How to save Venice: Make it float
Posted by: Maven on December 28, 2011 at 6:19 am
From Wired Science:
“Everyone knows that on a sinking ship, you want to pump water out. But what do you do with a sinking city? In this case, the plan might be to pump water in.
The city of Venice has long been valued for its unique character. Built in a lagoon along the coast of Italy, the scenic city is crisscrossed with canals. Its waterlogged nature draws a steady stream of visitors, but also makes it vulnerable to costly flooding. The region sometimes experiences unusually high tides, locally referred to as “acqua alta.” The phenomenon is caused by winds that drive water to “pile up” on the north end of the long and narrow Adriatic Sea. When that coincides with a high tide, the City of Water gets even wetter, and the water level can rise by 1-2 meters. … “
Continue reading from Wired Science by clicking here.
Photo of Venice by flickr photographer Dave Morris.
Melting glaciers mean double trouble for water supplies
Posted by: Maven on December 22, 2011 at 7:34 amFrom National Geographic:
“Mountain glaciers long have been known to be in retreat as the planet warms. But the process is occurring even more rapidly than previously believed, scientists said earlier this month in San Francisco at a meeting of the American Geophysical Union.
For example, said Garry Clarke, professor emeritus of glaciology at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada, the massive glaciers of Canada’s Saint Elias region, now comprised of nearly 98 cubic miles of ice (453 cubic kilometers), are likely to be cut in half by 2100, even under middle-of-the-road climate-change scenarios.
“[And] that’s the good news,” Clarke said.
In parts of the Canadian Rockies, he said, today’s glaciers will all but disappear completely, while others will shrink to remnants just 5 to 20 percent of their current size. … “
Continue reading from National Geographic by clicking here.
The Water Tamer: John Briscoe tackles water insecurity around the world
Posted by: Maven on December 17, 2011 at 7:42 amFrom Harvard Magazine:
“In the little town of 5,000 where he now lives, John Briscoe holds the exalted title “master of the Todd Pond dam,” a tiny impoundment. He uses this role to introduce his students to the competing demands at the heart of water management.
“Everyone who lives on the pond likes the water to be kept high because it looks nice,” he explains. “But if you have a full lake and there is a lot of rain, water that overtops the dam will erode the base and you will lose your dam—which is a safety issue.” As the manager, therefore, Briscoe must monitor the weather. “If rain is coming, I go and take out a few boards to lower the level.” If the rain doesn’t materialize, a lot of swampy muck is exposed around the shoreline, and everyone asks him, “How come you lowered the dam?” The decision, he explains, was probabilistic.
Meanwhile, aquatic reeds grow and accelerate the accumulation of silt behind the dam, because “the natural course is to revert to being a swamp. But people don’t want to live on a swamp. They want to cut the trees around the pond so they can have a view; but that also speeds silting. How do you deal with human needs and environmental needs and safety? All of which, at a much lower level, are the issues of the great river systems in the world.” … “
Continue reading from Harvard Magazine by clicking here.
California Water Blog: Israel’s Delta – The Hula Valley
Posted by: Maven on December 15, 2011 at 9:02 amFrom Jay Lund at the California Water Blog:
“History has many cases of deltas, lakes, and marshlands which have been “reclaimed” for agriculture, then as agriculture became uneconomical, have been returned to the environment (Mostert 2011).
In far northern Israel is Hula Valley, about 44,000 acres of lowland just north of the Sea of Galilee, on the Great Rift Valley which extends eventually to the Red Sea. This lowland was once Israel’s largest wetland, 15,000 acres of permanent and seasonal wetland, including Hula Lake. The valley and lake, like most of the region, have a long and rich history.
In the 1950s, Hula valley and lake were drained for agriculture. … ”
Continue reading from the California Water Blog by clicking here.
As global population grows, water matters more
Posted by: Maven on December 13, 2011 at 7:29 amFrom NPR:
“Clean, fresh water is an essential element to life — not only do people and animals depend on it, but it also sustains many businesses and agriculture. The majority of the fresh water used worldwide goes to irrigation, and the need is expected to rise with the growing global population.
