Monthly Archive for February, 2011

Time for a new era of governing California’s water

Published on 02/28/2011 in agriculture, drought, management, peak water, policy and solutions and outreach. 0 Comments Tags: , , .

Retrieved from: Iftf

“Water is California’s most precious resource. Yet in lean years and wet ones, California manages to mismanage this precious resource in spectacular fashion.

“That is the take-home message from a monumental report released last week by the Public Policy Institute of California, titled “Managing California Water.” The 482-page report issues both a clarion call and a road map for lawmakers and water interests to move beyond conflict and toward a new era of “reconciliation.”

“One clear message of the report is the need to modernize and consolidate the various institutions that govern how water is used. On the state level, decisions about water are now bifurcated between the Department of Water Resources and the State Water Resources Control Board.

“Making this department separate from the State Water Project would address the perception (and the reality) that state water contractors have inordinate influence over state water planning. Under the PPIC proposal, the State Water Project would become an independent public benefit corporation, similar to the Independent System Operator, which manages the state’s power transmission.

“The PPIC proposal is a good one. In buying and selling electricity and maintaining its infrastructure, the State Water Project would be more nimble and responsive if it didn’t have to deal with the state’s convoluted contracting procedures. Yet the PPIC is smart not to recommend that the state water contractors take complete control of these water works, as some of them would like to do. Contractors could sit on the board of an independent benefit corporation, but other interests would have a seat at the table, too.

“The PPIC also is on target recommending a stronger role for the Department of Fish and Game. Under its plan, this department would no longer be subservient to the Fish and Game Commission and would have more direct authority over river flows to help fish. The Fish and Game Commission, meanwhile, would go back to its original role – regulating hunting and fishing.”

Read more: Sacbee

sammykayed

Wikileaks Confirms Egypt’s Hostility Over Nile Water Agreements

Published on 02/28/2011 in agriculture, hydrology, policy, rivers and water wars. 3 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , , .

Nile river delta. Photo retrieved from: www.wikipedia.org

“The government of the fallen “Pharaoh” Hosni Mubarak has now finally been exposed by more WikiLeaks cables published last week, confirming what East African countries long suspected and what a Ugandan diplomat a few weeks ago spilled – Egypt did consider the use of force against the water producing countries upstream, should push come to shove over what Cairo thought was “excessive use of lake and river waters for agri-irrigation, domestic consumption, and industrial use.”

The pre-independence agreements signed by a biased Britain with Egypt in 1929 and in 1959, literally gave the Egyptians veto rights over the use of the Nile waters and sources upstream, affecting the producer countries of Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi, Congo DR, and Ethiopia – where the so-called Blue Nile springs from – and of late even the soon-to-be independent Republic of South Sudan.

A hydrologist, under diplomatic cover provided by the Egyptian Embassy in Kampala, is permanently based in Jinja to monitor the release volume of water for the present Owen Falls and Kiira power stations and his instructions are to be followed or else, the latter never fully explored nor exercised in the past under Mubarak.”

Read more: eTN

lily victoria

Water managers brace for more dry times

Published on 02/28/2011 in desertification, drought, management and rivers. 0 Comments Tags: , , , .

http://www.alhann.com/NM2007/Day9/RioGrande_1200h.jpg

Photo retrieved from: alhann.com

“His boots dusty from walking along the banks of the Rio Grande, Bureau of Reclamation Commissioner Michael Connor scanned the water’s edge and watched a flush of ducks pass before listening to a detailed explanation of the recent work that went into revitalizing this stretch of river in central New Mexico.

“The ground remained bare where earth was moved to lower the banks to a more natural state. The dry skeletons of cottonwood trees were place in the river to provide cover for endangered fish. And behind Connor, the thinned forest of cottonwoods and willows showed signs of recovery after a few years of not having to compete with invasive nonnative vegetation.

“The restoration work along Sandia Pueblo’s section of the Rio Grande is just the latest effort by tribal, state and federal water managers as they grapple with persistent drought across the West, the uncertainties of climate change, endangered species concerns and growing demand for a limited resource.”

