Feds Warn Residents Near Wyoming Gas Drilling Sites Not to Drink Their Water

Published on 09/03/2010 in contaminated water, groundwater and tap water. 0 Comments

Photo retrieved from: www.alternet.org

“The federal government is warning residents in a small Wyoming town with extensive natural gas development not to drink their water, and to use fans and ventilation when showering or washing clothes in order to avoid the risk of an explosion.

The announcement accompanied results from a second round of testing and analysis in the town of Pavillion by Superfund investigators for the Environmental Protection Agency. Researchers found benzene, metals, naphthalene, phenols and methane in wells and in groundwater. They also confirmed the presence of other compounds that they had tentatively identified last summer and that may be linked to drilling activities.

“Last week it became clear to us that the information that we had gathered” “was going to potentially result in a hazard — result in a recommendation to some of you that you not continue to drink your water,” Martin Hestmark, deputy assistant regional administrator for ecosystems protection and remediation with the EPA in Denver, told a crowd of about 100 gathered at a community center in Pavillion Tuesday night. “We understand the gravity of that.”

‘Fracking’ yields fuel, fear in Northeast

Published on 09/02/2010 in contaminated water, groundwater and tap water. 0 Comments

$story.fracking.water.cnn$ “Bill Ely walked into his chicken coop with an empty five-gallon water jug.

“The jug, punched with several finger-sized holes near the top to keep it from overflowing, was capped with a white plastic pipe. Using a garden hose fed from his water well, he filled the jug.

“Leaning over the contraption, he flicked his yellow lighter above the pipe, and a blue flame appeared.

“”I knew it [the water] went bad because we could light it,” Ely said.

“Dimock residents are at the forefront of one of the biggest energy developments this century.

“Their township sits above the Marcellus Shale, one of the largest natural gas deposits in the nation found underneath parts of Pennsylvania, New York, West Virginia and Ohio. The natural gas reserve is attracting a flurry of gas companies wanting to drill.

“Accessing the natural gas involves the controversial process of hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking.”"

Rodeados De Agua Y Viven Con Sed

Published on 09/02/2010 in contaminated water, drought, spanish, tap water, water technology and water wars. 0 Comments

Foto encontrado en: www.oem.com.mx Ante la necesidad, los colonos han tenido que tomar el agua de la cisterna de la planta, de donde la obtienen sucia y con impurezas.

“Villahermosa, Tabasco.- Suman más de una semana sin agua potable los habitantes de la Colonia Gaviotas Norte, que han tenido que tomar el vital líquido de una cisterna, pues su planta potabilizadora se encuentra inundada debido a las filtraciones del Río Grijalva.

Tal y como se lo hicieron saber al gobernador del estado, Andrés Granier Melo, durante su visita a la localidad, los colonos han padecido la falta de agua potable, misma que les es suministrada por medio de pipas que no alcanzan para abastecerlos a todos.

El problema surgió cuando los motores de la planta Gaviotas II, se quemaron y por ende esta dejo de funcionar, y aunque una decena de personas trabaja, con ayuda de maquinaria, para resguardarla colocando costales a su alrededor y retirando parte del equipo inservible, la filtración continúa llegando, manteniéndola anegada y sin posibilidades de reparación.

Por ello, desde hace 5 días, el Sistema de Agua y Saneamiento mantiene vigilancia del lugar además de que ha otorgado pipas que llegan durante el día para abastecer de agua a los desesperados vecinos que tienen que llenar botes y hasta garrafones con tal de llevar la mayor cantidad a sus hogares, cargándolos ellos mismos o usando triciclos.

No obstante ese apoyo no ha sido suficiente, pues son muchos quienes necesitan del líquido para bañarse y sobre todo para beber, ante esa situación han tenido que tomar el agua de la cisterna de la planta, de dónde la obtienen sucia y con impurezas, pero ante la necesidad se ven obligados a usarla.”