…
NEAL CONAN, HOST:
This is TALK OF THE NATION. I’m Neal Conan. We’re broadcasting today from the Grosvenor Auditorium at National Geographic in Washington, D.C. Clean, fresh water is essential to life. People, animals depend on it. So do businesses and industry and agriculture.
Some parts of the world already suffer from scarcity, and as we continue to drink and wash and utilize it and eat – especially eat – reserves are dwindling. Do we have enough to feed seven billion and counting? … “
Continue reading from NPR by clicking here.
Mars yields strong new evidence of ancient water
Posted by: Maven on December 8, 2011 at 7:40 amFrom the San Francisco Chronicle:
“After nearly eight years exploring the surface of Mars with the robot rover Opportunity, scientists announced Wednesday they have found “the single most powerful piece of evidence” yet that water once flowed abundantly on the Martian surface.
It must have gushed through underground fractures on the planet billions of years ago, they said, and as the water flowed, it formed a broad range of minerals that the rover has recently discovered near the edge of a crater that Opportunity has just begun exploring. … “
Continue reading from the San Francisco Chronicle by clicking here.
The power politics of water struggles
Posted by: Maven on November 29, 2011 at 7:36 amFrom the New York Times:
“When you’re driving through a war zone, your instinct may be to roll up the car windows. Wrong move. A bullet is less likely to hit you than to strike the glass, which will shatter and probably cause injuries. It takes firsthand experience to learn these tricks of the trade, and for years, Mark Zeitoun has sought out such experience.
Yet he did not scout out war zones as a combatant or journalist; he was delivering water.
A leading thinker in the field of water issues, Dr. Zeitoun helped pioneer a way of analyzing international water tensions, departing from the idea that water struggles are characterized either by peaceful cooperation or armed conflict. He suggests that countries’ approaches can vary by many gradations in between. … “
Continue reading from the New York Times by clicking here.
Flood control on steriods: Check out this slideshow on Tokyo’s gigantic flood prevention system
Posted by: Maven on November 9, 2011 at 6:28 amFrom Yahoo News:
“The Metropolitan Area Outer Underground Discharge Channel, also known as the G-Cans Project or the “Underground Temple”, is an subterranean water infrastructure project built to protect the capital Tokyo against floodwaters during rain and typhoon seasons. It is believed to be one of the largest water collection facilities in the world. Building began in 1992 and the massive structure now consists of five concrete silos, a large water tanks and 59 pillars connected to a number of pumps that can pump up to 200 tons of water into the Edogawa River per second. It has also become a tourist attraction, as well as a location for movies, TV shows and commercials. … “
Check out the incredible pictures in this slideshow from Yahoo News by clicking here.
China invests billions to avert water crisis
Posted by: Maven on October 12, 2011 at 6:56 amFrom AFP:
“China is to invest up to 4 trillion yuan ($600 billion) over the next decade to overcome a huge water shortage that threatens the country’s economic growth, a senior official said on Wednesday.
The vice minister of water resources said China’s unbridled economic growth had left up to 40 percent of its rivers badly polluted and the country faced “huge pressures” on supplies of water.
“Industrialisation and urbanisation, including ensuring grain and food security, are exerting higher demands on water supplies… while our water use remains crude and wasteful,” Jiao Yong said at a press briefing. … “
Continue reading from AFP by clicking here.
Water problems are solvable: The International Water Forum at the UN
Posted by: Maven on September 22, 2011 at 8:11 amFrom Columbia University’s State of the Planet blog:
“When hundreds of participants and dozens of speakers came together on September 16, 2011, at the International Water Forum at the United Nations, there was plenty of discussion of the severity of global water scarcity and water quality issues. If any of us needed to be reminded that a child dies every 15 seconds from preventable water-related illnesses, we were. No doubts could remain as to the complexity and magnitude of the problem.
More than 500 people attended the International Water Forum at the United Nations
The main take-home, however, was that water problems are solvable. None of the many challenges are outside of the ability of human-kind to respond and resolve. As with so many things, political will and money are needed, but the conference took it further; the general public has to understand and care before the political will and money will materialize. And the way to the general public’s heart is through effective communication. … “
Continue reading from the State of the Planet blog by clicking here.