Read more: SF Gate

jenna cavelle

Salazar Sees Dropping River Levels As Climate Change Call For Republicans

Published on 02/28/2011 in climate change, drought, policy, rivers, water diversions and water shortage. 0 Comments Tags: , .

Photo retrieved from: www.noticeablyfat.com

“The drastic drop of the Colorado River may have a silver lining: pushing conservatives to adopt a more climate-friendly political stance.

So said Interior Secretary Ken Salazar at a symposium hosted last week by the Center for American Progress. The levels of the Colorado River, which provide water for most of the western United States, have dropped 20 percent. This is raising alarm in conservative enclaves in the West.

“The seven states … are a bastion of conservatism. They recognize … that the water supplies of the Colorado River are directly related to the changing of the climate,” Salazar said. “You further reduce that by 20 percent, what’s that going to mean for the cities of Los Angeles and Las Vegas?”

“They get it,” Salazar continued. “And so what they’re saying to us is ‘We support, understand, the changes climate change is going to bring to our communities and our states, and we want to get ahead of it.’”

As a geographic bloc, the West has a higher percentage of conservative voters and representatives than most regions of the country. The region also has a close link to the environment.”

Read more: Climatewire

lily victoria

Plugging into the sun for clean, fresh water

Published on 02/27/2011 in desalination, oil, solutions and outreach and water technology. 1 Comment Tags: , , , , , .

Retrieved from: flickr

“A small Victorian company reckons it has found a way to prevent 3.5 million deaths a year from water-borne diseases while also cutting emissions of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide.

“F CUBED, based in Somerton, has been working on its solar-powered desalination system for about six years and started selling the units commercially in November.

“The modular unit, which retails for $362.50 plus GST and freight, works by running saltwater through a gravity-fed pipe at the top.

“The water disperses evenly as it runs down the solar collector evaporator. The solar power heats the water, which vaporises and then condenses on the inside of the plastic panel enclosure. The distilled water runs to the bottom of the unit where it is collected.

“In the process, disease-causing pathogens, as well as heavy metals, are removed.

“Peter Johnstone, the chief executive and founder of F CUBED, said there was enormous potential to work with developing countries to provide clean drinking water.”

Read more: Sydney Morning Herald

sammykayed

Brazil Court Halts Amazon Dam

Published on 02/27/2011 in dams, displacement of people, hydropower, policy, privatization and water wars. 0 Comments Tags: , , , .

The dam project has been criticised for its potential impact on Brazil's native Indian tribes. Photo retrieved from: www.aljazeera.net

“A Brazilian court has ordered the suspension of a massive hydroelectric dam project in the rain forest, citing environmental concerns.

Ronaldo Desterro, a federal judge said in a statement posted on a court website Friday night that environmental agency Ibama erred last month when it approved work to begin on the dam.

The statement cites 29 environmental conditions that allegedly have not been met, such as the recovery of degraded areas and measures to guarantee the navigability of rivers.

The massive Belo Monte hydroelectric plant in the Amazon jungle state of Para would be the third-largest
hydroelectric dam in the world.

But the $11bn project has sparked protests in Brazil and abroad over its impact on the environment and native Indian tribes in the region.

The government says the dam will provide clean, renewable energy and is essential to fuel Brazil’s growing economy.

Public works projects in Brazil often face legal challenges, but many court injunctions are overturned quickly.

If this one is upheld, the ruling could spell a serious setback to the plans of Dilma Rousseff, Brazil’s president, for large investment in infrastructure projects.”

Read more: AlJazeera

lily victoria

Water Bills To Soar By Up To 8%

Published on 02/27/2011 in greenwashing, management, policy, privatization and tap water. 1 Comment Tags: .

Photo retrieved from: www.annualreport2010.com

“FAMILIES will face yet another raid on budgets when their water bills rocket in April, it was confirmed yesterday.

Industry regulator Ofwat announced that some annual bills in England and Wales will jump almost 8%.

The average charge is set to rise by £16 – or 4.6% – to a record £356.

