After public pressure and leadership from a local councilman and the corps' commander, officials at several levels of government created the Los Angeles River Pilot Recreation Zone along a lush segment that features tree-lined islands, vistas of the San Gabriel Mountains and abundant wildlife such as herons, egrets, hawks and kingfishers.

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When teachers guide students in gaining awareness that industrial agriculture writ large, for example, results in chemical runoff from nitrogen-based fertiliers in the Mississippi River that in turn creates a massive dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico so large that it is visible to the human eye through satellite distant imaging, students are able to grasp the basis for sustainable agriculture.

FORBES: Daniel Goleman on the Importance of Ecological Intelligence

Poison in the Vadose Zone: An examination of the threats to the Snake River Plain aquifer from the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory.

FORBES: 1st Person | Facing an Unsettled Future After Radiation Exposure

Some suggest that, while Israel's peace treaty with Jordan is reasserted, a buffer zone could be drawn up on the eastern side of the Jordan river, perhaps monitored by peacekeepers from NATO or the UN, to protect Israel against an invasion from the east and to enable it to withdraw from the West Bank.

ECONOMIST: The Jordan valley: A dry bone of contention | The

Maritime Ipswich is returning after a break of a decade and will feature 400 visiting boats, music and maritime artists, river cruises, displays and demonstrations, a food festival and a children's zone.

BBC: Ipswich Beer Festival unites with Maritime Ipswich

After their major bet on the Thilawa special economic zone south of Yangon, Japanese contractors have plans to deepen the Yangon River's estuary so that cargo ships can sail directly up to the city's shores and offload more containers of cars that are already being briskly snapped up at busy dealerships.

CNN: From Burma to Myanmar: Land of rising expectations