Monthly Archive for April, 2011

Corps halts levee break prep as states argue

Published on 04/30/2011 in floods, levees and rivers. 2 Comments Tags: , , , , , .

Retrieved from: Blox Images

“A federal judge hearing arguments over the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ plan to intentionally break a Mississippi River levee left the bench Thursday without making a ruling but indicated he was reluctant to get in the agency’s way.

“U.S. District Judge Stephen Limbaugh Jr. heard arguments from attorneys for the state of Missouri and the Army Corps of Engineers on the corps’ proposal to use explosives to blow a 2-mile-wide hole through the Birds Point levee in southeast Missouri. The corps says breaking the levee would ease waters rising around the upstream town of Cairo, Ill., near the confluence of the swollen Mississippi and Ohio rivers.

“The corps, however, halted its preparation for the break on Thursday, saying it needed until the weekend to assess whether a sustained crest of the Mississippi at Cairo would demand the extraordinary step.

“The river’s crest at the Cairo flood wall could reach 60.3 feet — nearly a foot above its record high — as early as Sunday, corps spokesman Jim Pogue said. The wall protects the town up to 64 feet, but there’s concern the crest could last up to five days and create extra pressure on the wall.”

Read more: Chron

sammykayed

Abengoa to develop Ghana’s first desalination plant

Published on 04/29/2011 in desalination, greenwashing and oceans. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , .

Retrieved from: Tree

” Abengoa, the company that develops innovative technology solutions for sustainable development in the energy and environment sectors, has signed an agreement with Ghana Water Limited Company (GWCL), Ghana’s public water trading company, to construct a desalination plant and to operate it for 25 years in the town of Nungua, south eastern Ghana, some 15 kilometres from the capital. This will be the first desalination project that the company has developed in West Africa.

“ The plant, which will require an investment of $115 million and will have a capacity to produce 60,000 cubic metres of water per day, represents an important step forward in improving the facilities for supplying drinking water in the country, which has a rapidly expanding population. The capital, Accra, has a population of approximately three million people and currently struggles to meet demand from the surrounding towns and villages. The new desalination plant will therefore help to supply local areas such as Teshie, Nungua and Tema.”

Read more: Environment Expert

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Southeast’s Rivers are the Extinction Capital of North America, US Fish and Wildlife Gets Sued

Published on 04/29/2011 in aquatic ecosystems, climate change, contaminated water, dams, oil, policy, riparian zone, rivers and species extinction. 0 Comments Tags: , .

White ibis. Photo retrieved from: www.earthfirstnews.wordpress.com

“Environmental groups, led by the Center For Biological Diversity, have notified the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service they intend to sue the agency claiming it failed to act on a petition asking that 403 species in Southeastern streams and rivers be listed as threatened or endangered species.

The environmental groups petitioned FWS last April, asking that the species be considered for protection under the Endangered Species Act due to their declining numbers. Among the fish, crayfish, mussels, birds and other animals included in the petition are the Florida sandhill crane, hellbender and Black Warrior waterdog salamanders, Alabama map turtle and burrowing bog crayfish.

“Unfortunately, the Southeast’s rivers are the extinction capital of North America,” said Noah Greenwald, endangered species program director at the center. “Dams, pollution, growing demand for water and global climate change mean these 403 species need Endangered Species Act protection to have any chance at survival.”

Jeff Fleming, a spokesman for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Southeast Regional Office in Atlanta, said the agency has been stretched thin because of diminished budgets and the Gulf oil spill.”

Read more: Earth First!

 

lily victoria

Privatization Has Failed to Deliver Safe, Affordable Water for All — Here’s a Better Idea

Published on 04/29/2011 in greenwashing, policy, privatization, tap water, water rights, waterborne diseases and world water supply. 0 Comments

Photo retrieved from: www.beforeitsnews.com

“National ministers from Africa gathered with hundreds of people from United Nations agencies, development banks, public water operators, non-profit groups and trade unions from around the world to celebrate World Water Day last month in Cape Town. A priority on the agenda: responding to the growing urban water challenge. The number of people living in cities in Africa with no access to tap water at home or in the immediate area increased by 43 percent (from 137 million to 195 million) between 2000 and 2008.

It is unbelievable that in this day and age — with the untold wealth generated by human activity — that millions of people die each year from waterborne diseases.

The right to water is akin to the right to life, but many governments are reluctant to recognise this most basic reality and shoulder their responsibilities to deliver safe, affordable water.