Water worries span the globe: San Diego forum seeks solutions to longrunning problem
Posted by: Maven on September 19, 2011 at 8:24 amFrom the San Diego Union-Tribune:
“For the moment, Californians don’t have to worry about having enough drinking water because abundant snowfall last winter recharged reservoirs and made a three-year drought disappear.
But the Sept. 8 blackout provided a short-lived reminder of how critical the delivery system is when residents in parts of San Diego were forced to boil their water to make sure it wouldn’t make them sick. Had the power outage lasted 24 hours, more problems likely would have sprung up across the region and made securing daily water supplies a top priority here as it is across the world. … “
Continue reading from the San Diego Union-Tribune by clicking here.
Utilities and climate scientists team up to prepare for bleak water future
Posted by: Maven on August 19, 2011 at 7:53 amFrom Solve Climate News:
“Ten of the nation’s largest water utilities have teamed up to connect climate scientists and water providers so utilities will have the information they need to prepare for the harmful effects of global warming.
Climate change will create a host of challenges that affect water supply, water quality, stormwater drainage and flood control. Utilities on the coast may need to prepare for rising sea levels. Utilities in the Southwest could face more intense droughts. … “
Continue reading from Solve Climate News by clicking here.
Commentary: World running low on water: A World Bank study reported in 2005 that the grain supply for 175 million Indians and 130 million Chinese is produced by overpumping water
Posted by: Maven on August 13, 2011 at 8:22 amFrom the O.C. Register, this commentary by Gwynne Dyer:
“There are all kinds of bubbles. We had the financial bubble that burst in 2008, causing economic devastation that we are still paying for. There is the Chinese real estate bubble, the biggest in history, which, when it bursts, may take the whole world economy down with it. But nothing compares with the food bubble.
The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development published in 2008 a report on world food supply, predicting the price surge that year would quickly revert to normal: “Barring any underlying climate change or water constraints that could lead to permanent reductions in yield, normal higher output can be expected in the very short term.” And barring age, disease and accidents, we will all live forever. … “
Continue reading this commentary at the O.C. Register by clicking here.
Oroumieh Lake, Iran’s largest, turning to salt
Posted by: Maven on May 30, 2011 at 6:40 amFrom the Huffington Post:
“From a hillside, Kamal Saadat looked forlornly at hundreds of potential customers, knowing he could not take them for trips in his boat to enjoy a spring weekend on picturesque Oroumieh Lake, the third largest saltwater lake on earth.
“Look, the boat is stuck… It cannot move anymore,” said Saadat, gesturing to where it lay encased by solidifying salt and lamenting that he could not understand why the lake was fading away.
The long popular lake, home to migrating flamingos, pelicans and gulls, has shrunken by 60 percent and could disappear entirely in just a few years, experts say – drained by drought, misguided irrigation policies, development and the damming of rivers that feed it. … “
Continue reading from the Huffington Post by clicking here.
Thanks, Danny, for the link! Glad to see you are still around. -Maven
Resurrecting the Dead Sea: With the Dead Sea drying up as a result of rising water demand, the historic body of water may one day disappear
Posted by: Maven on May 26, 2011 at 8:36 am
From Discovery News:
“The Dead Sea has been drying up at a dramatic rate in recent decades as a result mostly of human demands for water. But instead of letting the historic body of water continue to disappear, some scientists are getting increasingly serious about trying to save it.
In the most ambitious and detailed proposal yet, officials are considering a massive engineering project that would pump water into the Dead Sea from the Red Sea more than 110 miles to the south. Water pipes would follow the border between Israel and Jordan, earning the project a conciliatory nickname, “The Peace Conduit,” for its potential to ease tensions between two extremely thirsty nations. … “
Continue reading from Discovery News by clicking here.
Photo of the Dead Sea by flickr photographer Gashwin Gomes.
China admits problems with Three Gorges Dam
Posted by: Maven on May 20, 2011 at 8:25 am
From the New York Times:
“The Three Gorges Dam, the world’s largest hydroelectric project and a symbol of China’s confidence in risky technological solutions, is troubled by urgent pollution and geologic problems, a high-level government body acknowledged Thursday.
The statement came as technicians were certifying the very last of the dam’s array of generators as suitable for hydroelectric generation, the final step in a contentious 19-year effort to complete the project in defiance of domestic and international concerns over its safety as well as threats to the environment, displaced people, historical areas and natural beauty. … “
Continue reading from the New York Times by clicking here.