Leer mas: El Sol De Tulancingo

lily victoria

Watsonville Misses State Deadline For Fluoride Answer But Committee Recommends Going Ahead With Contract To Pay For Fluoridation

Published on 09/02/2010 in contaminated water, policy, tap water and water technology. 0 Comments

Photo retrieved from: www.oralanswers.com

“The city is under pressure from the state to sign off on the contract, which will provide $1.6 million to build a fluoridation system.

Cities with populations of 10,000 or more are required to fluoridate if an outside entity is willing to pay. The California Dental Association Foundation offered the city money to construct the system and operate it for two years. In January, the City Council in a 4-3 vote rejected a contract that had been two years in the making and appointed the committee to negotiate with the foundation to resolve outstanding issues, such as liability protections.

As negotiations dragged on, state officials became impatient, and on Aug. 19 issued the city a citation and warned of $200 a day fines.

“They are very serious. They want us to move forward with fluoridation,” Palacios said.

Mayor Pro Tem Nancy Bilicich served on the ad hoc committee with Councilman Manuel Bersamin and Councilwoman Kimberly Petersen, and opposed the contract.

Bersamin and Petersen, who voted for the contract, could not be reached to comment.

Bilicich said she didn’t think the contract gave Watsonville enough protection against liability if any lawsuits were filed.

Though Bilicich said the committee was close to a final decision before the citation and wasn’t influenced by it, she said the city’s in a tough spot. The issue of whether to fluoridate has been contentious.

“If we agree with the contract, someone in the community is going to file a lawsuit,” Bilich said. “If we don’t agree, the state is going to fine us.”

Pakistan’s Future Problem: ‘Too Little Water’

Published on 09/02/2010 in climate change, floods and world water supply. 0 Comments

Photo retrieved from: www.nytimes.com

“Looking beyond the bad monsoon weather responsible for current disastrous flooding, he says glacial melting will dry up rivers crossing Indian-controlled Kashmir on their way to Pakistan, governed by an old treaty that now seems to the great advantage of Pakistan’s giant rival:

… Roll the tape forward 20 years: the glacial melt-water is coming to an end, and the total flow of the Indus system is down by half. But almost all of the loss is in Pakistan’s three rivers, since the smaller Indian three do not depend heavily on glaciers.

So India is still getting as much water as ever from the eastern three rivers, and it is still taking its full treaty allocation of water from two of Pakistan’s rivers, although they do depend on glacial melt-water and now have far less water in them. As a result, India’s total share of the Indus waters rises sharply (and quite legally) just as Pakistanis start to starve.”

Water Supplied In Gaza Unfit For Drinking

Published on 08/31/2010 in contaminated water, groundwater, tap water, wastewater and water born diseases. 0 Comments

Photo retrieved from: www.map-uk.org

“They estimate it will take at least 20 years to rehabilitate Gazas underground water system, and any delay in dealing with the problem will lead to additional deterioration in the situation and thus might extend the rehabilitation process for hundreds of years. Since it began its siege on the Gaza Strip, in June 2007, Israel has forbidden the entry of equipment and materials needed to rehabilitate the water and wastewater-treatment systems there. The prohibition has remained despite the recent easing of the siege.

BTselem said the water crisis in the Gaza Strip arose following over-pumping of the underground water of the Coast Aquifer. It is estimated that the amount of water annually pumped from the aquifer is roughly twice the amount of water that replenishes it. As a result of the over-pumping, which has been going on for several decades, salt water has penetrated the aquifer. In addition, the poor maintenance of the wastewater-treatment facilities in Gaza, which increased following the siege, and the damage done to the wastewater-treatment facility in Gaza City during Operation Cast Lead, led to further pollution of the underground water by wastewater, and to greater salinity. Another factor for the pollution is the waste-disposal sites in Gaza, which are not properly handled. Following Operation Cast Lead, these sites received enormous amounts of waste more than 600,000 tons including asbestos, medial waste, oils, and fuels.

The daily per capita water consumption in the Gaza Strip is 91 liters, slightly higher than in the West Bank, where the figure is 73 liters, yet lower than the minimum of 100 liters recommended by the World Health Organization. By comparison, daily per capita consumption in Israel is 242 liters in urban areas and 211 liters in rural areas.”

