Archive for the 'water wars' Category

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

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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.”

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.”

Habrá Operativo Para Detectar Robo De Agua Potable En El DF

Published on 08/20/2010 in privatization, spanish, tap water and water wars. 0 Comments

Foto encontrado en: www.oem.com.mx

“El director del Sistema de Aguas de la Ciudad de México, Ramón Aguirre, precisó que si los ingresos anuales son de 4 mil 600 millones de pesos por concepto de agua potable, las autoridades del Distrito Federal pierden cerca de 460 millones de pesos con las tomas clandestinas.

Por ello, dijo, en lo que resta de este año se invitará a los capitalinos a regularizar sus tomas de agua, pero ya en 2011, se hará de forma “coercitiva”, pues el objetivo es que todo mundo pague lo que consume.

En entrevista, el funcionario señaló que tendrá un costo elevado para los capitalinos a quienes se detecten tomas clandestinas de agua potable, ya que se hará un estimado y se les cobrará cinco años el agua que pudieron haber consumido.

Para echar a andar este operativo especial, dijo, el Gobierno del DF contratará empresas que se dedican a la detección de tomas clandestinas, las cuales se localizan en toda la Ciudad de México.

Sin embargo, acotó que las tomas clandestinas se concentran en las colonias populares y los lotes grandes, donde se amplían las viviendas y se construyen nuevas casas, las cuales hacen sus propias tomas de agua.

También se registran en las zonas industriales, ya que en ellas el costo de agua es mayor y con las tomas clandestinas se trata de evadir el cobro, así como en algunas zonas residenciales, donde no dan de alta las nuevas tomas.”

Leer mas: El Sol De Mexico

lily victoria

Elite Science Panel Wades Into California Water War

Published on 08/02/2010 in groundwater, policy and water wars. 0 Comments

Photo Retrieved from: wikipedia.org

“Scientists tasked with unraveling one of the nation’s most vexing environmental puzzles started their first field trip to the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta at a fish processing facility here near one of the estuary’s major water-pumping stations.

“Assembled by the National Academy of Sciences, the scientists — 15 experts in estuarine ecology, hydrology, fisheries science and water resources engineering — were gathering information for a series of reports that could influence management of the West Coast’s largest estuary for decades to come.

“The stakes for the two-year study are high. All around the delta, demand for water is growing — water for endangered fish, for farms and for 25 million people. Political pressure from California’s senior U.S. senator, Democrat Dianne Feinstein, and others finally forced the White House to order the review this spring.

“So the National Research Council panel has parachuted into a decades-long environmental battle being fought over a 700-mile-long maze of shipping canals, rivers, levees and aqueducts. The scientists are moving at a rapid clip to satisfy political pressure on all sides as they try to get a clear picture of the science behind two federal recovery plans for endangered chinook salmon and delta smelt and a number of proposals aimed at solving regional water problems.”

Brazil tribes allow workers to leave hydro plant

Photo retrieved from: BBC News

“Indigenous people protesting against the construction of a hydro-electric plant in the Brazilian Amazon have allowed most workers to leave the site, the Brazilian authorities say.

“A spokesman for the National Indian Foundation said only five employees remained there.

“Nearly 300 protesters occupied the site in Mato Grosso state on Sunday, confining about 100 workers to their barracks.

“They say the plant is being built on an ancient burial ground.

“Some of those occupying the plant were armed with bows and arrows, but there were no reports of any violence or injuries.

“The plant is being built on the Aripuana river, some 400km (250 miles) north of the Mato Grosso state capital, Cuiaba. It is the first phase of a hydro-electric project there and is expected to start operations by January 2011.”

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.”

Environmental groups map course to settle state’s water wars

Published on 07/15/2010 in water wars. 0 Comments

Retrieved from: media.washingtonpost.com

“A consortium of Georgia environmental groups announced Thursday a strategy they say will help the next governor settle a 20-year battle with Florida and Alabama over the state’s water resources.