Fortunately, Bolivia boldly pushed through a resolution endorsing the human right to water and sanitation in the United Nations General Assembly last year. Working with other allied governments, Bolivia managed to shame various rich countries such that rather than oppose such an obvious right, they merely abstained. The nonbinding resolution passed on 28 July 2010. Among the arguments used against the resolution is a lack of clarity about what responsibilities the right to water will place on governments.”

Read more: AlterNet

 

lily victoria

Thousands Protest Against Patagonia Dams

Published on 04/29/2011 in dams and rivers. 0 Comments Tags: , .

Photo retrieved from: www.internationalrivers.org

“In a massive outpouring of public opposition to Chile’s controversial HidroAysén dam project, thousands of people are taking to the streets in 17 cities across Chile today to call on the Chilean government to cancel the project. The first action of the day took place in Valdivia, where hundreds of people interrupted President Piñera during an opening ceremony for a lakeside promenade. Actions will be taking place throughout the afternoon and evening across the country, with the largest expected to take place in Santiago beginning at 6:30pm. The rallying cry for these events has been “Juntos paremos HidroAysén: Ahora es cuando,” or “Together we’ll stop HidroAysén: The time is now.”

April 26 was named a national day of action for a Patagonia Without Dams after HidroAysén submitted its environmental impact assessment for the third time to Chilean authorities seeking an environmental license for the project. The Commission of Environmental Evaluation of the Aysén Region has until May 16 to make a decision about the project. The Chilean government is widely believed to be in favor of approving the project with conditionalities, but the Patagonia Sin Represas – “Patagonia Without Dams” – campaign is planning to step up pressure on the government to reject the project.

“This month an IPSOS poll found that 61.1% of Chileans are against HidroAysén and damming Patagonia, nearly double the figure of only two years ago. We are calling on the Piñera government to respect the will of the people and refuse to approve HidroAysén. Today’s actions are just the first in a series of actions aimed at stepping up the pressure on Piñera in the coming weeks,” said Patricio Segura of the Patagonia Sin Represas coalition.”

Read more: International Rivers

 

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Huadian Group to build four 10-mln-kw hydropower bases in 2011-15

Published on 04/29/2011 in dams, greenwashing, hydropower, policy and rivers. 0 Comments Tags: , , .

Photo retrieved from: www.chinadaily.com

“Huadian Group, one of China’s leading power giants, is planning to build four 10-million-kil owatt hydropower bases in China during 2011-2015, said the company in a report on sustainable development of hydropower.

According to report, the four bases will be located in up stream and midstream of Jinsha River, Wujiang River, and Nujiang River , all of which are in the southwestern part of China.

The four hydropower bases are expected to increase total hydropower installed capacity of the company by 10-26 million kilowatt s by 2015, accounting for 8 percent of China’s total hydropower instal led capacity.

By the end of 2010, hydropower installed capacity of Huad ian reached 15.38 million kilowatts, about 17 percent of total install ed capacity of the company and 7.3 percent of China’s total hydropower installed capacity.”

Read more: iStockAnalyst

 

lily victoria

California Farms Revive

Published on 04/27/2011 in agriculture and drought. 0 Comments Tags: , .

Photo retrieved from: www.wsj.com

“Labor economists say the valley’s unemployment rate, which normally tops that of most other parts of California ahead of the big spring growing season, is likely to drop significantly in coming months because of the new planting.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture projects that the number of acres in California planted with cotton this year will jump 26% to 385,000 compared with 2010, while acres planted with wheat will rise 18% to 915,000 and acres growing barley will increase 36% to 150,000.

Farm employment already is rebounding throughout the valley. In Tulare and Modesto counties, farm jobs jumped 19.6% and 21.2%, respectively, in March from a year ago, while statewide it rose 2.3%, according to estimates by the state Department of Economic Development. Nonfarm employment dipped slightly in both counties in the same period, and increased 1.4% statewide.

The farm rebound could be short-lived if crop prices decline or drought returns. But the state is currently seeing a turnabout from a three-year drought emergency that Gov. Jerry Brown, a Democrat, officially declared over after March 30 readings by state hydrologists showed mountain snowpack at 165% of normal, the highest in five years. With abundant precipitation across the West this year, water managers in California and other states including Arizona and Colorado also have increased shipments to farmers.

In California, managers of the federal Central Valley Project, which delivers water to the driest southern reaches of the valley, have raised allotments to farmers to 75% of the maximum, up from 45%. The farmers, many in the 600,000-acre Westlands Irrigation District, have been among the hardest hit in the state because their allotments at one point during the drought were cut to zero.”

Read more: The Wall Street Journal

 

 

lily victoria

Water Supplies In Western U.S. Threatened By Climate Change: Interior Department Report

Published on 04/26/2011 in agriculture, aquatic ecosystems, climate change, rivers, water shortage and world water supply. 4 Comments Tags: , , .