En Víspera Del COP16, México Es Viable En Sustentabilidad: Sandra Herrera Flores

Published on 08/31/2010 in policy, solutions and outreach, spanish and wastewater. 0 Comments

Foto encontrado en: www.cinu.org.mx

“En material de fortalecimiento al medio ambiente la subsecretaria Sandra Herrera Flores, afirmó que el presidente Felipe Calderón considera como insoslayable abatir el rezago en materia de residuos e impulso al reciclaje porque “el tema no se circunscribe al agotamiento de recursos naturales sino de los renovables como el agua”. En entrevista con Organización Editorial Mexicana (OEM), Sandra Herrera Flores, afirmó que “los mayores cuerpos de agua se ubican en el sur-sureste del país, aunque la actividad económica y de la población corren del centro hacia el norte”.

* Definición

¿Cuáles son las funciones de la subsecretaria de Fomento y Normatividad Ambiental de la Secretaría de Medio Ambiente y Recursos Naturales (Semarnat)?

-Somos responsables de las normas ambientales que rigen las actividades económicas, así como de aquellas publicadas para proteger especies en peligro de extinción y áreas vulnerables en materia de recursos naturales, sin olvidar la normatividad de las descargas de aguas residuales a los cuerpos de las aguas nacionales.

¿Qué ocurre con las aguas de drenaje municipal?

-Para que estos cuerpos puedan descargarse a los nacionales, deben cumplir con ciertas características para lo cual la administración del presidente Calderón trabaja arduamente en las plantas de tratamiento del vital líquido que observaban un rezago en el país.”

Leer mas: El Occidental

lily victoria

Why Israel, Palestine And Jordan Are Rallying Around A Single Cause

Published on 08/30/2010 in climate change, sink holes and water wars. 0 Comments

Photo retrieved from: www.alternet.org

“Fathi Huweimel leans carefully over the edge of a jagged slab of broken asphalt, peering down into a 60-foot-deep crater that was level ground just yesterday. All around him sprawl the ruins of Ghawr al Hadithah, once a farming village in central Jordan but now a jigsaw of broken houses, shattered roads and abandoned tomato fields growing wild amid the massive holes pocking the earth. To the east, the village gives way to desert fringed by stark, sere mountains. To the west, a few hundred yards away, lie the glimmering waters of theDead Sea.

“We’ve had about 75 holes open up in the last two years,” says Huweimel, a thickset man with a broad mouth and deep brown eyes who has lived all of his 45 years in the area. He works as a field researcher with Friends of the Earth-Middle East, an environmental organization. “Everyone is leaving,” he continues. “Those who stay are staying because they have no choice.”

The holes first started appearing in the 1980s, but the pace at which new ones open up has increased dramatically in recent years. Miraculously, no one has been killed by a cave-in yet, though there have been some close calls. A group of seven women — including Huweimel’s aunt — were harvesting tomatoes together one day when the ground collapsed with a roar just 2 meters in front of them. A small salt factory that employed about 100 people was evacuated before it collapsed.

The cause of all this destruction is water — or, rather, the lack of it. The ground is collapsing into sinkholes because the water beneath it is retreating. And the water is retreating because the Dead Sea, a storied feature of the landscape since at least biblical times, is drying up.”

Klamath Basin’s water worries extend to wells

Published on 08/29/2010 in drought, groundwater and tap water. 0 Comments

“During the last big drought crisis in the Klamath Basin, in 2001, Carleton Farms filed for bankruptcy. Nine summers later, amid drought crisis No. 2, heavy pumping of wells that Jim Carleton and his neighbors installed since 2001 is saving his bacon, or, more precisely, his alfalfa, potatoes, wheat, cattle and 12 employees who work his 2,000 acres.

“As a Merrill councilman who oversees public works, Carleton also experienced the downside of this year’s unprecedented well use. In June, after Merrill’s wells ran dry, the town trucked in water for days and spent upward of $25,000 lowering its wellhead.