“Members of the Upper Chattahoochee, Flint and Coosa Riverkeeper organizations called on the state’s gubernatorial candidates to change course and get the issue resolved before metro Atlanta loses its primary source of water. Georgia is under a court mandate to either reach an agreement over downstream flows with its two neighbors or lose access to Lake Lanier as major water source.

“At a news conference in Atlanta Thursday, Sally Bethea, Upper Chattahoochee Riverkeeper executive director, said all seven Georgia Riverkeeper organizations have joined to endorse the new plan. It calls for more openness in negotiations, aggressive conservation measures and respect for all downstream communities.

“The Georgia Riverkeepers are composed of more than 1,000 people interested in protecting the integrity of the state’s streams, Bethea said.”

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The threat of a water war; Egypt and Sudan draw battle lines with upstream nations over access to the Nile

Published on 07/03/2010 in water wars. 0 Comments

Retrieved from: sciencecastle.com

“NATIONS FIGHT over water, especially when access is curtailed or threatened, and there are the ingredients for a battle over the 4,100-mile long Nile River. Egypt and Sudan have counted on the abundance of the Nile’s life-giving flow. Now upstream nations want to keep more of the abundance for themselves. Ethiopia, Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Congo, Burundi, and Rwanda are asserting their rights to more of the river’s relentless flow. Washington needs to intervene to forestall hostilities between the countries.

“Britain conquered Uganda and Kenya in the 19th century in part to protect the precious Nile waters from being diverted away from their critical possession of Egypt, the Suez Canal, and the Red Sea route to India. Without the yearly sustaining floods of the Nile, agriculture and settlement in the valley of the river from Luxor to Cairo and Alexandria would have been impossible.

“When Britain in the 1920s controlled all of the waters of the Nile, bar those sluicing down the Blue Nile from Ethiopia, it signed a pact that gave Egypt and Sudan rights to nearly 75 percent of its annual flow. This 1929 agreement was confirmed in 1959, after Egypt and the Sudan had broken from Britain but while the East African countries were still colonies.”

Battle for the Nile as rivals lay claim to Africa’s great river

Published on 06/26/2010 in rivers, water wars and world water supply. 0 Comments Tags: battle for nile water, Nile River water rights.

With crises of population and resources the inhabitants of the Nile face a battle for ownership. Photograph: Kazuyoshi Nomachi/Corbis Retrieved from: The Guardian

“Simon Kitra’s back garden looks out over the world’s second-largest freshwater lake. His front lawn opens onto the world’s longest river. If the 20-year-old Ugandan fisherman needs reminding of where his tiny island is, he can look up to the pink obelisk on the hillside, marking where the British explorer John Hanning Speke, sextant in hand, stood in 1862 to ascertain the point where Lake Victoria begins to empty — the source of the Nile.

“The water that sustains Kitra – he drinks it, bathes in it, and eats and sells the fish which swim in it — slips gently and quietly past his canoe on its three-month, 3,470-mile journey to the Mediterranean. But at night, when he listens to his radio before casting his nets, news of the Nile’s future is all anger and recriminations, stretching from its most remote headwaters in Burundi all the way to Egypt.

“For a decade the nine states in the Nile basin have been negotiating on how best to share and protect the river in a time of changing climates, environmental threats and exploding populations. Now, with an agreement put on the table, talks have broken down in acrimony. On one side are the seven states that supply virtually all the Nile’s flow. On the other are Egypt and Sudan, whose desert climates make the Nile’s water their lifeblood. “This is serious,” said Henriette Ndombe, executive director of the intergovernmental Nile Basin Initiative , established in 1999 to oversee the negotiation process and enhance co-operation. “This could be the beginning of a conflict.”

Jats cut water supply from Ganga canal to Delhi

Published on 06/13/2010 in policy, water wars and world water supply. 0 Comments Tags: dehli water cut-off, dehli water supply, ganga canal.

retrieved from: IBNLive.com

“Protesting the denial of reservations in recruitment for central services, members of the Jat community Sunday stopped the water supply to Delhi from the Upper Ganga canal. The Delhi government said talks were on to resolve the issue and there was no need to panic.