Photo of the Three Gorges Dam by flickr photographer Wilson Loo Kok Wee.
One fish, two fish, false-ish, true-ish
Posted by: Maven on May 1, 2011 at 7:49 amFrom the New York Times:
“Two University of Washington scientists have just published a study in the journal Conservation Biology in collaboration with colleagues from Rutgers University and Dalhousie University arguing that the gloomiest predictions about the world’s fisheries are significantly exaggerated.
The new study takes issue with a recent estimate that 70 percent of all stocks have been harvested to the point where their numbers have peaked and are now declining, and that 30 percent of all stocks have collapsed to less than one-tenth of their former numbers. Instead, it finds that at most 33 percent of all stocks are over-exploited and up to 13 percent of all stocks have collapsed.
It’s not that fisheries are in great shape, said Trevor Branch, the lead author of the new study; it’s just that they are not as badly off as has been widely believed. … “
Continue reading from the New York Times by clicking here.
Bangladesh: A present-day water world and the remarkable resilience of the Bangladeshi people
Posted by: Maven on May 1, 2011 at 7:49 amFrom NPR Environment:
“Photographer Jonas Bendiksen made three separate trips to Bangladesh last year to document the wet season and the ways that rising waters are altering Bangladeshi life. National Geographic’s May issue shows the impact of flooding in a densely-populated, low-lying country barraged by seasonal monsoons and cyclones, and situated in the Ganges Delta — the world’s largest delta.
The photos portray an adaptability and resilience of the Bangladeshi people — who don’t seem to ask if there will be floods during the wet season, but when and how often. The photos also visualize what other coastal populations could face with rising sea-levels. … “
See the pictures and get the link to this month’s issue of National Georgraphic by clicking here.
Can tech make the desert bloom again?
Posted by: Maven on April 22, 2011 at 8:20 amFrom Wired News:
“The archeological remains of Avdat seem like a strange place to study farming.
The site — a camel caravan stop built by the Nabateans more than 2,000 years ago in the Negev Desert — sits in the middle of a vast, dry desert. Hard brown loess lightly sprinkled with stunted shrubs and bleak weeds stretches for miles.
The only substantial greenery is clustered at a farm irrigated by desalinated water piped miles away from the coast and a roadside McDonald’s. It looks like Arizona on a bad day. … “
Continue reading from Wired News by clicking here.
Australia: Investors dip their toes in water rights
Posted by: Maven on April 15, 2011 at 8:34 amFrom the Australian:
“Investors who subscribe to the “straw hats in winter” theory could do worse than wade into water rights, given the abundance of the vital commodity on the eastern seaboard.
With flood waters coursing down the Murray-Darling system, the price of water — which includes permanent rights and annual allocations — has plunged since the height of the drought.
Since water rights were decoupled from land ownership between the early 1990s and 2000s, anyone has been able to buy entitlements through a network of specialist brokers.
But water trading is not something that retail investors should blithely rush into, given the complexity of the various state-based water rights regimes. … “
Continue reading from The Australian by clicking here.
Intelligent use of water: Is Australia’s model the one to follow?
Posted by: Maven on March 30, 2011 at 8:36 amFrom the Triple Pundit:
“Naomi Klein, in her book, The Shock Doctrine, makes the point that it is far easier to get big things done in the aftermath of a disaster than before. Not always the best things, they are often opportunistic plays by those in power who have been waiting to push through a pre-existing agenda. But they only succeed because the people accepting the new agenda have been rudely awakened to the need for action. In a way it’s a commentary on human nature. We tend to ignore threats until they hit us. Indeed, it is perhaps the essential theme underlying the move we’re going to need to make to a more sustainable world, that conscious migration from a reactive to a pro-active mentality. And then of course, there are the vested interests…
This is pretty much the background behind today’s story which contrasts Australia’s hard won water policy forged in the aftermath of a twelve year drought with California’s policy which might more closely resemble an attitude of “it can’t happen here.” … “
Continue reading from the Triple Pundit by clicking here.