“Since 2001, the government has paid some basin farmers to irrigate with well water when the weather turns dry. Gov. Ted Kulongoski’s drought declaration in May allowed 89 one-year emergency wells this summer on top of 177 permanent wells sunk on the Oregon side of the basin during the past nine years.

“But this year’s pumping, roughly double previous highs, shows the limits of that strategy for resolving Oregon’s most politically fraught water war.

“The extra draw has lowered well water levels 30 feet in spots. ”

Nuclear Plant’s Use Of River Water Prompts $1.1 Billion Debate With State

Published on 08/27/2010 in policy and rivers. 0 Comments Tags: Hudson River.

Photo retrieved from: www.nytimes.com A canal carrying water used at the Indian Point nuclear power plant and soon to be reintroduced into the Hudson River. The use of river water and the effect on wildlife has caused disagreement.

“BUCHANAN, N.Y. — Just beneath the wind-stippled surface of the Hudson River here, huge pipes suck enough water into the Indian Point nuclear plant every second to fill three Olympic swimming pools. And each second they take in dozens of organisms — fish and crabs, but mostly larvae — that are at the center of a $1.1 billion debate: should the plant have to put in cooling towers that would vastly reduce the intake of water?

Yes, says New York State, which puts the annual death toll at nearly a billion organisms and is withholding a water permit that the plant would need to extend its initial 40-year operating license.

No, says Entergy, the plant owner, which argues that more fish could be saved by installing a different water-intake system. It warns that, if built, the cooling towers would pump tons of pollution into the air of New York’s northern suburbs — and that Westchester County already fails to meet national air quality standards for particulates.”

Cholera death toll rises to 352

Published on 08/26/2010 in contaminated water, floods, groundwater, wastewater and water born diseases. 0 Comments

Photo Retrieved from: telegraph.co.uk

“CHOLERA death toll in Nigeria has climbed to 352, according to an update from the Federal Ministry of Health.

“The death toll, as confirmed on Wednesday in Abuja by the Director of Public Health, Dr Mike Anibueze, emanated from Jigawa, Bauchi, Gombe, Yobe, Borno, Adamawa, Taraba, FCT, Cross River, Kaduna, and Rivers.

““As of today, a total of 352 deaths out of 6,497 suspected cases of cholera have been recorded in 11 states,’’ he said.

“According to him, most of the outbreaks occurred in the North-West and North-East zones but epidemiological evidence indicated that the entire country was at risk.

““The disease is endemic in most parts of Nigeria but often occurs in epidemic proportion at the onset of the dry season.

““This is because people scramble for drinking water from doubtful sources and during rainy season when contaminants are washed into surface and underground water sources,’’ Anibueze said.”

Study of coal ash sites finds extensive water contamination

Published on 08/26/2010 in contaminated water. 0 Comments

Photo Retrieved from: southernenvironment.org

“A study released on Thursday finds that 39 sites in 21 states where coal-fired power plants dump their coal ash are contaminating water with toxic metals such as arsenic and other pollutants, and that the problem is more extensive than previously estimated.

“The analysis of state pollution data by the Environmental Integrity Project, the Sierra Club and Earthjustice comes as the Environmental Protection Agency is considering whether to impose federally enforceable regulations for the first time. An alternative option would leave regulation of coal ash disposal up to the states, as it is now.

“The EPA will hold the first of seven nationwide hearings about the proposed regulation Monday in Arlington, Va. A public comment period ends Nov. 19.

“The electric power industry is lobbying to keep regulation up to individual states. Environmental groups say the states have failed to protect the public and that the EPA should set a national standard and enforce it.”

Crece Demanda De Agua En EAU Mientras Se Agota El Recurso

Published on 08/26/2010 in desalination, spanish and water technology. 0 Comments

Foto encontrado en: www.medioambienteok.com

“Los ingresos del petróleo de la nación del Golfo de Arabia le han permitido subsidiar su extravagante uso de agua, ya sea para aquellos que viven en barrios privados con inmaculadas piscinas y extensos campos de golf o para agricultores aferrados a antiguas prácticas de irrigación.

