Monthly Archive for July, 2010

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Experts worry about increase in deficient U.S. dams

Published on 07/27/2010 in dams. 0 Comments Tags: aging dams, dam failure, Lake Delhi dam.

Photo retrieved from: wired.com

“The failure of the 88-year-old dam at northeast Iowa’s Lake Delhi comes when experts have been warning of potentially catastrophic consequences involving thousands of aging U.S. dams.

“The American Society of Civil Engineers, in a report on infrastructure last year, gave a “D” to the nation’s system of 85,000 dams. The average dam is 51 years old, and more than 4,000 are deemed deficient, including some 1,800 that could potentially cause a loss of life if they failed.

“I think we have found over the last five years that the number of dams that states have identified as being deficient or unsafe is growing at a rapid rate, and that rate is much faster than we are able to do repairs,” said Brad Iarossi, a society spokesman and former head of Maryland’s state dam safety program.

“One of the worries is that new development is occurring below many dams, dramatically increasing the consequences of failure, the group said.”

Amazon Tribesman Seize Hydroelectric Plant, Workers In Protest

Published on 07/26/2010 in dams. 0 Comments Tags: amazon and dams, amazon tribal take over, amazon tribes and hydropower.

“Mato Grosso, Brazil (AHN) – Amazonian tribesmen protesting the construction of a hydroelectric plant have seized the facility. Some 300 members of at least six different Amazon tribes armed with bows and arrows took over the Dardanelos power plant in Mato Grosso state Sunday, preventing 100 workers from leaving.

“The protestors, described as being in full war paint, are demanding officials of the Aguas da Pedra power company compensate them and is asking for talks with company executives and government officials. They are seeking $6.3 million in compensation for cultural and social losses.”

Flooding tests China giant dam

Published on 07/24/2010 in uncategorized. 0 Comments

“China’s most severe floods in a decade are threatening to get worse as the landmark Three Gorges Dam on the Yangtze river is close to overflowing, with its reservoir almost full.

The water level reached 158 metres on Saturday morning, just 17 metres from the reservoir’s maximum capacity, flood control headquarters in the central province of Hubei told The Associated Press.

Two typhoons – Conson and Chantu – and weeks of heavy rain have caused widespread flooding across several of China’s southern provinces, affecting 110 million people.

Weather conditions are likely to worsen further with China’s national weather centre issuing a warning on Saturday of more torrential rains for the region.

The floods have left 273 dead and 218 missing since July 1, Al Jazeera’s Melissa Chan, reporting down river from the Three Gorges Dam in Hubei province, said. The direct economic losses are estimated to be around $20bn, she said.”

Dam fails in eastern Iowa, causing massive flooding

Published on 07/24/2010 in uncategorized. 0 Comments

“A dam on an eastern Iowa lake suffered a “catastrophic” failure Saturday, sending a massive amount of water into nearby communities and forcing residents to flee, officials said.

The Lake Delhi dam, about 45 miles north of Cedar Rapids, failed as a result of “massive rain — a very unusually high amount this season,” according to Jim Flansburg, communications director for Gov. Chet Culver.

Culver told CNN that nearly 10 inches of rain had recently fallen in a 12-hour period in the area and was “too much water for the dam to hold.”

The roads on either side of the dam — which were part of the dam’s containment measures — apparently gave out as a result of the rainfall, Flansburg told CNN.

The National Weather Service reported a 30-foot-wide gap in the berm alongside the dam.

Video showed massive amounts of water violently gushing from the pool behind the dam into the river below. Nearby homes and buildings were under water up to their eaves.”

U.C. Berkeley losing its water resources library

Published on 07/23/2010 in uncategorized. 2 Comments Tags: UC Berkeley water library, water resources center archive.

Photo retrieved from: WRCA

“U.C. Berkeley’s water library is following a path taken by much of the state’s water — to Southern California.

“The University of California is moving its library of documents on water resources off the Berkeley campus and splitting the collection between two other schools.

“The Water Resources Center Archive was started in 1958 with help from Professor Morrough O’Brien, and it’s long had a home on the fourth floor of O’Brien Hall, an engineering building named for him.

“WRCA’s collection — 200,000 technical reports, 45,000 coastal aerial photographs, its manuscripts, maps and videos plus 25,000 black-and-white photos showing the way water resources were developed and allocated (and fought over) in California and the western United States — will be moved to U.C. Riverside and to California State University San Bernardino.”

Kalahari Bushmen to appeal against court ban on well in game reserve

Published on 07/22/2010 in drought, groundwater and policy. 0 Comments

“Africa’s oldest inhabitants pitched against autocratic Botswana government are forced to truck water 300 miles across desert.