Can the Dead Sea be saved through desalination? Mix environmental concerns, international diplomacy and a lot of money and technology and you might have a happy result
Posted by: Maven on March 29, 2011 at 7:56 amFrom Green Tech Media:
“The Dead Sea, the near lifeless body of water that straddles Israel and Jordan, is ten times saltier than the ocean. And Jiwchar Ganor believes there’s a chance to save it with desalination technology.
Ganor, a professor at Ben Gurion University here, is putting the final touches on a proposal to the World Bank to fund a project to save the rapidly shrinking Dead Sea with a mega-engineering project called the Peace Conduit. (I’m over here this week as a guest of the university.)
Under the Peace Conduit, Israel — arguably the world leader in desalination — would oversee the construction of a massive desalination plant in water-starved Jordan. The 1,500 to 1,800 million cubic meters of seawater needed to power the plant would come from the Red Sea, a few hundred kilometers to the south. The plant would produce about 800 million cubic meters of water. … “
Continue reading from Green Tech Media by clicking here.
Chrétien’s call to Canada: Don’t be afraid of water-exporting debate
Posted by: Maven on March 23, 2011 at 9:35 amGood news for you who might be still harboring a secret desire to fill your swimming pool with fresh, Canadian water, from the Canada Globe & Mail:
“Former prime minister Jean Chrétien says it is time for Canadians to debate whether they should share their water with the rest of the world, noting the country exports other natural resources such as oil and gas. Proposals to export large volumes of water have touched off explosive debates in the past, as was the case in British Columbia, Ontario and Newfoundland in the 1990s. Each time, intense public backlash nixed export bids. But Mr. Chrétien, who governed during much of the 90s and was in Toronto on Tuesday for a conference on global water conflicts, believes a new national discussion is needed. A growing part of the world is grappling with water scarcity. Some experts suggest wars in the future may be fought over water, Mr. Chrétien noted to reporters. … “
Continue reading from the Globe and Mail by clicking here.
NYT Green Blog: Divvying up the water down under
Posted by: Maven on March 21, 2011 at 8:17 amFrom the New York Times Green Blog:
“Andrew Gregson, an official with the New South Wales Irrigators Council, is the kind of Australian completely at home in the agricultural sea that is California’s San Joaquin Valley. He knows all about the business and the social fabric of farming and about irrigated agriculture. He believes that modern regulators favor environmental uses of water over agricultural ones, and he is not pleased about that.
Yet the water controls and markets in Australia’s Murray-Darling Basin are quite different from the limited versions in California, where farmers exert a lot of political muscle and tend to resist any change in the water regimen, particularly environmental claims on water. … “
Continue reading from the New York Times Green Blog by clicking here.
The world at 7 Billion people: A closer look at water supplies
Posted by: Maven on March 3, 2011 at 8:27 amFrom the TreeHugger blog:
“This year, we’re going to hit a human population of 7 billion. Yet already 1.1 billion people lack access to safe drinking water, 2.6 billion people lack adequate sanitation, and 1.8 million people die every year from waterborne diarrhoeal diseases. Those are not encouraging numbers as the counter ticks up. Population is four times more important than climate change when it comes to water shortages. We are already seeing the effects of shortages around the world, particularly in India and China where populations soar alongside economic growth, as well as in Africa where technologies lag behind. But even in the US, one third of our counties are at high risk for water shortages, if they aren’t experiencing them already — some experts argue we already passed peak water in the US years ago. Where do we stand with our water supplies today, and what needs to change to ensure a future with clean water for everyone? … “
Continue reading from the TreeHugger blog by clicking here.
SOMEWHAT RELATED: Water demand will ‘outstrip supply by 40% within 20 years’ due to climate change and population growth, from the Daily Mail
Infographic: Going the Distance, From Ashgabat to Whyalla—10 cities pumping water from afar
Posted by: Maven on February 2, 2011 at 8:53 amFrom Circle of Blue Water News:
“In many cities, water travels far to reach the tap.
Residents of the planet’s driest places rely on extensive waterways to deliver their supply. Click through the interactive infographic below to learn more about 10 cities that pipe water in from distant aquifers, plus additional plans to expand waterway networks even further.”
Click here to check out the Infographic from Circle of Blue Water News.