Ambientalistas advierten que el país, que ya depende de costosas plantas de desalinización que funcionan con sus lucrativos combustibles fósiles, debe reducir el consumo de sus 8,2 millones de habitantes o corre el riesgo de vaciar sus recursos de agua subterránea en 50 años.

“Necesitamos convencerlos de que el agua que hay aquí no es un recurso gratuito. Ni siquiera es un recurso natural, es artificial. Es costoso, y tiene un enorme impacto ambiental”, dijo Mohamed Daoud, de la Agencia Ambiental estatal en Abu Dhabi.

Pero eso no es tarea fácil en un país donde las marquesinas que alientan la conservación compiten por el espacio y la atención con las promociones de parques acuáticos, una montaña cubierta para hacer ski y una famosa fuente.

Abu Dhabi, la sede la federación de EAU de siete miembros y el más adinerado de sus emiratos, consume 550 litros de agua por persona al día, dijo Daoud, dos a tres veces el promedio mundial de entre 180 y 200 litros. Analistas dicen que el uso de agua per capita es aproximadamente cuatro veces mayor que el de Europa.

Para aliviar el uso de agua subterránea, aproximadamente un 60 por ciento del consumo en el desierto país, los EAU han invertido mucho en desalinización, produciendo nueve millones de metros cúbicos de agua a diario a un costo de 18 millones de dólares al día.

La dependencia de la desalinización es un lujo que sólo los países del Golfo ricos en petróleo pueden costear: requiere de enormes cantidades de combustible y agua de mar. Dubái es completamente dependiente, mientras que el uso de Abu Dhabi aumentó más del triple para el 2007, dijo la Sociedad de Vida Silvestre de los Emiratos.

“Los EAU eran exportadores de gas neto antes de; 2008, pero ahora se han convertido en importadores”, dijo Ayesha Sabavala, de la Unidad de Inteligencia Económica de Londres, citando el incremento en la desalinización y la producción de electricidad como causa principal.

DESPERDICIO DE ENERGIA

La desalinización funciona mayormente a gas y, en menos casos, a petróleo, recursos que en medio siglo transformaron a los EAU de un pequeño centro de buceo de perlas y pesca a un polo financiero.”

Leer mas: Terra

lily victoria

Why Your Faucet May Have Dangerously High Levels of Lead

Published on 08/26/2010 in contaminated water, products and tap water. 1 Comment

Photo retrieved from: www.alternet.org

“Hundreds of recent health studies prove exceedingly low levels of lead exposure are dangerous – even at levels that were previously believed “safe.” Small amounts of lead leaching from our plumbing can cause kidney disease, hypertension, reduced brain function, hearing loss, nervous system disorders, bone marrow damage, and even death. Lead in the bloodstream robs us of our future because it is even more toxic to children. There is simply no reason that lead should still be allowed in our drinking water plumbing.

In response to the dangers of lead, our government has taken steps to reduce our exposure. In the 1970s, the use of lead in paint and gasoline was phased out. In 1986, a federal law was enacted to reduce lead in our drinking water plumbing. However, faucets sold today can still contain up to a quarter pound of lead and still be labeled as “lead-free” under the 1986 federal law. Here is how it works.

This 1986 federal law, and a subsequent amendment in 1996, established requirements for “lead free” drinking water plumbing. However, under the heading of “things aren’t always what they seem to be,” this federal law actually allows up to 4 percent lead content in faucets and up to 8 percent lead in drinking water pipes. The typical household faucet weighs about six and a half pounds. That means a typical household faucet can contain up to a quarter pound of lead and still be labeled “lead free” under the federal safe drinking water law. We’ve long known that lead contained in a faucet or other household plumbing will leach into the drinking water as that water passes through the plumbing. So how safe can a faucet be that contains a quarter pound of lead? ”

Le Urge A La Riviera Megaproyecto De Agua

Published on 08/25/2010 in policy, rivers, spanish, water technology and world water supply. 0 Comments

Foto encontrado en: www.artisanstable.com

“Los detalles del proyecto para un megaacueducto lo presentó de viva voz el presidente Héctor Paniagua, con el cual podrá dotarse de agua tanto a la zona hotelera en crecimiento, como a todos los pueblos integrados en la parte norte de la Riviera Nayarit integrados en el municipio de Bahía de Banderas.

