scientists in Brazil have discovered the first new river dolphin species since the end of World War One.

Some 82,000 tons of coal ash mixed with 27 million gallons of contaminated water — enough to fill more than 40 Olympic swimming pools.

The series of rivers branching out into what looks like a winter shrub. Very cool!

The old Crystal Mill powerhouse, located near the still existing Crystal township in central Colorado is a reminder of bygones. This relic, precariously perched over Crystal River once housed a compressor used for ore processing. Left behind as a reminder of the past, the Crystal Mill now begins to blend in with the Colorado wilderness. Photo by Nico DeBarmore.

The world’s largest temperate rainforest owes its survival to an unlikely source – the salmon spawning in its rivers and creeks.

The fallout over one of the largest coal ash spills in U.S. history went on Tuesday as environmentalists staged a protest at the firm responsible for the spill

A massive crack in a major Columbia River dam poses enough of a risk of dam failure that Grant County authorities have activated an emergency-response plan.

Evidence is growing that our global footprint is now so significant we have driven Earth into a new geological epoch — the Anthropocene.

Each year, more than 500,000 cranes congregate along 70 miles of Nebraska's Platte River.

The Chicago River is glowing a bright emerald green as the city kicks off its St Patrick's Day celebrations.

James Dyson invented the best vacuum cleaners. Now, with the M.V. Recyclone barge, he's applying the same ideas to sucking up plastic pollution from the world's rivers. We talked to him about his plans.

California’s drought has left rivers too shallow for salmon, so the government is trucking and barging them to the sea in the hope they will return.

Ethiopia's bold decision to pay for a huge dam itself has overturned generations of Egyptian control over the Nile's waters, and may help transform one of the world's poorest countries.

Make no mistake: when it comes to migratory fish, sometimes science requires the art of imagination. Conservation planner Josh Royte celebrates World Fish Migration Day and the hope offered by river restoration.

Anti-environmental sentiments in rural Nevada have been in the news a lot lately. Here's a different narrative. In the Mojave Desert of remote Nevada and California, conservationists are part of the community and working to overcome suspicion to protect a vibrant river.

At least 20 people are feared dead in Bosnia-Hercegovina and Serbia after the worst floods in more than a century.

This week, for the first time in decades, the Colorado River flowed to its natural end in the Gulf of California. But it was the opposite of a natural event. The artificially engineered "pulse flow" that pushed the waters all the way to the Gulf required an unprecedented collaboration between the U.S. and Mexico, wading into a complex body of laws around a basic question: to whom does a river belong?

Professional guided Alaska fishing trips and fishing lodge accommodation nestled amongst the beautiful Kenai Peninsula.

Hally Yust, nine, of Spring Hill, Kan., died after contracting an infection—called primary amoebic meningoencephalitis—that develops from the rare "brain-eating" Naegleria fowleri amoeba found in warm freshwater lakes and rivers. According to the Center for Disease Control, there have been fewer than 200 reported cases of the infection in the U.S. in the past five decades.

It's mostly treated wastewater. The rapids aren't much. But a $1 billion restoration offers hope for the river's future.

Habitat fragmentation of freshwater ecosystems is increasing rapidly, however the understanding of extinction debt and species decline in riverine habitat fragments lags behind that in other ecosystems. The mighty rivers that drain the Himalaya - the Ganges, Brahmaputra, Indus, Mekong and Yangtze - are amongst the world’s most biodiverse freshwater ecosystems.

It used to make the desert bloom for vegetables and provide ample water for LA and Phoenix. But it's no longer up to the task.

River Roots GoPro footage of Ben Marr and Rush Sturges losing control at 72 KMH (45MPH) down a drainage ditch near Vancouver, British Columbia.

Once-teeming Lake Mead marinas are idle as a 14-year drought steadily drops water levels to historic lows. Officials from nearby Las Vegas are pushing conservation, but are also drilling a new pipeline to keep drawing water from the lake. Hundreds of miles away, farmers who receive water from the lake behind Hoover Dam are preparing for the worst. The receding shoreline at one of the main reservoirs ...