Too little, and then too much, in Australia
Posted by: Maven on January 17, 2011 at 6:28 amFrom the New York Times:
“CARPENDALE, Australia — The smashed remains of Kapernick’s Bridge — with its bent guardrails and a hanging concrete slab where road once was — are as sure a sign as any that the Lockyer Valley’s decade-long drought is finished.
Next door, at the vegetable farm of Steve Kluck, the same inland tsunami that last week smashed apart towns and killed more than a dozen people in the northeast Australian state of Queensland left a deep gouge in the earth covering nearly a hectare, or two acres. Water is now plentiful; soil, unfortunately, no longer is.
The cost of rebuilding and future losses is hard to calculate, Mr. Kluck said, but will probably be hundreds of thousands of dollars — still a pittance compared with the losses of some nearby farmers. And there is always the risk of more flooding as Australia’s tropical wet season drags on. … “
Continue reading from the New York Times by clicking here.
Weird weather leaves Amazon forest thirsty: ‘Once in a century’ drought followed one just five years ago
Posted by: Maven on December 1, 2010 at 8:11 am
From MSNBC:
“The river loops low past its bleached-white banks, where caimans bask in the fierce morning sun and stranded houseboats tilt precariously. Nearby sits a beached barge with its load of eight trucks and a crane. Its owners were caught out long ago by the speed of the river’s decline.
This is what it looks like when the world’s greatest rainforest is thirsty. If climate scientists are right, parched Amazon scenes like this will become more common in the coming decades, possibly threatening the survival of the forest and accelerating global warming.
The environmental and economic consequences could be huge — for Brazil, for South America, for the planet. … “
Continue reading from MSNBC by clicking here.
Reaching the bottom of the well: Why worry about freshwater supplies? Unlike options in energy-use, there are no substitutes or alternatives to water
Posted by: Maven on November 10, 2010 at 8:30 amFrom the Guardian.co.uk:
“The future security of freshwater resources around the world is of increasing concern. Due to our interlinked global economy, water scarcity in many parts of the world could harm the global economy in ways we hadn’t thought of. Shortfalls in crop yields and more variable food prices could be an early impact.
This is because our demand for water is closely linked to our overall economic growth. As we grow wealthier, the more cities, power plants, factories and high protein food (dairy, meat, fish, etc) we demand, the more freshwater we require.
It is not just a question of more people requiring more water. Rather, it is a case of more wealthy societies demanding much more water. During the 20th century, for example, while population grew by factor four, freshwater withdrawals grew by factor nine, primarily as our economies grew.
If we take these past patterns and look forward, the outlook to 2030 is stark. … “
Continue reading from the Guardian.co.uk by clicking here.
Border tale swapping: Redondo Beach hosts the 6th Bi-national Mayors Summit
Posted by: Maven on October 30, 2010 at 7:52 amFrom the Redondo Beach Patch:
“Mayors from both sides of the border shared their concerns about water, public safety and the environment during a cross cultural exchange Friday in Redondo Beach.
The mayors, from Southern California and Baja California, discussed expanded relationships with China, increased tourism and social networking. But a big focus was water.
West Basin Municipal Water District was one of the main sponsors of the 6th annual Bi-national Mayors Summit, and its desalination project at the SEA Lab was toured during the event. … “
Continue reading from the Redondo Beach Patch by clicking here.
Water Wired blog: Taming the Darién Gap – The latest LaRouche scheme
Posted by: Maven on October 22, 2010 at 8:46 amFrom the Water Wired blog:
“I am still getting emails from the LaRouche folks about their NAWAPA scheme and various other geo- and bioengineering projects. It’s actually good to get these, since Maude Barlow and T. Boone Pickens haven’t provided me with any good blog fodder latrely, although I hear that I should check out T. Boone.
By the way, check out the nice puff piece on Boone’s Mesa Vista Ranch redecoration project in the current Architectural Digest. What? A puff piece in AD?
The latest LaRouche plan will tame the Darién Gap (video below) with an extended NAWAPA project. I wonder if they have secured permission from all the countries they plan to ‘develop’? … “
More from the Water Wired blog by clicking here.