“El problema del agua no la vamos a resolver con un pozo aquí o con otro pozo allá. Se debe prevenir el crecimiento hotelero y urbano de toda la costa norte y esto sólo podrá lograrse con un mega acueducto”, señaló Héctor Paniagua ante importantes funcionarios federales y del estado.

El Presidente hizo una referencia definitiva: enormes acueductos se construyeron en siglos pasados, incluso nuestras razas indígenas los hicieron, entonces, ¿por qué no se puedan hacer ahora con tantos elementos técnicos a favor?

El argumento de Paniagua fue contundente, Eugenio Amador Quijano, del Fonain, y Felipe Prado Hopfner, secretario de Planeación, estuvieron de acuerdo para que el Gobierno municipal, por conducto del ingeniero Merced Venegas, director del Oromapas, presente el estudio para que con dinero del Fondo Nacional de Infraestructura participe en este ambicioso proyecto que garantizará agua a toda una enorme zona en crecimiento turístico y crecimiento urbano que es la costa de Bahía de Banderas.

Sobre este tema, el presidente Paniagua abundó lo siguiente: El Río Ameca cuenta con abundante corriente que es aprovechada en pequeña escala. Debemos aquí crear proyectos para el crecimiento en una zona de enorme futuro turístico, pero sobre todo para resolver la falta de agua de los pueblos desde Corral del Risco hasta Lo de Marcos.”

Leer mas: El Occidental

lily victoria

How much is left?

Published on 08/25/2010 in climate change, drought, oceans, uncategorized and world water supply. 0 Comments

A very interesting interactive video from Scientific American about the limitations of the resources that so many think unlimited.

In this video, Christophe Miller, the project chief of the Continental Water, Climate, and Earth-systems Dynamics project (US Geological Survey/NOAA), summarizes the impact of Global Warming on the water resources.

Link: http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=interactive-how-much-is-left&sc=WR_20100824

cecilemioni

No more dumping in California waters

Published on 08/25/2010 in oceans and wastewater. 1 Comment

“The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency today proposed the largest coastal “No Discharge Zone” in the United States, banning all sewage discharges from large cruise ships and most other large ocean-going vessels in California‘s coastal waters.

“”This is one more public step in the process of telling cruise lines and the shipping industry that they cannot use California‘s coastal and bay waters as their toilet,” said Marcie Keever, Oceans and Vessels Campaign director at the nonprofit Friends of the Earth.

“Under the Clean Water Act, states may request EPA to establish vessel sewage no-discharge zones if necessary to protect and restore water quality. California made such a request in 2006. The rule that EPA proposes today will take effect following a 60-day public comment period.

“The rule will prohibit both treated and untreated sewage discharges in state marine waters from all cruise ships larger than 300 tons, and from large ocean-going ships larger than 300 tons with adequate sewage holding capacity, which is defined in the rule as two days storage capacity.”

Libya’s Qaddafi Taps ‘fossil water’ To Irrigate Desert Farms

Published on 08/24/2010 in drought, groundwater and world water supply. 0 Comments

Photo retrieved from: www.nationalgeographic.com

“In the Middle East and North Africa, the quest to turn thousands of miles of desert into arable land has taken a backseat to containing an impending water shortage. While many countries in the region bicker over water rights, Libya has taken it upon itself to change its topography – turning sand into soil.

The Great Man-Made River, which is leader Muammar Qaddafi‘s ambitious answer to the country’s water problems, irrigates Libya’s large desert farms. The 2,333-mile network of pipes ferry water from four major underground aquifers in southern Libya to the northern population centers. Wells punctuate the water’s path, allowing farmers to utilize the water network in their fields.