“The Kalahari Bushmen are to appeal against a decision by the Botswana high court forbidding them to use a well in the central Kalahari game reserve, one of the driest regions in the world, a spokesman announced today.

“The Bushmen, Africa’s oldest inhabitants, won a ruling in 2006 against eviction from the game park, hailed as a victory for indigenous peoples around the world. Hundreds returned to their home villages but they have been prevented from reopening the well or drilling a new one.

“The government argued that the Bushmen’s presence in the reserve was not compatible with preserving wildlife and that living in such harsh conditions offered few prospects. The Bushmen took their case to the high court, and the judge this week ruled against them.

“The decision doesn’t make any sense,” said a community spokesman, Jumanda Gakelebone. “We are going to appeal.”

“For now, the 500 Bushmen have to truck in water from the nearest settlement with a public borehole, 300 miles away.”

Desal plants fuel hikes

Published on 07/22/2010 in desalination. 0 Comments Tags: australia and desal, cost of desalination.

Kwinana desal plant, Perth, Australia. Photo retrieved from: ABC.net

“This comes as Australia seeks to drought-proof its growing cities.

“The Productivity Commission will investigate the financial and environmental impact of Australia’s desalination plants, which will supply nearly a third of capital city water supplies within two years.

“The PC inquiry’s chairwoman, Wendy Craik, yesterday said the costs of desalination plants, including electricity, would be analysed. “We’ll be looking at the costs and benefits of desalination and the impact on prices,” she said.

“State governments are spending $9 billion to build desalination plants in Melbourne, Sydney, Perth, Adelaide and on the Gold Coast. But the energy-guzzling “water factories” are feeding steep increases in water prices, with household bills rising as much as 22 per cent last month.

“Inquiries by The Australian reveal that electricity charges make up half the cost of running Sydney’s new $1.8bn desalination plant at Kurnell, which is powered by a wind farm. Water from the Kurnell plant is costing $2.24 per thousand litres, including the capital cost, debt payments and operating costs.”

Ask The U.S. Ambassador to Support the Human Right to Water

Published on 07/21/2010 in policy, solutions and outreach and world water supply. 0 Comments Tags: sanitation as a human right, water as a human right.

Photo retrieved from: Food and Water Watch

“For the first time since the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was adopted 60 years ago, the UN General Assembly is finally poised to recognize the Human Right to Water and Sanitation. Billions of people are suffering because the world is not focused on providing water and sanitation for all. A strong UN General Assembly resolution will signal that water and sanitation is a key priority for the international community.”

Take action by signing the UN General Assembly resolution recognizing the Human Right to Water and Sanitation at: Food and Water Watch

chrismorrow

Water Dispute Increases India-Pakistan Tension

Published on 07/21/2010 in dams, water wars and world water supply. 0 Comments Tags: indus river dispute, indus river water rights, Kishenganga dam, pakistan and india water war.

The Kishenganga dam project in Kashmir is a crucial part of India’s plans to feed its rapidly growing but power-starved economy. Photo retrieved from: NY Times

“BANDIPORE, Kashmir — In this high Himalayan valley on the Indian-controlled side of Kashmir, the latest battle line between Indiaand Pakistan has been drawn.

“This time it is not the ground underfoot, which has been disputed since the bloody partition of British India in 1947, but the water hurtling from mountain glaciers to parched farmers’ fields in Pakistan’s agricultural heartland.

“Indian workers here are racing to build an expensive hydroelectric dam in a remote valley near here, one of several India plans to build over the next decade to feed its rapidly growing but power-starved economy.

“In Pakistan, the project raises fears that India, its archrival and the upriver nation, would have the power to manipulate the water flowing to its agriculture industry — a quarter of its economy and employer of half its population. In May it filed a case with the international arbitration court to stop it.

“Water has become a growing source of tension in many parts of the world between nations striving for growth. Several African countries are arguing over water rights to the Nile. Israel and Jordan have competing claims to the Jordan River. Across the Himalayas, China’s own dam projects have piqued India, a rival for regional, and even global, power.”

Global warming raises water shortage risks in one-third of U.S. counties

Published on 07/20/2010 in climate change. 0 Comments

“More than 1,100 counties — one-third of those in the continental United States — will face higher risks of water shortages by midcentury as the result of global warming and more than 400 of these counties will face extremely high risks, reports a study today.

“Fourteen states face an extreme risk to water sustainability or will likely see limitations on water availability as demand exceeds supply by 2050, according to an analysis by consulting firm Tetra Tech for the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), an environmental group.

“High-risk areas include parts of Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Florida, Idaho, Kansas, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas.”