Huffington Post: Water management lessons from an unlikely source
Posted by: Maven on October 14, 2010 at 8:37 amFrom Jim Lauria at the Huffington Post:
“The United States has a lot to learn from the Phnom Penh Water Supply Authority. The underfunded utility dug the Cambodian capital’s water infrastructure out of the rubble of Pol Pot’s regime and now supplies fresh, clean water to Phnom Penh’s 1.3 million residents, rich and poor. Delivery is reliable, rates are reasonable, and the efficiency of the system — a measure of how much water reaches its destination instead of leaking out of broken infrastructure — is an impressive 94.1 percent, with a goal of 96 percent by 2020. (In contrast, a 2002 report by the Congressional Budget Office estimated water loss to leakage in many U.S. drinking water delivery systems steals as much as 20 percent of the flow.)
The stunning success of the Phnom Penh Water Supply Authority’s efforts has earned them this year’s coveted Stockholm Industry Water Award, international recognition of its commitment and ingenuity. … “
Continue reading from the Huffington Post by clicking here.
Osmosis power geneartion revives in Northern Europe
Posted by: Maven on October 6, 2010 at 7:42 amFrom Renewable Energy World:
“If you’re overlooking an estuary, you’d never guess that vast amounts of energy are flowing into the sea. But what if you place a thin and strong membrane between the fresh and brackish water? Then it might be possible to tap so much energy that tens of thousands of households could be provided with electricity. At least, that is the goal of Dutch and Norwegian researchers, as they seek to make osmotic power commercially viable.
Last century osmotic power was no more than a pipe dream for researchers but in the past five years all that has changed. In November 2009 Norwegian utility company Statkraft launched a 1—2 kW prototype plant in Tofte, south of Oslo, while REDstack, a spin-off of Dutch R&D company Wetsus, is scaling up its 5 kW pilot at the salt refinery in Harlingen to a 50 kW demonstration plant halfway up the country’s Afsluitdijk causeway.
With rapidly improving advances in membrane technologies, its huge potential is beginning to come to light. According to Wetsus, Dutch coastlines and rivers hold somewhere in excess of 18 TWh of potential generating capacity, enough to power 1 million households. Meanwhile in Norway, estimates suggest the technology could generate some 12 TWh annually from the country’s fjords. … “
Continue reading from Renewable Energy World by clicking here.
Water map shows billions at risk of ‘water insecurity’
Posted by: Maven on September 30, 2010 at 8:52 amFrom BBC News:
“About 80% of the world’s population lives in areas where the fresh water supply is not secure, according to a new global analysis. Researchers compiled a composite index of “water threats” that includes issues such as scarcity and pollution.
The most severe threat category encompasses 3.4 billion people.
Writing in the journal Nature, they say that in western countries, conserving water for people through reservoirs and dams works for people, but not nature. They urge developing countries not to follow the same path. … “
Continue reading from BBC News by clicking here.
MORE COVERAGE:
- Scientists Sound Alarm on State of the World’s Rivers. from YubaNet.com
- Report Casts World’s Rivers In ‘Crisis State’, from Water Online
Groundwater depletion raises likelihood of global food crises
Posted by: Maven on September 28, 2010 at 8:19 amFrom National Geographic’s News Watch blog:
“Out of sight, out of mind means deep trouble when it comes to the reserves of freshwater stored underground. New numbers are out on the rate of groundwater depletion around the globe, and if they hold up to further scrutiny, the world is almost certainly facing a future of food shortages.
In an upcoming issue of Geophysical Research Letters, a journal of the American Geophysical Union, Professor Marc Bierkens of Utrecht University in the Netherlands and his colleagues estimate that the rate at which humanity is pumping dry the underground reservoirs that hundreds of millions of people depend upon for food and drinking water more than doubled between 1960 and 2000. … “
Continue reading from National Geographic’s News Watch blog by clicking here.
Nile mystery: Just whose river is it?
Posted by: Maven on September 19, 2010 at 8:12 am
From NPR’s Weekend Edition Sunday:
“All great mysteries begin at the end and end at the very beginning. And for thousands of years, the Nile River was perhaps the world’s greatest mystery.
Anyone can see where it ends, pouring northward through Egypt and into the Mediterranean Sea. But locating the origins of this magnificent river befuddled nearly everybody. Not until the Victorian Age did Western explorers find what had eluded so many.