The Libyan government says the 26-year project has cost $19.58 billion. Nearing completion, the Great Man-Made River is the largest irrigation project in the world and the government says it intends to use it to develop 160,000 hectares (395,000 acres) of farmland. It is also the cheapest available option to irrigate fields in the water-scarce country, which has an average annual rainfall of about one inch.”

lily victoria

Aid Workers Describe Devastation From Pakistan Floods

Published on 08/24/2010 in floods, water born diseases and water wars. 0 Comments

Flood victims wait for food and water at a makeshift camp in Sukkur on August 23, 2010 Photo retrieved from: www.cnn.com

“You can see 8,000 to 10,000 people in Sukkur in the road, sleeping in the mud,” said Kapadia, a resident of Karachi.

“All the people are sitting on the side of road, defecating there, drinking water there, living there.”

Roughly 4 million people are homeless from mammoth flooding that covered much of Pakistan for three weeks. Hundreds of health facilities are damaged or destroyed. Millions are at risk for deadly waterborne diseases from the filthy flood waters.

Officials estimate the death toll between 1,500 and 1,600, but Kapadia says he thinks the numbers could skyrocket as water recedes and more bodies and animals surface.

“Everywhere we go we see eight to 10 feet of water,” said Kapadia, who traveled through inundated villages between Shikarpur and Sukkur. “All we see are the tops of houses.”

Pakistan Flooding Because of Farms?

Photo: People wading through flood waters

Photo retrieved from: National Geographic

“The major river engineering is basically a Faustian bargain,” says Daanish Mustafa of King’s College London, recalling the fable in which a man sells his soul to the devil in exchange for a life of luxury. Mustafa is a geographer who has studied the history of Pakistan’s river management.

“Until a few decades ago, there were typically mild floods each summer–the time when the monsoon rainfall hits, and the melt from the snowpack in the Himalaya and Karakoram Mountains is at its peak.

“But now, because humans have sculpted the river and the surrounding natural floodplain and wetlands for farming and other needs, there are fewer floods, but when they hit, they are far worse, said Mustafa.

“There’s not very much space [in the river channel] to absorb all the rainfall,” says Asad Sarwar Qureshi, a water resources expert at the International Water Management Institute (IWMI) branch in Lahore, Pakistan. “We need to get it back into shape, so that it can carry its original capacity.”

“Wetlands along the river’s course used to take up some floodwaters, and the government also used to divert excess water into “no man’s land” during the monsoon season, he says. But those areas have been converted to farmland, he says . . .

“Allowing the river to flood more regularly, and naturally, could help temper the floods and make them more tolerable, say Mustafa and other experts . . .

“Managing Pakistan’s floods is a delicate balance between giving the river more room, and building barriers to protect people and their land.”

Feds Warn Residents Near Wyoming Gas Drilling Sites Not to Drink Their Water

‘Fracking’ yields fuel, fear in Northeast

Rodeados De Agua Y Viven Con Sed

Watsonville Misses State Deadline For Fluoride Answer But Committee Recommends Going Ahead With Contract To Pay For Fluoridation

Pakistan’s Future Problem: ‘Too Little Water’

Water Supplied In Gaza Unfit For Drinking

En Víspera Del COP16, México Es Viable En Sustentabilidad: Sandra Herrera Flores

Why Israel, Palestine And Jordan Are Rallying Around A Single Cause

Klamath Basin’s water worries extend to wells

Nuclear Plant’s Use Of River Water Prompts $1.1 Billion Debate With State

Cholera death toll rises to 352

Study of coal ash sites finds extensive water contamination

Crece Demanda De Agua En EAU Mientras Se Agota El Recurso

Why Your Faucet May Have Dangerously High Levels of Lead

Le Urge A La Riviera Megaproyecto De Agua

How much is left?

No more dumping in California waters

Libya’s Qaddafi Taps ‘fossil water’ To Irrigate Desert Farms

Aid Workers Describe Devastation From Pakistan Floods

Pakistan Flooding Because of Farms?

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