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Abu Haider, a famed Marsh Arab guide, and his wife, Um Haider, in the Central Marshes of Iraq.
dams

In Iraq, the Marsh Arabs of Hawizeh Persevere in a Changing Landscape

Linked to the biblical Garden of Eden, the Mesopotamian marshes—and their people—have endured decades of environmental destruction.
Leon McCarron November 8, 2023
In late June, weeks after the catastrophic destruction of Ukraine's Kakhovka Dam, lowered water levels upriver revealed this ancient boat.
ships

The Kakhovka Dam Disaster Revealed an Archaeological 'Goldmine'

Destruction of the Ukrainian dam unleashed a catastrophic flood—and surfaced centuries of cultural heritage. Now there's a call not to rebuild it.
Roman Cherevko September 26, 2023
Bessans, France

Mont Cenis

From Carthage's Hannibal to riders of the Tour de France, many have crossed this scenic route through the Alps.
Lake Powell, Utah

Gregory Natural Bridge

This natural sandstone bridge hasn't been seen since the 1960s when Lake Powell covered it—until now.
A sea lamprey that's clearly ready for its close-up—and for a new appreciation of its role in its native ecosystems.
science

Sea Lampreys, Long Reviled, Are Finally Getting Some Respect

Once dismissed as "ugly," this sucker-mouthed fish plays an important role in its native ecosystem.
Ted Williams May 15, 2023
View of the back of the secondary dike as it exists today.
Hurricane, Utah

Quail Creek Reservoir

An unprepossessing storage reservoir in southern Utah has a checkered past.
Ingram Dam
Ingram, Texas

Ingram Dam

A dam that moonlights as a gigantic, brutalist waterslide.
A 171-foot-tall white stain, left by the retreating waters of Lake Powell, looms over a lone human as he strides across a sandstone fin in the heart of Glen Canyon.
dams

The Return of Glen Canyon

As Lake Powell's water levels continue to drop, a stunning landscape resurfaces—along with questions about the future of the Colorado River and those who depend on it.
Craig Childs March 6, 2023
Epta piges
Archaggelos, Greece

Epta Piges (Seven Springs)

A dark, narrow tunnel that leads to a charming lake and waterfall.
Lake Powell, Utah

Cathedral in the Desert

The damming of the Colorado River buried an iconic geologic formation before record-breaking drought brought it back.
The ghost bridge is visible in the lower left portion of the photo. The current highway (Rt 23) is higher and closer to the bridge, than the dirt road here. Taken around 1900.
Oak Ridge, New Jersey

The Ghost Bridge of Oak Ridge Reservoir

This stone bridge is all that remains of a submerged New Jersey town.
Helena, Montana

Canyon Ferry Lake's Cemetery Island

This cemetery is one of the last remaining traces of a drowned old Western town.
Văcărești Natural Park
Bucharest, Romania

Văcărești Natural Park

After sitting unused for decades, this abandoned communist infrastructure became a wildlife utopia.
Verzasca Dam
Gordola, Switzerland

Verzasca Dam

If James Bond bungee-jumped off the side of a 720-foot dam, would you do it too?
Damaged remains of the weir
Wuk Wuk, Australia

Glenaladale Weir

The remains of a failed attempt to regulate Mitchell River.
Hoover Dam Geodetic Survey Markers
Boulder City, Nevada

Hoover Dam Geodetic Survey Markers

These markers are used to document elevation changes around the famed dam.
abandoned

Podcast: Ford’s Folly

Join us for a daily celebration of the world’s most wondrous, unexpected, even strange places.
The Podcast Team March 17, 2022
Looking downstream.
Boulder City, Nevada

Black Canyon National Water Trail

See Hoover Dam and the bypass bridge from a perspective usually off-limits to the public, and float the upper part of the Black Canyon National Water Trail.