Families, who are already being clobbered by sky-high petrol, energy and grocery bills, have been angered by the new water charges as people are lumbered with the firm that covers their area.

Northumbrian Water customers face the biggest price rise of 7.8% while those in Southern Water’s region will pay 6.4% more.

South West Water is the most expensive firm with the average bill rising 5.1% to an average of £517.

Dame Yve Buckland, chairwoman of watchdog the Consumer Council for Water, said: “Many people are struggling with rising bills – and debt is rising.

“One in six customers already say they cannot afford their water bill.

“We want the companies to think how they might share the benefits of this unexpected financial gain with their customers.”

Read more: Mirror

lily victoria

Regulation Is Lax for Water From Gas Wells

Published on 02/26/2011 in contaminated water, fracking, lakes, management, natural gas drilling, policy and rivers. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , , .

“The American landscape is dotted with hundreds of thousands of new wells and drilling rigs, as the country scrambles to tap into this century’s gold rush — for natural gas.

“The gas has always been there, of course, trapped deep underground in countless tiny bubbles, like frozen spills of seltzer water between thin layers of shale rock. But drilling companies have only in recent years developed techniques to unlock the enormous reserves, thought to be enough to supply the country with gas for heating buildings, generating electricity and powering vehicles for up to a hundred years.

“So energy companies are clamoring to drill. And they are getting rare support from their usual sparring partners. Environmentalists say using natural gas will help slow climate change because it burns more cleanly than coal and oil. Lawmakers hail the gas as a source of jobs. They also see it as a way to wean the United States from its dependency on other countries for oil.”

Read more: New York Times

jenna cavelle

Warring Parties Reach Temporary Truce on Delta Smelt

Published on 02/25/2011 in management, policy, rivers and world water supply. 0 Comments Tags: .

Photo retrieved from: www.foodfreedom.com

“Federal protections for the endangered delta smelt in California’s Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta will continue through the end of June under a compromise signed yesterday by water districts and environmental groups.

The deal will govern water flow limitations in the event data from the Fish and Wildlife Service starts to show the smelt are imperiled because of low water in the estuary. Those curbs have not yet been triggered in Northern California this year because of steady rainfall in the region.

David Hayes, deputy secretary at the Interior Department, said the temporary cease-fire should allow legal parties in an ongoing tussle over the smelt to stop fighting at least until June.

“This frees up the parties to continue to devote attention to resolving California’s long-term water challenges, an effort that the Obama and Brown administrations are fully committed to undertaking,” Hayes said.

Arguments over a biological opinion that governs Endangered Species Act protections for the smelt were heard recently in the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.”

Read more: Greenwire

lily victoria

A Mega-Dam Dilemma in the Amazon

Published on 02/25/2011 in dams, deforestation, hydropower, mining and rivers. 0 Comments Tags: , , .

Photo retrieved from: www.smithsonian.com

“Puerto Maldonado is the capital of Peru’s Madre de Dios region (similar to an American state), which abuts Bolivia and Brazil. The area is almost all rain forest and until recent decades was one of South America’s least populated and most inaccessible areas. But today it is a critical part of Latin America’s economic revolution. Poverty rates are dropping, consumer demand is rising and infrastructure development is on a tear. One of the biggest projects, the $2 billion Inter-oceanic Highway, is nearly complete—and runs straight through Puerto Maldonado. Once open, the highway is expected to see 400 trucks a day carrying goods from Brazil to Peruvian ports.

Later this year a consortium of Brazilian construction and energy companies plans to start building a $4 billion hydroelectric dam on the Inambari River, which starts in the Andes and empties into the Madre de Dios River near Puerto Maldonado. When the dam is completed, in four to five years, its 2,000 megawatts of installed capacity—a touch below that of the Hoover Dam—will make it the largest hydroelectric facility in Peru and the fifth-largest in all of South America.

The Inambari dam, pending environmental impact studies, will be built under an agreement signed last summer in Manaus, Brazil, by Peruvian President Alan García and Brazil’s then-president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.”

Read more: Smithsonian

lily victoria