The 19th century explorers who helped solve the mystery of the Nile’s source were the best of the Victorian era, doing the work of Britain’s Royal Geographic Society, of private sponsors, sultans, Egyptians and of a queen bent on expanding her empire.
But in settling the question of the Nile, the explorers may have inadvertently stumbled onto a whole new question: Just whose river is it? … “
Continue reading from National Public Radio by clicking here.
Photo of the Nile River from WikiMedia Commons.
Water shortages? No more! Lyndon LaRouche presents ‘Mega-Project NAWAPA Redux’
Posted by: Maven on September 16, 2010 at 8:58 am
From Water Wired:
“Many of you know that I have posted a number of times about the water mega-projects, NAWAPA (North American Water And Power Alliance) and NARA (North American Recycling Alliance). Both these projects propose to bring water fromAlaska/Canada (NAWAPA) or Canada’s James Bay (NARA) to quench the thirst of the USA, primarily the western USA, but also parts of the Eastern USA (NARA, especially) and perhaps even northern Mexico. …
Imagine my surprise when a woman called me from Seattle just a few hours go to inform me of a proposal to revive NAWAPA and put 3-4 million engineers/scientists to work on a TVA-like project to bring water from Alaska and Canada (mainlyfrom the Yukon and MacKenzie basins, with some coastal baisns as well) to make the desert bloom (my words, not hers) as well as supply the Great Lakes and eastern North America. Total storage in the system: 4.4 billion acre-feet (5,400 cubic kilometers). It’s even got the 500-mile (800-kilometer) long reservoir in theRocky Mountain Trench! … “
Continue reading from the Water Wired blog by clicking here.
Water Wired blog: Coping with drought and water scarcity; Can the Australian Experience Help?
Posted by: Maven on September 15, 2010 at 7:45 amFrom Michael Campana at the WaterWired blog:
“Jim Thebaut’s 501(c)(3),The Chronicles Group, just submitted this report to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers,Coping with Drought and Water Scarcity. It’s based on a panel discussion hesld at CSIS on 17 June 2010.
[Links for videos and the pdf file available on the click-through.]
One of the themes dealt with lessons from Australia and the USA. I’ve heard some people say that the western USA should just follow the lead of Australia in dealing with its drought, especially in the Murray-Darling basin. Some comments by Jennifer McKay, Director of the of the the University of South Australia’s Centre for Comparative Water Policies and Laws and who teaches both law and business, might be instructive. … “
Continue reading from the WaterWired blog by clicking here.
Foreign investors are becoming players in Australia’s water market
Posted by: Maven on September 9, 2010 at 8:29 amFrom Circle of Blue Water News:
“Foreign investors have bought hundreds of millions of dollars worth of permanent water rights in Australia, according to a series of reports published this week by the Sydney Morning Herald.
Purchasing water rights represents a shift in investment strategy for water funds, which to this point have focused primarily on water utilities, water infrastructure and water-related technologies. Though formal water rights trading exists in Chile, the western United States, South Africa and China, no country matches the size of Australia’s market, worth AU$30 billion. … “
Continue reading from Circle of Blue Water News by clicking here.
US company plans to ship fresh water from Alaska to India
Posted by: Maven on September 7, 2010 at 7:55 amRemember the editorial last week about shipping water in ocean tankers to areas of need? Here’s a story from the Guardian (UK) Environment Network reporting that a US Company is intending to do just that: ship water from Alaska to India:
“Imagine an oil tanker plowing through the ocean, hauling valuable cargo from resource-rich nations of the world to the countries that need it: but instead of oil, the tanker holds millions of gallons of fresh water.
It’s not a vision from some futuristic film or doomsday novel, but the present-day intention of companies trying to launch the bulk water export business. The idea has been around since the 1990′s, yet no one has succeeded in making it a practical reality.
But last July, the US company S2C Global Systems, Inc. became the latest bulk water wanna-be by announcing it would begin shipping water from Alaska to India within the next six to eight months. Using large class vessels that can hold 50 million gallons at a time, S2C plans to sell the water for both manufacturing and drinking purposes to countries around the Arabian Sea. … “
Getting water this way makes desalination look cheap! Read more from the Guardian Environment Network by clicking here.
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