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The major mains break at West Ryde pumping station on Wednesday.

Sydney residents told to save water after major main bursts

Hundreds of thousands of residents have been impacted and told to cut back on non-essential water use.

  • Cindy Yin and Jessica McSweeney

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A housing estate in western Melbourne. Infrastructure Australia says ensuring water supply is necessary if the country is to build more homes.

Thirsty work: Australia’s growing cities won’t have enough water

Australia is spending billions on new roads, rail lines and airports. But without water, cities will run short of new homes.

  • Shane Wright
The Thomson Dam spills over in October 2022.

Public servants warned dam spills were risk to Labor before state election

Victoria’s desalination water order was cancelled in the lead-up to the last state election, with internal correspondence from water authorities raising the political risk of Victorians paying for water while dams overflowed.

  • Rachel Eddie
A Coles truck is stuck in a sink hole that has formed outside St Mary’s Cathedral in the Sydney CBD.

Sinkhole in Sydney CBD forces school to close

At least two trucks came to the rescue of a Coles delivery vehicle which crashed into the hole.

  • Daniel Lo Surdo
Lake Eyre/Kati Thanda flooding as seen from the air in October.

Fires and floods, fires and floods: Australia’s summer of extremes

Australia’s summer has been marked by repeated cycles of bushfires followed by floods, as Lake Eyre is set to be flooded for the second time in two years.

  • Bianca Hall
Decomposing sea sponges at the Ardrossan Big Jetty are among the casualties of the algal bloom off South Australia’s coast.

‘The water was completely dead’: Inside the grim race with a microscopic enemy

‘Seen the worst I can see’: On this remote stretch of beach, a new ground zero has emerged.

  • Bianca Hall
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The water at Burleigh Heads can appear to be crystal blue. But looks can be deceiving.

The cleanest and dirtiest beaches in south-east Queensland revealed

Where have you been swimming this summer? We crunch the numbers on water quality at beaches and swimming spots from Rainbow Bay to Noosa Heads.

  • Marissa Calligeros and Craig Butt
Domenic Svejkar from KBR Consultancy says Sydney should unearth its lost waterways to cool the environment.

The pitch to bring Sydney’s hidden waterways to the surface

Colonial maps show a city with vast waterways now lost beneath roads and buildings, but “daylighting” hidden waterways in the suburbs could help cool Sydney down as the climate changes.

  • Aidan Elwig Pollock
The Ile d’Yeu ship laying undersea cable off the coast near Maroubra. CREDIT: WOLTER PEETERS
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Undersea cable ship off Sydney

The Ile d’Yeu ship laying undersea cable off the coast near Maroubra. CREDIT: WOLTER PEETERS

Weather. Mikey and Patch May check out the wild surf conditions from the Cronulla rock pool.

Sydney’s beaches closed, hundreds call for assistance as storm lashes coast

Slow-moving, dangerous thunderstorms are causing flash flooding in Sydney and the Central Coast.

  • Julie Power and Nigel Gladstone