“Angered over not being granted reservation in central services, the community leaders decided to stopwater supply to Delhi from the Upper Ganga canal in Muradnagar town of Ghaziabad,” said Satya Pal Chaudhary, one of the 10,000-strong crowd of volunteers.

“The Upper Ganga Canal is one of the sources for water for Delhi, which also draws on the Yamuna river, the Bhakra Nangal dam on the Sutlej river in Himachal Pradesh (through the West Yamuna canal) and underground reservoirs and wells.

“Earlier, leaders of the Jat Arakshhan Sangharsh Samiti (Reservation Struggle Committee) organised a public meeting at Muradnagar in which a resolution was presented to stop the water supplies.

“After it was passed, the leaders proceeded towards the treatment plant at Abupur and downed the shutters from where the water was being sent to the treatment plant prior to being pumped to Sonia Vihar in Delhi.”

Dams Cutting Off 400 Million People From Food and Income

Published on 06/05/2010 in dams, rivers, water wars and world water supply. 0 Comments Tags: dam, endangered species, population displacement.

Photo: Water is released below the Glen Canyon Dam on the Colorado River.

Water is released below the Glen Canyon Dam on the Colorado River. Photograph by Bill Hatcher, National Geographic

“The world’s dams have allowed cities to sprout in dry lands—but at a steep cost to hundreds of millions of already impoverished people, according to a new report.”

‘Lead author Brian Richter, co-director of The Nature Conservancy’s Global Freshwater Program, knew from previous estimates that 40 to 80 million people have been directly displaced over the past decade by dam and reservoir construction.”

“But he wanted to know how many people living farther downstream had been harmed.”

“Richter and his coauthors used published studies, population estimates and geographic information system (GIS) data to take a look.”

““Our conservative estimate of 472 million suggests that the number of people . . . exceeds by six to twelve times the number directly displaced by these structures,” the authors write.”

“Those affected include downstream fishermen and farmers who have had their lives and livelihoods altered or even destroyed by dams, many of them poor people who may find it hard to adapt. For example, when the Maga Dam and a water diversion scheme went in on Cameroon’s Logone River in 1979, combined hits to floodplain agriculture, fisheries, and other downstream attributes reduced the regional economy by $2.4 million per year, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN)”

This story is part of a special series that explores the global water crisis. For more, visit National Geographic’s Freshwater website

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India assures Pakistan of addressing ‘legitimate’ water concerns

Published on 05/30/2010 in water wars. 0 Comments

Retrieved from: architecture.mit.edu

“Indian minister says New Delhi has no intention of taking away Pakistan’s water.

“India on Sunday assured Pakistan of taking care of the country’s “legitimate” concerns on water, as both countries began a four-day joint meeting of the Permanent Indus Commission (PIC). India’s Water Resources Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal told reporters on the eve of deliberations that New Delhi had no intention to deprive Pakistan of its share of water.

“We never deprived them of water, not even during wars and have no intention to do so ever,” he said.

“A nine-member Pakistan delegation led by Indus Commissioner Jamaat Ali Shah began talks on Sunday with the Indian Commission headed by G Aringanathan.

“The annual Indus Commission talks will exchange technical data on river flow, besides devising mechanism to exchange advance flood information during the monsoon season.”

Amazon Dam Project Pits Economic Benefit Against Protection of Indigenous Lands

Published on 04/17/2010 in dams, rivers and water wars. 0 Comments Tags: amazon river, belo monte dam, Brazil, hydroelectric power, xingu river.

amazonwatch.org

“RIO DE JANEIRO — The indigenous leaders had a plan. They would unite for a last, desperate stand against the mammoth dam threatening their lands in the Amazon, vowing to give their lives, if necessary, to prevent it from being built.

“This will be our last cry for help,” said the chief of the Arara tribe, José Carlos Arara, after a meeting of leaders from 13 tribes last month. “We are not here to kill. We are here to defend our rights.”

“For indigenous groups, the drying out of the Xingu would change life as they know it. So at their meeting last month, leaders from 13 tribes made an unusual decision: They decided to create a new tribe of about 2,500, and then station it directly on the construction site, occupying it for years, if need be.”