Photo retrieved from: www.huffingtonpost.com

“A report released Monday by the Interior Department said annual flows in three prominent river basins – the Colorado, Rio Grande and San Joaquin – could decline by as much 8 percent to 14 percent over the next four decades. The three rivers provide water to eight states, from Wyoming to Texas and California, as well as to parts of Mexico.

The declining water supply comes as the West and Southwest, already among the fastest-growing parts of the country, continue to gain population.

Interior Secretary Ken Salazar called water the region’s “lifeblood” and said small changes in snowpack and rainfall levels could have a major effect on tens of millions of people.

The report will help officials understand the long-term effects of climate change on Western water supplies, Salazar said, and will be the foundation for efforts to develop strategies for sustainable water resource management.

The report notes that projected changes in temperature and precipitation are likely to alter the timing and quantity of stream flows in all Western river basins, with increased flooding possible in the winter due to early snowmelt and water shortages in the summer due to reductions in spring and summer runoffs. Changes in climate could affect water supplies to a range of users, from farms and cities to hydropower plants, fish, wildlife and recreation, the report said.”

Read more: Huffington Post

 

lily victoria

Ethiopian Opposition Questions Construction of “Renaissance Dam”

Published on 04/26/2011 in dams, greenwashing, hydropower, policy, rivers, water wars and world water supply. 0 Comments Tags: , , .

Photo retrieved from: www.ezega.com

“The Ethiopian Federal Democratic Forum, commonly known as Medrek, fears foreign aggression against the country due to the construction of “Renaissance Dam”, as the government calls it. Medrek released an official statement questioning the government about its preparedness to face any foreign aggression against the dam, saying that hydro-politics is often a source of mounting conflicts in the 21st century.

Medrek, which was the main opposition party before the recent elections, asked the Ethiopian Government if it had taken Nile Basin members into confidence about the construction of the dam. Raising doubts about corruption, it also asked the government whether it had prepared a mechanism to ensure that the public money was directed toward the targeted project and that there was no frittering away of the taxpayers’ money by corrupt officials.

Medrek also called for reaching a national consensus on the construction of the dam in Benishangul region, which will likely generate 5,250-MW power. The government recently announced its willingness to go ahead with the construction of the dam, which would cost 80 billion birr, to exploit the abundant resources of energy in the country. The government has rejected “unsubstantiated” claims as they call it that the dam would cause significant harm to downstream countries. It has assured Ethiopians that Egypt cannot do any harm to the project, though Cairo has been successful in lobbying global financial institutions from financing the project.

Touted to be the biggest hydropower plant in Africa, it is expected to be completed in four years. Ethiopia is said to have over 45,000-MW potential of hydropower. The Ethiopian Government will finance a major chunk of the project. It also seeks remittances from overseas Ethiopians under the GTP project. Further, the government has started issuing Millennium Bond, giving five percent interest rate, to finance the project.”

Read more: Ezega.com

 

lily victoria

Scrutiny of a Farm Town’s Water Divides Residents

Published on 04/26/2011 in agriculture, bottled water, contaminated water, groundwater, policy, rivers, tap water, wastewater and water shortage. 1 Comment Tags: , .

Photo retrieved from: www.bendbulletin.com

“The day the U.N. lawyer came to Seville, residents — mostly women, mostly mothers — from 17 other San Joaquin Valley communities that lack safe water because of nitrates, pesticides and arsenic came to tell Portugal’s Catarina de Albuquerque their stories. They spend much of their meager incomes on bottled water and receive confusing health warnings.

In the neighboring town of Cutler, Spanish-speaking farm workers received notes in English that their pesticide-laced water is safe to drink, but that long-term consumption could put them at risk of cancer.

Tainted water — especially nitrate contamination— is a part of life in California’s richest agricultural region.

Nitrates in the water

Some 40 years ago, farmers started using nitrogen fertilizer to boost crops. Septic tanks and runoff from dairies also leak nitrates. Now, much of the San Joaquin Valley sits on nitrate-polluted groundwater.

A recent study by Pacific Institute, an Oakland water policy research center, estimated that 1 million Central Valley residents at times have harmful levels of nitrates in their water, and the cost of cleanup would be at least $150 million.

High nitrate levels are linked to blue baby syndrome, which cuts off an infant’s oxygen supply. In adults, nitrates are suspected of contributing to miscarriages, stomach disorders and certain cancers.

There has been no regulation of how much fertilizer farmers can use or how close fertilizers and feed lots can be to wells.”

Read more: Los Angeles Times

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