The making of World Water Wars

Published on 03/31/2010 in climate change, contaminated water, dams, drought, floods, groundwater, policy, water wars and world water supply. 0 Comments Tags: blue gold, maude barlow, sam bozzo, water documentary, water literacy, water pollution, water wars, world water supply.

I was horrified to discover that what was happening on our planet now was worse than what we were dreaming up for science fiction

“The night before I was to set out shooting, the sponsor backed out. I was about to wake my wife and tell her that I must quit and return the goods. However, en route to our bedroom, I encountered our three-year old son Ethan in the hall, awakened from his sleep.

“He said, “I’m thirsty.”

“I fetched him a glass of water. I went to bed. I did not tell my wife about the financial situation. I awoke and set out traveling alone; a one-man crew on an adventure that changed me forever.”

Deceptive arguments are being made in California’s water wars

Published on 03/14/2010 in drought, policy and water wars. 0 Comments Tags: california, delta smelt, san joaquin delte, water policy, water wars.

“The hearing’s subject was the economic crisis created by a multiyear drought in parts of California’s Central Valley. Hundreds of thousands of arable acres are being fallowed for lack of irrigation supplies, and the unemployment rate in communities such as Mendota has reached 40%.
“McClintock’s argument appears to be that the fault lies with the “environmental left” and its puppets in Washington, who place the fate of a silvery, 2-inch fish above the needs of human beings. McClintock is California’s preeminent member of the don’t-confuse-me-with-facts caucus. But his spiel is echoed across the political spectrum.
“All this makes the Central Valley the epicenter of fact-free policy-mongering on water.”

Movement against Indian water aggression

Published on 03/10/2010 in dams, rivers and water wars. 0 Comments Tags: dams, india, pakistan, rivers, water shortage, water wars.

“Speaking on the occasion, Saeed said that by constructing illegal dams and diverting water of Pakistani rivers, India has virtually imposed war on Pakistan. He demanded of the government to prepare the nation to counter this aggression. “The government must take practical steps to secure Pakistani water,” he stressed. He said that due to water shortage, not only cultivation of crops would be impossible but drinking water would not be available to Pakistanis. “It is a matter of life and death for Pakistan”, he said.”

Scarce water the root cause of Darfur conflict?

Published on 03/09/2010 in drought and water wars. 0 Comments Tags: africa, Darfur, drought, peak water, water conflict, water scarcity, water wars.

“If one looks to the Council on Foreign Relations to define the tragedy that has been Darfur you initially get: “Farmers and Arabic nomads have long competed for limited resources in western Sudan’s Darfur region, particularly following a prolonged drought in 1983.”

“Taking a closer look at this position suggests, “the crises in Darfur stems in part from disputes over water.”

“In fact, according to a report dating back to 1999 and sponsored by the UN Development Program, fighting over limited resources as the scarcity of water, over the next 25 years, will possibly be the leading reason for major conflicts in Africa, not oil.”

Water Wars: The ‘Endangered’ Western States

Published on 03/08/2010 in greenwashing, policy and water wars. 0 Comments Tags: california, california water policy, endangered species act, greenwahshing, Sacramento delta, salmon, smelt, water wars.

“The Endangered Species Act is corrupt and a tool used for collectivist control. You will recall that a whopping 48% of deliverable water is is used for “environmental” purposes by the federal government (most of it is runs off into the Pacific Ocean) and only 41% goes to agriculture. Despite 3 years of increased water restrictions, the Delta Smelt populations continue to fall: the federal Endangered Species Act “solutions” are not working. This “water shortage” game was played in the Klammath Basin, on the border of California and Oregon in 2001.”

India’s ‘water theft’

Published on 03/08/2010 in dams and water wars. 0 Comments Tags: india, pakistan, water theft, water wars.

“Jamaat-ud-Dawaa (JuD) chief Hafiz Mohammad Saeed on Sunday declared that India had “imposed war on Pakistan” by constructing “illegal dams” and diverting water of Pakistani rivers and said the government must prepare the nation to counter this aggression.”